Check out one of our most popular videos - *4 Major Social Security Updates for 2024: What You Must Know* -> ruclips.net/video/zBCmA5Xx7U0/видео.htmlsi=UKlzbdkAe1kuk20O
When I started decluttering I found that an unexpected side effect of this process was that decluttering can actually help your peace of mind directly. Once I started selling, donating and dumping unneeded items I realized that all those items that were gone no longer took up mental and emotional space in my head. I felt lighter and more free mentally and emotionally after divesting myself of unneeded items that I had been piling up, managing, organizing and moving from house to house for decades. There were times when I got rid of items and had second thoughts but by the next day I always found that the momentary feeling of separation regret had changed to relief and gratitude that the items were now out of my life and I didn't need to deal with them any more. Declutter your life, declutter your self.
When I sold my house in the US, I had an estate sale company liquidate everything. It was the best feeling. I had cash and a sense of freedom. I haven’t missed a thing.
We tried calling one for the mother in law house....they asked if the value of items was over $10,000....we laughed.....junk and more junk. We had a garage sale and seriously sold NOTHING....wasted $5 for the city garage sale permit.
@@jimv77We had a similar problem with my in-law’s house…. They inherited a house, took what they wanted there (8 blocks away) and left the rest sit FOR TEN YEARS. Yes, double bills and maintenance for no reason. Vagrants were starting to get in it etc. Finally got them to sell the original house that was full of crap we mostly threw out. It sold in one week. Such a waste of energy and money all because they didn’t feel like dealing with it. Now they are filling up their current house with crap. Broken chair? To the basement it goes!!
Our first experience tackling this in earnest came when my Mother-in-law passed away. She had a small home that was packed to the rafters and presented what seemed like a monumental (and emotional) task. My wife, as Executor wisely invited friends/family in to take what they wanted, then we had an estate sale company come in and liquidate all the rest! It inspired us to start tackling what has variously been called a "Danish cleanse" (amongst others) with the idea to declutter as a gift to our kids and spare them the pain when our final day comes.
@@13noman1actually I'm mad about my mother's decluttering. She got rid of the good stuff and kept the garbage. She was going to sell her wedding china - first year edition of Old English Roses - but my husband insisted on buying it from her for $200. She didn't need the money.
Something I found helpful is to decide on a certain number of items to get rid of per day. For a long time it was 7 items. That is approximately 210 items per month and makes a big difference. The beauty of this method is that it gets you in the habit of thinking about automatically culling. In addition to the set number of items, you must practice the one in, one out method so that you are not undoing all of your good work with a new accumulation.
We were having a new roof done on our home. A large garbage container was delivered in our driveway. After the old roof was disposed of, the contractor said, feel free to lad up the rest of the container. We filled it up with 30 years of junk! What a good feeling it was!!
When I retired I didn’t have a need for my large wardrobe anymore. I worked in a professional career field and wore dresses and skirts with nice leather shoes. I found a battered women's shelter and took several bags of my neatly folded career outfits. It was perfect since the residents were trying to begin a new life and needed to find employment. I cleared out my closet and it felt good. I also got the tax benefit for the donation.
I was paying for mini-storage when I finally realized that I did not need all that junk. No more storage. The only things I kept was my field jacket from the Army. 26+ years of service. Today I am retired and a volunteer at my local VA Hospital.
I’m 52 and an empty nester now. I grew up with parents who were thrifty and they kept everything because it had value or was sentimental, etc. I have learned that declutterring and living with less is a lifestyle. It is a practice and not something that can be done in a weekend or over a months. It’s like eating healthy and working out. It’s a daily practice. I’m slowly adopting these new practices and it feels great when I let go of things I no longer need. I also have learned to adopt the understanding that there are chapters in life and each chapter has different needs. My child-rearing years are over so I no longer need toys and extra space, etc, I’m in a new chapter now so my needs are different.
My buddy could qualify for that show! When he moved from one house to a larger one (to hold all his junk - Not ALL of it is junk, I guess), he also moved something like 200 old, unread newspapers that he intended to read "some day". When we all told him moving was the PERFECT opportunity to get rid of (at least) the newspapers, he got angry with us. I think he STILL has those papers in his spare room! 🙂
Lots of us grew up with depressive era parents or grandparents. They saved everything just in case. I cleaned out our family home a few years ago. Hardly any valuables. Young people don’t want the old stuff! We’re committed to avoiding clutter in our new home. The photos are a killer and still a few boxes in the cellar but significant progress! Thx
I have to fight my hoarder tendencies, and my parents were not hoarders. When I empty out a nice, large and well-shaped plastic container with a great lid, like a dishwasher tabs container, I cannot avoid thinking, "what could I do with this?" I have to talk myself out of saving it. Meanwhile I have Tupperware type containers falling out of my cabinets. I have made peace with the fact that one always has to maintain diligence in getting rid of clutter by not giving it an invitation in the first place.
Yes, our dear depression Era parents taught us how to hold on to everything but not how to let anything go. This applies to mental as well as physical things.
@@alexstokowsky6360there is a very creative person inside you if you're thinking of alternate uses for everyday objects. You are a latent environmental artist!
Thank goodness my mother isn’t a “ collector “.. she lives in a 15 room house, nicely furnished, well kept…no jam packed drawers, closets or cupboards…She was born in 1930 so I guess depression. Just not a stuff collector.
Several years ago when we decided to move, we decluttered our house to stage it for sale and put the extra stuff in a storage unit which we rented for that purpose. The economy being what it was, it took a few years to sell the house before we could move. During that time, we realized that we enjoyed living in a decluttered house and had not missed anything in that storage unit. When we moved into our new house and cleaned out that unit, almost all of the stuff in it ended up being either thrown or given away. Also, if you are keeping an item for sentimental value, consider taking a digital picture of it and getting rid of it.
@@kevinh5349 that’s what I do? I was briefly an author (of two small books) in my 20s, and I met all kinds of other authors who gave me their signed books. 20 years later, I took pictures of the books and the signed title pages, then threw them out. I also took digital pictures of original artwork I’d bought or received as gifts, and sold it all.
Eight years ago, a fire started in the overhead of our garage, most likely with wiring to a garage door opener. It took 5 1/2 hours for the firemen to put the fire out and the house was destroyed. All of us, including our dog, were fine. Suddenly, we had 25 years worth of stuff decluttered. There were a few things, including a few pieces of my grandparents furnature, that I wish had survived, but most things were not missed.
Don't underestimate the power of this decluttering method. Using Kondo's system to declutter led in about two years to being able to retire early....It made me more conscious of all purchases, the peace from having an uncluttered home made me not want clutter again, allowed me to downsize from owning two homes, to selling one and moving full time into the smaller one, and selling my stuff (eBay, garage sales) made me about $15,000. Also, when I needed something or want something, I now buy almost exclusively secondhand from eBay, Craigslist or at thrift store, also saving money and that meant I could also afford nicer quality things at a good price that will last longer. Lastly, I reclaimed so much time not having to shop for, clean and take care of stuff, so I was able to spend more time with my animals and with the people I love.
My hurdle is that I am a creative person. I can look at just about anything and figure out a use for it. I have to say, to myself, "Yes, you could do something with that but WILL you?" Then be honest and admit that I won't get around to it. It's helped.
Feel you on that. But where I’m at with my “”abundance of possibility” is that I actually achieve very little. I’m pulled in so many directions that nothing gets enough attention to truly create a finished project. I have also had to execute the estate of an aunt. She didn’t have a bunch of excess stuff, she bought high quality stuff, and she took good care of it. It was educational to see how much of that stuff was barely good enough for donation to charity. Ultimately it is just used stuff. All of the creative potential that you see is probably unmitigated junk. Pick a couple of things that you really want to focus on and jettison the rest. A friend helped me by telling me that if I do need a new project in the future, she was sure I’d be able to find one. That was a major truth, and it helped me get rid of a lot of projects that I don’t miss. I’m still thinning the herd. Start getting rid of that “possibility pile” and find real peace by being able to focus.
My senior citizen (80+) family members have this cringy habit of saying, “That’s probably worth something!” as I’m eying the garbage can. Okay, dude, YOU find the buyer for that 1978 water damaged calendar with mouse chew marks on it. Of course they want nothing to do with that task… They just want to add to the hoard. I will not leave my kids with such a mess.
Man, you are speaking to me! I cannot feel good in a messy home. After raising a family of four kids in a six bedroom home for 18 years, we decided to downsize. We had a huge walk-in attic that spanned overtop of our two car garage and family room. It was stacked bottom to top with 18 years worth of Easter baskets, broken Christmas toys , picture boxes, work awards etc. it took 18 years to gather this crap and two days to place about 20% of it in a giveaway pile and the rest into the biggest dumpster we could find to rent. It was hardest on my wife but at the end of the day we were both just so relieved. We live in a two bedroom condo now and life is much better.
It is harder on a female as there are emotions attached to all that stuff. I always think about what the kids did when they had it while my DH was at the office. I do eventually get rid of things but it takes a bit longer as I must psychologically come to terms with getting rid of it. Just glad I did now rather than leaving it to my kids.
Excellent video and applicable to not only de-cluttering, but preparing for a simpler life in retirement. You mentioned dealing with photo albums and here's a suggestion: after you sort what you want to keep, scan them into digital images. You'll have immediate access to them on your phone or computer. If you're like me and retire abroad it's one less thing to pack and bring along.
With the plan to retire and significantly downsize in 2-3 years, I have been working slowly and steadily to declutter, I began with the bedroom for the reason you described - it was the first and last thing I saw every day so it set the tone. This summer's big project is the garage I had held off on because it was filled with boxes of stuff from my mother, father-in-law and husband, who all passed away within a couple years. Having done the less emotional work, I felt strong enough to engage this project and with each load of stuff being brought to the dump/recycle center or given away to friends who welcomed them, I have felt stronger and more empowered, and surprisingly, more healed. Great video, thanks
I have the same story as you explain! I ask myself, “When you move, do you want to take that with you? Do you want to pay someone to move that into a new house?” A lot of times, the answer is “No,” and out it goes!
I'm in the same boat! I've inherited pictures of people I don't know! Trinkets and various notebooks and such that if something happens to me (& it's going to hapoen to all of us) it will end up in the trash anyway. Why am I delaying the inevitable? 💁♀️
@@maximac222 YES! I have six boxes of “stuff” from when my mom died in 2009. I started scanning and taking photos of the interesting stuff for me and my siblings but it’s slow going. My kids don’t care about these things so need to get rid of it, plus my own stuff, before I cash in my chips, too! Good luck getting it done!
