Anyways, didn’t mean to write you such a book here, but I wanted to say that I bought two books this past fall to help me deal with my clutter that have truly changed my life. As you described it, my home (and soul) feels lighter now. It’s incredible. The first book I was drawn to, I swear, at the bookstore. I wandered to a section I had no desire to look through and there it was. And I NEVER buy books. I was just killing time. It’s Karen King’s “Clear your clutter with feng shui”. I loved learning about the emotional drives behind my clutter and it was tremendous in helping me deal with it. Since doing so, my life has changed for the better in SO many ways. Life-changing. I tell everyone to buy this book. The other is “Organize Now” by Jennifer Ford Berry. I’ve followed this a little less strictly, but it is also incredible. It’s a week-by-week guide to simplifying your space and life. Really great tips and if you can follow along, I’m sure it’d be amazingly useful. So far, I’ve cherry-picked my chapters and follow-through actions.

That is a very good point and it does make me feel so good to get a response like that from someone that needed it.

Over the years I have had a bit of reluctance to bring things to the local organization. It is not that I do not think they do good overall, but things rarely make it to the shelves before being taken by one of the employees. So all of the nice clothes, toys or small items often do not reach those that might need it the most and though they do provide jobs and need to make money the prices are often exuberant. I think that I need to find a place that I feel better about so that it will be easier.

It may be strange but I have very little problems with getting rid of own clothes. I have actually brought my clothing down to a point that I am in need of clothes at time. I did a BIG purge about 2 years ago. I do have a bin for seasonal stuff but other then that that I have very little in my closet.

Getting rid of the kids clothes is another story but now that that big amount is gone, I think it will be a lot easier. I do wish that there was a better organization in the area though for donating. I need to find one.

We moved house back in October and I really struggled to clear our house. Over the years we have found so many great things in charity shops and at jumble sales and come home really excited about a new game or a really cool new coat. Thinking about how people might feel about these things when we pass them on helps me let go of them.

Keep the joy of others in your mind and this will get easier for you I’m sure.

Congratulations on lightening the load. I know, getting rid of stuff can be so hard, but having clearer spaces feels so good too.

I find it is much easier for me to de-clutter our home when I’ve been away from it for a few days. I’ve also found it much easier since we down-sized – I could always make excuses before but now I feel the weight of the clutter a lot more.

Clothing is probably the most challenging area for me and I have a few tricks. One is to sketch out my favourite outfits (without being able to see my closet). (I usually find myself wishing I had a few other pieces that went better and this is helpful for my sewing and knitting pursuits too.) When I do open the closet I see all those things I had forgotten about. Sometimes I can pack them away in a corner and then as I remember things I would like to keep wearing I pull them out. Every time I go back in the bin I find things I’ve forgotten about and if those things still haven’t been pulled out by the time we’re at that season again then they need to go to the clothing swap or thrift store.

I still find I have too much and look forward to refining what I want for my work and home wardrobes. Another piece of my problem is the sewing I’ve done. Back before I understood what it was to customize a pattern I made shirts that were too short or skirts that were too plain. I’d like to make properly fitting versions of those things and have been holding on to one shirt for nearly 10 years without wearing it. I’m not sure I even like it any more but time and again I pull it from the discard pile!

Best of luck to you in slimming things down as you prepare for life on the bus. It will be worth it!