I've been motivated....help me figure this out

[TXMomof4]

I've thought for a long time that I have too much "stuff". While DH is gone I've decided to clear out alot of extraneous junk that we don't use/need. I'm going to start with the kids clothes. With 3 girls, hand-me-downs are out of control by the time we get to dd#3. Plus, everyone I know seems to think since DH is gone, we must be hurting financially, so they give us stuff all the time.

 

So, when I brave the dark depths of their drawers, how do I decide what they NEED? I'm terrible about getting sentimental about some of them, but I've decided to be hard-hearted and just get it done. How do you keep it from getting out of hand? A weeks worth of play clothes? Two weeks? How many 'nice' outfits? Church outfits? I just need some guidelines or else I may give up.

 

Also, for dishes, I've posted before about family giving us all the heirloom dishes. I'm going to keep one formal china, but the dishes I got at our wedding are too formal for everyday, but are stoneware. I know it's a discontinued pattern, so I'm thinking I could sell it and make decent money. But how do you part with your wedding dishes? Should you part with them?

 

I'm going to have a set of Waterford, so do I need to keep our wedding crystal? I don't have a full set of it anymore, but it's hard to give it up too. We NEVER use it. And that will especially be true after the Waterford gets here.

 

It's amazing how emotional all this cr*p makes me! Tell me to be strong!

[shalom22]

We have gone through the declutter stage in our life and we can't be more happy. It begins as a slow process until you get into it and then watch out, everything you see you will want to purge.

 

Here is a great book that gives wonderful advise on how to go about decluttering.

 

"It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff" by Peter Walsh.

 

He walks you through every room of your home and touches on every type of 'stuff' that you might own. He gives you a step by step instruction that helps with the sentimental things and tells you to take is slowly.

 

I highly recommend this book. I have read it and passed it on to two of my friends as well.

[Heather in the Kootenays]

There must be some stuff that you aren't attached to emotionally. Start with that.

 

Perhaps pack away things that you think you should get rid of but aren't quite ready to. Label the box and see how you feel about it in a few months.

 

Lastly I'd get help. Get a trusted friend to discuss why you want to keep some stuff - it might feel very foolish and make it easier to get rid of it.

 

I'd donate whatever you can - at least then you can feel good about letting it leave your house - someone else needs it worse than you.

[wagnfun]

I'm going to have a set of Waterford, so do I need to keep our wedding crystal? I don't have a full set of it anymore, but it's hard to give it up too. We NEVER use it. And that will especially be true after the Waterford gets here.

 

!

 

I understand the emotional tie to things. When my mom passed I didn't want to get rid of an unly old housedress she wore all the time. We too had alot of wine classes given to us (we don't drink wine) that went unused. We also have a crazy set of handpainted country plates. I decided to let the kids use the wine glasses for juice, if they break- I can't care. If I knew someone would love them, I'd have no problem giving them away. As for the dishes, we decided to use THAT COUNTRY SET for BBQ nights only. The kids now love the bbq plate tradition. When I set the table or get the plates out; they know we're having BBQ that night~!

 

I agree with what the others have said, once you get the ball rolling, you'll find yourself getting rid of everything!!

[Diana in OR]

Be strong!:D

 

You don't use your wedding dishes? I'd part with them. If it's a discontinued pattern, there may be someone else out there with the same pattern that hasn't been able to get replacement pieces (or must pay $$$$$ for them). You could be a blessing to someone else!:001_smile:

[LisaKinVA]

My clutter issues, aren't actually mine -- they are my folks (I've been living in so little space I really don't have much!)

 

Start with something easy first -- here's the start of a list I made for my folks:

 

1. Throw out canned foods that are more than 2 years old, or are past their expiration date (yes, they have canned pickles from 1996!)

 

2. Box up empty canning jars and mark for yard sale (or give to my brother's family -- who actually can and eat what they can).

 

3. Get rid of anything you haven't used or wanted to use in 5 years (this includes the dehydrator which hasn't been opened in 8 years... the plastic goblets from niece's wedding 8 years ago... )

 

4. Get rid of cutesy, but junky Christmas stuff you get year after year and sits on the basement shelves (some of this is FOOD! Mom thought the snowman boxes were too cute to open, so she left them all in the packaging... this was 3 years ago... UGH!)

 

5. Throw out/Shred the old bills, receipts, checks, etc. from 1968-2000.

 

-- this is only the first five things on my parents' list... it's about 15 steps!

 

In your case, I wouldn't start with anything that is remotely sentimental (wedding dishes, etc.).

 

What I'm doing with my kids clothes (despite my best efforts at NOT continuing to receive clothes as gifts... the piles keep growing).

 

3-4 pairs of summer jammies, 2-3 pairs of winter jammies.

Underwear -- enough to get through to your average laundry time (for us, that's 14 pair... but now that my night job is almost done my kids should be able to get away with about 10)

undershirts... depends on how often they need to wear them. I have about 3, because they are usually only worn on Sunday, or with scout uniform.

Socks... same as underwear for standard white socks. Plus, a black, a tan, a dark blue... (that's boys). My girls prefer tights, white, black, pink, dark blue, maybe some special ones for a special outfit.

 

Sorting through the clothes can be difficult. But, assuming you are only sorting through to save for dd #3... here's what I'd suggest.

 

1) keep only the outfits you truly LOVE. Serviceable is only applicable to play clothes.

 

2) If your #3 dd has a certain style or looks best in certain colors, eliminate things that don't fit that.

 

3) Church dresses/outfits 4-6 for spring/summer and fall/winter.

 

4) Everyday outfits. 5 or so (again, depending upon your laundry schedule). In my definition, everyday is nice enough to wear on a field trip, a trip to the store, etc. Not stained, ratty, holes, etc.

 

5) Play clothes -- about 5-7 pair (will depend upon seasons & laundry, though). Serviceable. If you have a ton of stuff in this arena, get rid of things that are stained, ratty, holes, etc. until you've gotten down to the about the right number)

 

6) Get dirty clothes (painting, art-day clothes, play in the mud clothes, garden clothes, work on the car clothes... you get the idea). Maybe 2 pair. You want these to be at least stained... That way there's no guilt about them getting messy in them. (for my oldest boy & girl, I actually had to go to goodwill to BUY get dirty clothes... because I'd freak if they got paint, clay, etc on their good play clothes).

 

That's still a lot more clothes than I had growing up -- but with my "get to do laundry every-other-week" schedule, we needed more :D

 

For your wedding dishes... I'd box them up for now, but I'd wait to get rid of them. Giving those away would go into the "I might regret this someday" column. Plus, you have 4 children, one of them might like to have. Your glassware, OTOH, since it's already missing pieces, etc. you might try to sell, give away.

 

I have three sets of dishes. My everyday, my wedding china and my grandmother's/great-grandmother's china (same pattern... over 100 years old). I use my every day, Monday-Saturday. We use the china on birthdays and Sunday's. We get out the heritage china on Thanksgiving. I really need to see if I can find more of it... especially the bowls.

 

Have fun!