Sorting through 40 years of stuff

[MG1912]

Just finished round one of the culling. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. My main concern was my books, but upon close inspection, I realized I only absolutely "needed" to keep 10% of them. The one thing I almost tossed but didn't was a folder full of photographs. In the end, I decided to keep it. I threw away a ton of old mementos and stuff, including boxes and boxes of old receipts, coursework papers from decades ago, etc.

Once I get my camper, it will be round two and taking another, even harder look at my stuff. Taking all those bags of my old stuff to the dump felt great, like a monkey off my back!

(This post was last modified: 08-25-2019, 08:53 AM by MG1912.)

[maki2]

I scanned in all of my photos several years ago and put some backups of them on the web as well as on backup drives and my current computers. I have also scanned in various magazine and newspaper articles and pages in books so that those files are now easy to access on the computer. I do have to keep some physical paper copies of stuff.

[travelaround]

Still working on my mess. The living room is full of things I want to give away, a mountain of empty boxes, and my books (still being sorted through). The clothes are in a corner of my study. Everything else is just a mess. I've emptied two and a half closets and my kitchen cupboards. I'm a long way from done. I gave away most of my furniture already. I have a few pieces left. If I get a cargo trailer I can just take them with me.

[CityWoman]

I've spent the last few days putting out bag after bag of trash.  Tonight I'm appalled at how much useless crap I've hung onto for years, and for stupid reasons.  I dislike the fact that I let myself become so emotionally attached to things. So I am plodding along, and will hopefully get one more bag out on the sidewalk before the sanitation truck comes.

[CityWoman]

I am plodding along, and will hopefully get one more bag out on the sidewalk before the sanitation truck comes.

Got another trash bag out on the curb. Hurrah! Maybe I can even get one more out before they pick up.

So much to do... Found out I have to be ready to get out of my apartment about a week earlier than I thought I needed to. So I'm scrambling and making arrangements.

So much crap... mostly paper. Why did I save so many pieces of paper?

So much ridiculously useless garbage -- yet I can't find my birth certificate. And I have several copies, but no idea where they are. Grrr.

I need to figure out what to do with my mother's ashes!!

(This post was last modified: 08-31-2019, 04:07 AM by CityWoman.)

[travelaround]

My mother's ashes were spread on a hillside near a town she lived a lot of her life in. I can't imagine carrying them around with me.

I have paper clutter too. I'm taking a bundle of it with me to the van to sort through there, each evening. It is easier to do when there's a limited number of things to deal with. Companies that send a return envelope get it back with this message: "I am moving from this address. Please do not send any more mail to this address. There is no forwarding address. I am not interested in buying insurance, getting more credit cards, or buying anything else."

[B and C]

My wife's ashes will be spread in Hawaii according to her wishes. Our son and DIL will do it as they haven't been. They can flush mine down the toilet for all I care. I won't be here in any case.

[travelaround]

*gasp*

Brian... whatever.

Toss me in a lake.

Anyhow, the main thing - don't put me on a shelf or carry me around for ten years.

In the spirit of lightening up...

Today my main task is to sort out all the little items that came out of the cupboards in my bathroom. Should be easy enough. Tomorrow I'm back to sorting books and making emotional decisions about them.

I should have a box labeled "emotional decisions" for ... you know, those kinds of things women get sentimental over. Then at the very end take a look at what space is still available in the van... and what's in my box. Decide then.

[CityWoman]

This past weekend, I signed up for a small storage unit and loaded in my 1st batch of stuff. I hired someone I knew from my old job and he brought a helper. They were quick and efficient, and it was over before I knew it. It felt a bit unreal, but also a bit exhilarating! I have a few more pieces to store and the same guy will haul the second and final batch over there at the end of this week. Then my apartment will be nearly empty.

So, there's more decluttering and sorting to do. I looked on Freecycle and contacted some people with requests to let them know I had what they were looking for. One of them picked up last night, and another is coming tomorrow. Feels good to be able to give away stuff, knowing that the people I give it to really want it.

There are still plenty of items which I'm still pretty indecisive about whether or not to keep or let go, but I did actually enjoy getting rid of things that I used to be emotionally attached to. I lost count of how many giant trash bags I've thrown out. I'll have about three or four more to bring out tonight. Phew! It's getting real.

(This post was last modified: 09-09-2019, 09:00 PM by CityWoman.)

[ckelly78z]

Excess papers from long ago financial transactions make wonderful campfire starters, and are rather symbolic of what you are trying to achieve. All of this clutter that dimmed your outlook for so many years, can be used to spark a flicker of hope (pun intended) !