Ohh, Melissa! I used to watch your channel back when I was also watching the girl whose husband was a veterinarian. I can’t remember the name of her channel, I just remembered her name was El, but I know they finally divorced, which she didn’t wanna ever marry him in the first place, so to me, the whole thing was quite sad. 😢 I wonder if she is still on RU-vid. Maybe her husband has a channel… he was a nice guy! Or, at least I thought it was!❤❤❤❤
I posted on one of your decluttering videos a couple years back & thank God I started watching loll 4 years ago I started the decluttering process & now I'm 98% clutter free. A long time some may think but, believe when I say I was hit broadside time and time ago with major blows. Deaths, husband had to have open heart surgery, my Mom had major health issues, my sister 5 surgeries one few days before my husband did & I was caregiver to both So, I still decluttered a little at a time & didn't give up. The reason for so much clutter was because I had a tiny house that use to be a beauty shop that I turned into a craft & storage facility. Huge mistake lllolll There were boxes of things I had stored that was mine of 30 yrs or over. Memories of gifts from family members that have passed on. That was the hardest to go through because, I felt like I was throwing them out too. Many tears I cried but, I passed on a few things to others that wanted them and donated what I could. Now to the finish lolll Recently had a huge yardsale & sold out basically in about 3 hours. What remained I gave away & donated the rest & never kept none of it. I'm very proud of myself & I feel great & free.
Having to declutter and take inventory of the estate possessions is overwhelming for the one left to clean up after a person passes. This is usually tasked to the estate Executor or Administrator. It's beyond emotional and painful physically. The kindest thing you can do for your loved ones is to not collect so much leaving everything for them to clean up after you die.
Just finished doing this after my mum passed (Nov 2023) during this we also found not all of my dads belongings had been done when he passed (March 2009). Very hard emotionally and physically. Have vowed not to leave "loads" for my daughter to sort when I pass
I just did this for my MIL's house and possessions. My husband was the executor (in name only), but I took care of everything. I got the house ready to sell, then I was the one who decided what was to be donated, thrown out or kept before the buyer moved in. My husband's two brothers and their wives did take a few items for their personal use. I also did all the clerical and financial tasks. I spent about 4-5 hours a day for three months (not including the weekends) dealing with the estate. It was exhausting and made me never want to move from my own home...I don't want to have to pack up anything in the near future.
I totally agree with the not-wanting-to-buy point. Decluttering for me was a great journey to inner Peace, calmness, and satisfaction. So today I feel totally content with what I have. And I enjoy spending my money on being, instead of having. Small trips into nature, adventure parks, concerts, etc... and I also agree with the thinking about future clutter, this keeps me from buying souvenirs on all these trips 😊👍
I have been trying to clean and de-clutter for awhile. One trick I do when I am tempted by something (decorations for holidays and such) I stop and ask myself if I want to be dusting and dealing with that object for the next 10 years. I hate dusting so that trick will usually stop me from buying stuff I really don't need. Just because something is cute and would look so good for a holiday season is not enough to get by my hatred of having to constantly dust the object or deal with storing it.
At 79 years old, I'm clearing out more and more stuff and thanks to you and other RU-vid people, I recently moved and downsized, it was a hassle, but much easier than it would have been. Thanks. 😅
My mom moved in with us years ago. She has since died(it was time). Anyway I have all her stuff and she was a pack rat. Big overwhelming project... but baby stepping it.
I am 33w pregnant and we are doing major decluttering in our apartment. We're halfway through...I can't even imagine how did we end up with so much stuff! It feels great after you do declutter and put things back to order.
The USPS is obligated to deliver ALL mail, including junk mail (I looked it up). The only option to reduce junk mail is to remove your information directly from the source. As a side note, I add things to my online carts and save screenshots of the cart items with totals. I keep the screenshots in a folder. I can "visit" them periodically which usually curbs my wanting it when i look at the checkout price. After a time if I still decide I want it, I can either go back and order it or look for a better deal somewhere else.
My son was born in May. And Christmas is in December. I got my son into the habit of going Thru his stuff every spring and fall/ winter to get ready for big gift seasons. This gave him the opportunity to decide what He wanted To pass On for someone else. And really consider what He was playing either. Now he is a teenager and this isn’t a fight or argument, he knows it’s time to declutter and he is making those decisions not mom!
