Getting rid of "Stuff"

Note: This is not my house :)

This post over at Get Rick Slowly got me thinking about the invasion of "stuff". I've been trying for years to overcome my addiction to stuff, and I'm finally at a point where I don't feel like I'm up to my ears in it. I was a pack rat growing up. I had a large room of my own and never moved, so it was easy to accumulate extra toys, books, knick-nacks, stuffed animals, letters, you name it. Then I moved. The first time I moved, I got rid of a lot of stuff (or left it at my dad's house). The second and third times I moved, I got rid of even more stuff. Then I got married and moved into my first home. My husband, being a stuff-a-holic, moved in with all of his stuff. All of his stuff (and my lingering stuff) plus wedding presents put us in a very stuff-filled situation. Over the years we've managed to clean out most of our stuff and only keep the things that we need or want. We had our second garage sale last weekend where we got rid of the stuff that accumulated our first 3 years of marriage and made more than enough spending cash for our trip to Disney World next month. Here are some of the ways we're keeping the "stuff" from taking over:

• Avoid impulse buys - I used to buy a lot of books, DVDs, decor things, kitchen stuff, etc because it was something that looked neat and useful at the time. The problem was that I would only watch the DVD once or only read the book halfway. Now I only buy the DVDs of my favorite movies (or download them from iTunes to save space) and borrow books from the library. Target and Kohl's are huge stuff traps for me, so I limit my visits there and stick to a list.
• Clean out often - We clean out our closets once a season, the refridgerator weekly, and our desks monthly. If we didn't wear it, if it doesn't fit, if we don't want it, if we have no use for it, if it expired, out it goes. The only way I don't get overwheled by these tasks is to make sure I do them often enough.
• Have a garage sale - We went in with friends and we both did well. It helps if you are selling small things (books, toys) and big things (furniture). The results of making money and not having our stuff were well worth the time invesnted.
• Donate what you can't sell - Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and other local service organizations will be happy to take your old clothes, furniture, and housewares. Some organizations will come to your home and pick up your stuff. There are tax benefits to this as well.
• Re-think gift giving - This has been a huge stuff eliminator for us. My husband and I would buy each other a lot of stuff for our birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Anniversaries. Last year after Christmas we lamented on how much we wanted to get rid of our stuff but we knew we were contributing to each other's stuff by gift giving. We couldn't think of any gifts for each other besides stuff. Now we focus our gifts more on experiences. We take vacations, go out for meals, go to the movies, go to sporting events, go to parks, anything that doesn't come wrapped in paper. I know my husband really doesn't need another gadget from ThinkGeek and I really don't need that kitchen thing from Bed Bath and Beyond. This has taken a lot of initiative and creativity from the both of us, but we're starting to see the results.

Now that we're almost stuff-free, it's so much nicer to have the extra storage space. Our closets aren't crammed, our desks aren't cluttered (well, most of the time), and we're making memories instead of collecting stuff.