The Problem With Declutter is When That Turns to Misplaced

[easysurfer]

I did some decluttering. Put away some extra spray bottles a few months back.

But of course, now I need to use them and don't know where I placed them.

I remember putting them in a box or rubber crate but at the time was thinking to myself "Will I know where when I need?"

Now I have to choice of ransacking where my declutter crates and boxes are or just having to buy new spray bottles .

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

Story of my life! I empathize with you.
If I don’t see something on a regular basis I either forget about it completely or can’t find it. [emoji2368]

 

[skyking1]

Add DS into that equation and it gets crazy!
DW will 'just put some things in a place' and the wheels come right off.

 

[Car-Guy]

I can "usually" find what I've stored away but not always... I'm using the ten year rule.. If I haven't needed it in ten years, out it goes... And yes, on occasions, I've needed something I just threw out.

 

[Ronstar]

Yep - I do the same thing. Decluttered my workshop and I cant find my air nailer.

 

[gauss]

Yeah - I often have thought that I need to come up with a spreadsheet that indexes what's located in all the rooms/containers (to a reasonable resolution at least). Maybe a photo of the contents of the containers and a unique number would do.

-gauss

 

[ERD50]

Since we were starting fresh after our move, I've actually created a list of everything I store away in the attic (including boxes for things we might want to save for warranty or future move/giveaway/sell), with a copy kept in the garage near the pull down steps to the attic. If I put anything else up there, I add it to the list.

At least I feel more organized!

-ERD50

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I hold onto some stuff forever and within a month of tossing or recycling it, I almost always need it.
A month ago I took some old phones and a laptop battery to the recycle center. That battery had been lying on a chair in my office for months. Last week I decided to try to fix my old laptop and I was able to get it going again except the battery was toast. I pulled it off to get the info to buy a new one and it was the original HP battery. I don't know how I managed it but for some crazy reason I'd put the original battery back on the laptop and just recycled the replacement three weeks ago.

 

[ERD50]

Yeah - I often have thought that I need to come up with a spreadsheet that indexes what's located in all the rooms/containers (to a reasonable resolution at least). Maybe a photo of the contents of the containers and a unique number would do.

-gauss

I just cross-posted with you about my attic spreadsheet, have thought about extending that to other storage areas, but those I can go through pretty quickly, and I keep things labelled.

But the photo and # make sense too. I wish I would have done that when we moved. A number on the box, a photo/video with that number would have not taken much time and would have saved a lot of time later.

The only thing that we know of that we have not found were three little digital thermometer/hydrometers (~ $10 each). Since they are small, I imagine I packed them in some empty space, but it seems we've been through everything by now. Maybe got thrown out with packing, but we were pretty careful. Lucky that's all - easily replaced and cheap.

-ERD50

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

When my house flooded 10 years ago, the renovation company sent a team of about 6 in to completely clear out the house.
Every item was checked for damage photographed, labelled and packed and I was given the complete inventory then it was all packed into a container in the driveway for three months while they did the repairs. They were unbelievably efficient and when I moved back I told them not to unpack it all since it was time for a good clear out anyway.
I referred to that inventory for a couple of years when I needed something that was still packed away. i'd bought a lot of new stuff for my "new" home and a good portion of the packed items ended up going to Goodwill.

 

[Bamaman]

I'm having to rent a somewhat large mini-storage so I can stage all the unneeded/unwanted furniture so I can clean out my garage. It gets bad when I moved 2 years ago and still cannot walk in a triple car garage to find tools, etc.

Hopefully paying monthly for the storage will motivate me to get rid of some stuff. And thankfully the storage is just 1/4 mile from us.

 

[JoeWras]

I feel this big time. For so many years, I saved stuff and got rid of a lot of it.

Then recently, I was using the remains I didn't get rid of! Stupid stuff like a 2 ft. piece of pressure treated 2x10 lumber.

Now I'm back to saving everything. Make it stop.

 

[jollystomper]

I guess I have a different definition of decluttering... for me it means "get it out of the house and off to someone else/donated/sold/the dump." Personally, if I put something away and then cannot find it, I feel I have failed.

For stuff I store, clear plastic bins are a godsend .

I love DW, but she is very much more of a packrat than I am, and does a lot of "I'll put in away and deal with it later"... and then forgets. WHen we have worked together on a decluttering project, there are frequent "I didn't realize I still had these!" comments from her... to which mean ol' me replies "well... if you did not realize you still had it, can we get rid of it?"

 

[Sunset]

I'm having to rent a somewhat large mini-storage so I can stage all the unneeded/unwanted furniture so I can clean out my garage. It gets bad when I moved 2 years ago and still cannot walk in a triple car garage to find tools, etc.

Hopefully paying monthly for the storage will motivate me to get rid of some stuff. And thankfully the storage is just 1/4 mile from us.

