Clutter problems anyone? How about old stuff? piles? junk? papers? .I save almost everything. .

[Stuart G]

It is everywhere????
Yes, I got some, a lot, am I alone? who else collects stuff, and piles and is willing to discuss them???
They are taking over..HElpppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[LynzM]

1. I used to be terrible.

I'm getting better, slowly. Find the book called "It's All Too Much".... was very helpful for me in changing the way I look at the stuff that I own (and that owns me!)

:hug:

[Lorien]

16. I read that book as well. My one disagreement with the author was about

throwing stuff away. There's WAY more that can be recycled than what he notes. Plus, places like pet rescue groups need things like old clothes and towels to use as bedding for sick animals (it can't be reused). Peter Walsh likes filling up landfills and that's pretty awful for our environment. I'm also not about to throw out half of my family photos. Otherwise, I agree with much of what he says.

[LynzM]

29. True.

And I'll admit to not having read cover-to-cover, yet. There are plenty of places to give things to where they will find a second (or third or fourth or fifth...) use. It's part of why our decluttering has been so slow. The clutter goes into new piles to go a million places! :)

[zanne]

31. I live in an old house that's always been in the family....

My basement looks like a dump. Three generation have "stored" their stuff here. Now, I don't know what belongs to who, should I throw it away or keep it in case somebody "needs" it again? I have no idea, but any attempt to straighten it out always results in me getting a back sprain and giving up.

[WolverineDG]

38. Send out a "come & get it" letter to your relatives

with an end date (depending upon how far away they live; if they're all in the same town, give 'em a month; otherwise, maybe 6?).

Tell them to come get their stuff & if it's not gone by X date, then you're tossing it.

dg

[DarkTirade]

2. Two things:

Organization/shelves
Learn to throw shit away.

I'm still working on both those things right now. :)

[Lorien]

17. And learn to recycle. n/t

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. I hate clutter.

I don't even like knick knacks on stuff, though I do have a few.

[Catshrink]

4. I'm learning to cycle my knickknacks.

Put some out for a few months, then switch. But I've also got rid of a bunch.

[MissMillie]

9. I call them

"dust collectors"

lol

[CreekDog]

33. i hate clutter too

as Edina says, "Surfaces darling, clean surfaces...I don't want things on places!"

[Stuart G]

5. How about old lesson plans??..from the 70s?? for history of course..

Perhaps you would like a l991 calendar ...it is good for the first two months of this year...yes, then you need to switch to 1997 for the last 10 months..leap year you know. Oh..you didn't know you could re-use them? Next year..2009..Well that will be my year to re-use 1998s calendars... yep..I got it pretty bad..

[femmocrat]

10. I have boxes and boxes of old lesson plans!

I have them organized by grade, season, elementary/secondary, etc. Hey, you never know when you will have to dig something out of one of those boxes! LOL

(I also have some old calendars... that are too pretty to throw away.) I'm hopeless.

[Stuart G]

13. I thought I was all alone...still have many of mine..and....

I retired 10 years ago...multiple sets of every piece of crap, upon crap, upon crap...

I thought I was alone, and I was the only one

.......I see I am not..and I guarantee this...this is the truth...how about a lesson from 1968???? Stuart

[Lorien]

19. I re-use calandars

why buy another if that Audubon Calendar from 1998 works just as well as a new one? You can pocket the $13.00 you would have spent on a new calendar and use it for something else.

[Stuart G]

21. My thoughts exactly........

[CTyankee]

56. Good reason to save old calendars.

Sometimes I want to check when I had that eye exam or some other date that might have relevance to now. I used to save old calendars at work to see the days in each month of the winter that it snowed, so I could plan for them better (I am of the belief that snow is patterned year after year). Some office buddy suggested that I use them to make a bar chart, showing the snow patterns from year to year. But I don't know how to make a bar chart (I guess I could learn; I know it's an
Excel thing, right?).

[Rabrrrrrr]

62. Your receipts will tell you when you had exams.

Calendars belong in the recycling.