I found my tribe!! You all are my mirrors; I’ve been left to deal with a storage of my mother’s who was storing personal belongings of my father, brother, and uncle - all who’ve passed. It’s so overwhelming and all that keeps running through my head is, please don’t let me die and leave all my clutter for own two sons to deal with.
@@Crymeariver227 For a while I was taking a manageable “pile” from a box to “handle” for the week. I have a PowerPoint slide deck started with scans of stuff of interest (then throw it out). I have large envelopes for each of my siblings and when I see them they get whatever’s in there (art projects from school, report cards, their own photos, etc). Whatever I decide they get, then it’s gone! I’ve thrown a lot. Now I’m taking a break from it. If you have any family, I’d suggest inviting them over for lunch and spend 2-3 hours going through one box or something manageable. It would be more fun with a partner. What do I do with my grandma’s art project/report about pilgrims in perfect condition dated 1910???? 😳 I might have to put that in a sibling’s envelope for them to save!!!
Two years ago we moved from NY to Florida, we had spent over 30 years in our NY house so it forced us to declutter. We used the system you described but with one added group, stuff to sell. We sold lots of stuff on Facebook marketplace, getting money in exchange for things we didn’t need always felt good.
I did that, too...only, I was particular about only spending time selling something that would net me at least $75 after any fees, because reclaiming my time was a big part of my minimizing goals.
Another Great video, Geoff! What an amazing story about the crib. As it unfolded, I could see the movie scenes playing out in my head. You’re a very gifted storyteller! Ah! Clutter! Yes, I’m guilty…. But it’s only one room- a guest bedroom. Your stellar tips are just the rocket fuel needed to get this task off the ground. Thank you, kindly, Sir! : )
Geoff, my dad was one of the ‘one in ten’ who had a storage locker. When he passed, my brother and i visited the storage facility and I was aghast of the stuff he spent 10-yrs of rent on. We ended up paying someone to haul the stuff away .
I had one at one point and just got a dumpster and purged. Then I did it two more times. It’s amazing how junk creep happens. I know I normally talk about finances, but this is near and dear to my heart.
My father lives in another state that he moved to about 17 years ago when he remarried. I believe he has a storage locker there as well as one or two in the state he relocated from. It's concerning, and it's eating up money that he really needs for other things right now. It's his stuff though, important (to him) pieces of his life.
Since most stuff is trash, I use the garbage can as my barometer. After I put out my weekly trash and recycles, there is always room for more. So I go into the basement, take a quick look around, and see what I can put in the trash for that trash day. This way I am steadily getting rid of stuff. Then once a month I take stuff to charity. I have used this method for years. The fact is when you first put stuff in the basement, you think you are going to use it; but over time, you realize you never will, and it gets outdated and you care about it less.
There is a professional cleaner named Dana K White whose first step of decluttering is this: walk around with a garbage bag and ask, “is it trash?” I do this every 10 days or so, and it’s usually all the decluttering that I need to do!
My main motivators were mental health, less/easier chores, less decision fatigue, less stress. I actually started this journey with The Minimal Mom. But there are many others with great tips. However, if you really want things to stay under control, it is never just one and done. It’s a lifestyle. Things are always coming in, so there needs to be an ongoing exit plan for stuff to leave as well. Right now, it would only take me about an hour (or less) to do a thorough closet declutter. Lol. I can’t imagine ever going back to all that clutter. Lots of photos can be digitized as well.
Great reminder. Like most households we accumulate more clothes than we’ll ever use. We like to repurpose things like t-shirts to wash the car, messy jobs where we know we’re gonna need to throw the rag away anyway. All enjoy your videos!
Just did this with my 85 yo mother. Went from 3300 sq ft house to a 700 sq ft apartment in a retirement community. Four months ago it was truly painful for her and the family. Brothers and sister said oh that’s worth something good take it and sell it. No one did…2 day garage sale and goodwill truck.
UG! The dreaded, “That’s probably worth a lot of money” comment!! Then they do nothing to find a buyer, just tell YOU about it. It’s exhausting. I’ve been through that three times.
I just did this same thing. My mom (house to 700sf apartment) wanted me to sell everything “valuable “ and I said I’d just give her the cash for the small amount it would actually sell for and that if she wanted to hire an estate sale person on top of that she could do it. Lol she dumped it all with an estate agent. ❤
I just moved to Thailand-called 1-800-junk to clear out my condo-sold my van to carmax-gave my TV to my girls-a few boxes of clothes when I come back to visit-and 3 suitcases with me to 🇹🇭-most official documents are online anyway and you can keep your photos on your phone!
We moved overseas in 2016 without knowing if we would return in 4 years or 10 years so we sold /donated/gave away almost all our stuff. The comment we heard over and over again before we left: "We could never do that?" We would ask 'Move overseas?' And people would reply, 'No, sell all our stuff'. We returned in 4 years later in 2020 as the pandemic was just starting and we returned with only suitcases. It felt good to not have all that 'stuff' to come back to.
My wife and I recently started decluttering at age 66 after 46 years of marriage and 4 children. Her idea was similar, with an additional 4th. category of "Sell." Although we donated many items, some were just to valuable and needed to be sold outright. Selling on Craig's List, Face Book Market Place, etc. We earned over $10,000.00 in two months. We are now considering our most trusted charitable groups and will donate a large portion of the funds.
If you haven't traveled much, take some of your money and do that. When my dad was talking about taking another trip out West and how much more value he and my stepmother and he found in that than in the stuff in their house, I said sell it all and just keep going. Enjoy your lives and leave less for me and my stepsister to have to clear out when you're gone. He passed away a few weeks ago, but they did make 4 trips out West, loving every one of them. And we can find happiness in the memory of their happiness in all their trips. Same thing with my mother and stepfather: he retired and she quit her job and they went out West and did mission work for 6 months. Years later, when he had dementia and had suffered a massive stroke, he could still look at the pictures of that trip and remember where they had been and it made him happy. And my mother and I are happy to remember it.
Geoff I found your channel when we were getting our sorry backends out of debt and getting control over our finances. We watch most of your videos and enjoy them immensely. So having paid off everything including mortgage and having a good solid emergency fund and putting a large percent of our income into retirement, we thought it time to expand our horizons and declutter our home. Over the last two months we have removed a literal ton of stuff and we have a rule a bag of stuff out the door every day. Not going to go full minimalist but still a way to go to declutter bliss. This is a timely video thank you.
I love my in-laws but they have had several storage units for literally decades- could’ve bought a small house by now to hold it…. It’s interesting I grew up pretty poor and my husband affluent and he holds on to ridiculous just in case things but I’d be an essentialist bordering on minimalist if I could. In 2020 I donated around 100 bags/boxes of things (I have 4 children) and it helped soooo much! Wish I could purge more!
This is inspiring, thank you. I've seen all the technical descriptions of these processes, but the story and the way you relate it brings some understanding to it. One thing I'd add is that a storage unit, per square ft, is very possibly more expensive per month than a home.
Just watched a video on Swedish Death Cleaning that encompasses not wanting to burden others with your amount of things if you died tomorrow. Reminds me of some articles about families being burdened with all the things after a parent has died and them having to deal with the burden of a hoard.
I had to clean out a house I sold- buyer refused to close unless everything was removed. I ran across a letter written in 1954 from her cousin that was complaining about all the junk an aunt had left and how she hoped neither of them ever left that kind of mess for anyone else! Twilight zone moment. 😮
This video has found me spot on in a particular time in life. I just retired and I am a collector. I plan on selling my collectibles regularly in a 4 country flea market tour. Still I have to decide what stuff I need for myself and what collectibles I want to keep. I am looking forward to this but just having this video show up is like a sign. Thank you.
My wifes parents were organized hoarders since 1960. If they ever de-cluttered they would have probably disposed of many valuable things we found including cash that was stashed away in the 5 figures mixed in utility bills from the 70's.
@@edennis8578 2 Hoosier Hutches, an 1860's steamer truck and alot of souvenirs from the 1933 Chicago worlds Fair was what we got. Along with ALL the family photos going back to the 1890's. There was more but we had no room.
@@cloistereneHow valuable are you talking about? I know people who are spending years of their lives sifting through dead relatives' belongings, plus paying tens of thousands of dollars in storage fees while they do it. Is the stuff you find worth that much time and money out of the inheritor's life?
@@clbcl5My point was that your case is a statistical anomaly. Most people's piles aren't worth the cost to store them; huge wads of cash in those figures are pretty rare. I'm 68 so most of the people I knew growing up have died, and nobody left anything that valuable in the house except my late mother-in-law, who had a box full of thousands of old silver certificate bills in the basement. But it wasn't hidden. She wasn't a hoarder by any means. Rather Spartan.
@@cloistereneThat isn't a dollar value. Do you really think that most people are hiding Rembrandts in between their piles of old magazines? That most people have diamond necklaces stashed in their sock drawers? You ARE funny.
Many years ago I read Marie Kondo’s book and successfully de-cluttered. Ten years on, and I need to do this once again. I’m getting ready to move, so it’s a good time to get going on it!
This has me crying. What a sweet story. You’re a good man and a wonderful friend. Best advice I ever got was don’t put anything in the attic except holiday decorations.
That’s pretty funny but it’s reality. I spent 3 years decluttering our household of eight people down to the two of us who are still here. Thousands of things but my house is still cozy and not stark minimalist. My kids call me a minimalist and I’m happy to claim that title but I still need to go through clothes and paperwork often. I tried Marie Condo’s style and that worked but I also follow Dawn the minimal mom, Cass, and Dana K White, who really keep me on the straight and narrow path😅
I enjoyed your story about the crib and your friend. I was surprised they asked you to move the crib downstairs to the basement and further asked you to rent a truck, come back and take it rather then donate it themselves. I thought it was wonderful that you did that for them. They needed you to help them and it obviously made a big difference for them having your help. You sound like a really good friend. I’m not sure most people would consider that crib to be something they should have to deal with all those years later. Talk about full circle.
I’m guessing the couple must’ve been depressed because they couldn’t have children for some reason and they really wanted them so maybe it was hard to do the crib for themselves. I hope they treated him to a nice dinner or something.
Another method is to line up 3 x large boxes, each labelled 'keep, charity, throw out'. With the determination to not go back in and retrieve anything - but, of course you can, if anxiety takes over! Really enjoyed watching this video.
