Today, a friend helped me go through some things that were stored in the boiler room/basement. Everything is being divided into keep/donate/toss. After forty-five minutes, we had three garbage bags full and enough dust to keep us sneezing.
Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to explain how I am feeling. There is so much to do and so little time to do it (closing date is April 23rd). Even so, I am happy to be purging. The older I get the less clutter I want around me. Local friends, stop laughing! I know I tend to have a clutter problem but I am trying to reform!
A very important tip I want to impart to you is to not allow a spouse who is over sentimental to be a part of the purging. Himself doesn’t want to get rid of ANYTHING! We have black bags so he can’t see what is being thrown out.
If I could give one piece of advice it would be to never bring something new into your home without getting rid of something else. If you haven’t used it in a year get rid of it. If you don’t love it get rid of it. Oh, that was three pieces of advice. All three will help you to not have the overwhelming task I now face.
One of the biggest gifts my mother ever gave to my siblings and me was to get rid of everything in the ways mentioned above. She had seen a relative die and leave a mess of a home for the kids to take care of and she didn’t want her children to go through the same.
Another thing Mom and Dad did was to make advanced directives and living wills and to give us copies. They have told us what they want done after their deaths (cremation, no wake) and chose the child they thought would be able to handle the estate the best to be executor of their wills. When their times come, we won’t have any guess work.
Don’t make the mistakes I have made. Streamline your “stuff” and don’t let it take over your life!
Blessings all, g
