OT? interesting comment I "overheard"

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OT? interesting comment I "overheard"

Mochi

Veteran

Or over-read, on Facebook. An acquaintance of mine who lives in Manhattan, and is vacating her place for now.

"Whatever's left in my apt I want to throw out/donate, I want to live with MUCH, MUCH less stuff from now on!"

It's one of those things I think about a lot.

13 years ago

General

13 replies

Latest reply was from Sylvie

catgirl

Veteran

Mochi, some friends of ours with young kids just downsized to a smaller house. They dumped so much stuff and are THRILLED . They have more discretionary income to travel now, less housework, less clutter, more time. They're relieved and happy. And yet they just told me people are constantly asking if something is wrong - financial woes or an illness- because it's so hard in our society to believe a family with kids (or really, anyone) would go with less.

You are right on point.

13 years ago

Aziraphale

Veteran

I think about this ALL THE TIME. Clutter drives me nuts, and yet we've accumulated so much over the years. A lot of it is stuff like Lego and Playmobil, which I'm happy for the kids to have. But some of it is my own fault. I've been obsessively purging my closet in part because I feel like I have too much stuff.

13 years ago

rae

(website)

Veteran

Older friends of ours used to have a fabulous house in LA, but they had to sell it because they felt it was "taking them over." All the little decorations and artworks and trappings. They are also much happier with less. I would like to do this, too, as I'm starting to feel kind of cluttered.

Trick is that less items means each item has to do more. I am just learning about this - how to spot the workhorses and be patient and part with my pennies.

13 years ago

Astrid

Veteran

I'm thinking about it too. I don't even have that much stuff, because I'm living in a small flat and been only living on my own the last three years, I didn't have time or money to accumulate that much stuff. But even so I'd like to throw some things out. I also looked a bit into the the whole minimalism concept and different blogs on this subject-matter, but most of these are too extreme for my taste.

13 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

OMG, PLAYMOBIL! Though I will say DS still plays with it and keeps it organized, and has already told me he plans to save it for his children. Thankfully he never got into Legos.

13 years ago

Anonymous

I plan to downsize when all my kids leave home. I don't see the sense in 2 people living in a large home. I have better things to do with my time than clean house. As it is, my teenaged DDs all clean their own bedrooms and bathrooms, and one of my DDs helps with other household cleaning such as dusting, vacuuming and mopping. If I had to do it all myself, I'd be very grumpy.

I do as much decluttering as my family lets me do. I can't stand clutter!

13 years ago

Astrid

Veteran

My poor little brother now has Playmobil and Lego from three older siblings in is room, in addition to his own. I already promised my mum I would help to sort it out when the time comes for him to stop playing with it.

13 years ago

Raisin

Veteran

I hear ya! I have been rigorously de-cluttering for years now. We have much less in out house than most people. My mom always comments, I think people think it's weird when you don't have a lot of "stuff". Been doing the same with my wardrobe. I love it!

13 years ago

harmonica

Veteran

I think of getting rid of all kinds of stuff too... it's time to make a move...

Thanks for sharing!

13 years ago

Mochi

Veteran

Those are valid points...for me I was thinking about it in what I think was her intended context--suddenly having no choice but to leave her apartment, so there isn't too much option to make leisurely decisions on keep/purge/ebay/donate etc etc.

It's kind of a meditation on sudden events impacting our future decisions down to what we buy and wear. I read that for a long time after 9/11, sales of high-heeled shoes plummeted in Manhattan. Women didn't feel like they could be safe in an emergency when wearing them. But in this woman's case, she's feeling like she wants to make a permanent shift in the amount of stuff she is "carrying" through life.

13 years ago

Caro in Oz

Veteran

We've been doing this for a while now & it's such a relief. The hardest thing for both of us was books, for some reason we had a lot of ourselves invested in them.

13 years ago

Echo

Veteran

I think health issues or sudden emergencies - either with family members or natural disasters, etc. - can have a significant impact on how we view "stuff". Suddenly, in light of much larger things, we have neither the physical nor mental space to devote to them. It sounds corny, but we realize what's really important, and it generally is not the stuff in boxes in the back of the closet!

13 years ago

Sylvie

Veteran

I really admire the concept of voluntary simplicity. I certainly don't have the hoarding tendencies of *cough*other members of my family*cough but I still have SO MUCH STUFF. Books from my childhood, all the supplies for my fiber arts hobbies, and gear for hiking, biking, running and camping. None of it is junk and all of it is useful, but I am overflowing the storage space in my apartment.

If I have fewer things, will I be able to live in a smaller space and will this save me money and trouble over the long run, as per the examples given up thread?

13 years ago

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