Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with clutter

....but what if I need it someday?

wild like kudzu — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:35:21 -0800

Okay. I have too much stuff. It's a major pain in my derriere, but just treating the symptoms of too-much-stuff-itis has not cured the disease. Aside from the obvious physical act of giving away and/or throwing away tons of my stuff (which I do periodically and always have-- I moved a lot growing up so anything I accumulated was eventually trashed when I moved) I need to address the underlying psychological causes for my too-much-stuff-itis.

I know part of my issue is that I've never had much money. Sometimes I find myself lamenting the loss of some rarely used item because I simply can't afford to replace it with a new one. So I hold onto things that may one day come in handy (i.e. "Oh well, one day maybe I'll need a graphing calculator...")

Then there's all the crap that follows me because I simply don't know what to do with it. By this I mean old checkbooks that are for closed out bank accounts and with incorrect addresses. Unidentifiable cords and manuals for gadgets also fall into this category. These things usually end up stuffed in a bag and under my bed or in the closet.

And then of course are the chotchkies. I have some random stuff. I mean, geez. Of course, I'm an artist and I like weird things so I have right now a deer jaw on my dresser, coke bottles on my windowsill, old tequila boxes that I once thought I'd use for some art project...

And on top of all of that is the limitless number of sentimental items. This I believe is at the heart of my issues, as a pair of glasses my grandmother used to wear, boxes of photographs and old journals are always in my face and cluttering up my room.

It's worth noting that I am in college, and everything I own is in my very small bedroom in my small rented apartment. My parents are too up in the air for me to store things with them for the most part, aside from a few suitcases that I'm keeping at my mom's. Also I'm an artist, which means I have this ever-growing reservoir of old art and doodles that I can't bring myself to throw away.

Right now I am in the thick of trying to reorganize my room (and thereby my life) and I'm attempting to give away a number of my old art pieces and clothes of which I'm no longer fond.

So... are there any MeFis out there who have struggled with and overcome compulsive retention of crap? I tend to vacillate between holding onto everything until I can bearly stand it and then the desire to throw everything away and start over. I know it's not the healthiest approach, does anyone have any suggestions?

Are there professional organizers?

rahnefan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:02:01 -0800

Is there such a thing as a professional organizer? What about for the common man? By which I mean someone who can come to your (average) home, assess your living space and the crap stacked up in it, and the people and animals living in it, and give affordable suggestions that will make your (average) home more functional and less stressful? I am talking logistics, shelving, wiring, storage, throwing things out, even feng-freaking-shui. Even knocking down walls, whatever, my mind is open. I used to think I had a handle on it but there's too much on my mind.

The stuff now owns us. To me, it can be stifling (word chosen carefully). It can ruin a weekend; I feel pulled in umpteen directions but often don't getting much of anything done, maintenance-wise or recreational.

Preferably there's someone far more persuasive than I am when it comes to suggesting we get rid of things or place them more usably. Or make that conceptual garage sale become a reality. I give away as much as I can, when I can. There are breaks when, for a short season, things stay neater and cleaner, and therefore at least a little more productive and enjoyable; but no enduring solutions. And I think the underlying problem is greater than the amount of stuff or the lay of the house...it's not just about "stuff" and I'm open to practical and theoretical suggestions. Unfortunately the SO functions consistently in any situation, no difference, and therefore does not or cannot sympathize.

There has got to be people who do this for a living and are good at it. Aren't there?

Guy seeks advice on helping reduce girlfriend's clutter

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:01:51 -0800

My partner has a lot of physical clutter in her life. I have relatively less. We've been living together for almost a year, and it's slowly driving me insane. Please hope me have a productive discussion about this with her. Yes, this is going to be one of those relationshipfilter questions, and there's ... I'm a guy, she's a girl. We're in our mid-20s. I went from sharing a large 2br apt with one roommate to the both of us living in her midsize 1br. This is due to her commuting situation -- she doesn't own a car or have a driver's license, so she has to live near her work. I can, and do, commute, so I was the one who moved. I'm not a big fan of clutter, and have relatively little in the way of possessions. I prefer to have clean, open, organized space in my home. I did know about her clutter going into the moving-in phase of the relationship, but I wasn't aware of what a negative reaction I'd have to living in it. We've both lived with roommates before, but this is the first time either of us has lived with a significant other.

Our apartment is filled with her possessions, many of which are packed in cardboard boxes. I won't list everything, but suffice it to say that there's about 6'x12' of space in our bedroom occupied by these items, most of which I've never seen her use. They're mostly toys from her childhood, clothes and other things her parents/siblings gave her which no longer fit/aren't used but have "sentimental value," and magazines and other papers, also from childhood. One whole closet is filled with boxes to hold the unboxed items, which she's saving for the next time she moves. On top of this, she has several boxes of documents that are potentially useful for her work (but I've never seen her reference), and a huge book collection (as in, a 20' wall of bookshelves). I don't really mind these, but it adds to the feeling of "too much stuff, too little space."

I've made an effort to de-clutter my own possessions to help with the overall situation, but the proportion of stuff I own relative to the proportion of stuff she owns is so small that there's not much impact I can have. Aside from my desk, a dresser, a small work table, and my clothes in the closet, there's not that much of my stuff here! I got rid of one tupperware bin of hobby supplies to achieve a 50% reduction in the number of my tupperware bins, but this is about a 5% reduction in the total number of similarly-sized containers in the apartment as a whole.

