The nest

[Jenna]

Yup, welcome to my nest, otherwise known as my "rat hole". lol  I am having a terrible time with this, and maybe y'all can help. Are any of you pack-rats? Do you live with someone who is? If so, maybe you have some tips that might save my sanity.....

Well, my husband and I are pack-rats, but each in our own ways. My problem is clothing. I just can't seem to get rid of what should have been made rags long ago, or the clothes that just plain 'ol don't fit anymore. My question here is, how much is enough? I have a terrible example of 'too much' in my bedroom, so I've got that covered. lol But, how much clothing is sufficient, do you think?

Now, my husband's problem is that he keeps every other thing in the world. We have tons and tons of cluttery things, and I don't know what to do with it all. I know that stuff has to go, but it is hard deciding what gets tossed and what I can compromise about. Do you have any tips on how to help make those decisions?

 

[HesMyAll]

How about having a yard sale?  You could get rid of a lot of stuff that you're not using and make some money doing it!

 

[Didymus]

let me at it. i am great at throwing things out . Both my daughters and husband are major pack rats. You need lots of underwear and socks . other then that 10 shirts 5 jeans oops do you work in an office as that will change the numbers. Mother teresa got along with only two saris.

 

[kat37]

what?? throw out clothes?? but what if they do fit again later and you find the perfect shoes to go w/ it? haha, im the same way. i could not do laundry for 2-3 months and still have enough to wear. anyway, if you can't find or make a home for it, throw it out. hard to do, i know. you could also put stuff on ebay-it is amazing what some people will pay for something you consider old junk

 

[OracleX]

We have struggled with things like this in our house too. The kitchen was always a disaster that seemed impossible to keep clean. So one day we emptied it out on the floors, counters, tables and anywhere we could. We then put back only what was NEEDED. All the extra stuff was packed up and put in boxes. There were some extra stuff that my wife wanted to keep so we boxed and kept it. The rest we gave away. Now the kitchen has stayed clean and is very easy to keep clean as everything has its place.

My wife has a clothes problem too. But over the past couple years we have taken the time to clean out the closest and she has given away garbage bags of clothes. She still has a tonn of clothes but it is more manageble.

We have cleaned out a few other rooms using the same thoughts: if you haven't used it in a while and can't see using it anytime soon, then you should look at tossing it. It has worked really good for us.

 

[Jenna]

You know, the hard part is that we can't really donate any of the clothing because it is in such bad shape that the Salvation Army and St. Vincent De Paul's wouldn't take them. Even if some really poor off folks wanted them, we aren't allowed to have yard sales, since I live in an apartment complex. So, it is a matter of spreading the word amongst family and friends, and whatever they don't want gets tossed. Seriously though, most everything that I have is so worn and full of holes that they should have been tossed out years ago. For the longest time it never bothered me, since I have always recieved hand-me-downs of hand-me-downs. I'm sure that some folks around here can identify with how it is possible to own the same shirt that both of your sisters had, and your two cousins before that. lol

 

[hollygirl]

Okay, I'm a super pack rat as my mother is also. Here's what I started doing the year before last as hard as it was.
1) Go through your clothes and pick out the ones you haven't worn in the past year. Out of that stuff, anything that has holes just throw it away (maybe keep one or two shirts for dust cloths.) If it's wearable donate it to a church "closet" or whatever.
2) Keep two changes of worn clothes for each person in the family. Throw anything else that has holes in the trash. You are way to pretty to wear holes.
3) Paper piles. Unless it's important throw it away. If you keep coupons keep them in a small file box. Keep tax records, receipts, bank statments and the like in a labeled box or file box. If it is important make a place for it, label it, and put it there when it shows up.
4) Stuff. Does it have meaning to anyone in the house? Does anyone in the house use it several times a year? Is it replacing something you already have? Does it have a place to be? If not. Get rid of it. It's okay to throw stuff away. I'm just learning this. It's hard but true.
And how much clothing does one person need. Well, ask yourself how much of your clothing you wear between laundry days and how often you wear it. (It's just me but I keep 5 pairs of nice jeans. Two messy jeans. Four dress pants. A few dresses. About 10 long sleeve shirts and 10 short sleeve shirts. Enough bras for a week. Enough panties and socks for 10 days. And a few jammies. I go through our clothing twice a year and get rid of anything that we didn't wear the two season's we just passed through.)
Hope this helps. Good luck! Have fun! (Oh, and I find that the time it's easiest to throw things away is when I'm super irritated at messes or feeling cramped.)

 

[Verve]

Try the KonMari Method. It really helped me.
Our house is now neatly organized. Got rid of a ton of stuff, none of it "sparked joy"...

 

[98cwitr]

Can't take it with you!