I recommend the book "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" by Karen Kingston if you need more motivation. That got me started on my detachment and decluttering journey more than 20 years ago.
In the past few months, getting ready to move, I have let go of a storage unit, given away stuff , next step is selling stuff, and throwing away what nobody could want. With each step, the relief grows!
Shinto is not “a religion on decluttering in Japan”. This is quite disrespectful tbh. It is a polytheistic and animistic religion. That’s like saying Christianity is a religion on decluttering, perhaps because some monks or nuns live an ascetic life… but that doesn't mean Christianity is a "religion about decluttering"...
I guess I am between essentialism and traditional. One thing I knew when we moved to a smaller house in retirement was that I didn't want to store anything. We have no basement, we put nothing in the attic, we have a car and toolbox in the garage and garden equipment in the shed. I sold all the Rubbermaid totes. Things get used in the house, placed in the house or neatly in closets or cupboards. Anything else went bye-bye and it feels so good! We had to pare down to things we loved to move here and I am enjoying that.
Great advice Holy Schmidt. After 50 years together in a house 3 times bigger than we now need, when we move, I am OK with an estate sale, and moving to a new location with just some clothes, shoes, and laptops.
I had a gut check, my oldest son is the type that doesn't want any of my collections. I understand, that my style isn't necessarily everyone else's. My daughter said that she would like my jewelry for her and her daughters, as for my youngest son, I have some artwork from when he and I traveled to Ireland. That leaves the bulk to either be donated or thrown out when the time comes. I've actually been working on the decluttering of my things, so my children won't be overwhelmed.
Wow I'm from Chicago. I know the place you're talking about. I do have the clutter problem but I don't have a basement or a storage unit. I need to get rid of all my clutter in my closets. I completely feel you about cleaning up and have innately felt that I need to do this now. 10 years of life changing events and now post- covid, I have been giving away everything to charity. Habitat for Humanity is great for furniture and Donations of clothing to Vietnam veterans. Thank you for this video.
Nice and timely video, much appreciated. This topic comes up frequently in conversations with my friends. I'm in the midst of decluttering a lifetime's worth of stuff. It's very painful because my wife passed away about four years ago and much of it was her's, and heirlooms she acquired from her parents and grandparents. My kids don't want it, so I'm giving away what is salvageable and sending the rest to the dump. I've managed to clear out old (and unneeded) paper records. Any valuable documents have been scanned and categorized on my personal server, so they'll be easy to find. Still more work to do because I'm the executor for my wife, my parents, and her parents, so a lot more papers to deals with.
Six children married…they weren’t given big gifts but were given the opportunity to go through my kitchen to take anything they wanted…one of my girls did canning, I did not, she took all my canning supplies. She is also into soap making and a fiber artist and took things pertaining thereto. Another was into teaching and I let her take all my teaching and etc. with all my kids. They all developed “hand skills.” Especially when putting handyman houses and cars together. My children cleaned out for me!
Reading the title of this video I would think it’s about my husband and I. This September we will be married for 35 years. A lot of clutter can accumulate in this many years especially the longer you stay in one home. We’ve lived in our current home for 22 years with our son. As we’re planning to downsize and have already bought our next home I am very much needing to declutter. My husband doesn’t feel as stressed about it as I do. I want to live with minimal possessions where it doesn’t bother him at all. I am currently working on my own belongings as well as on our basement. I’m making progress and am feeling motivated. Thank you so much for this video.😊
According to the comments here, this is more common than high cholesterol! I'm feeling every bit of this. We have a home (my fil was living in until he passed in Jan) and we have completely removed personal items out of upstairs, moving all estate sale stuff to the 2 car garage. It's full. And this doesn't even include ALL the tools and untold car parts, motorcycle parts, etc... that my husband hasn't gone through yet. It's overwhelming on so many levels! Since we've moved to a smaller farming town, it's astonishing at the country folks that are extreme hoarders in this area. I mean piles of trash strewn throughout the yard not to mention the stacks and piles of stuff on porches, carports, etc... it bothers me for them but what can I do?
A 30 mile drive to the grocery store tends to encourage "stocking up" and sometimes that spreads to more than groceries, I'm afraid. I also have seen this a lot in Country folk. Isolated people also tend to be more depressed, so a situational hoarder is born. Then there are the "crafters" and the "preppers" (prepping is sort of a hobby). You craft because there's nothing to do, and prep because it keeps you busy canning and dehydrating and learning survival skills. All this means crafting supplies and jars and cans all over the place. Yes, this is Country living.
@@YSLRD That's too bad your county doesn't help people who can't afford the trash bill. We all know that metal objects don't burn and that glass takes extreme heat beyond a fire to turn back into sand. Let me guess...do you live in Kentucky?
I recently discovered Buy Nothing…add your town or city to the end. A face book page where you give your stuff away. Not your crap but your good stuff that you either have to haul to the rescue mission, try to sell or end up in the landfill. The idea is not to give it to the first person who comments but the one that feels right. The guy who shares your uncles unique name etc. in these insane inflated times people are hurting. Giving your good crock pot away to a young family with kids is a way to go. Put it on your porch, let the receiver know it’s there’s and it’s done. Gives you a little bit of a warm fuzzy and gets the item out of your house. Highly recommend.
as we age, we find these powerful concepts that leverage so many disparate goals. Minimalism/Decluttering is one of them: 1) you save money by not buying, 2) recipients save money by not buying, 3) you make recipients happy (receiving either things or money saved after your death), 4) you save space, which saves money, 5) you help save the planet, and 6) you end of focusing on what matters in life, nearly all of which are free.
One thing i did to help declutter is if you have things that are from your kids childhood days, school projects...ect...Take pictures of them so you can have a photo memory. It will make it easier fir your brain to let it go. You can clean out a lot of stuff that way, especially for things that are never used but hold a little sentimental value.
Had this problem with my last spouse. If one of something was good, 2 of the same thing was great! I would go through and say we need to declutter. Needless to say that didn't go over well. We have a small house with single car garage and no basement. The buck stopped when she said, we have the garage we can store things thereby not using it as a garage. I said no and the rest is history. My biggest clutter problem went away when she asked for a divorce. It was really quite satisfying when I started cleaning out closets, etc. etc. and donated items. I now have space that I had forgotten existed.
Thank you for your videos, this one is unexpected when compared to the others... So I enjoy it even more! I wonder if you were once a therapist or some king of hypnotist ; Your soft voice is more convincing than any wife-on-a-mission ! Have a great day!
Decluttering videos are especially motivating when the vlogger is showing us how they declutter by actually filming as they DO it. A to Zen Life is a great channel to see someone in action rather than just telling stories about other people-although a little story here and there while we see you doing the work is fine.
I helped a hoarder friend move and get rid of tons of junk when she had to get out of her home quickly, and it caused me so much anxiety. My 87-year old mom recently moved from her home to a small senior apartment, and I helped her get rid of a whole lifetime of things. I live in a small house, and over the years I've accumulated too much stuff. I recently organized my wardrobe down to only clothing I wear right now and LOVE. It feels so nice to look in my closet and dresser drawers and see space. I can breathe. Now, it's time to tackle the rest of the house. The initial trauma is worth the great peace of mind after the difficult task of getting rid of stuff is done.
A few caveats - before you throw away documents related to employment or taxes if you're self employed, doublecheck that Social Security has the correct information. A friend thinks Social Security missed their 2008 earnings but that return was tossed years ago. If one of your jobs enables you to a pension, keep that paperwork, especially if promises were made. If you bought stock back before all the records were digital, keep that. If you're a collector, (a real collector not someone who buys kitschy things) keep the paperwork related to the sale. Your heirs will thank you. Especially if you got a professional appraisal. If you own a home, I keep paperwork on the major improvements (the new roof, the new furnace, the new electrical panel) forever. The stove, the fridge, the tv - there I agree with Geoff. But unless you've digitized everything, sometimes the piece of paper you need is an actual piece of paper.
Digitalize everything! A double sided scanner does 35 pages par minute, takes up little space, and costs $400. It produces machine readable .pdf files that can be indexed and searched, in English or Japanese. (I don't know about other languages.) Nowadays a digital copy is as good as the original for most legal purposes. Scan all paperwork. Keep tax related stuff for at least 7 years. It takes up no space in a computer. As I mentioned above, I scanned two file cabinets full of papers in a few weeks. I sent 100 books to a scanning service.
@@JedRothwell Check to make sure that your Social Security wage history agrees with your tax returns before disposing of tax returns. In principle, I agree with the digitizing - although I don't know that it's as easy as you found it - but once you destroy the tax return, you're dependent on Social Security's records and they do miss years (especially for the self employed.) And you're dependent on the media you used to save those files. Keep in mind that HOW you store that info may not be accessible in ten years. I have multiple boxes of small discs with previous info saved. Made a lot of sense at the time but I don't have a computer that will read those any more. If I need them, I'll have to pay someone else to access them.
@@bridgetcollins7969 I never "destroy" the tax return. I scan it and save it. I have returns going back decades. I toss out the paper copy, but my accountant says the IRS will accept a digital copy if there is a dispute. For the past several years the accountant has sent me the returns on paper and in .pdf format. There is never any need to throw away scanned documents, and no need to keep the original printed versions. A 1 TB disk will hold a lifetime of scanned documents. I have more than 12,000 documents, plus ~100 books and plenty of space left. I have documents and programs going back to the 1970s. It is important to organize the documents into folders, and to use software such as Everything and FileLocatorPro to find them. I recommend you not store data on small disks, CDs or any older media. CDs are not stable. Transfer everything to hard disks, with at least three removable hard disks for backup, and one offsite cloud storage copy. Refresh one backup once a month. A hard disk that is seldom used will last for 20 or 30 years with no problem. You can run various diskcheck and compare programs to be sure the data is not corrupted. Computer data is as fragile as a soap bubble, but when you have three backups and an offsite backup, it is extremely unlikely you will lose the data. It is much more likely you will lose a paper copy, to a fire or flood. Obsolete file formats are a problem. I am a programmer, so I can write utility programs and batch files to convert them en mass into a modern format such as .pdf. If you cannot do that, I recommend you have someone do it. I have not had to do that much since the 1990s. Formats have been stable and backward compatible for the last 25 years.
If you’ve made major home improvements, keep/scan those receipts for your basis on your house. Be careful in dumping any insurance info so long as you have the policy.
