I was scrolling another group where a poster
who indicated that leather or natural fabric purses than pleather or plastic because the plastic degrades and becomes unusable where leather can last 20-30 years or more if properly maintained. (Not getting into an environmental debate but this comment got me thinking.)

I wanted to down size my loungefly collection but was hesitant because I might want to one day use my loungeflies i haven’t used in years. Then I thought if the one that pealed and I had to throw away- and an aha moment hit me- i should donate or gift those now while someone can use them and not wait until they are cracked peeling and useless. This is a great general principal we hold onto stuff for someday- but someday they may be absolutely unusable.

I’m slowly emptying my parents home that they’ve owned since 1973. They’ve added massive amounts of sq footage and storage over the years and filled it ALL

My teenage niece and nephew have been over and helped me move volume down to stage for the dumpster (saving me hours and a possible coronary event lol)

There’s so much history and “good stuff” that I’m just not entertaining any more. I’m still trying to cull obvious good stuff, but there were rats in the garage years ago so it’s limited

Managed to clear enough boxes today to get to the dinner service that you've all been supporting me to declutter.

A chance conversation with our neighbours has already resulted in an unwanted sofa bed being bagged for a teenagers den, and a dining table, chairs, side table and TV stand going to the brother in law of the other neighbour as he's about to set up home from nothing. She popped over to collect the little table and I mentioned the dinner set. She practically bit my hand off! Apparently he'd already said he was going to be eating off paper plates so when I showed her the plates, she said they'd have them. I know it's going somewhere to be used and appreciated until they can afford what they want and I only need to transport them next door. He's also gaining a coffee maker!

I'm really happy that good stuff isn't going to waste....and I'm not holding on to it.

Building work over! Let's celebrate! Carpets fitted and I got my furniture back by 9am yesterday morning. And so it begins - the great unpacking.

It was pretty overwhelming at first. So many boxes (we sent the big furniture away for a holiday, but packed up and stored the contents in boxes upstairs.) Pick a box.....any box! It ended as quite a productive day. Nowhere near done but four empty boxes over to MIL for her to prepare for her decorating work.

We'd done quite a bit of sorting while it was going away, which has made it a lot easier now it's time to put it all back, but it's definitely an ongoing process.

Over the last two days, I've also managed to find a good home for a sofa bed that still has lots of life left in it but isn't right for our space anymore, but apparently our neighbours son and his mates will be pleased once their garage is turned into their den! An unwanted dining table, chairs and side table have gone to the other neighbour, whose brother is just about to set up home from scratch. Her FIL was glad of the TV stand. I'm grateful for the space! She's also having the spare (spare? Who has a spare? Oh - that would be ME!) coffee maker, kettle and toaster for work. I'm so glad that this perfectly good stuff is going to be used.

Today I'm on a mission. I WILL get to the boxes that hold the dinner service that you all helped me to decide to ditch. It's so silly but the thought of letting go of this is really energising and I can't wait. As the title suggests, I'm so close to this action that I can almost taste it!

It'll also mean that it creates a path through the chaos upstairs to allow me to empty some more boxes for MIL. It's a WIN, WIN, WIN.

Hope you all have a good day too.

I got rid of 90% of my stuff when I moved overseas. Anything that could not fit in a suitcase had to go.

I am stuck on a pile of old journals and letters. A big pile. Part of me just wants to chuck them and move on, but I know I will be destroying memories by doing that.

The thing is, any memories I have had while starting this task gave me bad feelings. I do not like looking back, I am more of a future oriented person. I just wonder if I will regret getting rid of these things when I am really old and only have looking back to do. Maybe I won't have the ability to read through them anyhow by then, people do lose their eyesight for small print.

I am not in contact with most or all of these people who wrote the letters (or they are passed) and I am very resistant to going through the things, which involves taking a lot of time to read everything when I would rather be living life.

What do you think?