Daniel Dudley
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2009
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If you put something away, you will need it nextday. Thats true.![]()
If you put everything away, you will be able to find it EVERYDAY...
If you put something away, you will need it nextday. Thats true.![]()
I have a friend that's not real well off financially. Any tools and materials that I want to get rid of, but are too good to throw away, go to him. I feel better about not throwing it in the trash and he's happy to get it.
popeye31,
I am the guy with the thread about hoarding (Grunge Garage - see link below).
Your approach depends on what is in your head. It isn't about the stuff, but rather how you think about the stuff. As you already know, it is hard to think of throwing things out, that have any value. That is the crux of the matter. We hoarders put too much value on objects. We think that we will never be able to replace them. We think they will have a future use. If you are Martha Stewart with a big perfectly organized house and the money and staff to keep it that way, you can keep a lot of stuff. If it is just you and your wife, then the stuff will soon take over control of you.
The solution is to learn to think differently about your things. Too many things are a burden. Just the right amount of things makes for a pleasant and workable life.
The difficult thing is learning to judge what is appropriate. It's like a person with a skewed body image who suffers from anorexia. We have a skewed property image and for one reason or another feel safe only with lots of things.
There are lots of sites on the net that discuss the problem and solutions. For me, the solution has been to begin learning, by doing.
Start by throwing away what is obviously trash and ruined things. Next, start making bags and boxes of things that are broken that you haven't fixed and probably won't fix. Donate or give these away if it is easy to do. I find that tossing them is best because it is easily and quickly done.
The next step is harder. This is where you decide what to do with things that are useful and fully functional. Here is where you use the physical space as the deciding factor on what you keep and what you don't. Every object must have it's place where it is kept and used, not just stored. Objects that don't have a place in your home must go live somewhere else. It is easiest to give these away to friends and family or donate them. Then you have no regrets that they are wasted. We all are only using things while we are here anyway. When we are gone, someone else gets them.
Don't let the mental traps that you will need it someday or could fix it and sell it or save it for some future use stop you.
The payoff is freedom for care and worry. Freedom from the responsibility of storing and protecting things. And also the space they occupied is returned to you for real use, rather than storage.
It's scary when you start, but as you get better at it, it is a real rush to have control back, over your life and environment.
Start small but keep at it. And let us know how it goes. Post photos and we will support you every step of the way.
Bill
(my quote)
Started my cleaning project today with a newfound commitment...
Project 3 - Trophies
I used to race motorcycles, and although I don't race anymore, I still ride and I'm a huge fan. I have a few really big trophies (4 to 5 footers), and 40 or 50 smaller ones. The amount of money, sweat, pain, dedication and scars I spent acquiring those trophies is immeasurable. Yet they are just hunks of plastic and cheap wood that are taking up tons of space and I have no where to display them. I'm thinking of taking a digital photo of each of them, then taking a photo of all of them with me and my current bike...then tossing them. That will be a tough one, and I'm still trying to convince myself I can do it.
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Do youself, andf the kids, a favor and donate the trophies to the local MC clubs as torphies to be recycled
I have no idea how to do that. And you should see my basement! 50 bicycles, 7 motorcycles, 7 vehicles, a 32' X 4' loft, a 22' X22' loft and 60' of bench/counter top all filled to overflow.
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Started my cleaning project today with a newfound commitment. It has been difficult because some of my junk was my late father's junk, so I'm battling what I think he would say if he were here with me. He would not approve.
First project - Screws and stuff.
I went through a fairly large box and large shelf full of screws, nails, bolts, washers, fasteners, little metal doodads, you name it. Most got thrown, some got sorted into 4 or 5 existing half-filled organizers, and I'm sure most of what I saved could have been tossed. I actually had little jars with old rusty nails in them that my father likely pulled from a building he tore down. I have 6 large plastic organizers that my girlfriend recently emptied and donated to my collection (she makes jewelry and updated to better organizers). It was all I could do to not start filling them up. I kept them empty, and tomorrow I'm giving 4 of them away to a couple of buddies. I kept two of them, and I don't even know why. As I type this, I'm thinking I should go add the other 2 to my giveaway pile.
Project 2 - Old toys.
Yep, I still have some of my childhood toys (I'm 45). A Big Jim Rescue Rig, an Evil Knievel Stunt Cycle, a huge bin full of Tonka trucks, and a bucket full of matchbox cars. My girlfriend is on Ebay right now trying to figure their worth. Could be $500 or more based on what she is seeing. I've been dragging this junk around since I moved from my parents house 27 years ago!
Project 3 - Trophies
I used to race motorcycles, and although I don't race anymore, I still ride and I'm a huge fan. I have a few really big trophies (4 to 5 footers), and 40 or 50 smaller ones. The amount of money, sweat, pain, dedication and scars I spent acquiring those trophies is immeasurable. Yet they are just hunks of plastic and cheap wood that are taking up tons of space and I have no where to display them. I'm thinking of taking a digital photo of each of them, then taking a photo of all of them with me and my current bike...then tossing them. That will be a tough one, and I'm still trying to convince myself I can do it.
That is enough to keep me busy for now, but I'm not going to stop until my mess is under control. Projects 4-X are next. Let's keep this thread going, I will need the inspiration.
A friend gave me a crackerjack box that will go in the new garage so I cleaned out an area it gave me motivation to do something in the4 garage filled up two garbage cans and I even have enough room to go ahead and fix my motor bike Im selling to fund the garage build. next is the space to the right of the toolbox thats the third pic. if I can get this area cleaned out I can start moving some of the biger items that need tossing.and I will have some breathing room .

You could have plenty of room in your garage for storage if you installed some kind of wall mounted or overhead shelving. The garage is the one area of a house were most homeowners still have room for storage.... all they have to do to utilize it is install some kind of shelving or cabinetry.
The more shelves I build, the more **** I collect to fill them. I'm actually trying to get rid of a couple cabinets to force myself to not keep as much junk.
Too much stuff in a garage! No not possible. There is always a place for one more thing.
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See there is plenty of room.![]()