I worked in healthcare. I had several patients over the years that were completely overwhelmed by clutter. A couple were hoarders. But a couple others were just overwhelmed by their family‘s possessions. From their parents who had passed away. Or a brother sister who passed away. I knew one man that actually had three houses, including his own that were all filled to the roof with stuff. And he was not physically able to deal with any of it. His house, his sister’s house and his dad‘s house. I don’t know whatever happened to him, but he was completely overwhelmed, and there was nobody to help him.
I’m your 27th thumbs up. We have eBay, Poshmark, Mercari stores; sell on Marketplace the big heavy stuff. We make well over 6 figures as a full time fun hobby income. I’m retired at 63 never going back to the grind, slaving for the man, my wife is 20 yrs younger has never HAD to find out 1st hand (she saw me do it for 17 of our 18 yrs of marriage) work outside the home.. our minor daughter & I get the guvmint funny money every month and have made significant investments in her family & properties in her Philippine homeland for after my mom is gone…
Please do this over again with only 1 focus: financial paper work since it's the only thing I would like to shred but feel it could bite me in the end(IRS...). What to keep and why you should - What to track and how - do you recommend any application for tracking expenses so that I can go paperless? (I tried to make this short!)
I am an over-the-road truck driver who does not have a house and my son and I share a storage building. I realize more than likely it's just a bunch of stuff I may or may not ever use again but since I don't have anywhere else to keep my personal things I feel it benefits me to have a storage unit. I would not have one if I lived in a house.
I have a storage facility out of necessity as well (extended traveling for work), nothing to feel guilty about. I did have to move a lot of stuff in there though and I plan on taking inventory & doing a thorough declutter before I settle back into my new place. Will be glad to stop paying the monthly storage bill, he said the average was $89. I wish that was all I had to pay!
Great video, We have a differrent process. Over the past 42 years of marriage we have move to 9 different homes. Most of these moves were work related. When you move it is very easy to get rid of stuff. (you don't have to pack it and pay to move it) Our current home is hopefully our last home and it is much smaller and is fairly clutter free. However, there are a couple of boxes in the garage that our kids will need todeal with.
This is a great video. Good things to think about as many of us simplify our lives. The only statement I disagreed with was the old shirt, or items, that you don’t think have any value. It is true another man’s trash is another’s treasure. So don’t throw those things out that could still be usable. I am constantly amazed by what my daughter’s friend group finds cool and desirable now. Donate, donate, donate and somewhere you could make that 16+ year old super happy.
It’s always good to declutter, great for the head too. Making Sacred Space is another great book on it by Karen Kingston which also uses Feng Shui to arrange it all properly for the ultimate energy flow.
I suggest u put a color dot on the things u want to keep. Some of us may not remember if we considered that item or not. Then u also can tell u hav dotted all items and are finished at least for the "first pass". Also if u hav spouse u can hav 2 sets if dots so later u both can tell who decided and spouse may want to keep other spouses things perhaps sentimental.
Re: Marie Kondo method. The Good - it's a method easily followed. The Realistic - For me, this is an iterative process. After I remove the obvious items, there are still layers to go through. This is especially apparent for books and clothing. Still a work in progress for me.
When I was a teenager a neighbour said to me, after I commented on how tidy and uncluttered his garage was compared to ours, "If I don't use it in a year, I get rid of it." He also rented tools quite often and an RV once a year instead of owning things he only used once or very infrequently. I've always tried to follow that rule. But, I was a mechanic for 17 years and still can't let go of all of those tools. Plus, I paid tens of thousands for those tools, they earned their worth though, and can't bear to sell Snap-On tools for pennies on the dollar. And I still use about 1/2 of them from time to time. I'm paying $130/mo to store them now.
Perhaps you could let them go to a vocational school. That's what I did with many of my husbands wood working tools when he passed away. The instructor for the program was thrilled. The donation helps continue something my husband was passionate about. I also got a tax break, that I really needed, as that second Social Security check was gone but the income for the year, for tax purposes, wasn't.
There are a lot of young apprentices that would give their eye teeth for a good deal on tools. More than pennies on the dollar, they appreciate the quality and would be willing to pay a fair price for good used tools.
We just went through throwing away stuff that we had accumulated in addition to stuff that my parents had saved 20 years ago when they moved . It took a 20 cubic yard dumpster and two loads of metal that a scrap man came and hauled off. Once we achieved that we started on our house hauling off junk and giving clothes to Goodwill and Christian Ministries. We are still working on it. We just retired this Dec 31st and are making great progress. Great video. Thanks.
Beware of giving away items to friends and family in the UK. We only have a £3000 a year gift allowance. If you die within 7 years of giving gifts above this amount they are treated as part of your estate and are liable for inheritance tax. It can also be seen as trying to hide assets if you require state aid for a nursing home. Lesson is give gifts away early whilst you are healthy, sell them yourself, or keep them and leave them to your heirs in your will!
I keep owners manuals and related paperwork for products/equipment I still own even if they’re out of warranty. I’ve found it to be helpful to me on many occasions.
I feel so great when I let go of things. If I’m worried I might regret it, I box it up and set it aside for a year. If I don’t pull the item back out of the box during the year, it goes. So far I haven’t pulled anything back out of the box.
My late cousin had an enormous collection of chickens & roosters, all shapes and sizes. When she passed away her children gathered up the remainder of them after letting family members have any that they wanted, and took them to her first memorial, letting those gathered know that they were welcomed to choose any rooster or hen they wanted, the remaining ones were packed up and driven to the town where the second memorial would take place, and again those attending were told that they were welcome to chose any of the collection they’d like. I think that how they honored their Mom by giving her family and friends something to remember her by was such a great idea. The entire collection was given away.
@@KellenAdair I'd say the odds are good that a lot of those chickens and roosters have moved on to people who were strangers to her which I think is fine. Picking out a chicken or a rooster seems like a really fun and personal way to celebrate her memorial but if it was an enormous collection, not everyone would have been so close to her that they would feel the need to keep a chicken that may not be to their taste as a memento forever. And even people who were very close to her might be perfectly happy to remember her without keeping a rooster that she once owned.
They should have made a big pot of chicken soup and shared a delicious meal to celebrate her life! :) Or maybe a barbecue. How about buffalo wings??????
For me, it's easier to walk into a room and pick the ten things I want to keep, rather than going through each item individually. If it didn't come to mind when selecting my top ten, it must not matter that much. The hardest thing for me to let go of is books.
half way through this and grateful for the tips but in prep to sell and move i put all i own in coolers they are water resistant rodent proof (im in the country) and stackable - throwing things out - life is wonderful all are findable almost done
When you grow up during wars and you come from Europe you are conditioned to keep things because parts of it can be reused eventually. You did not buy new things, you remodeled old stuff. I grew up saving buttons very rarely reused. North America culture is very different. It takes a life time to drop the mantra : it can be useful
My grandparents lived through the great depression. They didn’t throw things out, they didn’t waste things. And I know plenty of younger people that are the same way. In fact, many are the other extreme and they are basically hoarders. They never get rid of anything ever.
LOL - the old "cluttered-drawer-kept-shut" "making-the-room-look-clean" syndrome. Yes, that's me with drawers, dressers, armoires, and closets. It weighs down on my mind. I would live to strive for a spartan life, exteriorly as a reflection of my soul interiorly.
We purged our house before we moved into our new home. We had been there 25 years. We did not have an estate sale. Too much trouble from what you get for your stuff. We hired a junk company, shredding company, and an electronics disposal company. It went great. Moved into the new home and hired a junk company again to get rid of the stuff we had not even looked at since we moved three years. I recommend purging every few years. Or better yet, don’t buy “stuff”. No storage unit here.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Check out one of our most popular videos - *4 Major Social Security Updates for 2024: What You Must Know* -> ruclips.net/video/zBCmA5Xx7U0/видео.htmlsi=UKlzbdkAe1kuk20O
When I started decluttering I found that an unexpected side effect of this process was that decluttering can actually help your peace of mind directly. Once I started selling, donating and dumping unneeded items I realized that all those items that were gone no longer took up mental and emotional space in my head.
I felt lighter and more free mentally and emotionally after divesting myself of unneeded items that I had been piling up, managing, organizing and moving from house to house for decades. There were times when I got rid of items and had second thoughts but by the next day I always found that the momentary feeling of separation regret had changed to relief and gratitude that the items were now out of my life and I didn't need to deal with them any more.
Declutter your life, declutter your self.
I feel the same way. I started to declutter during Covid. So at peace now.
AMEN, this allows for more room for abundance to enter into your life.🎉
When I sold my house in the US, I had an estate sale company liquidate everything. It was the best feeling. I had cash and a sense of freedom. I haven’t missed a thing.
I missed mine for 2-3 years, now, I don't want it back. It would just be a big old house to clean and maintenance.
We tried calling one for the mother in law house....they asked if the value of items was over $10,000....we laughed.....junk and more junk. We had a garage sale and seriously sold NOTHING....wasted $5 for the city garage sale permit.
@@jimv77We had a similar problem with my in-law’s house…. They inherited a house, took what they wanted there (8 blocks away) and left the rest sit FOR TEN YEARS. Yes, double bills and maintenance for no reason. Vagrants were starting to get in it etc. Finally got them to sell the original house that was full of crap we mostly threw out. It sold in one week. Such a waste of energy and money all because they didn’t feel like dealing with it. Now they are filling up their current house with crap. Broken chair? To the basement it goes!!
Our first experience tackling this in earnest came when my Mother-in-law passed away. She had a small home that was packed to the rafters and presented what seemed like a monumental (and emotional) task. My wife, as Executor wisely invited friends/family in to take what they wanted, then we had an estate sale company come in and liquidate all the rest!
It inspired us to start tackling what has variously been called a "Danish cleanse" (amongst others) with the idea to declutter as a gift to our kids and spare them the pain when our final day comes.
@@13noman1actually I'm mad about my mother's decluttering. She got rid of the good stuff and kept the garbage. She was going to sell her wedding china - first year edition of Old English Roses - but my husband insisted on buying it from her for $200. She didn't need the money.
Something I found helpful is to decide on a certain number of items to get rid of per day. For a long time it was 7 items. That is approximately 210 items per month and makes a big difference. The beauty of this method is that it gets you in the habit of thinking about automatically culling. In addition to the set number of items, you must practice the one in, one out method so that you are not undoing all of your good work with a new accumulation.