[Lorien]

63. Not if you're a professional Illustrator

the quality of the printing can't be duplicated by printing out reference from internet downloads. Last year I illustrated several Children's stories and ALL of the background reference I used came from old calendars (you wouldn't know it too look at the illustrations because I only borrow color schemes or structure from my reference, not a verbatim image). Thank goodness for the wonderful photographers of the Audubon Society and the Sierra Club!

[Rabrrrrrr]

64. That goes without saying, and is irrelevant to the clutter question

If you're saving calendars because you have a professional need, that's entirely different than saving them because you might use them again in 11 years.

Just as a houseful of broken typewriters is a house that's full of clutter shit - unless those broken typewriters are there because they're in the queue for the professional typewriter repairman who lives there.

[harmonicon]

59. ok, that stuff goes in recycling.

[Catshrink]

6. I sold a bunch of stuff on ebay last spring

when I decided I didn't need the crap anymore. And I've been selling books, albeit slowly, on Amazon.com. And I've taken carloads of crap to the Goodwill.

All that and I still have stuff. I need to go through a lot more. One problem is I'm a teacher and keep a lot of stuff for classroom use. And then there are courses I've taught and may teach again so I need to keep that. It could be better organized.

I just finished my floor so now I should have more time to devote to going through my papers and stuff. I'm trying to get my will written and affairs in order that way. Not that I'm planning on croaking anytime soon. I just remember the stuff we had to go through when my parents died and since I don't have my own kids, it will be my nephews who need to sort through mine. Mom did a great job of organizing so it was mostly a bazillion phone calls to straighten things out.

It takes a lot of time.

[BlackVelvet04]

42. is Amazon easy to use for selling?

I've sold lots on Ebay but never Amazon.

[Catshrink]

44. It's been a good way to sell books.

Placing the listing is free and lasts for 60 days. Renewing the listings are easy.

However, if a book sells, there's a $0.99 fee and they take a cut of shipping. I bought a carton of padded envelops on ebay and that reduced my costs a lot. I've realized that I'm not making much but it's more than I'd get at a used book store. I have a lot of books to get rid of!

Good luck!

[BlackVelvet04]

46. I do fair on Ebay with some books.....

depends on the book I guess. I'll check out Amazon.

Thanks for the info!

why don't we set up a book exchange here on D.U.?

[gmoney]

45. for books, videos, CDs, etc it's pretty good...

You can list a used copy/version of basically anything they sell. Their commission rate feels a bit high, but it's more than offset by the fact it does NOT cost to list items, so if nobody wants your copy of the 1986 World Almanac, it doesn't cost anything to find out. Also, you don't have to screw around with collecting the money or paying the PayPal fees, so I think it comes out in the wash and is probably more convenient than eBay. (You don't have to create a fancy listing with product details either -- just describe the condition and any other extenuating circumstances and poof, it's listed.

They do "require" you to ship the item out within two business days, so be ready to be responsive.

[BlackVelvet04]

47. Thanks for the info...

I always ship within 24 - 48 hours when I sell on Ebay. Usually 24 or less unless the purchase is made after noon on Saturday.

[CTyankee]

57. We have a Book Bank in New Haven where people can take their books

for folks in the neighborhood who are coming for literacy lessons. Kids books too. It's a great place, lots of volunteers teaching ESOL and Basic Literacy for English speakers with low literacy skills.

Some local public libraries take books (in good condition) as well.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

7. Packrat, here.

It's in my genes, and I've got it pretty badly. My great-grandfather saved generations' worth of junk in our barn. My father rescues empty coffee cans from the trashcan and stocks up old undershirts in said barn, just in case. One of my closets is devoted to junk, and all my desk drawers are overflowing with it. You just never know when problems of the day from 8th grade algebra and poems heralding the return of fall might come in handy again. :eyes:

:D

[MissMillie]

8. did you know

that there's a high correlation between ADD/ADHD and being a pack-rat?

I don't know that they've found a medical connection... just a correlation.

