Decluttering/Minimalism

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising is well worth a read.

Ordered. More shit I don't need

Moving onto a boat last year was a great opportunity to get rid of shit, really enjoyed the catharsis after collecting shit for years. Also, why keep stuff I don't need when plenty of other people do?

Records - gave Record Rescue in Camden many hundreds of elpees and CDs. They raise money for animal, homeless and women's charities. When my mate who works there told me some of my vinyl was going for £40 a pop, there was a brief 'Gnnhhhhh' moment, but puppies, homelesses and battered women...

Clothes - all to Crisis - and as I volunteer for them, get to see people wandering around in stuff that was just cluttering a wardrobe.

Books - Shelter shop - just kept a few I really wanted to keep on the shelves.

Other stuff - put it on the wall, let the resyk faeries take it away.

Life is better for letting go.

Is that the Konmari one? The woman comes across as delusional.

SHe does recommend you freecycle the book when done

I kept all the vinyl though. I'm not a philistine.

Rep so hard. Glorious line BQ, glorious

I recommend listening to the minimalists podcast. They have different approaches and “rules” to decluttering that makes the process easier.

I've watched a few of their videos and they do seem to have a pretty good attitude about it.
I never want to see another 'Minimalist apartment tour' ever though. Its fine if you're 21 and haven't accumulated half a lifetime of shit.

Its slow going on my decluttering. I've taken about 6 bags of shoes, books, dvd's and assorted stuff to the charity shop. (You'd have thought I'd have learnt my lesson after buying my second water filter jug). Also 4 bin bags out. It doesn't seem to be making much of a dent though.

The thought of Ebay is making me feel just a little anxious. Some good strategies above so I just need to get on with it I guess. HK Dragon Action figures anyone?

I've just come to terms that I love collecting things, and it's part of who I am. In the absence of wooly mammoths to chase, my hunter/gatherer genes are satisfied by the tracking down of rare, but pointless tat.

This is why I have 2 x Big Yellow storage units...

I've been shedding stuff in a few big clear outs over the last several years, piles of mags, paper, DVDs, old clothes, stuff I'm realistically never going to need, even though I am one of those 'maybe I'll need that one day' people, have to be brutal, I'll allow myself personal effects and nice books which I can store neatly away but I've always wanted to counteract my cluttered mind by having order in the world around me, and have found that stripping back to the essentials really helps, it's not like I'm breaking the idea of not being materialistic or anything but I've always thought we breeze through this world in the blink of an eye so what's the point collecting superfluous stuff. Binning shit you're never going to use but think you might one day is really stress-busting. Keep meaning to read that book but haven't in 4 years and beat yourself up in a minute way every time you think about it? BIN.

Not sure you can say you've got rid of the stuff you don't need if you keep your vinyl.

That Netflix documentary Minimalism really struck me

It's not just about items either, it's a whole recoding your attitude, like having a DVD knocking around for years, what if I want to watch it one day, well it'll be on one of the streaming channels, but what if it's not, well watch something else, or do something else, easy

Letting go is a really good way of putting it, it does feel like that

Less things = the things you do have being more likely to be cared for and by consequence actually work as intended.

Bit of a cult, no? They don't even have pictures on their walls!

The process I used when decuttering was pretty simple:

When you think about how long you will live then how long it takes to read a book, are you ever actually going to read any of your books again? Are you actually going to read half the ones in your 'to be read' pile? Do you need 3000 CDs or do you actually need a Mac Mini with a bunch of MP3s on? Are you ever going to fit into those shirts of optimism? Will that jacket really come back into fashion? Do you need quite so many knackered T-shirts saved for the "when I am doing DIY" drawer? Are you really going to do that sport again? Do you even like riding that bike?

Haha, PREACH my man

The main guys response to anyone offering their hand for a shake was 'I'm a hugger, bro'. I think you misspelled 'cult'.