We were having a new roof done on our home. A large garbage container was delivered in our driveway. After the old roof was disposed of, the contractor said, feel free to lad up the rest of the container. We filled it up with 30 years of junk! What a good feeling it was!!
Yes❤❤❤❤❤❤
When I retired I didn’t have a need for my large wardrobe anymore. I worked in a professional career field and wore dresses and skirts with nice leather shoes. I found a battered women's shelter and took several bags of my neatly folded career outfits. It was perfect since the residents were trying to begin a new life and needed to find employment. I cleared out my closet and it felt good. I also got the tax benefit for the donation.
Yes, this is exactly what I mean. Good on you!
Great idea!
This is excellent 👏
😊you are an Angel 😇 for folding neatly your clothes to a good cause ❤thank you 😊
I was paying for mini-storage when I finally realized that I did not need all that junk. No more storage. The only things I kept was my field jacket from the Army. 26+ years of service.
Today I am retired and a volunteer at my local VA Hospital.
Thank you for your service.
Thank you for your service.
Awesome !!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I’m 52 and an empty nester now. I grew up with parents who were thrifty and they kept everything because it had value or was sentimental, etc. I have learned that declutterring and living with less is a lifestyle. It is a practice and not something that can be done in a weekend or over a months. It’s like eating healthy and working out. It’s a daily practice. I’m slowly adopting these new practices and it feels great when I let go of things I no longer need. I also have learned to adopt the understanding that there are chapters in life and each chapter has different needs. My child-rearing years are over so I no longer need toys and extra space, etc, I’m in a new chapter now so my needs are different.
Want to Declutter, watch HOARDERS
Ikr? There's nothing like watching the crew uncover rat carcasses under the piles to get a person in the mood to declutter!
My buddy could qualify for that show! When he moved from one house to a larger one (to hold all his junk - Not ALL of it is junk, I guess), he also moved something like 200 old, unread newspapers that he intended to read "some day". When we all told him moving was the PERFECT opportunity to get rid of (at least) the newspapers, he got angry with us. I think he STILL has those papers in his spare room! 🙂
The way I busted out laughing. You’re speaking facts!
OMG Made me sick to watch one episode.
Always makes me declutter, lol
Lots of us grew up with depressive era parents or grandparents. They saved everything just in case. I cleaned out our family home a few years ago. Hardly any valuables. Young people don’t want the old stuff! We’re committed to avoiding clutter in our new home. The photos are a killer and still a few boxes in the cellar but significant progress! Thx
I have to fight my hoarder tendencies, and my parents were not hoarders. When I empty out a nice, large and well-shaped plastic container with a great lid, like a dishwasher tabs container, I cannot avoid thinking, "what could I do with this?" I have to talk myself out of saving it. Meanwhile I have Tupperware type containers falling out of my cabinets. I have made peace with the fact that one always has to maintain diligence in getting rid of clutter by not giving it an invitation in the first place.
Yes, our dear depression Era parents taught us how to hold on to everything but not how to let anything go. This applies to mental as well as physical things.
@@alexstokowsky6360there is a very creative person inside you if you're thinking of alternate uses for everyday objects. You are a latent environmental artist!
@@sheilaabrahams1322they went through a lot of painful deprivation and were hoping to spare their children that trauma
Thank goodness my mother isn’t a “ collector “.. she lives in a 15 room house, nicely furnished, well kept…no jam packed drawers, closets or cupboards…She was born in 1930 so I guess depression. Just not a stuff collector.
Several years ago when we decided to move, we decluttered our house to stage it for sale and put the extra stuff in a storage unit which we rented for that purpose. The economy being what it was, it took a few years to sell the house before we could move. During that time, we realized that we enjoyed living in a decluttered house and had not missed anything in that storage unit. When we moved into our new house and cleaned out that unit, almost all of the stuff in it ended up being either thrown or given away.
Also, if you are keeping an item for sentimental value, consider taking a digital picture of it and getting rid of it.
Keep a picture of it instead? You must be kidding.
@@kevinh5349 Holding onto the past is largely a negative experience. Live for today, and tomorrow my friend!
@@kevinh5349 that’s what I do? I was briefly an author (of two small books) in my 20s, and I met all kinds of other authors who gave me their signed books. 20 years later, I took pictures of the books and the signed title pages, then threw them out. I also took digital pictures of original artwork I’d bought or received as gifts, and sold it all.
Eight years ago, a fire started in the overhead of our garage, most likely with wiring to a garage door opener. It took 5 1/2 hours for the firemen to put the fire out and the house was destroyed. All of us, including our dog, were fine. Suddenly, we had 25 years worth of stuff decluttered. There were a few things, including a few pieces of my grandparents furnature, that I wish had survived, but most things were not missed.
"The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning" is also an interesting book to check out. Now I have to go down in the basement...............
Don't underestimate the power of this decluttering method. Using Kondo's system to declutter led in about two years to being able to retire early....It made me more conscious of all purchases, the peace from having an uncluttered home made me not want clutter again, allowed me to downsize from owning two homes, to selling one and moving full time into the smaller one, and selling my stuff (eBay, garage sales) made me about $15,000. Also, when I needed something or want something, I now buy almost exclusively secondhand from eBay, Craigslist or at thrift store, also saving money and that meant I could also afford nicer quality things at a good price that will last longer. Lastly, I reclaimed so much time not having to shop for, clean and take care of stuff, so I was able to spend more time with my animals and with the people I love.
Can't figure why I now have plenty of $$ but don't desire any material items. Great way to save....
My hurdle is that I am a creative person. I can look at just about anything and figure out a use for it. I have to say, to myself, "Yes, you could do something with that but WILL you?" Then be honest and admit that I won't get around to it. It's helped.
Feel you on that. But where I’m at with my “”abundance of possibility” is that I actually achieve very little. I’m pulled in so many directions that nothing gets enough attention to truly create a finished project. I have also had to execute the estate of an aunt. She didn’t have a bunch of excess stuff, she bought high quality stuff, and she took good care of it. It was educational to see how much of that stuff was barely good enough for donation to charity. Ultimately it is just used stuff. All of the creative potential that you see is probably unmitigated junk. Pick a couple of things that you really want to focus on and jettison the rest. A friend helped me by telling me that if I do need a new project in the future, she was sure I’d be able to find one. That was a major truth, and it helped me get rid of a lot of projects that I don’t miss. I’m still thinning the herd. Start getting rid of that “possibility pile” and find real peace by being able to focus.
Snap but I do keep lots of art n craft items
Serendipity! I just vacated my storage unity two hours ago. Now to cull books.☺
Well done!
My senior citizen (80+) family members have this cringy habit of saying, “That’s probably worth something!” as I’m eying the garbage can. Okay, dude, YOU find the buyer for that 1978 water damaged calendar with mouse chew marks on it. Of course they want nothing to do with that task… They just want to add to the hoard. I will not leave my kids with such a mess.
Man, you are speaking to me! I cannot feel good in a messy home. After raising a family of four kids in a six bedroom home for 18 years, we decided to downsize. We had a huge walk-in attic that spanned overtop of our two car garage and family room. It was stacked bottom to top with 18 years worth of Easter baskets, broken Christmas toys , picture boxes, work awards etc. it took 18 years to gather this crap and two days to place about 20% of it in a giveaway pile and the rest into the biggest dumpster we could find to rent. It was hardest on my wife but at the end of the day we were both just so relieved.
We live in a two bedroom condo now and life is much better.
I can feel good in a messy home. 😆
It is harder on a female as there are emotions attached to all that stuff. I always think about what the kids did when they had it while my DH was at the office. I do eventually get rid of things but it takes a bit longer as I must psychologically come to terms with getting rid of it. Just glad I did now rather than leaving it to my kids.
When I was a Navy wife, we had a saying regarding clutter, "Three Navy moves are as good as one house fire!"
Excellent video and applicable to not only de-cluttering, but preparing for a simpler life in retirement. You mentioned dealing with photo albums and here's a suggestion: after you sort what you want to keep, scan them into digital images. You'll have immediate access to them on your phone or computer. If you're like me and retire abroad it's one less thing to pack and bring along.
We’re about s did u retire to? Do you like living there? What is the quality of healthcare there?
With the plan to retire and significantly downsize in 2-3 years, I have been working slowly and steadily to declutter, I began with the bedroom for the reason you described - it was the first and last thing I saw every day so it set the tone. This summer's big project is the garage I had held off on because it was filled with boxes of stuff from my mother, father-in-law and husband, who all passed away within a couple years. Having done the less emotional work, I felt strong enough to engage this project and with each load of stuff being brought to the dump/recycle center or given away to friends who welcomed them, I have felt stronger and more empowered, and surprisingly, more healed. Great video, thanks
I have the same story as you explain! I ask myself, “When you move, do you want to take that with you? Do you want to pay someone to move that into a new house?” A lot of times, the answer is “No,” and out it goes!
I'm in the same boat! I've inherited pictures of people I don't know! Trinkets and various notebooks and such that if something happens to me (& it's going to hapoen to all of us) it will end up in the trash anyway. Why am I delaying the inevitable? 💁♀️
@@maximac222 YES! I have six boxes of “stuff” from when my mom died in 2009. I started scanning and taking photos of the interesting stuff for me and my siblings but it’s slow going. My kids don’t care about these things so need to get rid of it, plus my own stuff, before I cash in my chips, too! Good luck getting it done!
I found my tribe!! You all are my mirrors; I’ve been left to deal with a storage of my mother’s who was storing personal belongings of my father, brother, and uncle - all who’ve passed. It’s so overwhelming and all that keeps running through my head is, please don’t let me die and leave all my clutter for own two sons to deal with.
@@Crymeariver227 For a while I was taking a manageable “pile” from a box to “handle” for the week. I have a PowerPoint slide deck started with scans of stuff of interest (then throw it out). I have large envelopes for each of my siblings and when I see them they get whatever’s in there (art projects from school, report cards, their own photos, etc). Whatever I decide they get, then it’s gone! I’ve thrown a lot. Now I’m taking a break from it. If you have any family, I’d suggest inviting them over for lunch and spend 2-3 hours going through one box or something manageable. It would be more fun with a partner. What do I do with my grandma’s art project/report about pilgrims in perfect condition dated 1910???? 😳 I might have to put that in a sibling’s envelope for them to save!!!
