How to cure a pack rat

Question

I finally admit that I am a HORRIBLE pack rat and can't stand living like this anymore. How do I begin to get rid of stuff? Any advice would be great!

Answer 1

this is extreme but moving helps to periodically unload what we

cannot bear to part with

pretending you're moving do you really wanna pack all that &

take it with?

there are plenty of charities that will take the stuff off your hands

or even e-bay

Answer 2

Have a garage sale or yard sale!

Answer 3

www.Flylady.net

I live by it

Answer 4

Check out flylady.net. She has tons of tips on getting rid of clutter without burning out or getting overwhelmed. Here's a link:

http://www.flylady.net/index.asp

She's been there herself, so it's not some born-organized person telling you what to do. Her advice has really worked for me. Hope it helps you. Good luck!

Answer 5

Rod B. is right. Start small like a closet pull everything out of it. This

way you are forced to make decisions. If you haven't used it in

6 months (unless it is holiday stuff) either give it away to someone who can use it or to a charity. I believe in the US you can claim such donations to Salvation Army etc as a deduction on your income tax including the mileage to take it there!. If you are in Canada no such luck. I don't know about any other country. Once you have completed

the closet move on to something else like a drawer and do the same thing. At the same  time you can vacuum and dust the area you are emptying. I find the biggest problem is the clothes closet. I could never throw away my 'too big' and 'too small' or 'I am waiting to get into

it;' clothes. My solution was to invite a good friend over.I would hold

up the clothes and she would ask a/ does it fit b/when was the last time you wore it. If it was over a year or didn't fit right then it went to the charity. It is amazing how much stuff I got rid of I never noticed

once it was gone. I have read that women have about 40 pieces of

clothing in there closet on average and wear only 18 pieces regularly so you have a lot of stuff to get rid. of. The rule of thumb is when you buy something new get rid of one thing that way you don't get your closet stuffed again.Look at your purses and shoes. Do you really need all of them. Lastly this is a good opportunity to have a look at your clothes to see if they need repairs and cleaning. When you get to the kitchen check out how many you have of each item. I found I had four can openers. I kept one and gave away three. Three kettles and four tea pots. Get the picture? I really downsized there And again this is the time to clean and tidy the cupboards etc. I never bothered with a garage sale to me it is just too much trouble. Anyway those are the tips I used. I went to a seminar about this subject five years ago because my Father had died two years earlier and I had moved all my apartment into his house which was still filled with his stuff. It took me

about 7 months to clear out his furniture and personal effects after the seminar. I still have one room upstairs that is filled with decorations and stuff I just don't have time to go through at the moment. Remember it took you awhile to accumulate all this stuff so don't expect you can get rid of it all at once.Even if you just do a drawer a day or a cupboard a day you will be making a dent in your clutter.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Ha Ha, I'm the same way! One of the things that helped me a ton was when I left for school. I left things at home and by the time I got back home I realized that I never even needed or thought about that stuff, so off to the donation bin it went..As much as you want to hang out to things "just in case you'll use it or wear it again" you probably won't. Stuff you don't consistently wear, just get rid of. To help organize I put all my winter clothes in a bin while I keep my summer items out, then visa versa. Sometimes it helps if you have a shoe box of old stuff to not even look inside and just chuck it. If you don't remember what's in it, you don't know what you will be missing. Its a good feeling to see all the stuff you have bagged up when you are finished. Then you can just go out and get more! lol

Answer 7

You have taken the first step by admitting that you have a problem!

Throw out (or give away) anything that you have not used in 6 months. Once you see how liberating that is and how much more space you have, you will become a disposer rather than a keeper.