I've floated the idea of culling the lesser-used bits of both our stuff, or renting a small storage unit for the things we don't use day-to-day (I've even volunteered to pay for it), but she won't have it. I've also floated the idea of moving into a larger apartment in the same complex (rent is relatively low here, we both have decent-paying jobs, and we could each be paying less individually than we were paying before we moved in together, if more than we're paying now). She won't have this either because she's had too many previous roommates leave her in the lurch before, and is unwilling to take on a more expensive lease than she can pay alone (even though she's seen how I paid for the remainder of my lease after moving out of my old apartment, since I'd committed to doing so). She won't even consider scanning and archiving those documents which she no longer needs in physical form, even though her use-case for them is primarily making copies (which would be no lower-quality if printed or copied from a printout rather than the originals).

I feel very hesitant to push further than I have on this situation because, if we move to a larger home with room to store this stuff in the future (or, though I hope not, break up), I don't want to be the one responsible for having pressured her to throw out her mementos. At the same time, I want to be able to stretch out in my own home without tripping over the stuff!

There's some added baggage here because I feel like I'm the one doing most of the compromising -- I moved out of a comfortable apartment that was walking distance to my work, and exchanged it for a 90 minute car+train commute. I've suggested that we look into moving somewhere that is equidistant (time-wise, at least) from our respective places of work, but this is impossible because there's no convenient public transit route to her place of employment from anywhere that's any more convenient to my place of employment. She says that I should be okay with this, because it was originally my idea that we move in together, but she doesn't like the idea of me moving out again, either.

So, with that background, does anyone have success stories in dealing with a similar set of challenges (either in changing how I think about it, or in helping her understand why I want more physical space in our home, or both)? I love her, and I want to be with her, but I'm realizing that this feeling of having no space is getting close to deal-breaker status for me, and I want to find some way for us to resolve it.

readingvaluefilter

SinisterPurpose — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:08:46 -0800

Have any of these books changed your life? I am preparing to take part again in that most loathesome of tasks, moving. In preparation for this horror, I am culling my collection of “stuff”. My subjectively useless English degree has caused an incursion on my physical space which I intend to reclaim. My collection of unread books is much larger than the list I have provided. This abbreviated list will help me make better decisions about the whole of the crush of books I find myself under. (Note to English majors: always give plenty of non-book related ideas to friends and relatives for the purposes of gift-giving. You will thank me.)

I am not at all interested in the relative intellectual value of these books. Surely, all books have some value. I want to know if any of these books have altered your perception in that way that we all have experienced, but is at the same time, so very rare. (The Sorrows of Young Werther and Snow Crash both changed my life.) Please do not direct me to tepid reviews and bibliocentric social networking websites.

I process my emotions through art. Movies, music, books, museums, and video games are how I deal. I do not want to miss out on some valuable emotional experiences, but also want to know the possibility for value exists. In short, if you have read one of the books listed below, what was the emotional value of the read?

If I receive little to no response on this question these books will be filtered back into the thrift stores from whence most of them came.

Thanks in advance.

These are books I have never read. Books I might not ever read. They appear in the order they are piled on my bed:

The Golden Bough – Sir James Frazer
Empire – Gore Vidal
Hollywood - Gore Vidal
Visions – Michio Kaku
The Tin Drum – Gunter Grass
Black Ajax – George Mcdonald Fraser
On The Road – Jack Kerouac
Choke - Chuck Palahniuk
The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler
Maximum Bob – Elmore Leonard
City of Illusions – Ursula K. Leguin
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Leguin
The October Country - Ray Bradbury
Dandelion Wine – Ray Bradbury
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
The Man Who Loved Mars – Lin Carter
Merlin – Robert Nye
Nine Stories – J.D. Salinger
Red Planet Run – Dana Stabenow
The Supreme Identity – Alan Watts
Orlando Furioso – Ariosto
Sword Of The Demon – Richard A. Lupoff
Gravity's Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon

An' me CD collection de Bob Marley

mippy — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:55:07 -0800

I have about 300 CDs, and no CD space. Given that I would like to keep the booklet and inlay cards, and would rather have my music in hard copy as well as digital, what's the best storage solution for me? I am in the UK but would be happy to buy, say, a CD wallet online if it suits my needs. Basically I'm looking for something less bulky than plastic jewel cases. I also want hard copy for sentimental value/difficulty in replacing, so while digitising them might be one solution it will not be the only one for me.

Help me rid my computer of clutter for faster performance.

mintchip — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:20:22 -0800

Help me rid my computer of clutter for faster performance. My computer says it only has ~7MB free, 35 used. Lately the performance has been less than dazzling...it's quite slow, actually.

Over the past two years I've added a number of programs, but not THAT many. As far as I know I've got MS Office, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, several photo managing programs, printer software, a PDF maker, camera software and some miscellany. (It's annoying that every add-on and peripheral requires installation of another memory hog, but anyway I digress). In any case, I'm unsure of what has used up so much space. I had a lot of images on it but I've moved these to an external drive.

For troubleshooting, I've run two different spyware removal programs (Spybot is one of them) plus CC Cleaner. I've also tried to degfrag, but I haven't noticed any improvements.

