Lost in my Life (Well, My Stuff)
I need to own less crap. The big question: HOW?
I get uptight about doing the exactly right thing with stuff. Questions I’ve agonized over: donate old clothes or take them to the folks that do textile recycling every Saturday at the Greenmarket? What’s a good asking price for my old monitor? Should I have a tag sale? (Answer: no. Any endeavor that nets me $3 an hour is not worth my time, even if I can sit on my stoop drinking beer while doing it.)
The first step for me relaxing even a little bit was letting go of the notion of turning my old stuff into dollars. Once I stopped trying to negotiate the seedy underbelly of Craigslist and fretting about pricing things, everything seemed more manageable. My ice cream makers (plural!) were given to friends. Biana took that old computer monitor.
Getting rid of books is easy. In my neighborhood (Park Slope) in Brooklyn, there is a tradition of leaving unwanted reading material on your front steps. I myself have picked up several magazines en route to the subway, read them on the train, and deposited them on my own front steps back at home, owning them just long enough to flip through once. It’s perfect.
Clothes are a little more tricky. No one takes clothes left on steps, because everyone is terrified of getting bed bugs. They can get donated, but I’m still not sure how to figure out what should go where. Maybe I’ll take everything to textile recycling and let them figure it out.
The rest is a total mystery. I have these stackable cookie cooling racks made for epic bake sessions which simply do not happen in my world, and honestly probably never will. And even if I am ever “a baker” one day, is it worth them taking up space in my apartment in the meantime, when I could give them to people who will use them now? Probably not. But who wants them?
“The things you own end up owning you.” says Tyler Durden. OMG those abs.
I’ve been posting a lot of my stuff up for grabs on Facebook every few days, and local friends have come forward to snap them up. Recently, I put up that I had a 4G SD card for a digital camera up for grabs, and that it needed to get the hell out of my apartment. My friend Tris IMed me, asking, “Is it really taking up that much space?”
Yeah, actually, it is.
It is, because I have to remember not to put it in with the SD cards I use for my business photography. It is, because it is so very small (about a one inch flat square) that I’m afraid of loosing it, but have no where to really put it, and have to remember constantly where it is, so I leave it out on the table or the counter but then I have to move it to use that space, so yeah! It takes up a whole hell of a lot of space!
Do you have any tried-and-true tips for decluttering? Where did all this stuff come from anyway?
{image from Rachel Perry Welty’s series Lost in my Life}
Laura H
16 Jan 13 at 11:28 am
I totally get this! I desperately want to do the same thing, but I paralyze myself. The enviromentalist in me tries very hard not to send anything to landfill and to find a place that will take everything that I don’t need/want anymore. But often stuff sits piled up while I try to figure out what to do with things, so I wind up living in a space that has parts that are a little too close to hoarderville to make me comfortable. I know I need to cut my losses, get rid of stuff, not worry about what it cost me, and focus on reducing future acquistion and consumption, but it’s hard! I think that I must have been scarred by the Depression in a past life or something! Keep up the good work! PS – I have some of those stacking cooling racks and I love them, but I use them, so they get to stay.
Nicki
16 Jan 13 at 11:43 am
Housing works might take a lot of the kitcheny stuff and the clothing. And then you can feel good about where you gave it!
aldoxcab
16 Jan 13 at 12:22 pm
RT @theAmberShow: Blogged: on having too much stuff. http://t.co/2KYe0jvH
Sarah
16 Jan 13 at 12:23 pm
I’ve donated clothing through the Vietnam Veterans of America -http://www.scheduleapickup.com/. I’ve used them the most because they will come pick everything up, and I don’t have a car. I also had decent luck with a big posting on craiglist of all the free stuff I had to offer. (BUT I specified if they were going to come get part of a set (dishes, utensils, curtains, whatever), they had to take ALL of it. People getting free stuff on craigslist can be hella picky sometimes!)
Laura S
16 Jan 13 at 12:24 pm
Goodwill also will take a lot of kitchen stuff as well! I also just googled “charities that have thrift stores in NYC” and came up with this handy article (the aforementioned Housing Works is on their list as well): http://newyork.cbslocal.com/guide/nyc-guide-to-thrift-shopping/. As for the more esoteric stuff… In Boston, there is a pretty great tradition of just putting things on the street and having people come and take them away, no matter what they are. I have gotten rid of old yoga mats, chairs, clothes, shoes, old stuff animals, furniture, etc. just by leaving it on the sidewalk. I have no idea what the people who take these things do with them (I always make sure to do it on a Saturday or Sunday so it’s not mistaken for garbage), but I like to believe they always get to the right place. Moving is also helpful! When I moved into the apartment before my current one I had almost zero storage space and a tiny room, so I literally had to just leave things on the sidewalk because they wouldn’t fit in the door. Now I have a lot more space, but a lot less stuff, so I feel a little more zen about what I’ve chosen to surround myself with.
ps. I think your reCaptcha is trying to give me its digits!
