How attached are you to your "stuff"

[NHdisneylover]

I am NOT attatched to things AT ALL. DH isn't either.

We are very much minimalists, keeping only what we use RIGHT NOW.

We don't have clutter.

DH and I each have just two or three Rubbermaid tubs of "important" things... like things from our past that we can't get rid of.

When a tub gets full and we want to add to it, we go through it's contents again and throw away something that isn't AS important.

So far, in my 27 years, I can't think of any one thing I am sorry I threw away.

I clean and throw away things from every room, closet, drawer, cabinet, each year

We don't specifically sort every eyar like you do, but we don't really have "stuff" either. we have made 5 cross country moves in our 14 years of marraige, which really makes it easy to purge things. Better yet, we moved to Germany last February. Each of us (we have two kids) got to bring 4 suitcases (2 on the househunting trip and 2 on the move). That was IT (other than shipping the handmade karate belt rack DFiL made DD). we brought some clothes, my good pots and pans, a few books and the kids brought toys (American Girl dolls, Snap Circuits, Legos and lego mindstorms plus several board games removed from their boxes made the cut). we are storing family photos and an antique regulator clock that DFiL rebuilt for us as a wedding gift and my wedding dress with a friend but everything else we owned was sold or given away. We don't miss it either.

 

[SandrA9810]

kari is a huge hoarder, and likes to hang onto memories. But she also uses and abuses things so bad, that it seems pointless to hang on to.

I let her all this time, and there was some stuff i wanted to keep for scrapbooking or something. But now, i have no inerest in saving it.

This last move, every thing that we didn't need, got placed into one room. And several times over the year, i tried to put things away, and never quite accomplished it.
Now, i've cleared out my stuff, and it's very very little. And the room is still filled. Growing up i had maybe two boxes in my closet for keepsake. The rest had a place to be, on the dresser, on the desk... I can't wait to get back to that.
On one hand, i'm really bad about cleaning, but i don't have a problem throwing stuff out. And i do like to keep my things in good condition to use for years and years and years, so i don't have to replace it.
My mom is just awful though, so is my aunt and grandmother.

Sometimes, i've wondered on clean house how much is acting... So they can "free gift", to later advertise that company. Usually a flooring company, and the container store.

The hoarders show on the other hand just scares me. And i've seen over the years with my mom, claiming things have been "stolen" because something might've been tossed. And freaking out about it. Those are deeper issues.

 

[MM27]

I consider myself to be close to a minimalist. There is very little that I am overly attached to. I don't like clutter and it makes me crazy to see things out that don't belong out. I go to my brother's house and always have the urge to clean. Not because it's dirty but because they have so much stuff that they keep on counters, on tables. I'm not a big fan of chotchkes and random crap all over the place.

 

[Rora]

I'm definitely attached to things but can usually let go with some persuasion. DFiance on the other hand can walk around the house periodically just throwing stuff away. I'll come home, go to look for something and find it missing. When I inquire as to where it is, DFi responds "I threw it away..". Most of the time it's useless stuff that SHOULD be thrown away but other times he throws away stuff that matters to me (like a magazine I haven't read just yet) and I want to kill him.

 

[minkydog]

I'm not a saver. I've always been this way. If I haven't used it in 2 years, out it goes. I don't even want to sell it--I hate yard sales and I don't do e-Bay or Craiglist(just the thought of creepy people comeing over to my house...) I'd rather just send it to Goodwill and take the deduction. We are in beginning downsize mode here. In 3 years we want to sell the house and move into our RV. I don't know how much space we'll have, probably about 180 sq. feet. Obviously, we will have to be very very frugal about what we keep. First nice day, i'm descending on the basement and cleaning house!

My mother and one of my sisters are both hoarders. My mother's house isn't quite as bad as the ones you see on TV, but it's bad enough that I can't take Christian over there. She has stacks of stuff with little rabbit trails going through it. And my sister's house is just as bad. Both of them have this thing where every object is embued with emotional life. They can't let anything go because that would betray the memories they made with the object. My sister is raising her only child to feel the same way. I predict that in 10 years they will either be buried in crap or they will have to move out of their home because it will be uninhabitable. I could not live that way. It makes me very anxious, almost claustrophobic, if I even have to go over there.

 

[EllaM]

I do collect things but I also go through my anti-junk phases. About every couple years. On my 3rd or 4th phase usually that thing which survived the first cuts gets tossed the next one. I try to downsize as much as possible and don't pay much for clothing. That way if I only wear something a few times I can toss it out in 2 years and not kill myself over buying something like it new.

The problem with clutter is that once you get enough of it you get so overwhelmed you don't know where to begin.

I say this while spending the week decluttering my parents' house of 40 years worth of clutter. My cousins and I rented a dumpster and just went to work. First the basement, garage, then the laundry and spare bedrooms. It was a mixture of some of my late mom's stuff, a bunch of imports from my siblings (the old "hang on to this while we try to sell our house" which turns into "stuff we forgot about years ago") and outdated furniture that they thought there'd be a use for someplace.

It's been upsetting for my dad but mostly because he's afraid something he really wants is getting tossed out. He keeps saying he hates to toss something good away and buy it again later. We've been trying to be careful about keeping his more valuable collections together and/or giving him ample opportunity to see what is going.

Cleaning house is a liberating thing. Good to divest yourself of junk and a bit of a treasure hunt to find things you forgot you ever had.

