Too much stuff!! Isn’t that a common complaint when we head out to the garage or go to our offices? After 60, 70, or 80 years on this planet, most of us have collected more stuff than we really use. Unfortunately, the process of getting rid of clothes we will never wear again, tools we don’t use, books we have already read, and other ephemera gathering dust around our homes is not as easy as it should be. In this episode, the old codgers examine their own “too much stuff” problem and offer some suggestions about reducing clutter. The guys are definitely not Marie Kondo, the queen of decluttering, but their hints might help our a few folks. They all committed to a stuff-reduction program in their own lives and will report back later this year on the success of their stuff-reduction efforts.
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I love snpwball idea, however I think I woukd do 1 – 6 (ie day one 1 item, day 2 two items, have a rest day and the start again at day 1, … also my dearest friend (who I met at 8 years of age) recently had to clear her mother’s house, and sadly soon after her brother’s house, as both passed suddenly. As a result she started clearing her own house and “cleansed” it of llove letters from boyfriends who pre dated her husband. And to quote her “if I died suddenly I would not want them to read them and re think me!” … of course now I am curious to read them… but alas they have been cleansed,
I am going to try the Snowball method. I’ll let you know how I get on, and sadly no love letters from ex boyfriends to share or hide from the world.
Patricia
The “letters” are another really good reason for a Swedish death cleaning. What else is hidden in your stuff that might prove uncomfortable or embarrassing?
I recently learned about your website and podcast, actually this morning. I really enjoyed listening to the podcast and plan to share with my siblings hoping they also could enjoy you guys!
I definitely can relate to Too Much Stuff as I have been reading decluttering articles for at least a couple of years now. I find that reading these articles helps motivate me to continue working towards reducing my stuff. I have made a lot of progress (in my eyes) with many trips donating to the local community thrift stores. Mostly my motivation is the idea of letting someone else enjoy the items. So for now I will continue working towards letting go because I still have a lot of stuff.
So glad to have learned of your website!
-Jeannie
Hi Jeannie,
Thanks for joining us at Camp Codger. Good luck with making progress on your “letting go” campaign. It’s always a challenge to take the first step, but easier once you get started. I need to take the first step in my office cleaning soon.
I loved this! Another tool (which doesn’t count as stuff) to aid in getting rid of stuff: plan where the discarded stuff is going to go. Sure, sometimes it will be the local landfill. But lots of your useful stuff will be useful to someone else. This way you have an attractive force pulling the stuff away, as well as your repulsive force pushing on it!
Excellent point. Recycle-reuse is the primary choice but sometimes the dump is in order. The challenge is when you have too much for the trash bin but not enough to make a dump run worthwhile. “Storing” trash to top off the trash bin over the course of several weeks is an option.