MORE OR LESS, We (still) Have Too Much Stuff

No solutions here

We’re taking a break from loading the car with stuff to take to the new house (there will be several of these trips), and I thought it a good time to finish the “too much stuff” trilogy.  You know how I feel about clutter from the first two posts, so this post is more of a “report card” to see how we’re doing in our attempts to simplify.  Some good, some no so good, and perhaps you can learn from our successes (and mistakes).

A big mistake – don’t bother with this magazine or others like it.  It’s not so much getting rid of your stuff as buying more stuff to display your stuff.  Some of the examples of “well organized” rooms and closets made us gag.  No wonder most of the advertisers were companies that made storage “solutions.”

OK, here’s our report card:

Books – our #1 Achilles heel. 

• GOOD:  we’ve made lots of donations of the books we’ve read, to the local library’s used books sale, to a couple of neighborhood “tiny libraries” and some poker books I’ve given away directly. 
• NOT SO GOOD:  We still go to used books sales, including the biggie in Portland.  With very large bags to put our findings in.  Still, I score better than the spousal unit – she has five books for every one of mine (and I can fill an entire bookcase).  More work is needed, but the good news is that now that we’re retired, we’ll have more time to read!

Furniture – this was our #1 priority. 

• GOOD: We now have nearly every piece of furniture we own be either lightweight (we can lift it) or it comes apart.  We also got rid of everything on our list that we knew we wouldn’t take with us.  We got a few bucks for some of it, and gave away the rest via FreeCycle, Craig’s list, FaceBook, and Goodwill. Oh, and we left a few items on the sidewalk, an easy (and effective) option around here.
• NOT SO GOOD:  Nothing!

Paper – We’re supposed to be moving to a “paperless” society.  Riiiight.

• GOOD:  When it comes to important paperwork and files, I like electronic copies and email.  Mona likes to keep the paper, because she says “…and we might need this someday because yargle bargle…”  And then every year we go through it all to see if we need to keep all of it.  Stuff like “helpful articles” about gardening, retirement, hobbies, investing, etc., usually with weblinks, but in reviewing those articles and links we find (a) old info that’s outdated, and (b) dead links.  I know, I know…just Google it.  Still, we shrunk what was TWO file cabinets to ONE.
• NOT SO GOOD:  We still have the one (completely full) file cabinet.

Wool – Many of you know that Mona spins.  Mostly sheep wool, but some alpaca, too.

• GOOD:  In our new neighborhood, our next door neighbor, Marlyn, also spins, and was “very excited” to hear that another spinner was nearby.  I am hopeful that Mona is able to utilize her retirement time with Marlyn on the wheel, because…
• NOT SO GOOD:  She has a LOT of wool, having not had much of a chance to spin since we left Idaho where a good friend gave her some wool from her sheep herd.  And she bought some from a guy in Indiana.  And some alpaca from a ranch over by Hood River.
• HARD TO BELIEVE:  Marlyn has more wool than Mona.  She’s taken over their dining room, and who knows how much more of the house (we didn’t see it all).  Her husband must be a saint.  I’ll ask for advice.

Food – one of those things you forget about in a move, but shouldn’t, since you have to either eat it or move it, and some stuff (frozen) cab be a pain to move.

• GOOD:  The weekly menu plan was somewhat irregular, but we’ve used up lots of stuff in the freezer and the pantry.  Of course, we’ll stock up once we move. 
• NOT SO GOOD:  We’re almost out of liquor.  Might need an emergency run.