o that IS missing the point!
surely, we are allowed some stuff for the sake of comfort?
i mean....where do they sit to eat? not everyone wants to squat on the floor for their meals.
and as for the college graduate student: surely, less stuff in our lives is all about having more time for friends and family?
I guess you can go too far in the opposite direction!
We always try to give (and ask to receive) consumables or donations for gifts. We give most of our family members Alaska calendars (we live there) as well as donations, plus my husband makes the cookies his mom always made for his family. One of my nieces is a soapmaker, and I order her soaps for gifts to friends (b'days, etc). My exception is the little kids in the family, they usually get books or homemade gifts (quilts, knitted items).
Poor college student - good friends are not clutter!!
I also make donations for birthdays and Christmas. And I don't care if people don't like it. If someone thinks they need one more "thing" than someone else needs clean drinking water, then I don't want to know them.
I agree with a previous poster who commented about consumerism and materialism. We, as a society (multiple socities around the world), give too much emphasis to the stuff we own. Even the stock market reacts to the Consumer Index. By decluttering and buying less we negatively affect the economy. Now it's not a good thing to have the economy suffer but perhaps it's time to stop the economy relying on the stuff people buy.
AJ - I hear what you're saying regarding things vs clean drinking water. However there may be mitigating circumstances...
On another person's blog, the issue of charity certificates for Christmas "presents" was raised. One set of people who said that they don't like receiving them had valid reasons:
1) they saw it as a judgement by others on whether they've given "enough" to charities during the year (and apparently they already do donate to the point of pain); and
2) they hope that their friends and family might give them some encouragement in their frugal lifestyle by treating them to something like a movie; apparently they can't afford to go to movies during the year, especially with a couple of children, precisely because they use any "discretionary" income to assist those less fortunate than themselves.
So not everyone wants a "thing" but just some encouragement and relief from their own poor circumstances - the poor aren't always "over there".
After reading their reasons I'm now resolving to ask people whether I should bother with sending them a charity certificate or something from my "stash" or indeed anything at all before I just give "something" because it's Christmas / birthday etc.
Back to the thread - can un-cluttering be a bad thing?
We recently donated another box of books. Later that day I was regretting getting rid of a particular book and tried to "comfort" myself by telling myself that it was too late now. I was more successful when I told myself that I think that my mother has a copy of the same book! :-) Of course, the fact that I may never want to re-read it doesn't detract from the comfort of knowing she has it. hehehe
Good thread! I once gave away a great leather jacket that was just a bit too tight to wear comfortably. The very next week a 50s fancy dress function was announced! So ever since I've been more reluctant to throw things away. I've also had similar issues with accidentally throwing away things that mattered.
I now use a variant of the Getting Things Done 'folder for everything' system which works for me - folders for all sorts of paperwork, reciepts, manuals etc - organizing them enabled me to cull the out of date ones, and now there's a safe place for the bits of paper.
I use a 'halfway house' for a lot of stuff, storing it in a box for a few months 'just in case' before a final clearout.
Bummer klutzgrrl on getting rid of the jacket at just the wrong time. My sister went to a 60s party last year - she was able to borrow or hire the outfit.
We've also started a "reprieve" system - certain things get a month or a year (depending on type of item) before they go for good.
I bought a used leather jacket once, and it came with this goofy fuzzy vest over top of it. I threw it out in that day's trash pickup. Stupid me realized a few days later that it was actually a plush zip-out liner! Now every time I shiver in that jacket, I think of my stupidity and vow not to toss things out without a few seconds of thought.
lol@ Abeline.
I can't help wondering if there's going to be a big design swing back to cozy and cluttered - country-style rooms filled with pillows, draperies and objects. We'll all be trying to buy back the stuff we got rid of!
Though in reality I think a lot of the decluttering trend comes from the fact that women now have busy lives and simply refuse to spend hours doing the maintenance involved in having surfaces covered in stuff. We need functional.
That and the fact that consumer goods have been so cheap for so many years.
There was an interesting comment somewhere in the thread about Oprah and the Danish house - or it might have been on the Oprah site - that you dont' buy something unless you have a place for it. I think that's the critical difference. Here in Oz, homes are designed to look as big and spacious as possible. It's only once you move in that you realize how pathetic the storage space is!
