Nesting- what helps you declutter?

thegiver ↓

Sun, Sep 22 2024, 2:46 am

I know I need to get rid of a lot of stuff. What helps you let go? I think if moshiach were to come right now would I bring this with me? (I think almost everything would be rubbish)

Help me throw everything away! The frames that don’t have pictures the artwork the binders the memories the toys the clothes the chatchkas I bought but never used thinking one day I will use them. The clothing that I hope will fit me one day.

amother

Oldlace

Sun, Sep 22 2024, 2:57 am

Fellow nester here

.

What helps me is using a hard fast rule, If I have not used it in a year, get rid of it. unless it it a seasonal item like winter boots or hand-me-down kids clothes.

Also the sparks of joy book helped with having a good decluttering mindset. Basically you go category by category (clothes, books, papers etc, not room by room; pile one category at a time and sort out the items that give you joy, donate ot trash the rest. Ive started just throwing away most things that should be donate because before I get to donate it my kids get into it then it gets mixed into my house again.

Harder to throw away my husband's junk, he is a collector personality.

Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up (The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up) by marie kondo

mushkamothers ↓

Sun, Sep 22 2024, 6:20 am

A collection of techniques

1. What else in my house can serve this purpose? (I threw out my potato masher and use a fork)

2. The 20 20 20 rule. When I need it "one day" can I buy for under $20 within 20 mile radius under 20 minutes.

3. If it got covered in dog 💩 would I clean it

4. Releasing the identity of the person I was or thought I would be. No I will never look through a cookbook. No I will never wear this style or item of clothing.

5. It's baal tashchis if it's being wasted in my house. It should go to someone who will use it.

6. How much is this storage costing me- calculate your rent per square foot

7. Recognize endowment effect- we value items more when they belong to us

8. Sunk cost fallacy- I already paid the price of this item but that doesn't mean I need to recoup it

9. Don't worry about throwing it out and going to some landfill. It already exists so now it doesn't matter whether it exists in my house or in the garbage. Going forward, NOT purchasing is what prevents overconsumption.

10. I've already paid for this item. Now what is it costing me to keep it (pay cleaning lady to tidy, can't have company because messy, spend time organizing)

Last edited by mushkamothers on Sun, Sep 22 2024, 6:54 am; edited 1 time in total

PinkFridge ↓

Sun, Sep 22 2024, 6:55 am

thegiver wrote:

Picture frames: Dollar stores and Michaels with a coupon. So those you can probably throw out.
As for other stuff, ooh, I'm not one to talk. I won't tell you throw it all out but you can probably curate your toys and clothes and chatchkas. IOW, get rid of (give away, sell) a lot and keep what still sparks joy and that you might seriously wear/use one day.
There's a difference between giving something to Purple Heart and away on a listserv where you know for sure you'll be making someone happy. Hatzlachah!

amother

Tulip

Sun, Sep 22 2024, 6:57 am

Not all nesting includes declutteting. Some people shop when they nest. Some of us do massive cooking streaks. Filling our freezers and those of family and friends and then having more food just don't know where to put it. Kind of opposite of decluttering nesting

amother

NeonPurple

Sun, Sep 22 2024, 6:59 am

mushkamothers wrote:

um this is phenomenal!! Thank you! Can I ask how you put this together?

zaq ↓

Sun, Sep 22 2024, 8:42 am

I DO, momentarily,miss things I get rid of-- but only if I got rid of them very recently so they're in the "easy access" part of my memory. I know full well that had I still had them, I would not have used them--after all, I had them this long and didn't use them, and probably didn't even remember I had them. I only think of them because I recently saw them as I was disposing of them. And even on the very rare occasions that I regret having disposed of something, there's always something I can use instead--just like the potato masher vs. fork example above.

↑ zaq ↓

Sun, Sep 22 2024, 2:36 pm

I find it helpful to think that my unused or excess stuff is going to be helpful to someone in need. I hate discarding things--I have a very strong bal Tashchit instinct--but have little problem GIVING things away. If I regret not having something anymore, I just imagine that some needy person has been gratefully using it all this time.

seeker ↓

Sun, Sep 22 2024, 10:01 pm

zaq wrote:

Same but lately I have a hard time finding takers. It's hard to start tossing things that are in the giveaway box because nobody wanted them but they're perfectly good things I just don't need anymore.

↑ zaq ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 3:33 am

seeker wrote:

Put them out on the sidewalk with a sign FREE. They'll disappear. Or find out where there's a Goodwill, Volunteers of America or other charity thrift shop in your area and drop them off there. Even if you have to drive 20-30 minutes to get there, it'll be worth it. See above re: organizers charging big buck$.

↑ seeker ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 5:20 am

zaq wrote:

Last time I did the sidewalk thing it was there for a week before I gave up and chucked it, and it was pretty good housewares that I was just unloading because I had too many.

Now there's a chessed center that takes housewares so I used that last time. I'm still stuck with a bunch of randomness that I don't think the thrift stores use.

↑ zaq ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 5:40 am

thegiver wrote:

Is it possible goodwill is Christian organization?

no, that's the salvation army. Goodwill is a secular organization that helps rehabilitate people by teaching them how to work in retail.

Bnei Berak 10 ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 5:54 am

thegiver wrote:

Stop buying. Each purchase must have a solid and real purpose (potato masher since your rich aunt Helga is coming to stay with you for a month and she eats only mashed potatoes three times a day). You don't buy a whole palet of food colorings because of some tentative kid's chanukka party sometime in the unknown future.