[Jasmine_xoxo]

First thing - I cling to a lot of my clutter which frustrates me no end, but I justify it by telling myself that *whatever* may not be available in the near future so I should keep it just in case.

Am I alone in doing this? Should I declutter or what? I'm tired of not being able to have everything neat and tidy all the time...but...


Second question/ statement - did you know that cans of food that you buy from the store can be lined in BPA?

Read this and decide for yourself if you want to eat food from a can. I know that we have started seriously limiting our canned food consumption after we found out about BPA.

 

[Trotline]

Most friends and family call me a PACK RAT. But who is the one they call when looking for something. I do need to get more organized, I hate looking thru everything for an hour to find something.

 

[momma_soapmaker]

I've got one word for you - "EBAY". Great way to get rid of stuff and make some moola for more preps. :thumb:

Get rid of the purple crystal toadstools now while someone might still want them. In a few months as more sheeple wake up, they'll finally start to realize "stuff" will not keep them alive in a food shortage.

Hunger ... it tends to put all things in perspective.

 

[TJPx]

Interesting read on the BPA in cans.

On the other topic of clutter. I think it’s kind of up to the person, whether they think things could be valuable in the future. The problem is what you keep. If you keep things that are useful and practical to have around, then I don’t see what the problem would be. I think the main thing would be figuring out what is important and what is not and properly organizing that which you keep. If that stuff is properly organized then you wouldn’t have any clutter. I was watching a documentary on people that keep absolutely everything. It really is not a healthy thing to do. I find myself keeping things for a while, but for the most part there still sitting where ever I stored them for years without any use. So keep what is important, and is actually practical to keep, and don’t clutter up your life with extra "crap" that your not going to do anything with anyways. Sorry if that’s a “cluttered” paragraph...heh my .02cents/

 

[Jasmine_xoxo]

I've got one word for you - "EBAY". Great way to get rid of stuff and make some moola for more preps. :thumb:

Get rid of the purple crystal toadstools now while someone might still want them. In a few months as more sheeple wake up, they'll finally start to realize "stuff" will not keep them alive in a food shortage.

Hunger ... it tends to put all things in perspective.

Wait, wait - so you're saying that I can't eat my pre-baby jeans that still don't fit and my collection of depression glass and dvds? hehe

I 'know' that some of this should go - but - I'm seriously wondering how I prioritize the things I keep.

I have gardening stuff, and am setting up our farm to be self sufficient over the next year-ish so we should be ok in the food department. People can live off of eggs and veggies if worse comes to worse.

 

[TJPx]

Also think of how it feels when everything is all clean and organized. Your 100% more productive that way too.

 

[Jasmine_xoxo]

Also think of how it feels when everything is all clean and organized. Your 100% more productive that way too.

You are 100% correct.

Lately I am a basket case because of the insane amount of things I am hanging on to. It's not to the unhealthy-I-can't-walk-to-the-kitchen point, but it's still overwhelming! Especially since I am a neat freak.

 

[malcontent]

go through the closets a little at a time. put 'questionable stuff' in boxes, with the date. go back through them in 6 months. get rid of the stuff you had forgotten about.

i know, but it's an idea.

 

[prettypaisley]

Second question/ statement - did you know that cans of food that you buy from the store can be lined in BPA?

Read this and decide for yourself if you want to eat food from a can. I know that we have started seriously limiting our canned food consumption after we found out about BPA.

I have to tell you, the type of food I store is my biggest hinderance. We stay away from most all processed food, we don't eat Ramen Noodles, canned beef stew, Dollar Store ketchup, ect ... and though it's cheap, I don't think it's a good idea to survive on chemicals and crap just to live another day. In a dire situation where medical assistance and good medication is limited, I don't want to be pumping cancer causing chemicals down the throat of my family.

That said, not prepping canned *something* isn't ideal, either. I home can veggies from the garden, but there is no way I could have the variety I want from my modest backyard farm.

I don't know the answer; I was thrilled to find a large name brand company put organic veggies in Walmart but when I sent them an email asking about BPA in their cans, all I got was $1.50 in coupons in the mail. So much for an answer.

When you figure out the answer, will you let me know?

As for decluttering, I'm all over it like a duck on a junebug come January. eBay here I come! It's time to purge.

 

[FXjohn]

well...it it isn't "mister natural" on his high horse.

nah you don't want nunna my sardines...."chemicals".

 

[Brother Buck]

well...it it isn't "mister natural" on his high horse.

nah you don't want nunna my sardines...."chemicals".

What was it you said in another thread about anklebiting and sniping amidst content John?

 

[prettypaisley]

Certainly you are not speaking to me. If you are, you should pay better attention to whom you are addressing. I am far from "mister", though I'd bet I would give you a run for your money, mister.

 

[Jasmine_xoxo]

I'm definitely not a mister either.

 

[stilllearning]

I think every survivalist is a pack rat, to one degree or another.

