Whar do you do when you have too much stuff?

I just saw an October Hoarder's Challenge in the Challenges forum under Interactive Fun. Maybe we should all join it!

So there IS hope for me! LOL! I will make a conscious effort to use all of my scraps before I buy new embellies and paper...

I actually have been making Christmas gifts with things I already own. Granted I have to buy small things to complete the gifts, most of it all came from my stash.

I guess I am fortunate that the words "sale" and "clearance" hold no attraction for me. When I buy things on "sale" or "clearance" is when I am most likely to buy things I don't want or need.

I have the apps on my phone for Michaels, Joanns and Hobby Lobby and I do use their coupoons.

But I know from experience, the scrap supplies I don't use, the food in my pantry that is out of date, the clothes in my closet I don't wear - most were on sale or clearance. Seldom to I purchase sale or clearance - its seldom what I want or will use or will wear.

I will buy one thing I really want rather than a shopping basket full of clearance things I think I might use at the moment but in reality, will never use.

If I am looking for a particular item and it is on sale - I will buy it at the lower price (like my Big Shot) but I will not look at clearance or sale items to see what jumps out at me - because I will come home with some and it will end up being donated somewhere.

A sale or clearance item is only worth buying to me if I would have really wanted it at the full price too. If not, then I really don't want it at the reduced price.

Can't help it - that is just the way my brain works. I learned as a teenager making baby-sitting money that I'd rather have one really nice blouse that I really really wanted than 2 or 3 less expensive ones that I didn't like as well. To this day - that is still my mindset.

Totally agree, Henri! That is why I purge my stuff once per year....I do buy stuff that I don't end up using and I'd rather get rid of it (to someone that WILL use it) and have just the stuff there that I know I will use!
Just like those clothes in your closet that you won't wear....I would rather get rid of those rolls of ribbon that I won't use and make room for the ones I really will use.....

Alison

The words "clearance" or "sale" get me in trouble every time because it is ALWAYS something AWESOME and I do use it! It's just so much! LOL! But now I need to use of all of the awesomeness that I have so I can downsize my stash:) I need to make a conscious effort to stay away from the clearance aisle. Great advice, Henri:) Thank you.

• t-scraps Said:

I tried, LOL but I don't feel like going through the stuff. Hahahaha. Is there any hope for meeee

When my stash outgrew my tiny corner, I set myself a "no-buy challenge". That meant that I had to complete so many LOs and so many cards (I think I set 50 LOs and 100 cards, but it is up to you) without buying anything except adhesive. Then I added page protectors and albums to the list of exceptions, because I had a heap of LOs with nowhere to put them. I ran out of white card-stock and made myself use the colours instead.

It worked. And because so many of them were cards, that meant that a lot of my stuff left the house rather than just getting moved from stash to albums.

While I was "stash-starving", I allowed myself virtual shopping with wishlists, but I wasn't allowed to buy until I had finished the challenge. No hexagon punch? Too bad - I had to cut my own hexagons by hand. It wasn't difficult. When I finished my target, I discovered that most of the stuff I had put on my wishlist when I was going through withdrawals, I no longer wanted. Interesting huh?

But yes, I'm afraid you do have to get organised first. You have to treat your stash like a store, and know where everything is, so that you can find it all and use it.

Shall I come and give you a hand? I LOVE organising scrapping goodies!

Same with me. I was able to visit Michaels yesterday and walked away with nothing in my hands! It was a true miracle!

I'm the exact opposite. I'm old enough that I'm retired, I've payed into the system for a lifetime and now get a nice social security check and don't have a penny of bills coming out of it so if I want something, I treat myself to it and if I have way too much - its okay as long as I love the stuff I have and plan to use it.

I've never been in this position before and I'm enjoying it so I don't want to put myself on budgets or restrictions.

I just beware of sales and clearance where I get things impulsively that I'm not going to use or want because my personal history tells me that is the stuff I mostly don't use and wonder why I bought it.

I love to purge and get rid of stuff, give it to someone else who may use it. That makes me feel good too.

But even though I have thousands of pieces of patterned paper, if I see some more I love, I will get them. I may never use them but a young mother who is the daughter of one of my best friends will get everything when I die and and with 3 kids - she will use them!

I am finding though that I buy fewer and fewer tools and less and less inks. My weakness in patterned paper and pre-made diecuts. I go nuts over those and buy them on line almost always.

If I see a punch or nestie or embossing folder I want I get it, but very few really jump out at me anymore.

I seldom use my Cricut carts but still pick up a new Cricket cart or Slice cart from time to time, but in 4 years I've only bought 12 Cricut carts. Its not the tools that grab me - its the paper and cute die cuts.

I frequently go to Michaels or Hobby Lobby or Joanns and come home with nothing because there wasn't really anything I fell in love with - no new papers and nothing else I really wanted.

Rosey - I love organizing my scrap stuff too. Its as much fun as actually using it!

I also put wishlists on line and when the get really high - $200 or $300 I go through them before I push send and sometimes almost half are things I don't really want anymore and take them off. I do that with Amazon and other sites I buy online from too. I let the balance get up there before ordering and then I've lost interest in some of it.

You do really have self-control! I need some therapy!

What works for me is have a handy "ready to donate" box and when I come across things I don't ever see myself using into the box they go. If I have duplicates, I force myself to hold onto only the best. Example: "red, white & blue" patriotic themed items. Sure it's great to have some in your stash but how many 4th of July pages will I ever make? So instead of keeping the 25 odd items I had, I narrowed it down to the best 5.

Then about every 6 months or so I pack up my donate box and actually donate it. I have NEVER regretting giving away anything.

• Henri Jean Said:

THIS!!