What do you do with things in your house that don't have a home? Or things that you've had for years but have no place for them? Things that maybe have accumulated because someone gave them to you and you've hung on to them for the "perfect" time to use them.
I have a ton of these things. We don't have much room in our little place so a lot of it has just stayed in boxes for over a year now. All my fragile items (kitchen items, crystal, & a few knick knacks) are in boxes. I have three cats and no shelf space anywhere. The cats would knock the items off if I put them on the counters or such. The boxes are frustrating but I don't know what else to do. I know that one day I will either be able to purchase a small china cabinet or will have a bigger house (or both), but for now the boxes are taking up room and keeping us from using what little space we have.
I have a bunch of board games that I've had since childhood but since its just the two of us we never play them. We don't have many friends in the area so it's not like we could have "game night" or such. But I'm torn between keeping them for our kids or getting rid of them for now and replacing them later??
Believe it or not, pillows, blankets, and towels make this list. I have a ton of each...we always did growing up too. They come in handy on a cold winter night, or when laundry hasn't been done (or something spills), or you have company coming over. In the meantime...they are stuffed into nooks and crannies all over the place.
My husband doesn't understand my attachment to "things". I come from generations of "packrats". I come by it honestly...my mom, my grandma, and my great-grandma have all influenced this "syndrome" as we've kept things through the years "just in case", or "this was so-and-so's", or "we might be able to use this one day", or "we can't afford to replace it, might as well keep it", or....and the list goes on.
I have stuffed animals from my childhood that I'm saving for our kids; I have scrapbook stuff I haven't really touched in a few years ( I don't scrapbook too much these days); I have two boxes of scrap fabric/tshirts, etc that I am hanging onto so that when and if I ever get a sewing machine I can make blankets out of them.
I have a box that contains a coin "collection", a portion of a train set from my Mom's Dad, an album of pictures from my first wedding/marriage, a box of cassette tapes, and a few miscellaneous items. I'm still not sure about keeping the pics from my first wedding. Most people say I should because it was a part of my life, but I just don't know. I've kept the portion of a train set to put on a shelf for my kids one day. It's really the only thing that Grandpa ever gave me and I figured its best to pass it on down. The coin collection is where I'm currently stumped...I still have at least one of almost every state quarter that was issued and some other random coins. I don't really know if I should hang on to all of them in case they have any value one day (and even if they did, would I really get rid of them then?), or hang on to them because it's something neat to have, or if I should go put them in the bank into savings or such?? The cassette tapes I'd love to find on CD or just download my favorite songs from each album, but that costs money and money isn't something we have any of right now, so I just keep hanging on to them hoping one day I can replace them with the "current" type of music.
I have oodles of VHS tapes (mostly Disney kids) and CDs, and then I have homemade copies of VHS tapes too. While having all of these VHS on DVD would reduce the amount of storage needed drastically, they would still take up space and I would still need to find a way to organize them/find a home for them. The homemade VHS tapes I'm thinking I'm probably stuck with unless I can find and afford them on DVD. Really, I have no clue about these things.
I have a box of papers that need to be shredded, but I can't shred them because I don't have a shredder. And I don't know anyone up here who has one that I could borrow. I've tried freecycle and craigslist with no success, so it just sits there taking up space.
If I could afford to buy some shelves for the wall, and figure out how to put them up without them falling down, then some things could go up onto a shelf (like the pictures sitting in a box because they can't hang on the wall and I have no where to display them). But since we have been strapped for money for over a year and a half, I don't foresee that happening anytime soon.
I'd love to get some baskets and bins for the closets to organize winter items, hats, my scrubs for work, shirts & pants that don't fit into the dressers, and of course all the baby things we're accumulating, but again, we hit that lack-of-money wall.
I am a pack-rat; I come by it honestly. I am here admitting an issue before you. I can't get rid of stuff because what if? Or "one day I'll wear it/fit into it/use that"; or "one day I'll have the space to put it"; or "I can't get rid of that because I'll never have the money to replace it." I feel guilty for not being able to get rid of stuff and I feel guilty for hanging on to it.
Sigh. I really do hate having so much clutter. I love looking through all these organizing blogs and finding amazing ideas, but get very discouraged because I don't have the resources to put most of those ideas into use. Most people don't understand me because of this "syndrome". Most people I know don't need to hang on to things forever and a day. I'm not one of those people, although I've been working on it. It's a change in progress that will probably take the rest of my life to perfect, if it ever gets to that point. In the meantime, I'm frustrated, discouraged, and tired of the never-ending "spin" cycle. It causes friction between my sweet hubby and I...my hubby who can't understand why I have so much "useless junk" and is really tired of living with it. My sweet husband who can pack his entire life into his Grand Prix and drive off and not leave anything behind. Compared to me whom it takes two trips with a 16 foot moving truck to move across town (that includes all the furniture though!).
This is some of my chaos that I just don't know how to manage on my own. I would love to hire one of my favorite bloggers to come in and give me a hand! Comment please with your tips and tricks, especially if you are a like-minded individual. Forgive my pack-rat-ed-ness as I continue to find ways to eliminate and deal with my issue.
