stuff

Then there is all the stuff inherited over the years from deceased relatives: stuff too good to throw away !

Clearing out my mother's bungalow and all her stuff (you wouldn't believe how much she'd accumulated) led to DH's stroke, I'm sure of it. I was still working and helping with DGCs as well as settling Mum into an assisted living flat. DH worked his socks off and nobody noticed he wasn't well.

We won't be doing that to our kids. When we downsized, everything we no longer needed went to our local EMMAUS.

We have stuff but it's not ours. It's DD's since her marriage broke up she has had several moves for various reasons. She now has a flat about 30 mins away and H and I thought, yes, the stuff will go. No, we have lost about a third. When asked about the rest of it all I got was "Mum it's a one bed flat !"
So the stuff remains in the garage, in the loft, in the spare room .....

We have a similar garage petunia it’s what garages are for I believe.
I don’t have any leggings though, of any colour, but I seem to own far too many socks, shoes and handbags than is entirely normal.
Clothes are now bought on a ‘one in and one out basis’ and I have a few drawers in the house filled with ‘odds and ends’
You know the kind of thing, old coasters, pencils, tops from hot water bottles, packs of plasters, string, elastic bands etc.

I hate stuff, clutter, nicknacks, crap, call it what you will, always have.
One of the joys of my volunteering in a charity shop is dumping as many rubbish ornaments, pictures, clothes in the bin. I'm always saying to the girls " this will never see the light of day again "

ha ha. many thanks ladies. i am not alone. and yes, inherited stuff-what to do. the 1798 photos where 99% are people you do not recognize.the 3 gross of unmatched glasses.17 cardigans still in their original packaging (1962), a 1940 corset, 5 potato mashers, 6 henry hoovers....ah they have to go.otherwise they need sorting, cleaning, tidying, thinking about. stuff you see, it take over

Be ruthless and tackle a room or garage or loft at a time. It doesn't matter how long it takes, spread the extra rubbish over many weeks and months. I've decided to convert the back part of my integral garage into a second bathroom so I have a good reason for a good clear out. So all the crap that my ex husband left behind, joined by that of both sons leaving stuff for a couple of weeks, plus my own accumulated clutter will be going to the tip or charity shop. Plus my eldest son as asked if he can have some of my duplicate tools. I shall watch that one closely otherwise he'll pinch all the good stuff and leave me with the crap, but anyone offering a new home for anything in there can have a rummage. I'm sure I have no clue what's in there but at the moment it's just wasted space accumulating rubbish.

I always tell younger friends and colleagues moving into a house for the first time to nail the loft shut and never put anything in it. Putting things in the loft simply delays the decision to get rid of stuff.

The next best thing to changing our own habits is that our adult kids have learnt from the stuff they have to wade through to get to their own rooms. Thank heavens they won't make the same mistakes as we have.

So with a bit of luck, our DGC will have little to go through when their parents die. But they won't find so many happy memories!

ladies we are sisters as far as stuff is concerned

I’ve recently moved from a big house in France to a very small house in England.
I only kept those things I loved, but with a very practical eye on how little space we’d end up with. For instance, I had quite a bit of my mother’s china, but kept just one piece that encapsulated everything - the custard jug! I adore it.

Without a doubt, it has been a remarkably refreshing, clarifying and uplifting experience.

I can’t think of anything I really miss.

When I was disposing of so much, I asked myself to what purpose it served me. Simple answer .... it didn’t serve any purpose.

Our lifestyle, in terms of ‘stuff’, has radically changed, and so far, so good.

No good whinging on .... who’s in charge, the stuff or you?

I could have written the OP myself, Petunia, though I don't have a garage - that had to be emptied when I downsized 18 years ago. Plans to be minimalist in my smaller house have long ago gone by the board and DS1 already got rid of what he considered unnecessary stuff when I was out of action with a fractured shoulder! I may have sneaked in a few items to make up the loss.

And I'm another one who could have written the OP myself!
I hate having all this stuff filling the house and probably wouldn't notice if somebody stole half of it... I've read books about decluttering and am trying very hard now! My clutter is mostly arty crafty stuff and as I dip into different activities at random I keep things so I'm all prepared and ready to go if the patchwork/embroidery/watercolour/knitting/etc etc bug suddenly strikes again.

Thing is you look at my house and think I'm a neat freak, no clutter on every surface, each shelf has one or two strategically placed items. I hate dust and dust gatherers but the garage, the shed and the loft conceal a multitude of no doubt useful items waiting for me to find a use for them, it's that or the tip. So I think I'll invite everyone to have a rummage and get shot of the rest. Sounds easy enough but we'll see.

I’m another one who could have written this post,petunia, my stuff is beginning to scare me!! I think it’s beginning to take me over, just how many tee shirts and balls of wool do I need? The problem now is that because I have so much stuff of my own,friends are passing things onto me as they think they are giving me stuff that I will find useful! HELP I think I need to get to the charity shop quickly.

A few years ago we moved from a 4 bedroomed house with a garage to a 2 bedroomed terraced town house . It’s amazing what you can part with when you have no choice . My only real problems are CD’s , books and cushions ( I can’t resist a nice cushion) .

ninathenana I can sympathise! Although DD is attempting to sort through it before she leaves again this afternoon ….. so, from being out of sight in the attic, cupboards it is now spread everywhere

… must crack on (or crack the whip!)

I was drawn to read these posts but can hardly bear it. Our house is FULL of stuff - see a space and put something in it is DH's mantra. It drives me mad as I can't clean properly but he won't give anything up 'just in case' and 'for posterity'. It's an absolutely darling but oh dear................I rarely invite people round as I'm so embarrassed - he knows this but just can't help himself. I think it is a 'disorder'!!!! His father was similar though not quite as bad

I've got an advert for 'Marie Kondo' decluttering tips at the bottom of my screen now.

Please can we have a decluttering club. Our place is dreadful. I tackle it then stuff builds up again. I have good intentions of doing things. Like steam cleaning but never use the mop. And I hate waste. Then cant find something so go and buy some more.

A de-cluttering club sounds great. anyone else fancy it

DD is doing a grand job up there (lots of crashes and bangs anyway )
Shall I ask her to set the ground rules?

I have lost one of my vacuum cleaners and it is driving g me mad! Just proves that I have too much stuff!