I have a girlfriend who is ADD and you wouldn't believe her home....

it's not just her... I think 3 of her 4 children are also ADD... so she gets zero help (her husband grew up in a house where everything was saved... it's almost like he can't see anything wrong)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. I have too damn much crap lying around.

And it's not so much because of packrattiness, but because my house is small and old and horribly lacking in storage space (people didn't have so damn much stuff in the 1880s), so I haven't anyplace to put stuff away and it just sits out in piles on tables and desks and on the floor in corners. I don't really want to keep it but I'm sort of lazy and slothful and I never seem to get around to doing what I really need to do, which is sort through a lot of this stuff and toss most of it. I hate the clutter but I keep putting off the tiresome chore of dealing with it.

[Critters2]

12. This helped me...

www.flylady.net

[crispini]

25. Also a big flylady fan here!

Some of her style is annoying but some of it certainly gets me moving.

And, to the OP: Oh yes indeed I am a big packrat clutter fan, but I am slowly but surely moving it out the door. Let's hear it for my local Goodwill! :bounce:

[WolverineDG]

39. I second FlyLady!

Yes, some of the emails are annoying (especially the ones that get sent every damn day) but her method works!

dg

[NMDemDist2]

14. i'm better. after the defeat in 2004 I was so depressed I got into Feng Shui

and it helped

here's some old threads from back then that helped a lot on changing how I look at 'stuff'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=245&topic_id=752

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=245&topic_id=4747

[Lorien]

15. Just don't let it get to this state:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x7370151

I have too much stuff myself. I work at home as an illustrator and animator, so there's a lot of equipment here and LOADS of books. I built floor to ceiling bookshelves in one room in my home, and topped them off with crown molding (my home was build in the 1920's, so it has a lot of moldings anyway) and put cabinets at the base. That helped me cope with some of the clutter. I've also done my own version of "california closets" in all of my closets and organized items in plastic containers that are labeled with a P-touch label maker. When the piles of stuff start to get out of hand I schedule time in my daytimer to tackle them. Get some bottled water, your ipod, and order pizza and plan to make an afternoon of it. Sort piles into "keep", "toss", "recycle," "give away," and "sell". Put all the "keep" items in a box then go room to room with the box when you are done, putting each item in it's place (as opposed to taking items to their place as you work). Only plan to do one or two areas in a weekend-otherwise you'll get overwhelmed.

Once everything is sorted and tucked away, the best thing to do is avoid buying stuff! Not so easy in our consumer culture, I know-but just turning off the TV, or at least the commercials-can help with that.

[Stuart G]

18. I linked to this one and ...........oh my gosh????????

Now this is first class filth.....I don't do filth, although I had some issues, but filth was not one of them

That video is amazing...had to shut it off after one minute..thank you very much for the link Lorien...Stuart G.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. That's a great method -- the problem is, it's *work*!

Today would be a perfect day to undertake a decluttering project because it's -11 outside so I'm not going anywhere, but I'm a lazy slob so instead of doing what I need to do, I just sit here amid the clutter (which, fortunately, does not nearly approach the yukitude of that British guy's flat) with my computer and cats and a nice cup of tea. Somebody make me get up off my ass!

[Lorien]

22. I think of it as a *workout*

I set the timer for 20-30 minutes, put on some pulse pounding music (current fave; OK GO's "Oh No") then race myself to see how much I can get done before the timer goes off. I think about how many calories I'm burning and I try to make it into a game of sorts. Try having a reward at the end to; scheduled delivery of takeout and a nice DVD to watch, for instance.

[NMDemDist2]

23. but that's the key, you see! DON'T get off your ass at all

organize and clean up the top of your desk

then the piles you can reach easily

stop frequently to check DU and sip your tea

rinse repeat

:hi:

[catmandu57]

24. I go in spurts

Right now it's accumulation time, I have a pile of papers printed out some time ago sitting on the top shelf of my desk, what they are I'm really not sure. A yearly calendar from 2006 and 2007 lying here looking at me. someday I'll get ambitious shut DU down for the day and get things in order.
My old isp used to go out every so often, some times for days, then I'd get things clean, this one never does so I'm way behind. I need a maid.

