help throwing stuff away

[mycats]

My house is FULL of stuff. I really need to have a major clear out but I cant bring myself to throw things away.
Does anyone have any advice on how I can make myself do it? There are things (books, toys, hundreds of bits of paper etc) everywhere Help

[Nether Edge]

Are they valuables? If so, get a valuer in (not a dealer, who'll probably undervalue and offer to buy the lot), and impress yourself with what you'll receive on sale.

[mycats]

nope just junk lol I just need to be able to admit that they probably wont come in handy "one day"

[Pea Pod]

Do three bags..Junk...Charity....Keep. If you haven`t been in the keep bag in 3 months time you know you don`t need these either. If you do this over time you should be left with necessities.

[mycats]

great idea, thank pea pod

[what..the?]

I would do one room a day depending on the size, I would make a space if possible on the floor or in another room if neccesary then have a junk, charity, and keep 'pile' .

I would then work around each room at a time doing this putting three piles in each room label the piles if possible as you don't want to mix them up.

Charity piles:
Phone the charity shops locally in the yellow pages ask if they will collect from you home i.e. if they have a van collection if they do arrange a day when you are in, and tell them how much stuff you have. If not ask if they know any other charities that may collect and ring them. Hopefully you will find one charity at least it took me approx 30mins to find one local to me. Try and bag up the charity items from all the different rooms into old cardboard boxs or black bags and on the day of collection put them all inside but next to you front door for ease.

The Junk pile:
Phone your local council and ask where your local 'tip' is and what the opening times are - very important. Bag all the 'junk' up in black bin sacks load your car up and take it to the tip. If there aren't too many bags I tend to put it out with my weekly domestic waste say put 1 or 2 out every week so not to create to much for the bin men.

The keep pile:
I would buy some plastic stackable crates, you can buy them cheap now and put your 'keep' stuff nice and tidy in them also buy small little plasic baskets/tubs for inside cuboards to keep stuff tidy.

[gardenmad]

Gosh, I know the problem - there is a web-site called flylady - www.flylady.net - and they are very good at getting you into a routine so you throw stuff out. (You cannot organise clutter, only get rid of it, is one of their mantras) It is American based, so you have to bear with it a bit, but they have some very good ideas. Having said that, I am still stuck with piles of paper!

[CT]

If you have any sci-fi 'junk' going, tell me what you have, ok.

[mycats]

Cheers gardenmad I'll go look at that, lol no sci fi stuff CT sorry, if I ever do though...

[mycats]

I've just spent ages looking at that site gardenmad it EXACTLY what I need, thank you again! (wish I could give you more stars!)

[thelewisgang]

why not register on www.freecycle.org & give some stuff away that you no longer want? its a brill site, no money changes hands, just advertise & then anyone interested in whatever then they contact you via email. good luck!

[Dolly1308]

I thought I was the only one with this problem glad to hear I'm not ! I'll try the 3 bags in one room at a time (I've got loads of magazines which I never seem to completely read so I keep them thinking I may get round to it one day ).
Good advice .

[mycats]

thanks thelewisgang, but there are no freecycle groups anywhere near me :-(
Good luck Dolly lol its a nightmare eh?

[lafrancaise]

Ever thought of doing car boot sales, what you class as junk isn't junk to others. You'd be surprised at how much you could make and it's fun too.

[sleepyj]

i throw to much away , i hate a mess and junk . if you have not used stuff in last year you never will THROW it out . i love knowing where everything is in my house makes life so much better . clear house clear mind .

[shazzabell]

Ebay? I had a load of junk and stuck it on eBay. I've made a fair few quid too.