I watch Storage Wars, so I'll keep a lookout for your locker

 

[ncbill]

A friend moved into a townhome in my development but wanted to keep their old apartment for a few extra months to finish decluttering stuff they left there when moving to the new place.

Nope, says the apartment complex...we're terminating your (month-to-month) lease.

Bet they rent that apartment for around 30% more to the next tenant.

 

[disneysteve]

There's a difference between decluttering and just stashing stuff away. The point of decluttering is getting rid of all of the things you no longer need, use, or want. Once you do that, it frees up space to better organize what remains so that you don't run into the problem described in the OP.


You put away extra spray bottles months ago. That would suggest that you had a bunch of spray bottles that you didn't really need to have. Rather than storing them for months (or years) just in case you ever needed one, it would be more efficient use of your space to get rid of them and just wait until you need one and then buy it.


We all save so many things "just in case" and the vast majority of the time, "just in case" never happens, or when it does, we can't find the thing anyway.


A decent rule of thumb is that if something can be easily and inexpensively replaced and you haven't used it for a year, get rid of it. Should the need arise in the future, you can just go get another one. Chances are good that won't ever happen.

 

[target2019]

When I trip over something, kick it, or break it, I de-clutter.

 

[Morgan22]

I'm having to rent a somewhat large mini-storage so I can stage all the unneeded/unwanted furniture so I can clean out my garage. It gets bad when I moved 2 years ago and still cannot walk in a triple car garage to find tools, etc.

Hopefully paying monthly for the storage will motivate me to get rid of some stuff. And thankfully the storage is just 1/4 mile from us.

Why not just donate the furniture to the Salvation Army, or similar org? You may end up paying a lot more for storage than you make on reselling. And the time you have to put into moving and staging, will it be worth it? Used furniture seems to go for pennies on the dollar now adays. But maybe that's just where I'm from...

 

[Sunset]

Why not just donate the furniture to the Salvation Army, or similar org? You may end up paying a lot more for storage than you make on reselling. And the time you have to put into moving and staging, will it be worth it? Used furniture seems to go for pennies on the dollar now adays. But maybe that's just where I'm from...

From where I live, people give furniture away for free... china cabinets, dining room tables with chairs, couches, LEATHER couches and chairs, end tables. etc...
The list just goes on and on.

I think it's a baby boomer timing issue, when I set up an apt, I had to use cardboard boxes for furniture

 

[Walt34]

We all save so many things "just in case" and the vast majority of the time, "just in case" never happens, or when it does, we can't find the thing anyway.

At least in the case here that comes from being raised by Depression-era parents. Throwing out a perfectly good usable item was almost a mortal sin when both I and DW were growing up.

That said, I hate it when I can't find a tool I know I have, give up and go buy another one, and then find the first one. Usually when unpacking the new one.

First world problems.

 

[Calico]

From where I live, people give furniture away for free... china cabinets, dining room tables with chairs, couches, LEATHER couches and chairs, end tables. etc...
The list just goes on and on.

I think it's a baby boomer timing issue, when I set up an apt, I had to use cardboard boxes for furniture

Ah, yes, I have fond memories of the good ole days in the first studio basement apartment - cardboard boxes and milk crates as furniture!

 

[MC Rider]

Ah, yes, I have fond memories of the good ole days in the first studio basement apartment - cardboard boxes and milk crates as furniture!

That was college for me. After, Mom and Dad found me 2 old dressers that someone had left when they passed. I still have them and use them. Well built.



Hopefully all the boxes we moved here from the last place have been gone through by now. It has only been 12 years.

 

[Calico]

That was college for me. After, Mom and Dad found me 2 old dressers that someone had left when they passed. I still have them and use them. Well built.


Hopefully all the boxes we moved here from the last place have been gone through by now. It has only been 12 years.

I did have one piece of "furniture" that was a slight step above the milk crates - this was my "coffee table" and "dining table" for the young, poor years. It served double duty as storage for linens. And if I wanted to get really fancy (for company) I covered it with a small table runner.

 

[disneysteve]

At least in the case here that comes from being raised by Depression-era parents. Throwing out a perfectly good usable item was almost a mortal sin when both I and DW were growing up.

That said, I hate it when I can't find a tool I know I have, give up and go buy another one, and then find the first one. Usually when unpacking the new one.

First world problems.

But those Depression-era folks weren't buried in stuff the way we are today. They lived much simpler lifestyles and owned far fewer things.


I'm no fan of throwing out a usable item, but that's why I sell on ebay, have a yard sale every few years, and take loads of stuff to Goodwill. I always try to rehome items we no longer need in some way.


If you get rid of the excess, it's far less likely that you won't be able to find things in what remains.

 

[easysurfer]

I found the misplaced spray bottles.

Was placed in a bin I thought was for spare computer (keyboard, mouse).

Of course, why didn't I look there first?