[Rabrrrrrr]

26. And don't forget freecycle - great way to let other people's need and greed help you out.

http://www.freecycle.org/

Don't want to take that old computer or printer or other thing to the dump or recycling center? Advertise it on freecycle, and someone will take it within hours.

Got a great big pile of cardboard? Freecycle it, and it'll be gone in hours.

Old furniture? Broken shit? Any kind of junk?

Freecyclers will come right to your home and take it all away for you for free.

[Lorien]

27. I love Freecycle!

I've gotten rid of so much stuff through them. The only problem is getting all the emails everyday. It fills up my inbox in no time.

[sleepyhead]

58. You can opt out of the daily emails if you want.

I only go to the site if I have something to give away - first I check to see if someone wants what I have, then if not I will post. I reply to the person that I want to give the stuff to, then I save a "canned" response for the rest (something like: sorry, it's been taken, but I'll let you know if the deal falls through) and then paste my way through the other requests. It usually doesn't take too long. Freecycle is the best!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. Thanks for that! I didn't know about Freecycle, but I think I can put it to good use.

[Stuart G]

30. Thank you very much for freecycle.....It will help

..I appreciate this one a great deal.. I think that it could solve much of my problem, yet there is a fear component of this that often overwhelms me. A nagging feeling that I may use .. it someday ...is what is at the bottom of my issue. But I don't use it someday, and time is wasted thinking about using it someday, or looking though the stuff to see if I am going to use it someday.

..For it is not only the clutter itself, it is the waste of time in dealing with it one way or the other. So it is a clutter problem, but a time and fear problem too.

[Rabrrrrrr]

32. I deal with the "I might use it some day" conundrum this way

If I haven't used it in a year, than I will likely never use it again, so I get rid of it.

I also know that, if at some point for some reason, I *do* need it in the future, I can go buy one or more than likely, borrow one. Or improvise.

I also strive not to buy anything that will be used just once or twice - I'll borrow stuff for those instances.

Each spring and fall I go through the closets, and anything that hasn't been worn in a year goes out.

I also had a period of moving every year, and living in small NYC apartments - both of which helped me get over my acquisitive nature.

And when I buy stuff now, I try to really think about it, and ask myself, "Will I still want this in a year? Five years? Why am I really buying this?"

That's kept me from buying a lot of crap through impulse purchases.


And yes, it isn't the clutter itself (though visually it drives me crazy), it's the wasted time that clutter represents and requires, and the wasted space that clutter and saving stuff far longer than it needs to be saved requires.

[Flatline]

34. My room is being hijack by computer stuff

I have enough towers, motherboards, CD Drives and video cards to make about 3 more PC's hmmmmmm I understand your dismay there you might need something after you get rid of it =)

[Maine-ah]

35. my problem is furniture. I have too much

I have one room I'd love to turn into a play room, or maybe enlarge my bedroom, but right now it's holding 2 dressers, 1 china closet 2 rocking chairs, 2 coffee tables, old lamps, old clothes, you name it it's in there. I just need to put it on my front lawn with a "free" sign on it. I find that is the best way to recycle stuff. I did a bunch of stuff last fall, and it was all gone within an hour.

[yellowdogintexas]

36. stuff all over the place. we have a large library of books, DVD's, VHS's and CD's

that fill up several bookshelves. My SO is finishing up transferring all our CD's to the hard drive so the actual discs and boxes can be stored in a more out of the way location. I still have my Auto Folio of course.

I currently have about half a closet of clothes I need to ditch somewhere because I have downsized from an 18 to size 8 and all the intervening clothes need to go (because I am adding new ones that fit) Fortunately I am not a shoe queen!

Throwing away things that might one day be useful is a problem for me. And not letting go of paper is terrible. I was cleaning out a file and found coupons from 2003 which never made it to the grocery store. And I have an odd sock drawer that defies belief.

Don't even begin with the Tupperware! LOL I used to sell it so I have tons and have dispensed with quite a lot of it over the years, either as gifts or in yard sales or to GoodWill.

and no one in this house is very good at hitting the wastebasket.

