Stop being a pack rat and clear the clutter

The trial has been held. You have been found guilty as accused. A pack-rat! Does this shoe fit anyone reading this?

After speaking to several friends about this subject, especially after helping my sister go through our deceased mother’s collectibles — it’s amazing how much stuff a home can amass in over 97 years of living — we all realized we collect too much stuff over a time period and now is the time to downsize!

We all agreed that we are surrounded by stuff in the kitchen, the bedrooms, the family TV room, and, in fact, every room in the house holds some unnecessary collectibles. All these collectibles eventually add up and lead to stress. Since none of us needs extra stress added to our everyday living, we need to get into action to get rid of the clutter in order to better utilize the spaces we have to store the necessities. After doing this, we can focus better, be less distracted, be less stressed and enjoy our own environment.

Keep It or Toss It

A niece, Jean Hudson, says it all comes down to “Criteria, Criteria, Criteria,” and together we came up with a helpful list of items that fit in this criteria. If you have these items, get rid of them, donate to charity, pass along to a friend or trash them!

This list of items includes: anything broken or missing a part; duplicated items; things that are outdated, no longer useful or holding unhappy memories; and clothes that no longer fit. If it takes you longer than 20 minutes to decide what to wear because of a crowded closet, you need to weed out the pieces that haven’t been worn in a “coon’s age,” toss them and donate to charity. She also suggests cutting down on compulsive buying, and when you bring one new item in, take an older item out!

Another niece, Laurie Crosby, mentioned that her mother, Josephine Hubbard, used large containers with each child’s name on them to store their keepsakes and also made photo albums for each child.

She remarked that her mom always tried to make things easier for them. Remembering this, she shared her own tips, such as keeping family mementos and heirlooms for future generations, but not hoarding so many things you think you might eventually use that they will become a burden to others. In that case, the thing to do, she says, is to give these items to someone who can really use it before it gets too old to be useful or enjoyed. She says “keep it or toss it” is something we all struggle with. Does my attic get this or shall I pass it on?

Friendly Tips

Joyce Payne and Margaret Hubbard have also separated pictures for each family, ask their children and grandchildren to come get special items they want now and packed up other nonessentials they had collected over the years for Goodwill. Charlene King says she keeps an ongoing Goodwill box in a spare bedroom to put unwanted items that have collected, and when it’s full, out it goes!

It seems as if a good many of us in the “older sector” are getting the hang of the fact that our children aren’t going to want to deal with our stuff when our presence is no longer with them, and so we are taking the bull by the horns. That’s good!

My sentiments that will cut down on some items: When traveling on vacation, save your money by viewing the souvenirs in the shops and leave them there. I’m also going to share with family and friends who may want to bestow a gift on me to remember this: “If I can’t spend it, wear it, eat it or read it: Keep it, just a card will do!”

This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Stop being a pack rat and clear the clutter."