Kizz
16 Jan 13 at 12:27 pm
I totally get how much space things take up and how easy it is to get mired in getting rid of stuff. From my own experience the textile recycling option made my life so much easier. I just give everything to them and they work it out and I know something useful is being done with it and I don’t have to feel guilty for donating something with some cat hair on it.
Also, looking forward to having that SD card, thanks!
Miss Britt
16 Jan 13 at 12:28 pm
I don’t know if you know this about me, but I’m kiiiiind of a master at getting rid of shit.
Goodwill is your friend. They’ll take housewares, electronics, everything. And the money is used to provide jobs for mentally handicapped people (I actually know a woman who benefits greatly from this system.) All you have to do is bag/box it up and drop it off at a donation site. The end.
But I think it’s kind of awesome that you’ve been offering stuff up on Facebook, too.
(and I LOVE your neighborhood’s reading swap thing. So cool.)
Oh yes! I remember when you visited with your daughter, she benefited from it and found a few fun books. That made me so happy.
Kizzbeth
16 Jan 13 at 12:32 pm
RT @theAmberShow: Blogged: on having too much stuff. http://t.co/2KYe0jvH
Johanna
16 Jan 13 at 12:37 pm
I’ll take the cooling racks. The two I have are warped, tiny, and showing the stress of having been used a LOT over the past several years.
misstraceynolan
16 Jan 13 at 1:01 pm
Last August we got rid of 12 boxes of books. 12!!! That was hard. I’ve been a book hoarder since high school. Once they were out I felt soooo good. Need to follow your lead and do some more decluttering in my office. It’s never a bad idea.
Cindy
16 Jan 13 at 3:29 pm
I was just telling someone today that it was time to clean out my clothes closet. I have a lot of stuff that needs to go, not just in that closet, but in my basement. I keep thinking I’ll have a big garage sale. That sounds like a good idea.
Kris
16 Jan 13 at 6:24 pm
Have you ever thought about hosting a Clothing Swap? Once a year I have 6-10 or so friends come over and we dump all our old clothes in the living room. Then we spend the next several hours picking through them, laughing, trying things on and drinking wine. It’s a good way to swap old stuff for new stuff and then we donate the remainder to a local thrift shop. It’s a lot of fun!
Kathryn
16 Jan 13 at 11:27 pm
If you have any business clothes (I.e., something you would wear to church or court, if you happened to be going to either of those places) I’ll come over and pick em up for our client closet. Often, a client going to trial doesn’t have suitable clothes, and we keep a closet full of stuff to make em look good for the jury. But it’s sadly lacking in ladies wear, so if you’ve got an old suit or conservative skirt you’re looking to get rid of, let me know and I’ll come pick em up.
(Also, will take any kitchen stuff you’re unloading! I’m like a pots and pans hoarder. You never know when 35 people might stop by and demand mashed potatoes!)
B. Hemborg
17 Jan 13 at 6:24 am
thank you for posting that picture good abs really made me morning!
Elizabeth
17 Jan 13 at 4:43 pm
in defense of garage/tag sales: they don’t make you much money, but are a GREAT way to meet neighbors. I’m currently boxing up all the random stuff I’m getting rid of and keeping it until I move into my new house this spring, specifically so that I can have a big garage sale and meet the neighbors in the new ‘hood.
leila
17 Jan 13 at 5:29 pm
Just stumbled across your blog, and not gonna lie, the Tyler Durden pic totally drew me in. Also, I love your self-described “dandelion” hair.
For stackable cookie cooling racks and other things of that nature, check out Freecycle. People want your stuff!
Here’s a huge awesome list of charity organizations you can donate to:
http://www.missminimalist.com/2011/04/where-to-donate-your-stuff-101-places-your-clutter-can-do-good/
And if you’re feeling super hardcore about get rid of your stuff, I recommend reading “The Joy of Less” by Francine Jay (author of Miss Minimalist). It guides you through the process of purging your belongings, and teaches you a mindset that won’t allow you to end up with a ludicrous amount of (unwanted) stuff again. Totally changed my lifestyle.