I've never gotten much out of watching Clean Sweep, but I like How Clean Is Your House? very much. Occasionally some of their clients are certifiable, like the woman with 20 parrots flying free around her house, but most of them are nice people who've lost their way.

My current de-cluttering issue is I can't stand to throw things away, because hello, environment!

This is me - aside from my general laziness and slobbishness, I mean. It's almost never the case that I don't want to get rid of things for emotional attachment reasons, or because I think there's any chance at all that I'll use them again. But getting rid of all the truly useless, can't find another home for it because who would want it, crap while knowing that it's going to end up in the landfill? HATE it.

It's almost never the case that I don't want to get rid of things for emotional attachment reasons, or because I think there's any chance at all that I'll use them again. But getting rid of all the truly useless, can't find another home for it because who would want it, crap while knowing that it's going to end up in the landfill? HATE it.

This is so me. I'm great at getting rid of useless paper - straight into the shredder and from there to the recycling bin! But I could probably fill a U-Haul trailer with the amount of "don't throw that away, I'll put it on Craigslist/eBay/Freecycle!" crap I have lying around.

I invited a few people over to watch the Oscars tonight. Those who accepted have bailed. Which is both hugely irritating and a big relief at the same time. It's irritating because I already bought snacks and things for people and was all ready for guests. But it's a huge relief because the insulators I hired let me know yesterday that they want to come tomorrow at 8 AM to begin insulating my attic. The awards don't end until about 1AM my time, so not having guests until then will help me get some sleep.

Also, I'll get to watch and post here.

it's better for hoarders to have a proscribed space that's theirs, to muck up as they wish, as long as it doesn't spill into the rest of the house.

Right. That need is a need for a reason. Trying to tear stuff away from someone with an actual problem can be more destructive than imaginable. Having a safe place is the very best intermediary solution.

Keeping things out of the landfill is easier than you might think with freecycle.org. There is effort, of course, but it works. I think craigslist has a free section, as well.

My usual solution to the stuff I don't want to throw away for environmental stuff is to first decide if it's worth it to freecycle, and then, if it's not, I justify it by saying that, with a cleaner apartment, I'll know where all my stuff is, so I won't have to buy repeats of so much stuff, so it's a net gain in terms of stuff used and thrown out. Plus, my new goal that I'm not going to buy anything if I plan to throw it away when I'm done with it.

Also, my neighborhood has a thriving sidewalk economy. Put something out and it disappears. Over the years I've found some pretty great stuff too.

This is the first year in 14 that I am not throwing my Oscar party. People are diappointed. None more than me...but, despite my breezy clutter clearing convo, I'm sort of in crisis over here and it just didn't seem possible. I am going over the a friend's house instead. I'm sure that will be nice.

I'd gotten things reasonably decluttered in my apartment. Then I brought home a ton of stuff from my Dad's place. Much of it has found a place, but there are four bins of papers that I'll need to go through and mostly shred. Only mostly, though, because there are things that I'll need to keep (family records and stuff that I'll need as the will goes through probate). Which means going through each bin, page by page. I'm not really looking forward to it, but I'm also not thrilled with the bins sitting in my apartment. Also, the court in Dad's county is taking forever approving my executorship, and strictly speaking I'm not supposed to do much of anything with his papers until that goes through.

I tried Freecycle when I was moving and found it deeply annoying. Either I got no response at all, or people responded with silly questions (re: a round carpeted cat nest/thingy - "How do you clean it?") or they responded and then did not actually bother to come get the stuff. At that point it is less hassle to keep a "junk box" for a few moves.

I try really hard to prevent new stuff coming in. Clothes and linens can come and go - I know they will be bought at Goodwill. But the kids, and their toys, and their school papers, and their little plastic things they find on the playground, and argh.

I'm terrible at getting rid of things. It helped when I moved. I threw out a bunch of stuff that just, no one would want. And I finally got rid of all the video tapes I had and had been holding on to. I realized -- I don't have a vcr! So I took them all to good will, except the ones Mom wanted to take to her school.

The big item that was agonized over was the sleeper sofa that I didn't want and no one wanted but was still good. It went to the side of the road and 2 days later was gone.