Saturday, February 20, 2010

Hoarders

Everyday I see our new house across the street (pending all with our financing and inspections), beckoning to me to paint it, decorate it, fix it. It has also put me in a “get ready to move, downsize” kind of mood.

Does anyone else worry about the sentimental value they place on their junk? I have such a hard time giving things away! I half worry one day I will be on that hoarders show where people can’t throw away tin foil or old expired coupons (luckily I don’t think I will ever save hair or nail clippings—gross). I’m not that far gone, I don’t think, but I do wish I were the type that every time I bought something new, I cleared out my closet of something from last season. I’m just not that way.

I decided this time to be brutal. I often have to put something in (and out) of the Goodwill pile multiple times until I can say adios. I try to think of the “if you haven’t used it in a year” philosophy but that seems so strict to me. This time I actually was slightly successful: 7 t-shirts, 3 sweaters, 1 skirt, 1 shorts, a purse. Not great, but a start.

The other thing that may be harder is my dental school notes. I already threw away hundreds of pages last year when a classmate downloaded all of our notes for the past four years onto a searchable DVD. Golden. But I don’t quite trust it. And I am attached to the hundreds of pages of scribbles and hours of studying evidenced by stains and smudges. I am trying to do more now that I know that I should never have to make a denture again or do a root canal, etc. But I still have that panicked feeling, “But what if I do?”

I would love to hear tips from you super organized people who don’t seem to have the same emotional attachment to old pieces of paper and out of fashion clothing  that I do! 

6 comments:

Amber said...

The more I get rid of, the better excuse I have to get something new to replace it! :-)

Oriens said...

Let someone else get rid of stuff because they won't have that emotional attachment that you do. For example, my dad keeps magazines/catalogs/newspapers. He just can't get rid of them. Everyone else in the family has no problem throwing them out. (when hes not looking)

nathan n rachel said...

I have an idea about your dental text books--keep them and put them in your own private office when you are an Oral Surgeon! My Dad has his old dental school books in his consult room at his office. They are really neat to look at.

Robyn said...

Anything you can scan and save, you should. I'm in the process of trying to scan and save all our bills/bank statements etc. so that I can throw away all that paper! Then, I still have it for tax reasons, but can just store it on a usb key in our firesafe box. You could do the same kind of things with your notes. Then if you ever need them, you can print them all, or just a page!

Aggieland Mom said...

I have an idea for your clothes: give them to ME. And if you ever want to wear them again, you can just come over! See, how easy was that? (really, I'm being serious.)

Suz said...

Put everything you are worried about on the floor in the middle of your living room. I promise, after a few days, you will be aching to get rid of it.

Remember our old house? We were bulging at the seams but I had such a hard time getting rid of anything...just in case. Then when we moved into a bigger house that could actually fit everything, all I could think about was, "I don't want all that 'junk' in my new house." I threw/gave so much away and it was soooooo liberating. In 4 years, I think I have only missed about 2 items, and even those 2 "I wish I hadn't thrown them out" moments did not cause my world to come to an end.

So, in my experience, "Just do it!"