Two years ago we moved from NY to Florida, we had spent over 30 years in our NY house so it forced us to declutter. We used the system you described but with one added group, stuff to sell. We sold lots of stuff on Facebook marketplace, getting money in exchange for things we didn’t need always felt good.
I did that, too...only, I was particular about only spending time selling something that would net me at least $75 after any fees, because reclaiming my time was a big part of my minimizing goals.
Another Great video, Geoff! What an amazing story about the crib. As it unfolded, I could see the movie scenes playing out in my head. You’re a very gifted storyteller! Ah! Clutter! Yes, I’m guilty…. But it’s only one room- a guest bedroom. Your stellar tips are just the rocket fuel needed to get this task off the ground. Thank you, kindly, Sir! : )
Geoff, my dad was one of the ‘one in ten’ who had a storage locker. When he passed, my brother and i visited the storage facility and I was aghast of the stuff he spent 10-yrs of rent on. We ended up paying someone to haul the stuff away .
I had one at one point and just got a dumpster and purged. Then I did it two more times. It’s amazing how junk creep happens. I know I normally talk about finances, but this is near and dear to my heart.
@@HolySchmidtjunk creep. Good term. And the fact it happens to you too makes me feel better. Well here’s to decluttering . Best of luck to us both.
My father lives in another state that he moved to about 17 years ago when he remarried. I believe he has a storage locker there as well as one or two in the state he relocated from. It's concerning, and it's eating up money that he really needs for other things right now. It's his stuff though, important (to him) pieces of his life.
Me too......been putting it off for ten years.@@kathysheeran6589
Since most stuff is trash, I use the garbage can as my barometer. After I put out my weekly trash and recycles, there is always room for more. So I go into the basement, take a quick look around, and see what I can put in the trash for that trash day. This way I am steadily getting rid of stuff. Then once a month I take stuff to charity. I have used this method for years. The fact is when you first put stuff in the basement, you think you are going to use it; but over time, you realize you never will, and it gets outdated and you care about it less.
There is a professional cleaner named Dana K White whose first step of decluttering is this: walk around with a garbage bag and ask, “is it trash?” I do this every 10 days or so, and it’s usually all the decluttering that I need to do!
My main motivators were mental health, less/easier chores, less decision fatigue, less stress. I actually started this journey with The Minimal Mom. But there are many others with great tips. However, if you really want things to stay under control, it is never just one and done. It’s a lifestyle. Things are always coming in, so there needs to be an ongoing exit plan for stuff to leave as well. Right now, it would only take me about an hour (or less) to do a thorough closet declutter. Lol. I can’t imagine ever going back to all that clutter. Lots of photos can be digitized as well.
Great reminder. Like most households we accumulate more clothes than we’ll ever use. We like to repurpose things like t-shirts to wash the car, messy jobs where we know we’re gonna need to throw the rag away anyway. All enjoy your videos!
70's shirts are all the rage right now! I have been scouring Ebay for a gift for my grandson.
Just did this with my 85 yo mother. Went from 3300 sq ft house to a 700 sq ft apartment in a retirement community. Four months ago it was truly painful for her and the family. Brothers and sister said oh that’s worth something good take it and sell it. No one did…2 day garage sale and goodwill truck.
UG! The dreaded, “That’s probably worth a lot of money” comment!! Then they do nothing to find a buyer, just tell YOU about it. It’s exhausting. I’ve been through that three times.
I told my kids that when I go, everything can go in a dumpster but the precious metals. I love my stuff, but I don't expect anyone else to.
I just did this same thing. My mom (house to 700sf apartment) wanted me to sell everything “valuable “ and I said I’d just give her the cash for the small amount it would actually sell for and that if she wanted to hire an estate sale person on top of that she could do it. Lol she dumped it all with an estate agent. ❤
It's great that you are sharing this relatable tale. We shape our lives by more than just tax planning and roth contributions 😌
I just moved to Thailand-called 1-800-junk to clear out my condo-sold my van to carmax-gave my TV to my girls-a few boxes of clothes when I come back to visit-and 3 suitcases with me to 🇹🇭-most official documents are online anyway and you can keep your photos on your phone!
How did your move work out?
I love keeping my photos on my iPhone. Browsing on it is so nostalgic and so easily accessible.
We moved overseas in 2016 without knowing if we would return in 4 years or 10 years so we sold /donated/gave away almost all our stuff. The comment we heard over and over again before we left: "We could never do that?"
We would ask 'Move overseas?' And people would reply, 'No, sell all our stuff'.
We returned in 4 years later in 2020 as the pandemic was just starting and we returned with only suitcases. It felt good to not have all that 'stuff' to come back to.
Well done!
My wife and I recently started decluttering at age 66 after 46 years of marriage and 4 children. Her idea was similar, with an additional 4th. category of "Sell." Although we donated many items, some were just to valuable and needed to be sold outright. Selling on Craig's List, Face Book Market Place, etc. We earned over $10,000.00 in two months. We are now considering our most trusted charitable groups and will donate a large portion of the funds.
If you haven't traveled much, take some of your money and do that. When my dad was talking about taking another trip out West and how much more value he and my stepmother and he found in that than in the stuff in their house, I said sell it all and just keep going. Enjoy your lives and leave less for me and my stepsister to have to clear out when you're gone.
He passed away a few weeks ago, but they did make 4 trips out West, loving every one of them. And we can find happiness in the memory of their happiness in all their trips. Same thing with my mother and stepfather: he retired and she quit her job and they went out West and did mission work for 6 months. Years later, when he had dementia and had suffered a massive stroke, he could still look at the pictures of that trip and remember where they had been and it made him happy. And my mother and I are happy to remember it.
Geoff I found your channel when we were getting our sorry backends out of debt and getting control over our finances. We watch most of your videos and enjoy them immensely.
So having paid off everything including mortgage and having a good solid emergency fund and putting a large percent of our income into retirement, we thought it time to expand our horizons and declutter our home. Over the last two months we have removed a literal ton of stuff and we have a rule a bag of stuff out the door every day. Not going to go full minimalist but still a way to go to declutter bliss. This is a timely video thank you.
I love my in-laws but they have had several storage units for literally decades- could’ve bought a small house by now to hold it…. It’s interesting I grew up pretty poor and my husband affluent and he holds on to ridiculous just in case things but I’d be an essentialist bordering on minimalist if I could. In 2020 I donated around 100 bags/boxes of things (I have 4 children) and it helped soooo much! Wish I could purge more!
This is inspiring, thank you. I've seen all the technical descriptions of these processes, but the story and the way you relate it brings some understanding to it. One thing I'd add is that a storage unit, per square ft, is very possibly more expensive per month than a home.
True
Just watched a video on Swedish Death Cleaning that encompasses not wanting to burden others with your amount of things if you died tomorrow. Reminds me of some articles about families being burdened with all the things after a parent has died and them having to deal with the burden of a hoard.
I had to clean out a house I sold- buyer refused to close unless everything was removed. I ran across a letter written in 1954 from her cousin that was complaining about all the junk an aunt had left and how she hoped neither of them ever left that kind of mess for anyone else! Twilight zone moment. 😮
This video has found me spot on in a particular time in life. I just retired and I am a collector.
I plan on selling my collectibles regularly in a 4 country flea market tour. Still I have to decide what stuff I need for myself and what collectibles I want to keep. I am looking forward to this but just having this video show up is like a sign. Thank you.
My wifes parents were organized hoarders since 1960. If they ever de-cluttered they would have probably disposed of many valuable things we found including cash that was stashed away in the 5 figures mixed in utility bills from the 70's.
It's fairly rare that hoarders have saved much of value. It's usually junk.
@@edennis8578 2 Hoosier Hutches, an 1860's steamer truck and alot of souvenirs from the 1933 Chicago worlds Fair was what we got. Along with ALL the family photos going back to the 1890's. There was more but we had no room.
@@cloistereneHow valuable are you talking about? I know people who are spending years of their lives sifting through dead relatives' belongings, plus paying tens of thousands of dollars in storage fees while they do it. Is the stuff you find worth that much time and money out of the inheritor's life?
@@clbcl5My point was that your case is a statistical anomaly. Most people's piles aren't worth the cost to store them; huge wads of cash in those figures are pretty rare. I'm 68 so most of the people I knew growing up have died, and nobody left anything that valuable in the house except my late mother-in-law, who had a box full of thousands of old silver certificate bills in the basement. But it wasn't hidden. She wasn't a hoarder by any means. Rather Spartan.
@@cloistereneThat isn't a dollar value. Do you really think that most people are hiding Rembrandts in between their piles of old magazines? That most people have diamond necklaces stashed in their sock drawers? You ARE funny.
Many years ago I read Marie Kondo’s book and successfully de-cluttered. Ten years on, and I need to do this once again. I’m getting ready to move, so it’s a good time to get going on it!
Yes cause decluttering is forever!!!🍸
Jeff, this topic has been on my mind! Thank you for doing something a little different!
Adoption is a blessing.
This has me crying. What a sweet story. You’re a good man and a wonderful friend.
Best advice I ever got was don’t put anything in the attic except holiday decorations.
Marie Kondo has since admitted defeat against her own clutter since having more children. 😂
Yes! I read that! I was not one to follow her. I knew it would not work.
That’s pretty funny but it’s reality. I spent 3 years decluttering our household of eight people down to the two of us who are still here. Thousands of things but my house is still cozy and not stark minimalist. My kids call me a minimalist and I’m happy to claim that title but I still need to go through clothes and paperwork often. I tried Marie Condo’s style and that worked but I also follow Dawn the minimal mom, Cass, and Dana K White, who really keep me on the straight and narrow path😅
Here is a clutter joke: I finally used that piece of wood I set aside 20 years just in case I need a piece of wood.
I enjoyed your story about the crib and your friend. I was surprised they asked you to move the crib downstairs to the basement and further asked you to rent a truck, come back and take it rather then donate it themselves. I thought it was wonderful that you did that for them. They needed you to help them and it obviously made a big difference for them having your help. You sound like a really good friend. I’m not sure most people would consider that crib to be something they should have to deal with all those years later. Talk about full circle.
I’m guessing the couple must’ve been depressed because they couldn’t have children for some reason and they really wanted them so maybe it was hard to do the crib for themselves. I hope they treated him to a nice dinner or something.
Another method is to line up 3 x large boxes, each labelled 'keep, charity, throw out'. With the determination to not go back in and retrieve anything - but, of course you can, if anxiety takes over! Really enjoyed watching this video.