This thread is very relevant to me at the moment, I live in a big 3 bed roomed flat currently alone and so I have lots space for things to accumulate. Add in the separate garage, and theres lots that could be gotten rid of.

my other half and I are also looking to move to Sweden sometime in the next year so going over with as little as possible seems to be a no brainer for me. honestly do I need the 300 dvds that are gathering dust on my shelves? do I need the 200 cds that I have put into boxes and are sitting in my garage?

Do i need the 2 motorbikes that I dont ride? or the 5 bikes? or the armchair sitting in my garage under a tarp because it doesnt actually fit up the stairs to my flat but would be great when my GF and I move into a new place?

The winter has left my mood..difficult to deal with and like you im anxious about using ebay but I might do the dvds in a job lot rather than all separates. removing all the items in the garage so I can save £35pm would be a big success moment mentally.

I read a story a while ago that i can no longer find about a man championing his method of decluttering. He moved house and when doing so he boxed everything up and labelled each box up fully with the contents.

In his new place he kept everything in boxes and only removed items as and when he needed/wanted them out. After a year any items still in boxes he was ruthless and got rid of them.
I think thats a little extreme but I can appreciate the method and sentiment.

Watched that last night on your recommendation. Great little watch 👍🏼

I have no desire to have less stuff. Am I weird?

Took a full car boot of CDs to Flashback in Essex Road yesterday - gained some space in the man cave, a bit of spending money for my holidays and a 10” vinyl box set of the Thundercat album as a sweetener.

This could be the start of a larger clearout - feels good.

Anybody want some old cycling magazines? (This may be the wrong thread for this...)

I’d say not at all - but I think so often people think ‘more stuff is more stuff that I can love/enjoy’ etc but I don’t know if you’re actually able to have infinite enjoyment and appreciation from stuff. But everyone’s bound to be different. If you’re enjoyment and love for stuff is divided up over fewer things, that means more appreciation per item, that’s how I think anyway!

^^^ I'm partly with you. I accept that I have too much stuff that I don't want, and would be better off without. On the other hand my target amount of stuff is still a lot of stuff.

I'm very materialistic in the sense that I like Things. I have many things that make me happy. I like having sentimental shit around. I'm also actually a pretty big fan of "I might want that someday". That shit makes me feel secure and, yes, happy. And it means that I have a lot of the things I need. The crap I know I'll never need but I haven't filtered out properly is the stuff that makes me anxious. But the thought of wanting to buy stuff or having to buy stuff also makes me anxious. Minimalism would be unbearable.

There is a neurotic element which is that the "material resources" are a kind of physical manifestation of the hope that one day I will have time to make things. And if I get rid of them, that hope is gone. And that feels like a small part of me dies. Which is not necessarily healthy, but we all have our foibles.

The 1 year or 3 year rule or whatever just doesn't work for me. Last year I met up with some uni friends for a 20 year reunion and amused myself by wearing some of the same clothes I did when I was 18 and first met them. I happen to be wearing those things a lot at the moment, but I'm pretty sure there was at least a 5 year gap when I just didn't feel like wearing them. I do that a lot with clothes, and I don't mind. I don't buy a lot of clothes, I just find new/old things to wear amongst my existing things. Fortunately I don't feel the need to be in fashion.

I'm a bit of a hoarder. I hold onto things. But it makes me anxious/stressed when it's not organised enough, too much stuff so I can't access/find/use the things I've got - that's happened more in the last few years and that's what I want to sort out.

I've also been the one that things get passed down to - parents, siblings, cousins, housemates, so I have an awful lot of other people's stuff. I'm getting better at feeling like I can get rid of some of that. Family and friends aren't big on pointless presents, which is good.

I have no desire to have less stuff. Am I weird?

Not at all. But imagine going into the Teetotalism thread and saying:

I have no desire to not drink. Am I weird?

I kid, I kid. Maybe you already have your ideal amount of stuff? No need to get rid of more then, ay?