Too much stuff!

I have been discussing with friends and there is a common theme that we own too much stuff.  It does not help that I'm in my nesting phase of the pregnancy and feel overwhelmed with how much we own. However, it takes time to get rid of things and with a toddler it is almost impossible to spend quality time going through necessary paperwork to get rid of.  We actually had the babysitter here for a couple of hours so we could accomplish some of those cleaning tasks.  Yes, we have tried to do it while she is around, but its almost impossible to get the task you set out to do completed.

Mine is mostly paperwork and its a constant fight to keep it out of the house.  If you go to a show or any event, someone is handing you pieces of paper which you bring home.  You might be interested in the article, but who has time to read it when you have a toddler running about?  I would rather read a good book if I have the time and that hasn't happened lately I can assure you.  I am too busy trying to prepare for the next baby and the thought I am going to have to devote time to get my hospital bag ready is somewhat daunting these days.

So why do we all have too much?  I think letting go is the hard part.  I found myself having moments of doubt about letting something be recycled or tossed into the trash.  I forced myself to get rid of a couple of items and when I saw the results at the end, I was definitely happy with the decision.  Now there are clutter books being constantly written and we spend lots of money trying to gain insight on how to declutter.  A few years back I got rid of all those clutter books taking space and it felt pretty freeing.  I did go to the library and read Don Aslett's "Clutter's Last Stand" and I have to admit it was probably the best declutter book I have ever come across.  I cannot tell you how much junk we got rid of and sold that year because of that book.  Don't worry it will be in the spoken mommy store if you need it.

Now you will regret a few things that you parted with and that is normal, but 99.8 percent of the items you will get rid of you'll never remember them.  Don't let that .02 percent ruin a good toss.  Yesterday, we remembered a nice stainless steel pot that we received as a Christmas gift and we never used.  Yeah it would be handy now, but it is not going to stop me from purging things I never use.  I hope the gal I gave it to found some good use out of it.  She was pretty happy when I gave it to her so I'm betting these past few years she most likely used it more than I would have.  That is my consolation during this whole process.

Now another item I plan to get rid of soon is the Black and Decker weed eater we bought a couple of years ago.  We bought a new electric one a couple of days ago and bam I love it so much.  It edges like no other and actually works!  I'm not messing with the length of the string constantly and spending all my time fiddling with it.  Time as you know is precious.  There are a couple of other items in the garage that need to go too.  Most of us have garages so we can leave our 30,000 dollar vehicles out in the street while we fill our garages full of junk.  It is nice to park both our vehicles into the garage, but its a tight fit and I'm going to have to find time to go through that here soon.  Hospital bag first though!