I recommend the book "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" by Karen Kingston if you need more motivation. That got me started on my detachment and decluttering journey more than 20 years ago.
Yea! I love that book so much.
In the past few months, getting ready to move, I have let go of a storage unit, given away stuff , next step is selling stuff, and throwing away what nobody could want. With each step, the relief grows!
Lighter and lighter😊
Shinto is not “a religion on decluttering in Japan”. This is quite disrespectful tbh. It is a polytheistic and animistic religion. That’s like saying Christianity is a religion on decluttering, perhaps because some monks or nuns live an ascetic life… but that doesn't mean Christianity is a "religion about decluttering"...
😂😂😂😂😂
I guess I am between essentialism and traditional. One thing I knew when we moved to a smaller house in retirement was that I didn't want to store anything. We have no basement, we put nothing in the attic, we have a car and toolbox in the garage and garden equipment in the shed. I sold all the Rubbermaid totes. Things get used in the house, placed in the house or neatly in closets or cupboards. Anything else went bye-bye and it feels so good! We had to pare down to things we loved to move here and I am enjoying that.
Great advice Holy Schmidt.
After 50 years together in a house 3 times bigger than we now need, when we move, I am OK with an estate sale,
and moving to a new location with just some clothes, shoes, and laptops.
I had a gut check, my oldest son is the type that doesn't want any of my collections. I understand, that my style isn't necessarily everyone else's. My daughter said that she would like my jewelry for her and her daughters, as for my youngest son, I have some artwork from when he and I traveled to Ireland. That leaves the bulk to either be donated or thrown out when the time comes. I've actually been working on the decluttering of my things, so my children won't be overwhelmed.
Good job, keep it up!
Wise move :)
Wow I'm from Chicago. I know the place you're talking about. I do have the clutter problem but I don't have a basement or a storage unit. I need to get rid of all my clutter in my closets. I completely feel you about cleaning up and have innately felt that I need to do this now. 10 years of life changing events and now post- covid, I have been giving away everything to charity. Habitat for Humanity is great for furniture and Donations of clothing to Vietnam veterans. Thank you for this video.
Nice and timely video, much appreciated. This topic comes up frequently in conversations with my friends. I'm in the midst of decluttering a lifetime's worth of stuff. It's very painful because my wife passed away about four years ago and much of it was her's, and heirlooms she acquired from her parents and grandparents. My kids don't want it, so I'm giving away what is salvageable and sending the rest to the dump. I've managed to clear out old (and unneeded) paper records. Any valuable documents have been scanned and categorized on my personal server, so they'll be easy to find. Still more work to do because I'm the executor for my wife, my parents, and her parents, so a lot more papers to deals with.
Wow, a lot of responsibility. I hear you on the difficulty.
When I saw the title I said to my hubby oh my goodness holy Schmidt is decluttering!! We love your channel!
Six children married…they weren’t given big gifts but were given the opportunity to go through my kitchen to take anything they wanted…one of my girls did canning, I did not, she took all my canning supplies. She is also into soap making and a fiber artist and took things pertaining thereto. Another was into teaching and I let her take all my teaching and etc. with all my kids. They all developed “hand skills.” Especially when putting handyman houses and cars together.
My children cleaned out for me!
Reading the title of this video I would think it’s about my husband and I. This September we will be married for 35 years. A lot of clutter can accumulate in this many years especially the longer you stay in one home. We’ve lived in our current home for 22 years with our son. As we’re planning to downsize and have already bought our next home I am very much needing to declutter. My husband doesn’t feel as stressed about it as I do. I want to live with minimal possessions where it doesn’t bother him at all. I am currently working on my own belongings as well as on our basement. I’m making progress and am feeling motivated. Thank you so much for this video.😊
According to the comments here, this is more common than high cholesterol!
I'm feeling every bit of this. We have a home (my fil was living in until he passed in Jan) and we have completely removed personal items out of upstairs, moving all estate sale stuff to the 2 car garage. It's full. And this doesn't even include ALL the tools and untold car parts, motorcycle parts, etc... that my husband hasn't gone through yet. It's overwhelming on so many levels! Since we've moved to a smaller farming town, it's astonishing at the country folks that are extreme hoarders in this area. I mean piles of trash strewn throughout the yard not to mention the stacks and piles of stuff on porches, carports, etc... it bothers me for them but what can I do?
A 30 mile drive to the grocery store tends to encourage "stocking up" and sometimes that spreads to more than groceries, I'm afraid. I also have seen this a lot in Country folk. Isolated people also tend to be more depressed, so a situational hoarder is born. Then there are the "crafters" and the "preppers" (prepping is sort of a hobby). You craft because there's nothing to do, and prep because it keeps you busy canning and dehydrating and learning survival skills. All this means crafting supplies and jars and cans all over the place. Yes, this is Country living.
Some people don't have trash service in my county. They burn and recycle and the rest is stacked somewhere.
@@YSLRD That's too bad your county doesn't help people who can't afford the trash bill. We all know that metal objects don't burn and that glass takes extreme heat beyond a fire to turn back into sand. Let me guess...do you live in Kentucky?
I like that you have life advice videos as well as money videos. Thank you for being a father figure to me.
I recently discovered Buy Nothing…add your town or city to the end. A face book page where you give your stuff away. Not your crap but your good stuff that you either have to haul to the rescue mission, try to sell or end up in the landfill. The idea is not to give it to the first person who comments but the one that feels right. The guy who shares your uncles unique name etc. in these insane inflated times people are hurting. Giving your good crock pot away to a young family with kids is a way to go. Put it on your porch, let the receiver know it’s there’s and it’s done. Gives you a little bit of a warm fuzzy and gets the item out of your house. Highly recommend.
as we age, we find these powerful concepts that leverage so many disparate goals. Minimalism/Decluttering is one of them: 1) you save money by not buying, 2) recipients save money by not buying, 3) you make recipients happy (receiving either things or money saved after your death), 4) you save space, which saves money, 5) you help save the planet, and 6) you end of focusing on what matters in life, nearly all of which are free.
I love that!
One thing i did to help declutter is if you have things that are from your kids childhood days, school projects...ect...Take pictures of them so you can have a photo memory. It will make it easier fir your brain to let it go. You can clean out a lot of stuff that way, especially for things that are never used but hold a little sentimental value.
Had this problem with my last spouse. If one of something was good, 2 of the same thing was great! I would go through and say we need to declutter. Needless to say that didn't go over well. We have a small house with single car garage and no basement. The buck stopped when she said, we have the garage we can store things thereby not using it as a garage. I said no and the rest is history. My biggest clutter problem went away when she asked for a divorce. It was really quite satisfying when I started cleaning out closets, etc. etc. and donated items. I now have space that I had forgotten existed.
Thank you for your videos, this one is unexpected when compared to the others... So I enjoy it even more! I wonder if you were once a therapist or some king of hypnotist ; Your soft voice is more convincing than any wife-on-a-mission ! Have a great day!
Great timing, we just moved into a new build home. Our dream house. But, we have a ton of stuff to get rid of.
Decluttering videos are especially motivating when the vlogger is showing us how they declutter by actually filming as they DO it. A to Zen Life is a great channel to see someone in action rather than just telling stories about other people-although a little story here and there while we see you doing the work is fine.
I helped a hoarder friend move and get rid of tons of junk when she had to get out of her home quickly, and it caused me so much anxiety. My 87-year old mom recently moved from her home to a small senior apartment, and I helped her get rid of a whole lifetime of things. I live in a small house, and over the years I've accumulated too much stuff. I recently organized my wardrobe down to only clothing I wear right now and LOVE. It feels so nice to look in my closet and dresser drawers and see space. I can breathe. Now, it's time to tackle the rest of the house. The initial trauma is worth the great peace of mind after the difficult task of getting rid of stuff is done.
A few caveats - before you throw away documents related to employment or taxes if you're self employed, doublecheck that Social Security has the correct information. A friend thinks Social Security missed their 2008 earnings but that return was tossed years ago.
If one of your jobs enables you to a pension, keep that paperwork, especially if promises were made. If you bought stock back before all the records were digital, keep that.
If you're a collector, (a real collector not someone who buys kitschy things) keep the paperwork related to the sale. Your heirs will thank you. Especially if you got a professional appraisal.
If you own a home, I keep paperwork on the major improvements (the new roof, the new furnace, the new electrical panel) forever. The stove, the fridge, the tv - there I agree with Geoff.
But unless you've digitized everything, sometimes the piece of paper you need is an actual piece of paper.
Digitalize everything! A double sided scanner does 35 pages par minute, takes up little space, and costs $400. It produces machine readable .pdf files that can be indexed and searched, in English or Japanese. (I don't know about other languages.) Nowadays a digital copy is as good as the original for most legal purposes. Scan all paperwork. Keep tax related stuff for at least 7 years. It takes up no space in a computer.
As I mentioned above, I scanned two file cabinets full of papers in a few weeks. I sent 100 books to a scanning service.
@@JedRothwell Check to make sure that your Social Security wage history agrees with your tax returns before disposing of tax returns.
In principle, I agree with the digitizing - although I don't know that it's as easy as you found it - but once you destroy the tax return, you're dependent on Social Security's records and they do miss years (especially for the self employed.)
And you're dependent on the media you used to save those files.
Keep in mind that HOW you store that info may not be accessible in ten years. I have multiple boxes of small discs with previous info saved. Made a lot of sense at the time but I don't have a computer that will read those any more. If I need them, I'll have to pay someone else to access them.
@@bridgetcollins7969 I never "destroy" the tax return. I scan it and save it. I have returns going back decades. I toss out the paper copy, but my accountant says the IRS will accept a digital copy if there is a dispute. For the past several years the accountant has sent me the returns on paper and in .pdf format.
There is never any need to throw away scanned documents, and no need to keep the original printed versions. A 1 TB disk will hold a lifetime of scanned documents. I have more than 12,000 documents, plus ~100 books and plenty of space left. I have documents and programs going back to the 1970s. It is important to organize the documents into folders, and to use software such as Everything and FileLocatorPro to find them.
I recommend you not store data on small disks, CDs or any older media. CDs are not stable. Transfer everything to hard disks, with at least three removable hard disks for backup, and one offsite cloud storage copy. Refresh one backup once a month. A hard disk that is seldom used will last for 20 or 30 years with no problem. You can run various diskcheck and compare programs to be sure the data is not corrupted. Computer data is as fragile as a soap bubble, but when you have three backups and an offsite backup, it is extremely unlikely you will lose the data. It is much more likely you will lose a paper copy, to a fire or flood.
