Comments on: An Interesting Voluntary Simplicity Exercise That Can Really Improve Your Financial Situation

By: JessicaE

JessicaE — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:01:25 +0000

KT:
I wholeheartedly agree. I too am married to a wonderful person…with a bad habit of holding on to a LOT of stuff… but fortunately a bad memory. I too have stopped nagging and bugging about keeping his spaces (that overflow to the entire house) pared down, and have just proceeded to make ‘executive’ decisions about old logoed Ts, socks with holes, misc receipts lying around, and things in boxes that have not been touched or asked about in 4.5 years since our last move. This has saved me time and anxiety and frustration of having to wait on him to sort stuff that could take him weeks to get to, when I could use my designated cleaning time to just make the space nice. Since I started this method about a year ago, he has yet to ask about anything missing (including outdated textbooks that weigh a TON, and cannot be used for references in his medical writings).

By: Rosa Rugosa

Rosa Rugosa — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:32:40 +0000

The decluttering fits in nicely with eliminating recreational shopping too. We have a small house, so we have to really consider how badly we want/need something, and where it will go. I do have trouble letting go of books, but space considerations have forced me to get better about this in the last couple of years. I try to go through my library at least once a year. I donate the books to the library and other items to charitable organizations. I think if I were going to try to sell them, they would just hang around forever. If I were retired or unemployed, I would probably rethink that one.
What about well-meaning loved ones, who are shopaholics and bring you little gifts everytime they see you? And act rejected if you try to tell them that you appreciate their good intentions, but please knock it off?

By: KT

KT — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:41:19 +0000

As for the husband thing: I married the only person on the planet messier than I am. Or was. I’m working REALLY hard to get everything- EVERYTHING- in my life organized in a functional, manageable way. I’ve found that I frequently have to trash/donate things that are my husband’s, and have gotten to the point that I have no qualms about it. I used to try to get him on board with the cleaning, but the effort was truly pointless. He would usually tell me he would take care of it, and then a year later I would find the same bag of crap stashed in some corner.
So, that Raiders pillow his ex-girlfriend’s mom made for him 15 years ago? I don’t care how much of a Raiders fan he is, there is no need for this thing- collecting dog hair under the bed- in our lives. Those 70 pairs of socks, 50 of which have been waiting for him to sort them for over 2 years? Weed out all the ones with holes, and keep 10 of each- white, long black, short black. Don’t tell him about vast number of T-shirts slowly making their way into the donation bin- I’m now down to 2 out of the 12 logo Ts he had from his old job.
I’ve also started giving deadlines. If I collect a box of stuff for him to go through, I’ll tell him about it, and then tell him I want to get it squared away by such-and-so a date (usually 1-2 weeks away), and when can he go through it? Some boxes have been “gone through”, and then I come back and go through them again- I’ve literally had whole boxes that ended up in the trash/recycling after the second processing.
If you live with a pack rat, realize that they won’t miss the vast majority of things to which they are “attached”. Ok, high school medals I’ll allow him, for the time being- those were his glory days, and he doesn’t have anything else to show for them. But old computer books? Mmmm, nope.
Our space is soooo much nicer since I’ve stopped waiting for my husband to take an active role in improving it…

By: Janelle

Janelle — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:55:29 +0000

I’m getting a handle on my sentimental attachment to “stuff”, but my real problem now is that my husband has the “but I might need it someday” syndrome. He has boxes and boxes of stuff stashed around our tiny apartment – whole boxes of electronic cables that don’t go to anything we have, multiples of computer accessories he doesn’t use, stacks and stacks of clothes he never wears, and boxes of games he never plays. What can I do with it all???

By: Gaida

Gaida — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:05:19 +0000

I also love Flylady… they have great suggestions & the 15 mins fling really helps to not be overwhelmed and trying to do too much at one time.