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

I was raised with barley living with anything. More so if you don't really need it, don't buy it. Doesn't mean I can't have nice things of course. I have a book shelf with books. I have a small game and movie collection. But alot of what I have is limited. I (I'm a guy btw) have like ten "causal" shirts. Ten "around the house" clothing items. One suit. Three pairs of casual pants (two beige, one black). 7 pairs of boxers. 4 pairs of white socks and four pairs of black. Only a few ties. Four pairs of casual cargo shorts (two, black, two beige). One set of sandals, two sets of shoes (black and white). One pair of swim trunks. Thats it. Some of my shirts for example I bought 15+ years ago. They are in almost new condition mind you (I'm not going to keep something with holes of course). My wife on the other hand..... lol. She doesn't fully understand why I don't want alot.

Even for Christmas I told her I don't really want anything and she doesn't understand that really. Again, doesn't mean you can't enjoy things. I love a treat sometimes of course. But I chose to live plainly and contently. But that may just be me. To be fair though women tend to want more stuff then guys. To be fair again women also need more then guys since they are more complex. Lipstick, eyeliner, blush, bras, different panties, different clothes with different fits for different situations. Watches, bracelets, earrings. Shoes for walking, shoes for events, shows for work, shoes for at home. Purses, handbags, clutches...etc.

Granted I don't think a woman needs 30 pairs of shoes or 200 varied clothing items. But thats why each sex is built different and thinks differently about it. Though my mom is the exception. She only has a few pairs of shoes, a few clothes, very little make up....etc. Some of her stuff is really old. She doesn't buy new stuff often at all. Maybe every few years.

To be fair about my wife though most of her stuff she gets at thrift stores and free. Which is great. I don't buy alot. I'm content with what I have. After all I can't take it with me when I die.

 

[Thunder Peel]

Try the KonMari Method. It really helped me.
Our house is now neatly organized. Got rid of a ton of stuff, none of it "sparked joy"...

"I myself have three pairs of socks and three pairs of knickers. That means I've only worn each pair 269 times since the last wash."

 

[Angeldove97]

Well, my husband and I are pack-rats, but each in our own ways. My problem is clothing. I just can't seem to get rid of what should have been made rags long ago, or the clothes that just plain 'ol don't fit anymore. My question here is, how much is enough?

I grew up in a house where my Mom holds on to everything and buys even more. Not a hoading situation (no trash or anything dirty), but just a lot of stuff. I have similar tendencies, but I can recognize it and fix the situation when it gets out of hand.

For clothes, the last time I moved I put a space limit on how much I could pack. I brought over hangers to my new place and hung up as many hangers that could fit in the closet. That was the number of shirts, pants, skirts that I was allowing myself to hold on to. I donated or threw out everything else - if it didn't fit, I had to make the decision of if I could give something else up instead. And I stuck with it. For my dresser, I have 2 drawers and my husband has 2. If my items can't fit into those 2 drawers, I give it up. It took me days to do this, but it made unpacking and organizing soooooo much easier.

For other items that I might collect too may of, I use the same idea. For books, I allowed myself one full tote of books. It meant giving up some treasures, but made unpacking a lot easier.

Donating my extras helps me to feel alot better when it comes to giving up stuff - I'm not throwing it out and maybe someone else could really use it more than me.

 

[RedPonyDriver]

We just downsized from a big house to a small apartment. I am still in the process of getting rid of stuff. If you haven"t worn it or used it in a year, out it goes. My brother is coming in the spring to get a lot of my parents' stuff that I kept after they passed. Time to pass it to another generation.

Purging is quite liberating!

 

[Verve]

We just downsized from a big house to a small apartment. I am still in the process of getting rid of stuff. If you haven"t worn it or used it in a year, out it goes. My brother is coming in the spring to get a lot of my parents' stuff that I kept after they passed. Time to pass it to another generation.

Purging is quite liberating!

It really is! I just put away Christmas stuff for the family room, bathroom and kitchen today.
Reset for the front room is going to take much longer. So that's on tick for next weekend.

I'm going to start the Thankful Home Project I've been outlining for next year.
Seems like it will be a ton of fun! I love organizing, sorting, and making our home a haven.

 

[RedPonyDriver]

My only hangup with purging is my books. I seem to never get rid of any. The rest...I'll sit on the floor! Hopefully the storage space will be arranged tomorrow and I can start moving things to storage for my brothers to come and get. We're passing things down to the kids...

 

[Verve]

My only hangup with purging is my books. I seem to never get rid of any. The rest...I'll sit on the floor! Hopefully the storage space will be arranged tomorrow and I can start moving things to storage for my brothers to come and get. We're passing things down to the kids...

Books were hard for me before I became a librarian. Now I realize there are only a handful I really treasure and the rest cycle in and out. I've never discarded a book and regretted it.

 

[RedPonyDriver]

I still have most of my college textbooks....

 

[Verve]

I still have most of my college textbooks....

Wow. Yeah. I sold most of mine back...

 

[RedPonyDriver]

I used mine for reference...

 

[Verve]

I used mine for reference...

I guess if your field is something that is text heavy it's a bit different.
Nearly everything I have is available updated and digital.