How can I figure out what is cluttering up my computer, and then how can I remove it? What steps should I take to get the performance back up? I've tried to remove programs that I don't think I use, but there are several that I don't recognize and I'm afraid to screw something up.

FYI, its a Windows laptop running Vista.

Nomadic computer components must be civilized

saysthis — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:32:22 -0800

I'm looking for inspiration on how to reduce computer clutter. I run a lot of machines and make them do a lot of cool things, but in a 92sqm apartment where we're also trying to manage massive DVD, magazine, and book libraries, and where my previous work station (which was never all that orderly) has been conquered by my girlfriend's rampaging makeup and sewing stuff, it ain't easy. I want to compartmentalize, organize, and speed up the process of accessing my stuff. Ideas? The crux of the problem is that I have a LOT of "computer stuff", and that the network of stuff which we currently have is about to be scaled up, bigtime, due to an impending move to a bigger house. I'll want to include scalability and a solid phalanx of l33t gadgets in the future.

I've just been booted by my fashion designing wife off the corner of the room I used to use for more of her albums of pictures exactoed from fashion magazines. And, in the past year and a half, I've gone from 1 buggy laptop and a big USB hard drive to a substantial accumulation of knowledge and stuff, as I've begun exploring exactly what open source software can really do. I've been suitably impressed made much progress with it, paring down our AV setups from crappy independent DVD players, cords, and all kinds of discs to an interconnected system all controlled from my laptop. Up to now, I've kept the extra stuff in...well, piles. But the recent chaos of her expanding business, my expanding capabilities with hardware, and our impending move is a chance to get this beast under control before it becomes a cancer that conquers all of our available desktop space.

My inviolable principles include:
a) that one of my hobbies is fixing up junk and giving it away. It's an interesting means to get to know people, expand your network, and learn and practice computer skills. Gift economy 4 lyfe.
b) I'm a strong believer in ghettotech, and almost everything I own on the list was inherited. I've spent maybe $500 on computer stuff since 2006. Triple-R 4 lyfe.
c) I take an "appliance" approach to computers - the "all-under-one-box" approach has never worked for me, as something's always gone wrong or I've filled up the hard drive or busted the software and had to reinstall, and I've wasted much too much of my life on downtime and much too much of my money on new machines that proceed to break and not do what it says on the box. Modular single-purpose units 4 lyfe.

We have:
3 desktops
- a sweet media/gaming FrankenPC that gets hooked up to the living room projector
- a gutted box that serves as an uberNAS, with 6 IDE slots, 2 SATA plugs, and 12 USB ports (you bet your ass my data is redundant)
- a clumpy old workstation for volunteers in my organization who can't travel to our main office or the other side of the city; my house is the only locale we have on the east side of the city, and in Beijing, where a lot of the students we rely on to do our volunteer work sometimes don't have computers, or need to work or train with me in person

2 laptops
- my trusty daily driver, from whence I also manage this stuff, a 2005 ultraportable
- my lady's beater, an early 2004 Dell Inspiron, which is likely about to bite the bullet, and will need replacing soon

Peripherals
- bluetooth mouse & keyboard x2, for when I, and the woman don't feel like hunching over my/her laptop
- USB mice and keyboards for the desktops (or laptops if we want to)
- USB bluetooth adapters when necessary, I think we're at 4 now
- an optical drive in an external case - it keeps me from having to buy separate ones for each unit, and we rarely use it, but sometimes I do need to burn things (I work in post-production, clients occasionally just want a multiplexed DVD) or get at something on a disc (rip, mount to virtual drive)
- a grip of thumb drives that I use for data transport, disk images, booting, what have you, all neatly labeled
- a VOIP handset
- CORDS!!! yards and yards of wire in every shape and size, 'cause, y'know, things gotta get linked to things
- a totally sick wireless router
- hard drive USB cases, leftover from the days when I didn't have an uberNAS, and waiting for more hard drives to be connected to the uberNAS
- much of this all needs its own power cord, and I have them in abundance
- the odd RAM & PC card, motherboard, and whatnot waiting for a home in the computers I take home and patch up for friends and family
- various backup hardware in case something important goes kaput
- a couple WIFI cards for laptops, mostly for guests, but the woman's laptop currently needs one to get online.
- 2 monitors for the workstation, gaming machine, and occasional maintenance.

Right. Well, we're moving from a 92sqm apartment to a much much larger one in the coming months (as soon as the decorators are finished!), and we'll be expanding from our current setup of:
- 2 TV's controlled by the media machine
- uberNAS in a corner behind the couch
- laptops on the coffee table
- workstation on a teensy desk in the bedroom
- one phone hookup

to a two-floor apartment with:

- 4+ TV's & audio setups on two floors that all want access to the uberNAS
- a dedicated office for the woman's girlygirl stuff (er, actually, her job) and my own office/den/schmoke lounge for manlyman things
- wherever the uberNAS goes, probably my office
- an upstairs living room with
- the gaming box
- a PS3 (!!!)
- and a downstairs all-purpose studio that wants access to same (this room is a party area, yoga/dance studio, movie screening room, all kinds of fun stuff, but it all calls for proper geekery, and will likely want powered USB gadgets)
- a gajillion phone jacks and in-wall wiring for just about everything but VGA and HDMI
- probably more area and rebar than one wireless router can handle

The wife's hobbies call for lots of shelving and workspace, while mine only calls for a philips screwdriver, voltometer, and lots of teensy compartments. All this stuff, other than the stuff that's actually out and in use, calls for, at most, a dresser-drawer-sized space, but it requires a lot of compartmentalization and protection from dust and spills. I'm looking for inspired solutions on how to minimize and properly store the cords, components, peripherals, and other buildup that goes along with a hobby like this.

