Unnecessary Stuff

[Owlie]

I'm a packrat. I'm slowly getting rid of the books I haven't read (and won't get around to reading). Clothes, likewise. Most of my problem is that my dressy clothes are a lot of the ones that I haven't worn for a year, and I know that if I get rid of them, there will be a panic the next time I need nice clothes. (I hate clothes shopping, you see.) I have some bike stuff I don't wear I need to sell.

There's a non-zero chance I will be moving into a studio in August. 1 room to absorb 3 rooms of stuff. My parents are hanging on to some of my furniture and kitchen supplies on the grounds my sister may need it, or I might need it if I move into a larger apartment for the second year. (Helps that not all of it is actually mine.) I don't know how I accumulated so much crap in four years of college...

[Tri Girl]

It feels SO cathartic to purge my unnecessary stuff!!
I'm not the problem in my house, tho. My hubs is a bit of a pack-rat, so it's hard for him to give up things. For example, we have the 1969 Encyclopedia Brittanica set his mom got when she graduated high school. He won't get rid of it.... Egads, man! I purge things when he's at work or not looking- things I know he'll never need/use/miss. We have two sets of couches (one set is in the sun room and gathers junk) because we "might need it on day." It's maddening.

BUT- I do purge things and donate regularly to charities (once a month I have them come pick up some boxes).

I've been following this blog lately (and on FB) and I'm leaning more towards his thinking. We have too much stuff and are super-consumers in America. I want to live simpler. It's the 100 Thing Challenge. The challenge is to only have 100 things in your home at one time. When something comes in, something goes out. Trying to get people to scale back what they have and need.
http://guynameddave.com/about-the-100-thing-challenge/

[malkin]

If you are getting down to 100 things, are you going to count each component on your bike or does the bike only count as one?

[Tri Girl]

a bike counts as one thing- at least in my house- otherwise all I'd own are bike parts. and underwear.
I don't have 100 things. I'm quite certain I have close to 800. really, I have no idea. I just try to live by his mantra of:

reduce (get rid of some of your stuff)
refuse (to get more new stuff)
rejigger (your priorities)

When something new comes in, something old must go out.
When I buy something new, it's usually just "new to me" from the thrift store. I haven't shopped in a regular store in a long time (again, except for underwear).

[Pax]

Tri Girl - I'm in the same boat, I live very simply and with minimal clutter... my SO is a pack rat. She's gotten much better over the years but it's still an issue for us.

We're prepping for our next transition and have been inventorying everything we own, I'll suggest selling the chairs in the living room and she'll agree (we won't have room when we move), then she backtracks and suggests we put them in storage. As you said, it's maddening.

[Tri Girl]

Tri Girl - I'm in the same boat, I live very simply and with minimal clutter... my SO is a pack rat. She's gotten much better over the years but it's still an issue for us.

We're prepping for our next transition and have been inventorying everything we own, I'll suggest selling the chairs in the living room and she'll agree (we won't have room when we move), then she backtracks and suggests we put them in storage. As you said, it's maddening.

Comforting to know I'm not alone. Frustrating to say the least, eh?
If it were up to me, we'd have enough furniture to fill 2 of the 5 rooms in our house and be done with it. Then I'd move to a condo and downsize. That's not going to happen, tho. I swear, those dadgum encyclopedias are going to accidentally catch on fire one day... and Big Junk day is coming up and that couch and loveseat are on the chopping block!