Storage Building, Garage Sale or Throw it Away Clutter

Amazing how you can accumulate so much junk, stuff and clutter. Is it clutter or would you say it is a collection? We could probably say anything could be a collection of something. People have made a fortune on a collection of what most would say is junk and then others have spent a fortune on a collection that others say is a pile of junk. Seems like we have accumulated a collection of stuff that once was a collection but now is just another undesirable, cluttering up the closets, drawers and storage buildings. For some reason, the need to get rid of clutter has become an obsession. Spending money on a storage building to store unnecessary things will never be used seems quite stupid at this time of my life. Sure is hard to get rid of stuff when for years collecting and hoarding has been a way of life. At one time, it was exciting to get that special Beanie Baby or a Gold Ty Trading Card. Oh, to have a big Tupperware party and get all that free stuff. Oh, sure I would like to sell Tupperware, where do I sign. Baseball card, baseball card, baseball cards! Making candles was fun hobby until I purchased all the paraffin, scents, colors, wicks, jars, pans, labels and then finding out the scents made my eyes swell and I was allergic to them. Oh, Ebay! Did that, too. It was fine but very time consuming and expensive since what I had didn’t bring bids that were enough to compensate for the fees and purchases. The list goes on and on and on. If it was out there I collected it. Needless to say, everything went in boxes and put in storage. Should have gotten rid of all of it years ago but hoarders hoard you know.

Not only did the house fill up but so did the storage buildings. It is a family thing. Most of my immediate family have piles of clutter. We all save everything. My mom went through her closets that were so full there was no more room. She called to say she managed to fill 1 grocery sack full. It was our humor for the day. My daughter always tells me she will come and clean out my junk if I will let her but her house is just like mine. Full of needless clutter. We all save butter dishes, coffee cans, paper sacks, cut off pant legs or jeans (for quilts), old pant hose (for stuffing homemade stuffed animals or pillows), out grown clothes for the next in line, old T-shirts for paint rags. Need I say more!

Garage sales used to be a fun way to make a few $$ and get rid of junk, stuff and clutter but it seemed like everyone brought their stuff and I got stuck with the left overs. Don’t take me wrong, left overs are good for the next garage sale but bad since I had to store it. From time to time, I would get in that – I am getting rid of this junk mood – and look out! I could get rid of stuff like a crazy woman. It just never lasted long enough to get rid of enough to tell.

Several years ago my mother-in-law moved into our rent house after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Moving from a 3-bedroom/2 bath house into a
2- bedroom/1 bath house was a chore but we did it after putting some in storage. She was able to live alone for awhile but within a few months had to move in with us. She wanted all her special stuff which was all her stuff. Knowing she only had a few months to live we did what we could. It was fine but she had lots of stuff. After she passed away, we decided to do some remodeling and fixing up on our house. Long story short, we found that we had some major water leaks everywhere. I had been sick for a year or so but thought it was stress from chemo and radiation treatment and caring for a sick one. It was a wonderful compliment that she wanted me to care for her. It is also hard to care for someone you love and then loose them. We fixed the water lines and replaced all of the plumbing in the house. My husband went on an out of town job so our work sort of was on hold. Still feeling puny all the time, nothing much got done. I kept saying the house was making me sick and it was. We had that dreaded mold. Insurance took over and stored everything in our house in a storage unit 60 miles away until the remediation was done. It took over a year to remediate and get a settlement on the insurance. We moved into a small trailer that was provided for us. It was so nice to have a nice, new, clean, uncluttered place to live. All the junk, stuff and clutter was out of sight, out of mind. But somehow, little by little there it was again. Old habit die hard.

My husband is not home much because of his job but had a few days off and decided that we were going to un-clutter things. He had wanted to get a Cargo Container for a tool/yard storage so now was the time. We could clean out the storage building, go through stuff and finally get rid of all the things we don’t need or want. Then he could have the container for his stuff. Of course, all of his stuff is very necessary and valuable. A Man Thing! Thank goodness he went back to work and left it all to me! Funny how someone can throw away someone else’s stuff but has such a hard time with their own. We are making progress and it feel so good to finally be able to throw away all those butter dishes, paper sacks, ice cream buckets, old phone books, non working curling iron, decks of worn out playing cards, holy socks and ?, piles of newspapers, magazines, 15 year old bank statements and receipts, 20 year old stuffed animals and junk and stuff and clutter. It is also nice to not pay for a storage building to store all of that junk.

It is amazing how much money, time and energy you can save by not collection also. Giving up buying needless stuff has made a big difference. Determination and a strong will this time will help me get it done. What he can’t see, he won’t miss! Just have to make sure the trash man comes before my husband comes home. I definitely will not be leaving while he is home, for sure.

Taking the advice of a friend, I have 4 plastic tubs labeled, Donate, Keep, Throw Away, Garage Sale. Filling up all 4 is so nice, each has a place to go. Hopefully, the keep will fill up last. It has helped and hopefully before long the junk, stuff and clutter will be gone before we move back into our house when it is completed.

Good Luck to all of you that have the same problems!!!!