The best ideas I've had are toolboxes or tackleboxes for the loose stuff, twist-ties for the cords, a moratorium on any new desktops in the system (any new TV/media hookups are going to be disposable 2ndhand laptops w/ S-video outs and wireless), and a desk area that can be cleared for maintenance if need be. And that might be good enough, but I bet I could improve on it.

I'd love to hear creative, inspired storage solutions if you got 'em!

How can I deal with my overly large collection of unplayed video games?

fearthehat — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:30:03 -0800

How can I deal with my overly large collection of unplayed video games? I have somehow found myself in a situation where I own over 60 games, for a variety of platforms, that I have played either not at all or for only a couple of hours.

The thing is, I don't consider myself a collector at all; I don't get any real enjoyment out of just owning the games. Most of them were originally bought because I read that they had good stories (a lot of these games are lengthy console RPGs, which makes the situation even worse), and because they were either at a cheaper than usual price. There are also quite a few games I have bought because they only rarely show up for sale these days.

I had full intentions of playing most of the games at the time I bought them, but because I tend to complete games very slowly they have gradually piled up. This has eventually resulted in my current situation, which I am quite unhappy about.

I'm now trying to rein back my spending, but I still have the backlog to deal with.

I was thinking of selling off a lot of them. There are a few problems with this however: it would be a lot of time and effort, and I tend to have fears (irrational, I know, but still there) that any game I sell will suddenly increase in value in the future. I also have a constant niggling worry that any game I sell would have turned out to be a great experience that I would have really enjoyed.

I suppose I could also make a massive push to play through them all, but when I think how long this would take (as mentioned, there are a lot of long RPGs amongst the games) I just feel defeated. Individually I would like to play all of these games, but as a mass it is just too daunting. I think I would probably end up using a lot of game guides and rushing through a lot of them, which I fear would make something I do for enjoyment feel too much like work.

I'm curious if anyone has ever been in a situation like this (although I admit it is somewhat unusual), or just has any advice on how I should proceed. I really would like to get on top of this...

Too Much Stuff!

divabat — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:03:32 -0800

Less than six months before moving internationally - how do I manage all my stuff? I just completed my degree and am waiting for graduation in March. I'm doing some uni research work over the holidays - I don't know yet how long the work will go for, but it typically lasts till Dec/Jan. I might then go home for a short while and return for graduation, or just stay in Australia until graduation day, when my visa stops being valid.

What do I do with all the stuff I acquired? Specifically, what's the best plan of action I can take that won't add extra stress (with this research work and all) but also won't leave me with too much to do before I have to leave the country?

The complicating factor here is that I've suddenly been evicted from my earlier room rental and have to find somewhere else to stay in a week. (I'm currently at my boyfriend's place.) This makes it harder to go through my stuff thoroughly, as I'm only back at the ex-house for a few hours a day (I don't trust the houseowner much anymore and feel unsafe there). So I have about a week to pack everything up, including things I likely won't need, and chuck it somewhere. There is a possibility of me moving back to college till February, or else there's private rental.

I have tons of books, some clothes, some electrical goods (fan, iron, kettle), accessories, toiletries, and other miscellania. Also LOTS of paper.

* What do I absolutely need to keep? Certificates, bank statements, anything else?
* I've been trying to get rid of some of my books through BookMooch, but they're not all going and I end up getting more. I've tried selling them to a second-hand bookstore and got measly returns. What else can I do?
* My friend might organise a garage sale soon, and I was thinking of selling off some things. I know the electric goods would go OK, and perhaps some of the books/clothes/media, but how about half-used toiletries (shampoos, creams, etc)? Magazines? Shoes?
* How do I get rid of any leftover dry food?
* I'm thinking of sea-frieghting some of my things back to Malaysia. However, I'm worried that Malaysia Post will lose them (it has happened), and I'm not sure if registered & insuring them will be worth the cost. What are some good strategies to ensure my things get home?

If you've had to move back home after international (or just outstation) work/study/travel, how did you deal with your things? What was your goal with your things? Did you get any return? Is it worth trying to get money, or am I better off just giving things away (and to who?)?

How to stop living in a landfill and get solvent?

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:32:28 -0800

I'm drowning in clutter and my bank account is empty. How do I change? I have stuff. Too much stuff. I don't need to buy anything ever again - when I say 'too much stuff', I mean clothes folded in crates under the bed because they won't fit in my clothes storage, striped laundry bags on the floor of my room, and barely enough space to open the door of the bedroom I rent. I find it hard to get rid of things - I worry I won't be able to replace them, or I might miss them, or in the case of practical things, that I'll have to spend more money to replace them. I'm aware that I live in a stressful environment, but it still feels so hard ot get rid of anything. I've never saw it as a problem for years as I've thought 'I'm not one of those people who keep empty milk-cartons' but the situation can't continue.

