Help with hoarding

22 years ago I bought a travel bag that I've taken everywhere. That bag has gone on so many trips! It's also really worn out - the bottom fabric is basically see through, there are tears in several spots - it's really ratty looking and questionably functional due to the transparent bottom fabric. But the zippers still work!

I finally purchased a new bag last night.

I can't get rid of my old bag. It feels like throwing away a friend that has been with me on all my trips. It feels like I am abandoning my bag or mistreating it by putting it in the trash. I don't understand how I can have all these thoughts about my bag like it was a person.

Even though it is torn and the fabric is worn out, I feel like it is still useful for something. Not sure what since I worry about setting it down on the ground and moisture damaging what's inside. I think about sewing some new fabric on top of it, but I've thought about that for years and still haven't done it, so I don't think it's going to happen.

I'm probably going to stick it in a closet for now and see if I feel differently in a few months.

I completely understand how you feel. I been there myself!

Well, we got really lucky this past weekend. Heading to the grocery store on Saturday we saw a lot of old furniture on the sidewalks. We realized that the municpal government was having one of those days where you can take stuff out to the curb and they will dispose of it for free. In theory, they charge if you call for a pick-up, although they have taken stuff for free twice. We got rid of a bunch of old furniture we don't plan to bring to the new house, an old bike, etc. It was great.

I have another 4 garbage bags of stuff to take out to the dumpster today. Both my husband and I went through more closets and cabients in the past few days.

4 garbage bags is awesome, rechu! I got dump tags for a couple of things that have been sitting on my porch all winter, so those will go tomorrow. I really felt the urge to spring clean this weekend, but I didn't act on it enough - and now it's snowing and the urge is passing, lol.

I hope you can get the motivation back hvert. We are moved into the new house so much lighter in terms of posessions/clutter. By the last days we were ruthless, getting rid of stuff right and left! A charity and neighbors took the last furniture, appliances and all that we decided not to move.

The urge to declutter is back! In May, I started spending five minutes in each room every day tidying things up. The results were pretty astonishing - or maybe not, since even though my house is small, my rooms are also small so there are a lot of them, lol. It would take me about an hour a day to do the cleaning. I eventually got to a point where some rooms were just fine as they were and I could skip them, so I'd try to do something super fancy, like dust

I've fallen out of the habit but will get back into it. I've been reading a book called 'Decluttering at the Speed of Life.' It's not the greatest, but there are some ideas that have helped motivate me to toss. The author says we should imagine that our homes are containers. If you have a basket to hold your scarves and there are too many scarves to fit in the basket, you have to get rid of scarves, not get a bigger basket. Take all the scarves out of the basket, and then start filling it with your favorites. The ones that don't fit are the ones you toss. Keeping that idea in the back of my mind has helped me get rid of things which just makes the house look better.

I have another renovation project that I started a few years ago and never finished. This month I plan on finishing it. In order to do that, I need to move three bookshelves somewhere else as well as some miscellaneous crap. I thought it would be a good opportunity to declutter some books last night but then I started reading them...

I am in the final stages of my renovation project. I'm so excited - I'm going to have a 'real' house soon instead of a place that looks worse than the criminal's hovel on tv shows

That great! I'm happy for all of your accomplishment!

I understand! I found out that I can get a citation if I don't put my trash out at a certain hour on a certain day. I put everything out a day and half early! Because I was decluttering.

My house is still messy because I have too much stuff! I still haven't gone through the stuff in the storage.

I am the same way!

I'm still in the final stages of my renovation project a month later, lol.

We still have stuff to do around this house. I had hoped we'd be more settled by now. For example, we ran into issues installing blinds, and we put plastic appliqués over the window for some privacy for now. I am trying to get the motivation to fill in the holes, paint and then install them higher.

The new house is still remaining pretty decluttered, at least for now. I don't want to let it get like the other house!

Congratulations! I am still struggling with my hoarding!

Congratulations on the final stage of renovations!

I understand! That what I am trying to do myself! I am still struggling!

The blinds should cover the old holes I did something similar with a coat rack a few years ago, lots of holes looking for a stud, and just patched and painted as part of my most recent reno, probably nine years after making the holes. They were always covered up by coats so it didn't matter so much.

I still have one more piece of my project, refinishing my stairs. I started it a few weeks ago but ran into a problem when the product I was using did not work as expected (think bright pink blotches). I haven't worked up the enthusiasm to start again - it's just such a pita since I am not supposed to walk on them and it's the only way I can get upstairs. I guess I'll do every other like they suggested at the hardware store.

Wow, it took me a while, but it's finally time to pick out the next project. I am torn between painting a ceiling and cleaning a basement. I may clean the basement because the dump will close in a couple of months so it's better to get that done now.

I never thought about using blinds to cover the holes.

I hear you. I need to clean out my walk in closet.

I'm struggling with cleaning up my closets.

I pull out t-shirt that are too small.

Hi all, I don't know if this was mentioned in the thread but I recommend you all to read Marie Kondo's books on decluttering.
She's helped many with this issue and her approach is marvelous. You can find most of the info for free online, but the books aren't that pricey (and every library probably has them). One of them is an explanation on the ideas behind hoarding and clutter, the other book gives diagrams on how to store everything, from sqaure folded, upright tshirt to pens.

How are your closets going? I've been slacking. I cleaned out a large section of my basement but it was a struggle because the dust I kicked up kept making me sick.

I will keep that in mind. Thank you for letting me know