When you receive your mail… stand over the recycle bin & read it and then toss it. Another suggestion I’ve heard…is everytime you read a piece of paper, put a red dot on it… if it ends up looking like it has the measles..you’ve handled it too many times… Toss it!

It’s so true an uncluttered house definitely helps to unclutter your mind. Giving you a great sense of freedom..

Now where’s that rubbish bin I definitely need to start tossing!

By: chris

chris — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 13:13:30 +0000

I’ve been decluttering for some time. Getting rid of books on amazon and other stuff on ebay. It’s not that easy to make a quick buck doing this. It takes time and effort. In addtion, I have to accept the fact that I will not recoup any money on some items. These will have to be donated or, worse, trashed.

By: Afloat

Afloat — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:51:25 +0000

!wanda, you could try getting some of those cheap mutiple picture frames or shadow boxes, and arranging his “treasures” into cheap, personalized decor. Like a picture of the of two at a concert in a shadow box, with the tickets and other music related pieces of stuff. Somthing. Of course, then you’re REALLY stuck with the stuff, but at least it’s presentable! The shadow boxes especially can come out really nice, and you can get them at Ikea, craft stores, and other cheap places.

By: brent

brent — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 01:10:59 +0000

good luck.

I pulled that stunt on my wife and she assured me in no uncertain terms that she enjoys living up to her eyeballs in books that she read 8 years ago and videos (VIDEOS!) that she’s never going to watch.

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:48:17 +0000

This really hits home for me as I’m finishing up packing for college. I’m looking around my room at all the stuff that I’m leaving behind. There’s two boxes (photo storage size) of mementos, some journals and some books that I’m not bringing just because I don’t have space (and probably not time) for them. But I have to ask myself what all the rest of it is worth, you know?

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 17:03:18 +0000

Good post.

I agree it is wonderful to have a home library but through following a process similar to Trent’s, my library fits on a couple of bookshelves and I can safely say that I would strongly recommend any book I have kept to others, and would be happy to pick any of them up and read them again. If a book doesn’t fit those criteria, it goes. Using the library more also cuts down on book clutter…and knowing the library has a book I MIGHT want to look at again makes me more willing to get rid of it.

As for KEEPING your space clutter free, when my husband and I lived in a 600 ft2 apartment we followed a simple rule for several years: “one in, one out.” If you buy a book/piece of clothing/kitchen implement/etc., you have to get rid of something of equal size and clutter value, preferably a book for a book, a shirt for a shirt, etc. That rule was a real boost to our frugality as it added an additional check at the point of purchase: am I ready to get rid of something else so I can have this?

When we doubled our living space 2 years ago that rule fell by the wayside a bit, but I feel it coming again…

By: Nick in Iraq

Nick in Iraq — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 16:15:32 +0000

Like a few people here, I am a huge bibliophile (book collector). What worked for me was acquiring an eBook reader, which was a Sony Reader in my case. I could store thousands of books on a single memory stick. I’ve still got the books, yet they do not fill rooms and boxes and boxes like they used to.

I admit, I like a room full of books, but I hate moving them. If I knew I would be in the same house for the next 50 years, I would probably acquire a few books, but they are just too much work to move and store.

By: FIRE Finance

FIRE Finance — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 14:47:56 +0000

Good way of clearing clutter and relieving the funds to be put to good use somewhere better suited. We absolutely acquiesce with the philosophy of keeping only stuff we need. It helps us to maintain a clean house with less efforts. Another great side effect is we need less space. Not to mention the countless hours we save in NOT shopping for stuff we don’t need. Life is short and precious. It is better spent with and among things we love and care about truly.
Cheers,
FIRE Finance

By: Eileen

Eileen — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 14:34:06 +0000

No one will convince me to get rid of my books (with only a very few exceptions of some REAL mistakes) either so I am in agreement with all the book keepers here. There’s plenty of other stuff that I would happily sell and salvage some value if I could–but I find even that is a challenge to find buyers. I don’t want strangers coming to my home. I simply do not have the time or the energy to sell stuff on Ebay myself. I’ve considered taking stuff to the ISoldit stores of Ebay but some well meaning friends keep discouraging me because the store takes a cut. However I think I would be better off getting something rather than nothing.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 10:16:34 +0000

I’m all for decluttering, but when you have children I think there is a lot to be said for having a home library. Yes, your children could go to the library every week and check out books, but it isn’t the same as lovingly fingering a book you’ve read a dozen times and offering to read it to a younger sibling who you think will just love it too.