Been working on it though; my church has a huge rummage sale every spring and I am preparing several boxes of stuff for donation.

[alarimer]

37. I'm a slob, I admit it.

I just do not care about my surroundings much I guess. I've been too busy to even do the dishes lately. They've been piling up for days. But I just do not care.

I have a lot of old electronics that I do not know how to get rid of.

[crispini]

40. Your city should have electronics recycling, or Dell, for example, will take them back.

You're right, it's important to dispose of them properly because they can be quite hazardous to the environment. :hug:

As for not caring about your surroundings, it always seems to me that I am happier when in a clean and tidy house-- you have to put it this way, don't you deserve a clean house?! I know I do! :D

[alarimer]

41. I don't want to do it though.

I want somebody else to do it. There is always something else I would rather be doing.

My city does not have electronics recycling. I am in Texas; we are backwards. There is no bottle deposit law and now in my city they no longer pick up glass for recycling. Not cost-effective they said.

[crispini]

43. That's a bummer about the glass recycling.

If you have small electronics that are still working, you might want to look into Second Rotation -- I sold my phone and iPod there -- I think it's just www.secondrotation.com

Also, I bet you could donate some of that stuff -- I found some likely looking links at:

http://earth911.org/electronics/

I hear you about wanting someone else to clean the house! I wish I could hire someone to do mine. But that's not in the cards -- so I decided to change my thinking about cleaning and see how fast I could get it done. Nowadays I quite enjoy it -- I must be getting odd or something. :)

Cheers! :toast:

[astral]

48. yeah, what ocelot said!

Small place,not enough storage space, piles of clutter, no desire to start. Another cup of coffee instead. It's the weekend. Time to R - E - L - A - X !

I wish I could hire someone to GET me organized / uncluttered and then I'd promise myself I'd KEEP it that way.

But it does bother me. On very rare occasions I have got my place (not this one yet!) kind of uncluttered and organized, and what Crispini said -- I / you / we **deserve** a clean house, and when I wake up to a clean house 'cuz I did the footwork the day (or days!) before, I do feel better.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

55. I am considering hiring one of those professional organizers

because I really doubt I'll ever get off my ass and do it myself. I hate the clutter but I feel so daunted by it that I'd rather just kick back and ignore it.

[Midlodemocrat]

49. When we were adding on to our house, I had a dumpster in the driveway for six weeks.

Nothing spurs you clean out your house like a dumpster. At one point, I had two, one for trash and one for Goodwill.

Now, I don't even have storage in my house. The few things I pull out/put away, (like Christmas) are stored in labeled boxes in the garage.

You should own your possessions, they shouldn't own you.

[madeline_con]

50. Make it a semi-long term project.

Spell edit!

By this, I mean, over the course of say 3 months, go ahead and either use the picture frames you bought cheap at a yard sale, or donate them to a trhift store or other charity.

Look for a curio cabinet or hutch for the stuff you just "have" to keep, and get it in, away from the dust.

Sell some stuff on ebay, if you think it will fetch a few bucks.

Go through your boxes of pics and documnets. Some docs may be so outdated, they're obsolete. Get a file cabinet or those cardboard filers and organize it. You may be able to scan and store some pics on CDs.

Go through your closets, medicine cabinet, and tool box. Get it organized, and throw old crap away. Sell duplicate tools to a pawn shop, or give them away. They're always in demand.

Donate old cell phones and glasses to the charities that refurbish them for elderly or needy people.

Go through pots and pans, dishes, etc. and do the same thing. Do you need five sauce pans the same size?

If you take small chunks at a time, it's way easier. This is what's working for me.

[Quakerfriend]

51. Well, I don't but, my mother did. She and dad bought

a big, old fixer-upper 50 years ago and that is where they raised the six of us girls. The house was huge, and there was a 4000 sq ft barn next to the house. As you can imagine, over the years the place became the storage place for much of our stuff as we kids moved in and out and had our own families.

