Decluttering

I think about decluttering a lot.

Most recently, I was invited out to a dressy occasion and did not go, but it got me thinking about what I would wear if I did. I mean, I’m living in a very rural area where the likelihood of going somewhere dressy is extremely rare. Also, I am asocial. There still might be wedding(s) and/or funeral(s) though?

Anyway, I have clothing from eight years ago when I was social and living in a city 166% larger than the village where I currently reside. I was also dating at that time (!) I am never wearing those clothes again. I can get rid of them. They’ve been bagged up since, so they would need a good wash if they’re to be donated.

And then some of the clothing is just straight up garbage, which is a little tricky, because I’m living with a hoarder family member who looks through the trash for items to save. I’ve gotten around this by taking some of my garbage (empty yogurt tubs, for instance) to work to throw away.

In conclusion, this is just a thread about decluttering.

How is the decluttering going?

I’ve only cleaned out three drawers, so okay.

Oh that's good....

I find it difficult to declutter and usually need a friend over for to support my morale.

I donated a huge box of vhs movies last weekend—maybe around 100 tapes. I brought home a box from work to start in on sorting through my old clothes. First, I will gather enough clothes to fill the box, then I’ll decide what is straight trash and what just needs to be washed…

I decluttered my two closets. I now have two plastic bags full of clothing for the woman who usually picks up clothes now too big for me. But this time I am also giving away clothes I have worn too many times, as I am buying new fun clothes and the rule is, nothing new in unless something old out.
I have also organized my clothes in the closets. This feels great!
thank you for the thread.

This is one of a few topics I review with my T each session.

I've committed to decluttering the basement, porch and garage.

I have a terrible time lying -- it's easier for me to get rid of a whole bunch of cardboard boxes than to not do it and lie about it.

Anyway, my approach is to pick up a couple of things to throw away whenever I'm in one of those areas.

I also have the rule about donating old clothes if I bring home new ones. But old shoes get thrown away, and underwear goes into the rag pile.

I’m going to go through a box of old papers and see what I can recycle or toss. I looked through this box a couple days ago and it made me sad. So I can expect some feelings to come up, but they won’t kill me. I will feel better in the long run, probably…

Due to 18 hours without electricity, I cleaned out the fridge and freezer. It was easy -- most of the stuff was for my wife.

But it hurt to dump my stuff. I kept a lot, though, such as fresh vegetables, eggs, condiments, cheese, butter and yogurt.