I've been trying to follow that rule of not buying something unless i have a space for it. me and my boyfriend have been talking about getting a dehydrator for a while and were all set to get one and go in half and half on it, so he told me to go ahead and do it. but then i realized there was no place to put it in the kitchen and right now his ice cream maker is sitting on the floor. i asked where we would put it and he didn't have an answer and suggested we leave it on the floor. i told him i wasn't going to get it unless we have a place for it, and the floor is not acceptable storage space for a small kitchen appliance, so we still don't have a dehydrator.
*Sky - "If we all didn't have too much, we wouldn't feel this need to declutter. I think we are so overwhelmed taking care of and cleaning so much stuff that we are ready for a simpler, less cluttered life..."
I totally agree!
I have now eliminated 285 items since December 16th. Tomorrow, we are moving furniture from my home and storage...out of my life!
That's so many "things" and you'd think that I now have a clutter free life...and I do not! I look around and wonder, how did I accumulate all this stuff and why?
If you read an earlier post, you may remember that my New Year's resolution is to reduce my belongings by 50% this year. (You can participate in my blog located at: http://drawerbydrawer.wordpress.com/.) Yes, there have been times when I've given something away and at a later date thought, oh, no! Why did I do that?
Today I was working with a client and she picked up a music box. She told me she loves the song but the item was not something she looks at or uses very often. She was debating about donating it and my advice to her was, hold on to it for now, we're making our second round through your house and you've already filled up my van several times. We'll be doing this again by the end of the year and you may be ready to give up the music box then...or not...and at least you'll won't regret letting it go prematurely.
So that's what I do, if I have any doubt, I keep the belonging and re-evaluate it the next time I'm uncluttering.
Jessica nailed it on the head. I try not to be judgemental, but there are times when I tend to unconsciously scrutinize other people cars, cubicles, etc.
I WILL say that a positive upside from decluttering is no more compulsive shopping! If I buy clothes now, I donate an equal number of clothes to charity. IMO, uncluttering is not a selfish act, because someone will benefit from items I no longer need. Another benefit is that instead of fucusing on things and basing my self-worth on them, I base my worth on WHO I am.
I'd say uncluttering can only be a bad thing if, like the mom in the tiny cottage (story above), you're getting rid of things you actually need; or if you make a pest of yourself by evangelizing uncluttering. :-) Others have compared this to the rabid ex-smoker, a great analogy.
But the flip side is what so many have said, most of us have too much stuff, full stop. I know I do.
I was unable to claim a $100 giftcard prize due to decluttering my receipt basket. When I won the prize and could not produce the receipt they disqualified me!
On the other hand I find when I declutter in other areas like toys,wardrobe etc I do seem to come into some money or win a prize soon after- which is good and bad çause it seems decluttering can attract more clutter into your life! It's an neverending cycle...
oh thats a shame, sdbenjamin - a pity to lose out on something so useful! It's a good idea to make a place for those sorts of things.
On the flipside, I've wasted many vouchers and gift cards which have been lurking in the bottom of my intray or handbag. (=pocketbook. Incidentally, why do Americans call a handbag a pocketbook, since most are far too large to fit in your pocket and don't resemble books at all?)
I find I go through phases of things - for a while I'll do nothing but write, and then for a while I'll be music obsessed, or then I'll be gaming obsessed, and it goes in cycles. So I have to be careful that while I'm focussed on one thing, I don't declutter too much in other areas then regret it, because I know I'll cycle back to it eventually.
Ever so slightly off topic, but I have been laughing at this website for a few days now. They take photos of (usually) minimalist interior-scapes, and give them snarky captions. It's called "Unhappy Hipsters". It does point out that less is not always more, and with a lot of humor. Anyway.
@ HappyDogs, that site is hilarious! :oD (and contains some great design porn!)
I have no qualms about getting rid of unwanted gifts. It's the thought that counts, and a lot of people have no idea what I would really like. I've never had anyone ask me why I never wear/display/use something they got for me. It occurred to me recently that a lot of information in manuals for appliances, etc. can be found on company websites or it can be Googled. I was able to throw away a file stuffed with manuals (some of them for items we no longer own!) I decided to save only pieces of paper with info I could not get online. This will really weed out that huge pile! Of course, the occasional treasure or useful item will get tossed. I think it's a lot worse to live with clutter because you are afraid to throw anything away lest you need it "someday."
happydogs, i am LOVING that site! hysterical! but there is some amazing design there too.
thanks for the link.
@klutzgrrl: See this link for a description of the origin of the term 'pocketbook'.
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/14/magazine/on-language-get-off-my-laptop.html
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