As for those shows, Hoarders gives me nightmares. Those houses are beyond cluttered. Clean House is nice except when you give over your house to their redesigning. Sometimes the design they come up with nice and other times it's worse than the original.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I could become a horder if I allowed myself.. I'm very attached to things. Its awful

Exactly what I was about to say about myself.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I could never do that show!

I'm not nearly as bad as them, but do hang onto some odd stuff: like the mis-matched trash can in my bathroom - because my late grandmother helped me make it for dorm room (where it did look "right"), clothes that hang in my closet because I wore them to ____ and think of it whenever I push them aside to get to what I actually wear, things that just don't "go" with my decor at all - just because they make me smile.

I do watch it sometimes, though, and get inspired to sort the sentimental from the just clutter myself.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

If we buy something to replace something else, the old is donated (if it still works) or is recycled/trashed (if it does not). We are not clutter people and really everything has a place, location and we keep our place really organized and clean. Clothes I think are some of the most hoarded items and although we have more clothes then I think is necessary, we do go through our clothes every 6 months, and look at the last season (winter or summer) clothes and see which ones we never wore, if we didn't wear it, it goes to charity.

We do have a small "keepsake" box with wedding invitations, birth announcements, etc, and I have two things from my father (he passed away when I was 12), his guitar when he was growing up and his trainset (American Flyer - still in original boxes, complete set that works) - but I like both of the things and I have interest in them, if I didn't have interest in them, I'd donate them (my family and I donated most of my father's things).

 

[SC Minnie]

I am attached to some 'things' that were handed down in the family. I have a few things that belonged to my great grandparents and I wouldn't give those up for anything. Now just random stuff I'm not too attached. If DH gave it to me as a gift I may hold on to it depending on what it was.

Our church has a huge yard sale every August and that kind of forces us to go through things. I know every year there is more that I could put in there but always run out of time eventhough its always the same weekend.

 

[PigletsPal2]

There's nothing like being a Foreign Service (or military) family who moves every two years to help you get rid of what we so elegantly call "junque." We've moved 28 times in 44 years of marriage but we've been in this house 7 years (retired!). Time to de-clutter!

Queen Colleen

 

[wdwfan16]

I am not an "attach to things" kind of person. DH is to an extent. I make him watch the show "Hoarders" and he has been much better. He is unhoarding all the time now!!!

My GF is a hoarder and it is really ruining her life.

 

[mom2boys77]

We had a fire in Nov. and lost all of our things. My brother thought I would become a hoarder now but it seems to have had the opposite effect on me. I am throwing more things out than I ever did and just holding on to the stuff that I can never get again like some special drawings my kids made in school. If I've learned nothing else from this event, it's that things are really not that important, they can be gone in a minute but I do still have my memories and my family.

 

[Pakey]

I am not attached to things and I am not sentimental. I have a beautiful collection of artwork that I enjoy but I could sell it without a problem. Except for the art pieces, everything else is about function.

 

[DisneyMim]

Great thread because I watched that show about Hoarders and thought that I never want to be like that. That being said, I never became attached to stuff until I had kids. Then it was "Oh, this was her/his first "whatever" I can't throw this out." I am really trying to be better about things. My hubby would throw out everything that wasn't nailed down LOL!! My goal is to become super organized. Sigh. I don't think it will ever happen.

 

[CathrynRose]

Very, very much so.

I was recently going through a box of 'memories' and came across a bag of hair. I don't know whose it is. It's got to be one of the boys, I just don't know which one, or why I kept it???

Think I threw it out? Nope. There must have been a reason I kept it - so it went back in the box. *shrug*

 

[mom2boys77]

I kept 2 little envelopes with my sons' hair from their first haircuts. This might be really gross to some but I also kept the little stubs from their umbilical cords..luckily these were in a fire safe box.

Very, very much so.

I was recently going through a box of 'memories' and came across a bag of hair. I don't know whose it is. It's got to be one of the boys, I just don't know which one, or why I kept it???

Think I threw it out? Nope. There must have been a reason I kept it - so it went back in the box. *shrug*

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

I am very attached to my "stuff". LOVE it. I definitely have hoarding tendencies, but I am somewhat OCD so my stuff is all very neat and organized, and I know exactly where everything is. It all has a spot of its own.

I go through everything and purge a couple times a year, so things don't get out of hand. But I am constantly adding more stuff to fill the places of what gets donated. I love to shop.

 

[HelenePA]

I kept 2 little envelopes with my sons' hair from their first haircuts. This might be really gross to some but I also kept the little stubs from their umbilical cords..luckily these were in a fire safe box.

I have my kids cords too!

My first dd came home on tube feeds as a baby. It when thru her nose into her intestines... well it fell out at home (she no longer needed it thank god) and I still have that tube!

 

[EllaM]

I am attached to some 'things' that were handed down in the family. I have a few things that belonged to my great grandparents and I wouldn't give those up for anything.

I have my great grandmother's steamer chest she used to migrate from Ireland to America. It came from my grandmother's attic. Besides the chest, all I have from my great grandmother are two pictures (her wedding photo and a studio photo of her when she first arrived in America as a teenager). I won't part with them. I've already scanned both photos into my digital archive so it outlasts the paper.

I have a rocking chair that belonged to my grandmother. Many a baby was rocked to sleep in it and clothing sewn in it. It's in perfect condition now because people aren't allowed to sit in it. Just admire its beauty.

And I have my mother's wedding rings along several pieces of her jewelry and gifts she gave me throughout my life. My digital library holds a picture of my niece hugging her on my mom's last ever birthday and video of her last dance with my dad.

I know they are just "things" but they are also pieces that directly relate to my family's history. You can't part with that.