Tips for an uncluttered existance

[skalie]

#1 Only keep things that you are passionate about.

#2 Dispense with things you "might" need.

#3 If you haven't been wearing something, throw it out.

[ms. bing]

RW and I were discussing this very thing yesterday. He pointed out that Kerouac once said "Anything you havent seen, used or played with in the last 6 months, throw it out".
Personally I'm a big fan of that theory. Perhaps too big. When I finally get my own place, all the furniture I will own will be a toddler bed, two dressers (one of which is falling apart) two bookcases, a filing cabinet and an endtable.

[Escape Artist]

It's also potentially a good way to end up with absolutely nothing that in retrospect you consider useful or meaningful.

Guess I'll throw out the tools, family photos dating back a century, etc. :p

[skalie]

#4 Rationalise sentimental items and keep them in one place.

[Cruise Director]

I used to be a packrat. There were things that I had to keep from the time I moved out of my folks house. Some of these items stayed in boxes through three or four moves. Finally, I tossed the boxes without even looking in them.

I figure if there was something in there that I needed, I would have retrieved it prior to a few of those moves.

I don't packrat anymore.

[skalie]

#5 Limit your coathangers

[jess]

I'm not too big of a packrat. But on number 3 I am the opposite. I buy clothes, never wear them, and keep them just in case one day I'll wear them. Guess that's why my closets so cluttered. Hmm, maybe I should get rid of some shit. :D

[ms. bing]

i have turned the clothes-horsing tendencies of a few individuals to my own advantage.
i am known as the hand-me-down queen of tyler texas. on any given day 80% of the clothes i am wearing will have been given to me by someone else, and i am now not only getting clothes handed down for my daughter, but as my friends get their children potty-trained i am getting pull-ups and diapers as well.
that is economizing, buddy.
i guess i'm the opposite of packrat. i'm incredibly cheap.

[Barbie]

Every year I give approximately 5 large boxes worth of "stuff" to the Cerebral Palsy Association.

twice a year I go through my files to throw out/shred anything I'm not needing. (except Tax stuff)

once a year, I go through my trucks which have all of my inherited items. Most of the useless but holding alot of sentimental value. I look and each item, rehash a memory, think about throwing out the item, but remember the memory would not have happened if I had thrown out the item. I haven't thrown out anything from my trunk.

[skalie]

#6 Keep reviewing how you feel about things.

[MAC]

#6 is guaranteed to keep you from ever DOING anything

[Rabble Rouser]

Originally posted by Cruise Director
I used to be a packrat. There were things that I had to keep from the time I moved out of my folks house. Some of these items stayed in boxes through three or four moves. Finally, I tossed the boxes without even looking in them.

I figure if there was something in there that I needed, I would have retrieved it prior to a few of those moves.

I don't packrat anymore.

That's what got me started on throwing stuff out. I'm terrible when it comes to getting rid of things. No matter how badly I want to throw things out, I can't do it. It's not even the "well, I might need it someday," rationale. It's more along the lines of, "well, I paid for it, and throwing it out would be such a waste."

I had recently put several boxes of things in the attic, and left them up there for a few months. After getting screamed at by my family for it (because, you know, I'm the only person with stuff in the attic :rolleyes: ), I went up there and gave several boxes to Goodwill. I didn't go through them at all (just looked in them to make sure I wasn't throwing away bills or stuff like that)...I figured that if they sat up there for a few months without being touched, I didn't need them.

That was about a month ago, and I don't miss any of it.

Now, I just have to do the same with all the crap that's crowding me out of this room.