And this is coming from an ex-military wife who has moved twice in the past three years and is moving again next week. My oldest is eight and she begged me not to pack up her books until the last minute and even then she will keep a few for the car.

Of course, I tend to be choosy about which books are kept in the house. I prefer well written and well illustrated books to those that were made from movie or tv characters for instance.

I know you weren’t probably talking about children’s books, but it’s never too early to start collecting a library on a well rounded variety of subjects that your family can enjoy together as read alouds or separately.

Wendy

By: Greg Hewgill

Greg Hewgill — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 09:11:42 +0000

I did this to my entire house two years ago, as I prepared to move halfway around the world. Since I was paying for the move myself, every extra cubic foot of stuff I moved cost me something like $15.

I went through everything I had accumulated over the prior 15 years, and for almost every item I knew I could easily obtain in my new home, I sold it. I sold a lot of stuff to friends who were happy to pay good prices, which really helped.

Getting rid of all my extra cruft was thoroughly enlightening (in more than one sense). I discovered how little I really needed to get by. I look around our home now and there is now a bunch more new stuff that replaces what we sold, but I’m not really attached to it because I know I’ll just get rid of it if I need to. I now know what stuff is really important.

By: Helen

Helen — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 04:11:47 +0000

Thanks, good post.

I just read ‘The Road’, and while the book is flawed, I did come away from it thinking, “its all just stuff. Every last bit of it.” the only thing that matters is each other. (yeah, sure, we need some things to live, and we can enjoy some things. But it is still just stuff. Emotional attachment to it is pointless.)

Which edition of Voluntary Simplicity were you reading, Trent? (or anyone else) – I’m looking at a secondhand first edition, but wonder if the revised is worth getting instead.

thanks!
Helen

By: blackliquorish

blackliquorish — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:57:39 +0000

I am big on saving memorabilia (every movie stub I’ve ever seen, for instance!), but I don’t have an ounce of clutter. Saving things and being disorganized are two very different topics. I have a plastic storage box for every 5-year period of my life; 6 boxes in all. Two of the same for holiday decor and that’s it. Tips on how to keep the volume down: [1] Don’t change clothing sizes! (That way you don’t have to store “fat” clothes and “skinny” clothes.) [2] Return gifts and purchases that aren’t right as soon as you can. Regift or eBay the rest. [3] Take photos of objects that you don’t need to keep but still have sentimental value. Photos store easily and will give the same emotional “I remember!” rush as the objects themselves.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:49:49 +0000

Andy: I agree with you on the book thing. I just can’t part with my books. I know that there is a good chance that I will get around to reading/perusing those that I haven’t read or finished reading eventually. For example, I am finally reading a book that I got from a library book sale for a dollar a year ago, because recently my interest really piqued on the subject.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 21:48:47 +0000

Once I was short $80 to pay for my health insurance, so I sold lots of old books and made the payment on time. But, then I found that I missed having those books, and over time I’ve repurchased a good number of them (at a cost of much more than $80). Thats something to think about — how much will it cost to replace an object should you change your mind down the road? An old book may be worth $3 if you sell it, but it will cost more than that to buy it back. I say, if you have the space, keep it.

By: tom

tom — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 21:19:13 +0000

I completely agree with this. I don’t get why some people hang onto stuff they NEVER use. I’d much rather get money for it, even it’s $5! I guess thats my money saving mindset.