I havent watch the vid all the way through yet but as someone who is most likely ADHD (undiagnosed) clutter and cleaning in general has always been an issue my entire life (I'm 30). I love your content!
One Stephanie to another, pseudo diagnosed as an adult, I'm right there with you! One weird piece of advice I read was to pick one thing up and take care of it instead of working like "normal" people. What works for you doesn't have to work for others. A book I recently listened to also pointed out that clutter isn't a reflection of our worth as a person, that clutter isn't a moral thing.
I would like to offer a system - first sort your stuff, sort it down into categories that are distinct enough for you to totally know what you have. - the goal is just to find out what you have. Do this sorting one type of item at a time - books, clothes, kitchen tools, etc. Then sort each category in order of most loved/used to least loved/used - don't ponder it too much, the order doesn't have to be perfect. Then make a list of how many of each you have - 9 of this, seven of that, etc. Then pull out a baseline (this may not apply to all categories), for example, 8 days worth of clothes plus your winter coat (or other necessary items) - the baseline is what you absolutely need to function. This is so that - in going into making keep/toss decisions - you can be confident that your basic needs are covered. Stack your categories neatly. In doing all this your subconscious will be thinking about the stuff and will start to think about what to declutter. If you are doing this process at all, it means you feel you have too much stuff. Now take a rest - take a day off to let all this information settle in. Now it is peel the onion time, start by getting rid of items you really don't like or would never use. then look at what you have left, and maybe you feel there is still too much stuff, maybe there are other items for you to let go of. and so it goes. If you do this process, even if you don't let go of anything, your stuff life will be better because you will know what you have.
I am on the same level as you!! I just said that to a friend yesterday. I have been decluttering for 1 1/2 yrs since I retired. I am so happy to give things to other people that REALLY need them as well as want them and will USE them. I have been giving things to 3 non-profit stores near my house that uses ONLY donated items to make money. Alot go to the Salv Army and the like. I take things to my car as I get a load for the certain place and map it into my next outing and then drop it as soon as possible so I won't try to bring it backinto my house.
I did your idea about having a way station. It’s a bin outside. Told hubs we can go get something out if we miss it or need it. Never has anything be taking out of the donate bin. When he goes to appointment near where we donate the stuff goes. I simply bag it load it to truck and bye bye. Thank you for the idea. Now hubs doesn’t get as crazy about letting go of stuff.
Following a major declutter many years ago, dusting and vacuuming takes so much less time. Also, I really have to talk myself into buying something and it must really have a purpose or I just don't buy it.
I tried unsubscribing from some unwanted e-mails. It asked for my e-mail address, so I entered it. The next day, I got even more unwanted e-mails and it’s growing daily. Because I unsubscribed from multiple sources, I get multiples of the same junk e-mails every day.
I had to ask a family member to clean up her stuff. She wanted me to dust her room when I cleaned. I loving looked at her and explained that the first time I dusted her room it took me three hours to pick all her things up, dust them, dust the shelf and dresser, put her jewelry away, stack all her books together and then put all her nicknacks away. She looked at me silent for a good 30 seconds and then shyly said, "oh, umm if I pick up all my mess first will you dust?" I told her I'd be happy to. By the way this was my mother-in-law 😆
Can you do a video showing how to add the filters to the emails please, right now I have more than 4k emails that most of them are junk but in all of those there’s probably 500 that are important, but I dread the idea of going through all of them to separate into folders just wanna hit trash to all my inbox and forget about it. 😅
The hardest thing to declutter was and still is my mom's things, and clothes. Mybsister and I gave away a lot of them, and donate them too . But some I had to keep , I cannot throw it away, or not yet .
Shoes and occasion clothing. Thing’s only worn once or twice for an event. Usually we’re more expensive. I just joined a clothing resale app so this is my mission!
Anyone who is having trouble decluttering, I highly recommend two of my favorite RU-vidrs...Cass from Clutterbug and Dawn from The Minimal Mom. Between them and Melissa, it has completely changed the cleaning and decluttering game for me!