Obsolete file formats are a problem. I am a programmer, so I can write utility programs and batch files to convert them en mass into a modern format such as .pdf. If you cannot do that, I recommend you have someone do it. I have not had to do that much since the 1990s. Formats have been stable and backward compatible for the last 25 years.
@@bridgetcollins7969 Exactly! I still prefer hard copies of almost everything, I don't trust the digital world to provide for future needs.
If you’ve made major home improvements, keep/scan those receipts for your basis on your house. Be careful in dumping any insurance info so long as you have the policy.
Dana K White changed my home & my life. Amazing book: Decluttering at the Speed of Life. ❤
Same here. Her process is the best. RUclips, podcasts, books.
I worked in healthcare. I had several patients over the years that were completely overwhelmed by clutter. A couple were hoarders. But a couple others were just overwhelmed by their family‘s possessions. From their parents who had passed away. Or a brother sister who passed away. I knew one man that actually had three houses, including his own that were all filled to the roof with stuff. And he was not physically able to deal with any of it. His house, his sister’s house and his dad‘s house. I don’t know whatever happened to him, but he was completely overwhelmed, and there was nobody to help him.
I’ve been selling items on eBay
Surprisingly the vintage items are hot right now. Selling for more than originally paid. 😊
Ssh....the IRS is reading the comments.
snap
yes they aee
@@vinyl1Earthlink
are
I’m your 27th thumbs up.
We have eBay, Poshmark, Mercari stores; sell on Marketplace the big heavy stuff. We make well over 6 figures as a full time fun hobby income. I’m retired at 63 never going back to the grind, slaving for the man, my wife is 20 yrs younger has never HAD to find out 1st hand (she saw me do it for 17 of our 18 yrs of marriage) work outside the home.. our minor daughter & I get the guvmint funny money every month and have made significant investments in her family & properties in her Philippine homeland for after my mom is gone…
When we moved to our condo with limited storage a friend asked where we will keep all our stuff? I asked "what stuff?😊 We got rid of it ".
Nice. BTW, do you watch the military train? My father went through flight training in Pensacola. Super proud of him.
@@HolySchmidt A sincere Bravo Zulu for your dad. I'm retired military. Have not been in Pensacola in years, though..
My Dad, Uncle Sam, shipped out of Pensa cola, on his way to the Pacific - during WWII.
After retiring, I followed Marie Kondo's suggestions and learned new ways to fold clothing and organize things.
Please do this over again with only 1 focus: financial paper work since it's the only thing I would like to shred but feel it could bite me in the end(IRS...). What to keep and why you should - What to track and how - do you recommend any application for tracking expenses so that I can go paperless? (I tried to make this short!)
Are you tracking expenses for business or personal reasons?
This is a great idea- hope he does this.
@@TisDana Personal. Like what used to be taught in school, Home Economics but in this century...
I am an over-the-road truck driver who does not have a house and my son and I share a storage building. I realize more than likely it's just a bunch of stuff I may or may not ever use again but since I don't have anywhere else to keep my personal things I feel it benefits me to have a storage unit. I would not have one if I lived in a house.
I have a storage facility out of necessity as well (extended traveling for work), nothing to feel guilty about. I did have to move a lot of stuff in there though and I plan on taking inventory & doing a thorough declutter before I settle back into my new place. Will be glad to stop paying the monthly storage bill, he said the average was $89. I wish that was all I had to pay!
I'm so happy I adopted minimalism. It is so much more freeing of a way to be. Experiences are what I go for now.
Great video, We have a differrent process. Over the past 42 years of marriage we have move to 9 different homes. Most of these moves were work related. When you move it is very easy to get rid of stuff. (you don't have to pack it and pay to move it) Our current home is hopefully our last home and it is much smaller and is fairly clutter free. However, there are a couple of boxes in the garage that our kids will need todeal with.
This is a great video. Good things to think about as many of us simplify our lives. The only statement I disagreed with was the old shirt, or items, that you don’t think have any value. It is true another man’s trash is another’s treasure. So don’t throw those things out that could still be usable. I am constantly amazed by what my daughter’s friend group finds cool and desirable now. Donate, donate, donate and somewhere you could make that 16+ year old super happy.
I’ve been decluttering for years. I base evening on functionality but also just a few special items from loved one’s. It’s been very freeing.
Love number 7✔️
Thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍
Biggest hold back is always scarcity mentality 🤷🏻♀️
Thank you for a constructive encouagement and not only "you must get rid of it".👍
It’s always good to declutter, great for the head too. Making Sacred Space is another great book on it by Karen Kingston which also uses Feng Shui to arrange it all properly for the ultimate energy flow.
I suggest u put a color dot on the things u want to keep. Some of us may not remember if we considered that item or not. Then u also can tell u hav dotted all items and are finished at least for the "first pass". Also if u hav spouse u can hav 2 sets if dots so later u both can tell who decided and spouse may want to keep other spouses things perhaps sentimental.
There is an audio book on here of the one you are talking about. It's great to listen to while you are cleaning.
Re: Marie Kondo method. The Good - it's a method easily followed. The Realistic - For me, this is an iterative process. After I remove the obvious items, there are still layers to go through. This is especially apparent for books and clothing. Still a work in progress for me.
It can be a lifelong process. Just do the best you can...
When I was a teenager a neighbour said to me, after I commented on how tidy and uncluttered his garage was compared to ours, "If I don't use it in a year, I get rid of it." He also rented tools quite often and an RV once a year instead of owning things he only used once or very infrequently.
I've always tried to follow that rule. But, I was a mechanic for 17 years and still can't let go of all of those tools. Plus, I paid tens of thousands for those tools, they earned their worth though, and can't bear to sell Snap-On tools for pennies on the dollar. And I still use about 1/2 of them from time to time. I'm paying $130/mo to store them now.
Perhaps you could let them go to a vocational school. That's what I did with many of my husbands wood working tools when he passed away. The instructor for the program was thrilled. The donation helps continue something my husband was passionate about. I also got a tax break, that I really needed, as that second Social Security check was gone but the income for the year, for tax purposes, wasn't.
@@M.Campbell That’s a great idea! Thank you.
There are a lot of young apprentices that would give their eye teeth for a good deal on tools. More than pennies on the dollar, they appreciate the quality and would be willing to pay a fair price for good used tools.
@@M.Campbell. What a valuable post. Thank you!
We just went through throwing away stuff that we had accumulated in addition to stuff that my parents had saved 20 years ago when they moved . It took a 20 cubic yard dumpster and two loads of metal that a scrap man came and hauled off. Once we achieved that we started on our house hauling off junk and giving clothes to Goodwill and Christian Ministries. We are still working on it. We just retired this Dec 31st and are making great progress. Great video. Thanks.
So hoping my HH will get motivated! It is so free-ing to let go of the clutter and other items that take up physical and mental space.
Beware of giving away items to friends and family in the UK. We only have a £3000 a year gift allowance. If you die within 7 years of giving gifts above this amount they are treated as part of your estate and are liable for inheritance tax. It can also be seen as trying to hide assets if you require state aid for a nursing home. Lesson is give gifts away early whilst you are healthy, sell them yourself, or keep them and leave them to your heirs in your will!
How would they know?
And how would they value it unless it’s an antique with a known value?
Wouldn’t it be that most of the things you’re giving as gifts to people are worth practically nothing?
I keep owners manuals and related paperwork for products/equipment I still own even if they’re out of warranty. I’ve found it to be helpful to me on many occasions.
I feel so great when I let go of things. If I’m worried I might regret it, I box it up and set it aside for a year. If I don’t pull the item back out of the box during the year, it goes. So far I haven’t pulled anything back out of the box.
Super! Good job 👍.
My late cousin had an enormous collection of chickens & roosters, all shapes and sizes. When she passed away her children gathered up the remainder of them after letting family members have any that they wanted, and took them to her first memorial,
letting those gathered know that they were welcomed to choose any rooster or hen they wanted, the remaining ones were packed
up and driven to the town where the second memorial would take place, and again those attending were told that they were welcome
to chose any of the collection they’d like. I think that how they honored their Mom by giving her family and friends something to
remember her by was such a great idea. The entire collection was given away.
So glad none were given away to strangers!
@@KellenAdair I'd say the odds are good that a lot of those chickens and roosters have moved on to people who were strangers to her which I think is fine. Picking out a chicken or a rooster seems like a really fun and personal way to celebrate her memorial but if it was an enormous collection, not everyone would have been so close to her that they would feel the need to keep a chicken that may not be to their taste as a memento forever. And even people who were very close to her might be perfectly happy to remember her without keeping a rooster that she once owned.
They should have made a big pot of chicken soup and shared a delicious meal to celebrate her life! :) Or maybe a barbecue. How about buffalo wings??????
For me, it's easier to walk into a room and pick the ten things I want to keep, rather than going through each item individually. If it didn't come to mind when selecting my top ten, it must not matter that much. The hardest thing for me to let go of is books.
half way through this and grateful for the tips but in prep to sell and move i put all i own in coolers they are water resistant rodent proof (im in the country) and stackable - throwing things out - life is wonderful all are findable almost done
When you grow up during wars and you come from Europe you are conditioned to keep things because parts of it can be reused eventually. You did not buy new things, you remodeled old stuff. I grew up saving buttons very rarely reused. North America culture is very different. It takes a life time to drop the mantra : it can be useful
My grandparents lived through the great depression. They didn’t throw things out, they didn’t waste things. And I know plenty of younger people that are the same way. In fact, many are the other extreme and they are basically hoarders. They never get rid of anything ever.
LOL - the old "cluttered-drawer-kept-shut" "making-the-room-look-clean" syndrome. Yes, that's me with drawers, dressers, armoires, and closets. It weighs down on my mind. I would live to strive for a spartan life, exteriorly as a reflection of my soul interiorly.
Photos: I digitized them all & passed the real photos to my daughter. (I still have a ton of clutter; that's one of my few successes!) CDs, too.
We purged our house before we moved into our new home. We had been there 25 years. We did not have an estate sale. Too much trouble from what you get for your stuff. We hired a junk company, shredding company, and an electronics disposal company. It went great. Moved into the new home and hired a junk company again to get rid of the stuff we had not even looked at since we moved three years. I recommend purging every few years. Or better yet, don’t buy “stuff”. No storage unit here.
He finally starts on how to do it, at 9:50.