That's one problem.

The other is that I still keep buying things. I don't want to make it sound like an addiction, but...it's gotten to the point where 'sale' signs make me nervous and I try and avoid going into shops because I know I will spend money I can ill afford. Even museum shops. As a student I would overspend in the sales, buying things that didn't quite fit because they were cheap. Now the 'trigger' seems to be bargain shopping - eBay (thankfully I have no account now - it was dangerous - and sell things through my boyfriend's) thriftstores, planning what activity or scheme I'll take up next. Lots of people describe themselves as 'shopaholics' and there are so many magazines that encourage shopping, but this isn't buying shoes on impulse (well, it is :) ), it's getting halfway through the month and having to budget to the penny.

I earn a reasonable salary (£25k) and should be enjoying having disposable income - or money to save - for the first time. I'm paying off an overdraft at £200 per month so for the next year or so I can;t, or shouldn't, be spending recklessly. It'[s embarrassing that colleagues are buying hardware or going on holidays when I'm either unwilling to buy simple groceries because I think I'll blow my budget, or have only £10 to last the month.

I want to move in with my boyfriend in a year or so, so for that reason alone habits will need to change, but beyond that daily life is much less pleasant and I want to get to a place where I have a sensible attitude about money and my possessions. I'd like to be someone who lives in a comfortable place and doesn't feel guilty treating themselves to a new top or a trip to the theatre *once or twice a month*. At present, the idea of buying something the week before payday seems unheard of.

How do I fit into my fiancee's cluttered house

warriorengineer — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:08:16 -0800

My fiancee and her family have too much stuff. How do I deal with this? My Fiancee grew up in a family that seems to have orgasmic levels of pleasure from having stuff. My soon to be Mother-in-law thinks a room is empty unless there is very tall dark heavy furniture covering every inch of wall space. not only this, but they have stacks and stack of useless crap that they "may need one day." Stuff that is useful [for something that no one in the house will ever do again]. They collect crap and palce it precariously. (I'm a big guy. I'm kind of clumsy. my soon to be MIL has yelled at me on more than one occasion for knocking over her precariously placed piles, because frankly, I can't fit in the house like this)

My fiance is not as bad as her parents. She may not like to live as spartan a life as I would, but she isn't awful. BUT, she is afraid of her mother who keeps giving her crap and telling her that she NEEDS it. I'm going to be mocing into my fiancee's house when we get married in a couple of months, but there is already no room for what little stuff I do have, let alone room to move around. Some times I even need to walk around to a different room just to get back to the same room I'm in. I just don't fit. (I also LOVE wide open spaces.)

I really think I could convince my fiancee to get rid of some of the excess furniture, except that her mother gave it to her and she would be WAY to afraid of the reprocussions. What should I do?

(BTW, I also have a completely different style and taste from my future MIL in every single imaginable way.)

What should I do with comic books after I read them?

raddevon — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:37:08 -0800

What should I do with comic books after I read them? I'm starting to get into comics and would like to read some of them on a regular basis. However, I am in the process of uncluttering my life and don't want the comic books to defeat that. For those of you who don't keep your comics, how do you dispose of them? I don't want to just throw them away. I wouldn't mind giving them away to friends, but if there is a way I could get just a little money for them or, better still, trade them for other comics I would like to read, I would prefer those options. I should clarify that these are brand new comics--not classics or anything like that. I will purchase them new, read them in a week or so, then get rid of them.

Crapherding by numbers

carbide — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:06:18 -0800

Mid-twenties, student, renting, moving a lot - how much stuff can one own, and what are your strategies for keeping to that? I moved house nine months ago thinking I'd stay here for years, and I have to up sticks again this month for a job.

It's a gigantic pain in the ass but it's likely to be like this for a few more years, and I would like to be more strategic about it so I know it's no harder than it needs to be. I can't afford storage and while I get on very well with my parents, they have kindly made it clear that the Museum of Carbide isn't going to live in their house. I have nothing there right now and will probably ask them to store my (condensed) academic stuff.

I'm working in and studying architecture (taking the usual year out to work, back to college in 2009), which involves a fair amount of materials, and I keep throwing them out and rebuying them six months later. It also means, combined with personal research interests in surrounding areas, I own a bunch of rare, big, out of print books that I may never track down again if I let them go. My dormant primary hobbies are bookbinding and zine-making, which are also materials-/tools-intensive.

My next move is for a short-term sublet across the country, where I will have to get down to very little stuff and will also find it harder to replace things. I'm getting really sick of purging my stuff and having replaced lots of it six months later, and while I'm no minimalist, I am not a hoarder, not sentimental and do not have a compulsion to shop.

Specific questions:
- What's a reasonable expectation of quantity, in your experience? Is it a carload, or is it a backpack but with a secret attic full in your parents' house?
- Is it viable to have collections like CDs, or Agatha Christie paperbacks? Things that are enjoyable but not vital or irreplaceable. (By contrast, my small collection of records is going nowhere.)
- Does it help to be ruthless with hobbies, even if it means being wasteful or passing on resources you may not be able to afford to replace?
- How does one reconcile living like this with being an adult who likes owning a desk big enough to draw on, or a set of mixing bowls that will last for decades, etc?

