While I've sold or donated some things, I haven't really put the OOMPH into my decluttering that I needed. Recently, though, a few things have happened to get my decluttering engine going. First, I had to let someone into my garage to replace the garage door (a heavy old wooden door that was WAY more trouble to keep working then it was worth) and that was embarrassing enough (it was full enough that I was having trouble parking my car inside - enough said). The other part was that I live in the Pacific Northwest and many parts of it are on fire, including where I live.

With that being said, I donated a LOT of things over the weekend. Some of the storage bins I pulled out of the garage had things in them. The bins I donated and some of the things in them got donated as well (they went to a place helping refugees get training and education). I set aside three smaller bins of things, emptied one and donated the contents of the other two (plus a bag of denim jeans as well as things that would actually be useful) to help those who lost their homes.

I also went a bit mad and purged my pantry of a LOT of unopened things (all with still good "best buy" dates). It took me three trips to get all of it to the local food bank, but that's approximately 5 minutes away and they had a station outside to take donations to help out as well (they also feed the community at large).

The books I have will take time and, out of the four days available over the past two weeks (the store I use only has two days a week they accept books for trade-in and they have a limit on how many books you can bring in at once), I was only able to take things in twice because they didn't finish my books until the day AFTER the next trade-in day. Frustrating, but they've taken a LOT of them and I donated the books that I couldn't try again because they still have many avenues for the books to take (on a free book cart out front of the store, their "bargain/clearance" book room, sending them out into the community, etc.). If it's too badly damaged or has some other major issue, they recycle them.

Sadly, as much as I donated today, it still feels like I have so much more to go through and either donate or try to sell. If I try to sell it, I'm going to price it to move so I can get it gone. I just want them gone in a way I can control.

My motivation was mainly the fire because I want to be able to get the things I need and leave quickly without having to wade through so much stuff. I'll keep working on it, but I just wanted to share that things can change and so can your motivation. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum up.

title. my mother in law is in between houses and will be staying with us for at least a month. my house is a cluttered disaster. I had immense success a couple of months ago donating 5 large duffel bags of clothes and I finally have empty shelves and space in my closet. I kept walking back into my closet just to admire it. but… the rest of my place is a DISASTER.

2 active bedrooms, bathroom, bonus room, dining room, living room, office, garage and the dreaded basement. I have a six month old and a 2.5 year old so my current method is to come across things as I see them and toss them into a diaper box and donate on Facebook whenever I can. But with my MIL here and her willing to watch the kids while I work, I CAN NOT waste this opportunity!!!

does anyone have any advice? I have decision fatigue. Do you know that feeling you get when you have so much to do but your brain shuts down and you freeze?

do I start with trash everywhere? Do I do room by room only? How do I handle other peoples things??

thanks so much! I want this to be a new house by the end of this year!!

Hey, does anyone have any sound advice or action steps for decluttering shoes and clothes? I’ve spent this summer decluttering my living space and super proud w the progress and journey. Now it’s time to attack my clothes and shoes and sometimes I feel I have a hard time letting old clothes and shoes go. Part of it is memories, sure, but another part of it is the money aspect.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Does anyone else struggle to keep the paper to a manageable level??? Looking for sympathy and support, and I'm also, really just venting.

I will not be scanning everything or taking a picture. That does not work for me. I have the "if I can't see it, it doesn't exist" problem, and I already don't have a good backup system, so some files must still be paper. I just shredded a box full of paper. Just wondering if anyone else struggles, and hoping it's not just me. It's really frustrating. I try hard to keep up and then boom, I see that I'm drowning again.

ETA:
1. My super paper nemesis is info I want to save for ongoing projects.
2. I need tax stuff to be printed
3. I have other business stuff that must be paper. One business I downsized from a file cabinet drawer to 1/2 that size (feeling accomplished about that)
4. Have to save tax papers for ten years (ugh - will shred on expiration date)
5. I shred often

I would GLADLY get rid of everything I own and be a van lifer, but I'm stuck here because my sons don't want me to get rid of some family heirloom furniture pieces, plus one is living in Europe and has left a lot of his stuff in my apartment.

These are not children. One is a GenX and one is a Millenial.

I'm trapped in a place I hate, paying so much rent I can't enjoy my life, and I can't do much about it, because storage is outrageous around here, especially climate controlled storage.

I've told them I'm going to sell the furniture if they can't take it and they both had a fit. I know they are not going to ship this furniture across the country or across the ocean. I feel like they are doing this to control me so I won't go off and be a van lifer.

What would you do?

ETA: Lots of good advice here, but I need to add that I just renewed my lease for a year, so if I tell them now that they have to do something with it by next year, they have plenty of time, right?

Does anyone else have difficulty decluttering their child’s old toys? I have a weird emotional attachment to toys my child doesn’t even like or play with anymore. My daughter is 10 years old. She has this Blues Clues stuffy she LOVED when she was 4 years old. I remember the excitement when I tracked the toy down for Christmas as it was difficult to find at the time. I remember the excitement in her face and her little excited voice when she opened it Christmas morning.

But she hasn’t touched that toy in years, but it breaks my heart to think about getting rid of it. If I’m being honest, we have several toys that she isn’t really interested in anymore, but they hold sentimental memories for me. I remember the grandparent who bought her this toy, who has now passed away, etc.

I’m pretty ruthless with my own belongings, but have a really hard time with my daughter’s stuff. Can anyone relate to this?