August 27th, 2010

Stuff

Some days I feel like I am drowning in stuff. Toys, dishes, kitchen appliances, clothes – you name it. Most of it is my own fault, I tend to pick up a t-shirt here and a hand towel there and before you know it, every closet is stuffed full. What kills me is how little of the stuff I really need. I still have a trash bag in the corner of the bedroom full of shoes from when we emptied our closet to have our floors refinished. In May. Of 2009. Clearly, I don’t need these shoes.

It isn’t the baby’s stuff, although I will admit at times I fine the toy pile oppressive. It is just my stuff. The piles of clothes I still don’t fit in to, work clothes I don’t need anymore and probably will not be in fashion when I go back, the still unsorted boxes of stuff from my parent’s old house that have been shoved into the backs of closet since we moved into this house in 2007. Thank god I mostly broke my Sephora habit or the bathroom would be overflowing too. Stuff is everywhere.

I either need to have a massive purge or institute a 1 in 2 out policy.  I also need to take a hard look at what I own versus what I am actually using. For instance, we got a rice cooker as a gift from our wedding in 2004 and I have never used it. The rice cooker is lovely, I registered for it. I just don’t cook rice. It has been hogging space for 6 years and it is time for it to go. Ditto the panini press. The crock pot and food processor I think I will keep for now and I am happy that I already unloaded the bread machine.

Not sure how I should get rid if stuff, though. Should I just thrift it or attempt to get some cash via craig’s list? I don’t have the energy to put together a whole garage sale and would like to get rid of stuff as I go. I think this might have to be a slow and steady process. I could work a room at a time, or just unload things as I think of them. I hope I stick with this. I would love an empty closet. Or even a shelf.