Qualifiers:
- I am in Ireland, which means no Half.com, no selling on Amazon, and eBay is only viable for things of real value because the postage is offputting for people.
- Yep, I donate anything I'm getting rid of to charity shops if I can't sell it or give it to friends.
- Previously, yep, that's an awesome resource but it's the reasonable quantity bit I find hardest. I know it's subjective but people achieving this with more success must have personal guidelines, which is what I guess I'm after.

I haz bukkits. Alert lolrus.

BitterOldPunk — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:52:20 -0800

What to do with 150+ plastic buckets? I'm cleaning up my mom's house. She's somewhat of a hoarder and a cat person, and so we've got empty cat litter containers stacked to the rafters. They're all shapes and sizes, but most of them are the yellow buckets which held 38 lbs of litter.

If I can't figure out a use for them, I'll just recycle them.

All ideas welcome, from practical to whimsical (and yes, I've already considered building a fort out of them. That'd be awesome.).

AhhhhCHOOOO!

Phalene — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:00:22 -0800

Cleaning Filter: Help me make an oasis of clean in my bedroom, to fight back the chaos in my household? The mess in my house is driving me nuts. Short of moving out (I’ve applied to transfer universities in the fall, so I’m saving my pennies), how do I deal with a family who is disorganized to the max when I function much better in a peaceful, orderly area?

We are five humans and three cats. Everyone is allergic to said cats, me included, but my mother believes the pets are family too and will not be parted with them. We’re similarly all allergic to dust but the house is as a rule, one giant dust bunny beneath all the clutter. Family has been about the same for the past 22 years of my life, so it’s fair to say that family isn’t going to change.

However, while I’m not very good at cleaning, and I don’t think I can tackle the whole home, I want help creating a little fortress of cleanliness to withstand the tides of mess that wash past my bedroom door, and maybe keep the downstairs bathroom clean too. And get all that lint and pet hair off my clothes!

I’m not a very clean person. After a childhood where the floors gave me black feet, I have trouble remembering not to litter or track in mud. Part of my question is based on asking: How can I develop clean habits before I drive my future roomies insane?

Also: How can I keep my bedroom and bathroom clean and dust/pet hair free? What’s your best clutter busting advice or resources?

I don’t have much money, so buying an air filter or something is out. I have mop, broom, all purpose cleanser, shop vac, windex, cheap paper towels and a dishevelled duster at my disposal, as well as candles in my favourite scents and essential oils to kill the smells. I suppose if there’s a miracle product I'm missing out there, I can buy it, as long as it's not $50 a bottle and only available in Mississippi. Also, what sort of cleaning rag/sponge/cloth should I use?

The good news is that I’m not completely hopeless. I can and do clean my room, it’s just that the dust never goes away and the clutter is back in a day. So, tips, tricks, help?!

How do you keep a studio apartment organized and uncluttered?

HotPatatta — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:17:34 -0800

What are your tricks for keeping organized and eliminating clutter in a studio apartment? I'm an elementary school teacher and a student, so I have a lot of paperwork and files to keep track of. This place is starting to spin out of control and I need to figure out how to implement some type of system of organization. What are your tips and tricks for reducing clutter?

I have two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with 5 shelves on each that are each about three feet wide. Should I pack up the books on the shelves and use them to store other things?
I also have a dresser, closet (not huge), and a desk. There really isn't any more space for furniture and there's nowhere to install shelves.

How do I keep my desktop clean?

rachelpapers — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:25:55 -0800

How can I make Firefox on OS X not clutter up my desktop? Every time I click on a file, I get that open or save dialog box. If I choose open, it saves a copy of the file to my desktop, then opens the desktop copy. I don't want Firefox to save anything to my desktop unless I choose the save option. I'm a Mac newcomer, and in Windows, this task is accomplished by saving files that you want to "open" rather than "save" to a temporary folder, then opening the copy from the temp folder. I like that method because I only have things on my desktop that are worthy of taking up screen real estate--that is, almost nothing.

I've tried digging through the preferences and I have even trolled through about:config to try to find anything useful. I have flipped the bits on browser.download.useDownloadDir without any change.

Thank you for your help. I love OS X so far but this is driving me crazy.

What types of furniture help with clutter?

cptspalding — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:41:34 -0800

Are there furniture options that will help declutter a house? My wife and I seem to constantly battle clutter at our house. Books, DVD's, CD's, papers, and "stuff" all seem to pile up. Additionally our house is older and doesn't have much closet space so blankets, coats, and other things have no place to go either. Neither of us are particularly messy people, we just don't seem to have any options for storing it all.

What we're wanting is to find reasonably priced, functional pieces of furniture that will help with this. It would be nice to find pieces that hide the things we want hidden and show off the things we want to show off (this won't be the same piece obviously).

We've looked online at the obvious places like Ikea and Crate and Barrel and have found a couple of promising things but they don't have stores near where we live so we'll have to pay high shipping costs. (Which we'd be willing to do if necessary)

Are there other places we might look? What furniture solutions have others used to help with their struggle? (Specific pieces of furniture, stores that sell nice pieces or general descriptions of types of pieces are welcome.)