As mom got into her 70's she found it increasingly impossible to get rid of ANYTHING. We tried to help her, to no avail. We hired people to do the job. She stopped them at every turn. They all eventually gave up and quit. When mom passed away my sisters and I were faced with a big job, as you can imagine. We had stacks and stacks of papers, books, old linens etc- much of it stuff that had belonged to my grand parents and their parents.

We all had to just jump in! At first, we were pretty ^&%$^# mad that she had left us in this situation. But, in the end we were so very thankful for all that she had SAVED.

We found old original pencil drawings, done by my grandmother, of my father as a boy. There was the invitation to my aunt's wedding (from 1940's). We found 1st ed. copies of books written in the early 1800's by our great,great grandfather. And, a 4 page love letter written by my mother- addressed to "All my children"- that had never been sent.

We also found a tiny envelop in the hidden compartment of her desk with the words "sugar money" written in pen and ink on the outside. Inside were 3 silver certificates that our great, great, great grandmother had kept, and six small hand written diaries belonging to her.

Mom had even kept old medicine in the bathroom cabinet. One night as we worked clearing out the cabinets we discovered an old glass bottle filled with picric acid, what was once a common remedy for burns. It turns out that this stuff can be highly explosive!! So, we called the fire dept to ask what we should do with it and,they sent the HAZMAT team over! So, here it is 10pm on a Sunday night and six HAZMAT trucks come down the street, all sirens blaring- In single file, going 15 mph, like a real military drill. They took the stuff out in the field and it went off like a grenade.

:hide:

It was a monstrous job, but it gave us a wonderful time to come together and be together as the family we once were growing up there. And, in the end we were all thankful for the stuff that Mom had saved.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

52. Don Aslett's books are good.

I recommend them highly.

He's written a bunch of them and has a website.

Clutter's Last Stand, Not for Packrats Only, Clutter Free Finally and Forever (I'm quoted anonymously in that one), How to Lose 200 Lbs. in One Weekend, etc.

I've had to clean out my mom's house and it was similar to your situation. Except, as the only surviving child, I had to do it myself, with my best friend's help. There was no other immediate family. I've taken stuff to charities, sent stuff to auction, sent stuff to eBay (Three Sisters Web Sales is selling my depression glass) and given stuff away. It's taken five years. And the house is livable but we're still not through. We moved 22 bookcases, and the books thereon, up there, with help, renting a truck. I'm moving into that house, and I've got stuff to sell in the house I'm moving out of too.

I know we threw away over 200 large trash bags full of pure paper and other junk.

[Quakerfriend]

61. I've often thought about just how hard it would be for an only

child to deal with all of their parents' stuff. Hope you make it OK:hug: !

It took me almost 2 years to 'recover' from all the work.

[grasswire]

53. caution, caution

I'm a dealer in vintage and antique paper items and other vintage things.

I caution anyone with "stuff" older than 1970 to be careful what they throw away. The most seemingly mundane items could be worth real dollars to niche collectors.

You can always check the value of things by looking for something similar on eBay, and I urge you to do so.

Anyone wanting an opinion regarding paper items can always PM me. Having sold an old horse racing program that brought me $450 to a piece of sheet music that earned me over a thousand bucks, I urge everyone to be careful.

That said, old lesson plans are probably not worth a dime. :-(

[riderinthestorm]

54. Craigslist.com has been a lifesaver for me lately

I'm moving in May and need to clear out 3 households worth of stuff that somehow ended up here: my grandmother's stuff (when she went to the nursing home), my dad's (when he downsized), and my own (25 years here).

I've posted the most ridiculous stuff; just last week I posted an ad on the free space on Craigslist for "7 broken air conditioners and 2 tvs, no remotes". I had 102 responses within 24 hours!! People will come and take your shit away, it is shocking!

[Maraya1969]

60. A freecycle group is a great way to recycle things.

http://www.freecycle.org/

I just gave away a craftmatic bed to a man who had emphysema. It felt real good.

Most of the stuff is smaller items, things that you probably have hanging around. I gave away an old briefcase once. Just left it outside and the girl who emailed me came and got it.