@brg2743 Yes, I've watched her too! I believe the three of them (Clutterbug, Minimal Mom, Slob Comes Clean) have a Take Your House Back workshop that deals with declutering. 🙂
Books are the most difficult to declutter for me. Even the ones I read, and probably won't read again. I have some I bought more than 15 years ago and still have myself convinced I'll read them someday.
I have over 300 CDs and I listen to them often. I'm not getting rid of them. They bring me joy, especially for long road trips as Sirius doesn't go everywhere.
Sentimental items are so, so hard for me to put in the donation bin. I lost my husband and am fighting the urge to keep everything. Such a daunting task.
The thumbnails for this video- I love them and relate to them! Especially the "drowning in cords" photo 😂 Also I really loved the recent Dyson test at the dog groomer's video. When I first saw that video's title, I thought "what a great idea!!" and immediately watched. Good stuff 🎉
My purses is the hardest to get rid of. I love every one of them!! I haven’t bought a new one for almost a year. I like a particular brand and they aren’t cheap but last forever so for about 25 years I’ve bought 1 or 2 a year and I use all of them every year because I have one for all colors and seasons !!!! This is my weakness
THE ABSOLUTE HARDEST THING(S) 1. Pictures and greeting cards for my daughter and me. How do I throw out pictures? 2. My business wardrobe. After COVID, I ecame a permanent work from home employee. Been this way for four years, HOWEVER, worrieed I may get called back inot the office or need to find another job..and dont want to donate thousands of dollars in clothges. ADVICE???
I will check with the post office about stopping junk mail. Right now I have a paper recycling bin near where my mail is dropped and all junk mail goes straight in it. And I totally agree with the comment about "the more I declutter, the less I want to buy". So true! I always have a thrift donation box going year-round. When it is full, I take it out to the car and start a new box. I'm not hard on my stuff, so 99% gets donated and very little gets thrown in the trash. I also buy clothes at thrift stores so it is recycling at its best.
After years of raising children and getting a divorce I finally live alone. The last home we all lived in was about 1200 square feet. I now live in a 825 square foot condo. I worked in the medical field for over 20 years taking care of hundreds of patients. So now it’s my turn. I rarely buy anything decorative. My biggest collection is pictures of my children and family. Especially my grandchildren. All of my pictures are in frames and displayed. I have one tote of past photos that is tucked away in a closet. My children have all our keepsake decorations, especially holiday ones. I have minimal clutter now. The easiest way for me to keep from having too much is the lack of overall space. I have empathy for folks struggling with clutter. It is so rewarding to have less. Keep going everyone and it will get better. Thanks Melissa 😊
I do NOT have email or FB on my phone - I use my desktop to check if I am working - and once a night while relaxing and watching TV I check via my laptop. It is BLISS
About getting help from "collector" family members..itold my husband he has so many nice things, but you can't see any of it because there's just so much STUFF. I wish we were further along than we are, but it did motivate him to start decluttering. That, and I told him it was too hard to clean his messy room 😂
Boxes! We struggle with disposing of boxes that our stuff comes in: the pc monitor box, the box the stand mixer came in, the PlayStation 5 box, etc. 😅😅 I decluttered these a few years ago but we keep accumulating them because what if that thing we bought doesn’t work and we need to return it? Then we forget about going back a few months later and recycling it.
We have so much clutter due to being able to shop easier online. My grandmother was a minimalist because she went in person to shop. There was no Amazon, etc. Now I shop more than my grandparents or parents did, and I have to remember to the "one in, one out" rule or Two Out. So that I don't have too much clutter.
With clearing out my parents house I found my old tapes yes they were before cds. I had so much fun listening to the music it brought so many memories back 😁 In Ireland we just go to local hardware store and buy a sign no papers or junk mail.
None of this advise helps. I really think the only answer is to just throw everything away. Spending time sorting is a delay tactic for someone like me.
I decluttered my Mom's house twice in the past twenty years, and both took me four to six weeks each time. She started cluttering her house again, and expected me to declutter her house a third time. She moved my hoarder brother in a year ago, and he brought his mowers, weed eaters and other junk making everything ten times worse. I won't do that again. She never appreciated the time it took me to do it by myself. She mostly went through a box of old mail and magazines while I did the hard work.
buy some folders and a few banker boxes - and a pencil, - just start grouping photos by whatever catagories spontaneously occur to you, baby photos, vacation photos, coworkers, whatever.