Not waving but drowning...in crap

granted — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:48:23 -0800

I am gravely in need of help with an issue that has long perplexed me: namely, how to intuitively store and organize all of my miscellaneous crap. I'm talking about belts, sunglasses, electronic gadgets, purses, checkbooks...just things.

A couple specific issues: first, I forget I own things that I'd like to use more frequently. I acknowledge that I probably possess too much stuff, but I think the main reason I don't use much of what I own is that I tend to just toss things that don't obviously have a place into the Dread Pits of No Return, namely big plastic storage containers from Target. Plus, not having good storage methods means I tend to fall into the habit of using my desk and bedside stand as a waystation for everything I use somewhat frequently.

Labeling storage containers (e.g. "Spare Office Supplies") has helped some, but I still just forget. I've often been tempted to make a giant Excel inventory of everything I own just so I don't forget I own it.

The other issue I have is a practical one. Have you any tips and tricks for storing things such as sunglasses that don't seem to have any obvious place? I feel that the solution is probably obvious to all, but somehow I never got the memo.

Thank you all!

Advice for clearing literary clutter

matildaben — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 11:27:21 -0800

Suggest practical and creative systems for reducing the number of books I own (rather long exposition inside). Hopefully this is part 1 of an ongoing decluttering and stuff-organizing project. I am really feeling more motivated to get rid of more stuff nowadays. I've read a lot of the decluttering threads and my issue is very specific and practical, and hopefully does not require therapy.

The vast majority of my possessions by weight and volume consists of books. I would like to develop a system for getting rid of them that will have a very practical, behavioral, methodical approach to the emotions that compel me to keep them.

One category of books is the ones I haven't read yet. This is pretty large. One thought that I had for dealing with them in a mostly scientific way was to arrange them in piles according to a 1-5 assessment of how likely I would be to read them (forcing myself to answer honestly for each one), and keep only the 5's. If there's still too many 5's left, I might break it down further by asking myself what my reasoning is for why I might want to read it (e.g., would I learn something valuable, keep up with a favorite author, be entertained, etc.). For partially read books, the question would be similar, "how likely am I to finish this?" So, I pretty much have a system for this category, and mainly am interested in hearing about similar strategies that have worked for you, or refinements or gotchas to this system. For instance, how does one estimate likeliness to read? What sort of questions does one ask oneself about motivation to read a yet unread book?

Books that I have read break down into several categories. The first is books that I have kept just because I enjoyed them when I read them, will probably never read them again, but they gave me pleasure so I keep the book around to honor that. Again, here, I think reason and logic can prevail if I just put them in a pile and say "I honor how much I enjoyed you when I read you" and then let them go. But that will probably be more painful than it sounds. For this category, advice, strategies, tales of similar efforts, and gotchas are welcome.

Books that I have read and may read again are a much smaller category, and once I have determined which ones those are, I can probably use a similar system as with the unread books to weed them out.

Then there is the large, amorphous category of books I hold on to for some sentimental reason - I read them in a great college class, I know the author, etc. I don't want to be too brutal here and rule them out completely merely because they are sentimental tokens - I want some kind of clarity on what questions to ask myself to determine which ones have a meaningful enough sentiment to hold onto and which ones are just emotional baggage. This is probably the toughest category, and the one where I'd probably benefit the most from hearing about "hacks" that have worked successfully for other people who operate in a similar fashion.

Thinning the herd: how do I trim down my design portfolio and sample pile?

whatnot — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 09:31:12 -0800

Fellow graphic designers: I need help thinning out my collection of samples and portfolio materials. What should I keep? please hope. I've got about 12 years worth of samples at this point, which takes up two big plastic bins, and an overstuffed drawer in my filing cabinet. I'd love to get it down to just the file drawer, but I'm not sure what to get rid of. I'm planning to build my freelance work back up again, so I'm a little wary of tossing out too many samples.

Just to give you some idea, I've got 5-10 samples of booklets and other "printed on paper" stuff, and one sample each of screenprinted items like shirts and giveaway items. Plus, lots of clippings and covers from my years of working at an alt weekly. I only have about 20 percent of this stuff on disk, which, again, makes me wary of throwing away what might be the only copy of something I've made.

So, my question is, what criteria should I use to thin out this collection? Stick to more recent stuff? One or two of each type of project? Scan things and ditch the hard copies? Thanks in advance.

What Homeowner Documents Should I Keep?

willmize — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 06:12:28 -0800

I've owned my home for about 4 years now, and one of my New Year's resolutions is to get rid of a lot of clutter and extra paperwork sitting in my overstuffed filing cabinet. I've got at least 4" worth of forms, TIL statements, estimates, faxes between myself and the realtor, myself and the title company, myself and the lender, etc.
I get the feeling I can destroy a lot of this.
My question is: What documents do I need to keep with regards to purchasing the house? I'm thinking the following:
- home inspection
- plan/drawing of plot from engineers
- original appraisal and photos

Please add to this list!

