[mrs bouquet]

One of the last speakers at WI, came to talk about this subject.  I am quite minimalist anyway, unlike some of my friends, one of whom has every surface covered in photos, nick knacks, drawings done by grandchildren over the years, etc etc.   When I laughed and commented about it.  She laughed as well and replied she couldn't get rid of them in case the children got upset.
This was raised by the speaker, and it has stuck in my mind.     

"you do not have to keep gifts, cards, photos or anything that you have been given.   These things are not important.   The gift was the fact that a person gave you something.  Whether or not you keep it is not relevant.   The fact still remains that one has the memory of a persons kindness."

My friend looked across the Hall at me with a wry smile,  I knew what she was thinking !!
My opinion was that the speakers advice was very good., but that is my opinion only.  You may differ.

Anymore de-cluttering hints,  ask me, I've got the bible now    Mrs Bouquet

[WeavingGryphon]

Anymore de-cluttering hints,  ask me, I've got the bible now    Mrs Bouquet

If it's still waiting around to be fixed are you reasonably ever going to fix it? Because if you haven't by now are you going to. Having said that we are all stuck in the house skint so fixing might be a good idea.

[Goosegirl]

MB, I so disagree with your speaker that if I'd been there I would have given her a jolly good slap!

When I was de-cluttering I found some childhood books that I would never throw away, nor could I bear to discard any pictures or drawings saved from my past because they were drawn with an innocent childhood love for what you meant to them at that time and deserve being put in a special box which you can open when you need reminding of your past memories. There are some you need to throw away and some you need to keep. GGx

[GraciesGran]

Packed away in a box  is a truly hideous shell flower arrangement that my eldest son bought me.  I could never part with it because it was given to me when I was going through a bad patch.  It reminds me that my husband and kids are what it's all about.

[Christine]

Questions about where your clutter goes:

If the clutter is not very personal reminders where does it go at the moment?

Our local Freecycle has shut for the duration of the virus controls; the local charity shops are shut; the local tip has shut; Facebook Marketplace has disappeared and the local Gumtree is saying to use a carrier for delivery for small stuff.

All very logical but not good if you want to have a proper declutter. It's going to end up stacked in the garage till some point in the future or put in the waste bin.

[Growster...]

Like many friends here, we have hundreds of photos, and as most are pre-JPEG, I tried to scan the lot (three thousand)...

I'm afraid I gave up, as the task was becoming obsessive, and other priorities came along, so the girls will eventually have them to do what they want, and I'll have many more hours talking to Mrs Growster...