While I really do have a ton of stuff to get rid of, I already am having trouble deciding about some items. For example when my mother died five years ago I kept her good linen tablecloths and matching napkins that she used for holiday meals. Some of them are stained, though they probably could be successfully cleaned. I haven't used any of them in those five years. I either use placemats for everyday dinners, or more casual fabric cloths when entertaining. I just don't do any fancy entertaining and usually go to some cousins or friends for holiday events. However I can't bring my to get rid of those tablecloths. They are clutter, but they are sentimental clutter. Maybe as I continue this blog I will get some clarity about how to handle these types of items.
10/15/2007-- Discarded six cookbooks I don't use. I have many more that I don't cook from, but get pleasure from browsing. More of these will have to go.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
My old computer is now stuff??
I'm writing this entry at 11:15 PM, because I had to wait until I got back to New York City. The old computer I use upstate, bought back in 1998, seems to have fully conked out. The CD drive has been broken for years, so no new or updated software could be loaded, but it could still connect to the web via dial-up at an arthritic 31,900 baud speed. Today it could still connect to my web provider, but then could not even load Google or Yahoo. Nada. I assume that the some minor upgrade has made my ancient browser totally useless. So now I have another piece of useless junk in my upstate house. I'll have to see if I can attach a flash drive to it and download a few needed files, if not I can use floppies, since my "new" machine is old enough to have a floppy drive. Then I have to see if the main recycling place in my upstate county will accept it as junk.
I got a rid of few more items today, still the easy stuff. I will have to see how I am about discarding nice and useful stuff, that I don't use. I have two large 13 x 9 Pyrex baking dishes. One is certainly enough for me. If I am serious about this destuffing (really should be a word) program, that is the type of suff I need to get rid of. Yesterday, I found a community resale shop upstate that will be a good place to donate stuff like that.
10/14/2007--Got rid of one stained t-shirt, one torn turtleneck ( I had another in the same color), one stained cookie sheet, and six books.
I got a rid of few more items today, still the easy stuff. I will have to see how I am about discarding nice and useful stuff, that I don't use. I have two large 13 x 9 Pyrex baking dishes. One is certainly enough for me. If I am serious about this destuffing (really should be a word) program, that is the type of suff I need to get rid of. Yesterday, I found a community resale shop upstate that will be a good place to donate stuff like that.
10/14/2007--Got rid of one stained t-shirt, one torn turtleneck ( I had another in the same color), one stained cookie sheet, and six books.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Some stuff goes.
One reason I have so much stuff is that I have two homes. One is an apartment in New
York City, and the other is country house in the Catskills. The upstate house has four bedrooms and three of them are being used for storage. The largest one is full of my grown son’s stuff and it badly needs to be tackled. It is full of boxes of old books and schoolwork, as well as clothes and furniture he currently isn’t using as well as his “memorabilia”, that is old birthday cards and letters, school newspapers, minor athletic trophies (he was only a minor athlete:). I nag him to decide what he really wants to keep, instead of letting inertia make the decision, which is currently the case. However, until I clear out my own unnecessary junk, I don’t think I have that much moral authority to bug him. So first I work on getting rid of my stuff, and then his turn will come, and I will go after his stuff.
Besides my son’s stuff being piled in the biggest of the upstairs bedrooms, I have bins and bags, big leaf size bags, filled with my own clothes. I have thin clothes, fat clothes, winter clothes, summer clothes, more clothes than I can remember to wear. The 80/20 rule is certainly at work here, though it probably is more like a 92/8 rule. With the season change I will be sorting clothes this weekend. I can easily throw out half of my summer tees. I will report back about how many I was able to discard.
10/13/2007—Threw out several pairs of sneaker socks that were too bulky and three stained summer tee shirts. I also brought to our apartment basement four books to a recycle bookcase and then donated a full banker box of books to my local library upstate. That was another twenty-five books. I then donated ten pairs of slacks (men's and women's), four tee shirts, five skirts, one nightgown and two pairs of shorts to a local clothes "pantry". This barely makes a dent, but it is a start.
York City, and the other is country house in the Catskills. The upstate house has four bedrooms and three of them are being used for storage. The largest one is full of my grown son’s stuff and it badly needs to be tackled. It is full of boxes of old books and schoolwork, as well as clothes and furniture he currently isn’t using as well as his “memorabilia”, that is old birthday cards and letters, school newspapers, minor athletic trophies (he was only a minor athlete:). I nag him to decide what he really wants to keep, instead of letting inertia make the decision, which is currently the case. However, until I clear out my own unnecessary junk, I don’t think I have that much moral authority to bug him. So first I work on getting rid of my stuff, and then his turn will come, and I will go after his stuff.
Besides my son’s stuff being piled in the biggest of the upstairs bedrooms, I have bins and bags, big leaf size bags, filled with my own clothes. I have thin clothes, fat clothes, winter clothes, summer clothes, more clothes than I can remember to wear. The 80/20 rule is certainly at work here, though it probably is more like a 92/8 rule. With the season change I will be sorting clothes this weekend. I can easily throw out half of my summer tees. I will report back about how many I was able to discard.
10/13/2007—Threw out several pairs of sneaker socks that were too bulky and three stained summer tee shirts. I also brought to our apartment basement four books to a recycle bookcase and then donated a full banker box of books to my local library upstate. That was another twenty-five books. I then donated ten pairs of slacks (men's and women's), four tee shirts, five skirts, one nightgown and two pairs of shorts to a local clothes "pantry". This barely makes a dent, but it is a start.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Starting Out
I have too much stuff. My cabinets are stuffed. My kitchen counters have stuff that lives permanently on top of them, since I have too much stuff to put away. I have too many clothes to fit into my dresser and the overflow is piled on the top of the dresser. I have bins of extra clothes stored away. I have piles of books sitting in bankers boxes and on the floor in the corner of my living room. I keep far too many of our financial and household records. I usually have to struggle to find items and records that I need.
I want my life to be more organized. I want to gain control over my stuff. Most of all I want to get rid of much of it. I’ve started this blog to help me in this process.
I will sometimes discuss personal finance, since stuff costs money as does storing the stuff. I will often discuss my attempts at becoming more organized as that is a key aspect of my problem. But most of all, I want keep a record of my getting rid of my unnecessary stuff. Everyday I pledge to get rid of at least one thing, one piece of stuff. Most days I hope to get rid of much more.
10/12/07—I threw out a bulky, ugly orange, salad spinner that did not spin all that well.
I want my life to be more organized. I want to gain control over my stuff. Most of all I want to get rid of much of it. I’ve started this blog to help me in this process.
I will sometimes discuss personal finance, since stuff costs money as does storing the stuff. I will often discuss my attempts at becoming more organized as that is a key aspect of my problem. But most of all, I want keep a record of my getting rid of my unnecessary stuff. Everyday I pledge to get rid of at least one thing, one piece of stuff. Most days I hope to get rid of much more.
10/12/07—I threw out a bulky, ugly orange, salad spinner that did not spin all that well.
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