Making room for baby

leapingsheep — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:00:30 -0800

I'm pregnant. Joy! My husband and I live in a small apartment and have brainstormed many ways to make more space for the required baby paraphernalia, and the play space the baby will eventually require. But I wonder, is there a polite way to ask well-meaning friends and family to please not give us a lot of big, plastic clutter which will quickly eat up this hard-found space? I understand that the kid will need space, particularly once it learns to crawl and otherwise move around. I think we've worked out a plan to make enough room, even in this smallish apartment. My efforts will be of no avail, though, if we are flooded with walkers and swings and too many big toys, etc. So, is there a way around this?
I feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of doing a gift registry because it feels too much like demanding presents, these EXACT presents. But is there any other way? And are there any items that may just seem like big plastic clutter, but that are, in fact, indispensible? I don't want the kid to be deprived...I just want him/her to have enough space. (Moving is out for the time being.) Thanks!

yes - no - maybe - maybe yes - maybe no - maybe maybe - wait - can't decide - what to do first? - was that wrong? - was that right?

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 11:14:55 -0800

Ever been so overwhelmed that it paralyzed you? How did figure out what to do first? How did you get it all done? Cirrcumstances rendered me unable to decide, focus, prioritize and accomplish for a number of years. The cause was found and I am clearer and eager to get on and rejoin life. But ye gods! The physical mess in my home is horrific and the number of things I've left undone over these years is humongous.

Imagine that you've been away from your life while a tornado was ripping through it -- through your job and house and relationships -- and that, while you'd periodically returned and started cleanups, you'd then disappeared each time just as you were making headway and by the time you returned again, the tornadoes had gotten worse and nobody trusted your commitment. So now you are back to stay but don't know where to begin to clear it all up, maintain it and make a living at the same time.

That sounds farfetched, but believe me, it's real and no, I don't really want to go into details just now except to say always trust your gut when you tell doctors you need to be tested for something physical that they tell you is all in your head -- and keep searching till you find the doctor who'll do the test.

Anyhow, I just want to get on with life but being able to suddenly see how messed up everything is is almost worse than not being able to see it before.

Here's the deal: my home is cluttered beyond belief; our house is falling apart; my family has lost faith in my ability to run things smoothly; I've put on 50 pounds although I'd never been overweight before; my business is gone although those who knew me remember my abilities and people who know me only recently are impressed by my credentials; I prefer to go back to that business, but some of my materials are still buried under the clutter and remarketing myself will take time, as will doing a refresher of the things I know; but our finances are by now strained to breaking my husband apart. A part time job would help while I reestablish my business but, as I've found out during the last three weeks, applying for jobs is a horrible and time consuming endeavor, and the teenage kids are all running wild and needing money for school.

If I left anything out you can add it yourself: every area of my life is now in shambles and I would love to get it right again in a step-by-step way, but every area is screaming for attention immediately and I feel hopeless and overwhelmed.

My thought is that organizing and getting rid of the clutter in my house will help me find stuff we need and will return a sense of peace and haven to our home, but when I concentrate on that, I'm asked why I'm not making an income. When I spend the day jobhunting -- and believe me, almost anything will do but I've not jobhunted in years and I'm floored by the slow pace of snagging an interview and by hearing that they're scheduling second interviews in a week or two. Hello? Second interviews? We're talking simple waitress job here.

Meanwhile, everyone needs rides and money and things and did I mention that my spouse is away during the week so there's nobody here to do it all but me?

And you have no idea how much time and strength are just eaten up by the simple act of throwing stuff into garbage bags and lugging it to the garbage when you're 50 lbs. overweight. I actually bought $1300 of personal trainer time at a 24-hour gym 2 years ago but my doctors won't say yes yet to me going back to reclaim it ( your expired gym contract can be overturned for medical reasons with a doctor's signature, FYI). I am focused enough to be able to tell helper's to pitch this, cart that and to work like a fiend WITH that help, but I can't afford it yet and my family is just not there for me to provide real assistance. I think they will be as they see me maintaining focus for now, but it's just been too long that they've seen and believed it.

Anyhow, Sorry for the rant. Therapy's out of the question -- first because the cause of all this was found to be a medical deficiency and not a mental health problem and second because the best therapy for me right now will be getting a semblance of order back. Besides, I LOL! don't have time -- I just want to get my life and my credibility back together without losing my husband and neglecting my kids.

Stuff like household help and a personal assistant ARE a viable option for me once I start back to work, and there are a number of items in this clutter that are new and valuable and I can barter them for help with the house, once I find them and clean up enough to let someone over. But those would all be steps 3 and 4 or something; I need decision and priority making help now.

Anyone tackled a life tornado before and want to give me suggestions? While we're at it, if you did, did you also find that a thousand emergencies cropped up while you were doing so, or is that just me. I don't think so, I think I'm just finding it difficult to set in flexibility for handling extraneous while trying to handle untenable.

I know this anonymous thing isn't set up to let me post again, so I want to say now that I hope I didn't include too much and that I sure would appreciate anything anyone wrote, and I won't forget you later when my dust has cleared and I get the opportunity to help you out. That's a promise I now can keep.

Many thanks.

Are there firewire cable kits similar to cat-5 kits?

djacobs — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 07:36:18 -0800

In my ongoing struggle against cable clutter, I've been on the lookout for short firewire cables. At both work and home I have stacks of firewire drives, and the one to three foot cables that they come with are far longer than is necessary. Since these drives are almost always daisy chained and stacked on top of each other, I think there's a real market for four or six inch firewire cable, but it's nowhere to be found. Am I missing an obvious source? Are there firewire cable kits similar to cat-5 kits?