I am slowly doing this. I find it difficult when I have the family and weekends are busy with family things. - I'm excited to tackle and try your course. There are so many areas I need to tackle and my mind is going crazy. We just went through toys last week. but its still not the end of the toys. Sometimes I feel like I'm just moving the clutter from one room to another becuase there's some pieces I just have to keep. So as I'm watching this video, I am becoming more interested in the minimalist concepts you are talking about.
I haven’t finished watching your video yet but I wanted to make this comment. I’ve lived in my home for 23 years and I didn’t realize how much crap you can accumulate! So I decided I would pack up the things that I want to keep and then Goodwill or toss out, the rest of the stuff. That seemed to make me feel better! I’ve not completely gotten rid of everything to the Goodwill. It’s still a process. But I have gone back through the boxes of things I wanted to keep and have weeded out some extra things from that. So I feel pretty good about that part. I know where I’m going to be moving to so I know how much that’s going to hold. By the way, I’ve weeded through the things I want to keep about three times now.😊
Regarding the used CDs, it's all about nostalgia. I read a fairly recent news article telling about a small, growing market for old-fashioned CDs: it's still not as big as the market for vinyl, but it's out there.
When you have 30+/- years worth of stuff I don’t know if finding the new custodian will make it an easier task, perhaps with certain things but if one tries to do that with such a huge project it may become too convoluted. On the other hand, identifying your places of where items will go is a game changer. In my personal journey for example I have a donation center, a group home and a animal shelter (perfect for tired towels and linens) etc. I selected places that work for the majority of things that apply to what we had to get rid of. I picked a place in my home that I wanted to target and there’s nothing more gratifying than when it’s done. But understanding organizing clutter is not an option was another game changer. Staring with the easier items ( closets for me) gave me a rhythm and a helped me learn my process. Best regards to all on their journey. You can do it❤
My eldest daughter 18yo has some anxiety around getting rid of things. Recently I've found a combination of putting my foot down and being supportive has worked. I set a deadline and once she missed it I went in with her, opened a drawer and started asking "does it fit? do you actually wear it?" Etc and putting things in a black bag. Initially the plan was to keep the bag in storage for as long as she wanted but by the time we filled it she was happy to let it go 🥰
When I carried mail (in the US) we were not allowed to determine what someone considered junk mail and throw it away for them. Don't know if that's changed or not. I started refraining from buying many new clothing items when it dawned on me I was buying the same styles as the older ones. 😊
Paper is the hardest for me. I do immediately through out junk mail but I want to eventually read my AARP magazine, etc. so other paper that I am not sure about. I just can’t make myself go through the paper every week. Anyway - that drives me mad. I feel like it’s the last thing I really need to manage. (Besides regularly exercising and eating healthy)😂
The hardest thing for me to declutter and to keep organised is PAPER! Here in Germany there are rules for how long you have to keep certain documents. I tend to just put them on some surface or into a shelf instead of really dealing with it, put it into the right file or answer letters… It’s the thing I hate the most
I have the biggest issue with getting rid of things people have given me. It's fine if it's something that I've used and it's served its purpose but when it's something I just don't like in the first place and would never have bought for myself, I feel terrible getting rid of it because the person gave it to me thinking I would like it.
Maybe just set a limit--say 2 boxes a day. It's amazing how much can be done over a period of time if you just chip away at it daily, even every other day.
Letting go of printed photos is a huge struggle for me. I have sorted through our home of 40 years and it feels awesome except the one bedroom with the photo mess.
Gayle Goddard talks about just looking through the photos, you may find people you don't know, old coworkers that are not that special to you, etc. I would say sort them into categories that make sense to you so you will know what you have.
I'm really struggling as I've kept all my elder childs clothes and toys (all fairly unisex) to use for younger child. They're all organised and stored under beds etc but I'm running out if space and don't know what to do. Especially as I might want a third child, so I've now got children's clothes 0-6 in my tiny British terraced house.