But a few years ago, I got a good idea.
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I had in my possession, 40 or 50 plastic buckets, with lids(that cat litter had come in), so I started putting all of my “stuff” in them.
(These buckets didn’t seal tight enough for food, but they were good enough for stuff

After getting one bucket full, I marked it #1, and the next full bucket was #2 and so on.

All the time, I kept buying cat litter:
By the time I got finished(several months later), I had c.60 buckets full of my stuff.
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Oh, by the way, as I was putting stuff in the buckets, I used a voice recorder, and recorded what was in each bucketwith name brands, condition, and measurements etc.)
And I have a program on my computer, that it basically a data base program.
And as I added stuff to the list, I noted which bucked it was located in.
(And the program automatically alphabetized each item.)
-I ended up with about 3000 items.-
--------------------------------------------------
Now, when my wife or myself, need a bracket, or a electric plate or a small container of some kind etc., we go to the “bucket list” on the computer, and within a second or two, we know exactly where that item is.

Now I have all my stuff, but it is out of sight, until we need it.

 

[1911HeadBanger]

A friend of mine gave me a formula for eliminating clutter. He says if he has nor used it or put his hand on it in 3 years, out it goes. That is a start. Of course you don't throw out good storage food or tools or anything truly servicable that you REALLY NEED. What my wife and I did, as stated in a post above, was sell stuff on Ebay. We take the excess stuff and put it in a spare room where we have the desktop computer. That is the Ebay room. It has made us some very good extra cash and help pay for vacations, preps and storage food. Understand, we keep things like a sewing kit or fishing gear that hasn't been used, but the thing to remember is "within reason". In other words, you don't need old high heeled shoes that are worn or don't fit. You don't need a Monopoly game with half of the stuff missing. That goes on the fire pile or in the garbage can. Rationalize what you have, but be rational.

 

[Grimelda]

Good advice from 1911 HeadBanger.

I have a friend who is the ultimate pack rat. Until recently she never threw anything away. Her house was full from the floor to the ceiling with shelves full of junk. She spent half her time trying to organise this mess, and find things she knew were there but couldn't locate. Because she often couldn't find what she needed, she would have to buy another one. It was really crazy because just about every time I saw her she would tell me about this new scheme she had to get in control of her stuff. Of course it never worked because she would buy more junk to try to organise her existing junk.

There needs to be a balance between keeping everything you ever own and throwing things away just because you don't need them right now.

I have a process that helps keep the clutter low. I:

Don't buy something unless I am sure I want it. I usually try to wait a bit between seeing something and buying it. This helps control impulse buying.

Buy the best quality that I can afford, and I take care of it so that it doesn't break so soon. I don't throw away tools unless they are broken beyond repair.

If clothing no longer fits, or is too worn to wear, I cut it up to use as rags or in quilts.

Use waste paper and cardboard to help start the fire in the boiler.

Recycle glass jars by washing them and using them for dried mushrooms, garden produce, rice and dry beans or as temporary containers for left overs. This saves money on buying lunch boxes or storage containers. We also reuse biscuit tins and another resealable containers for food storage.

Recycle yoghurt pots to grow seedlings in, so we don't have to buy seedling containers.

Don't take up new hobbies lightly.

Try to borrow things instead of buying them.

Keep things organised to that I can find what I need instead of having to buy it.

 

[Raptor45]

I am married to "the tote lady"... she has toted up everything in her domain including every toy the kids ever played with and I ran out of room to stack them in our house!

Anybody want to trade a truck load of toilet paper for a tote full of "magic cards" or "happy meal toys"?

 

[MIL-DOT]

I've been thinking the same thing for a little while now. My brother and I are selling our P.A./ monitor system from our jam room, going back to just plugging straight into the amplifiers !! Kickin' it, old school !!
I'm also liquidating a G&L guitar,plus a couple assault rifles while they're going for big fat cash, not to mention in anticipation of a possible grandfather-less AW ban.

 

[CraigorPam]

I'm sort of an odd bird, when it comes to 'clutter'.. hehe.
For some unknown reason, when I junk-pick on trash days, I often come home with some sort of containers !! :rofl:
In the back of my brain, methinks it's a desperate attempt at organization.
Well, little did I know how useful those would become !!
Milk crates, rubbermaids with lids, LOTS of kitty litter tubs have been collecting in the garage,
and we've begun to clean them out for actual uses, now.
As a gardener who's used alot of vermiculite for starting plants, I even have at least a dozen empty mylar,
resealable bags it comes in !! HAHA.
Way too good to toss out, don'tcha know ! So, I'm presently considering the best things to keep in those mylar bags.
They're too wide for my vac-sealer, but with their 'zippers', they should help prevent varmints, I'd guess.
The recent concentration on prepping has lit a fire under my desire to organize closets ....
sorting out useful things and ditching other things I'd never need or use when TSHTF.
Now I have an actual, practical REASON to cull !! haha.
(and plenty of containers, too :upsidedown: )

 

[Brimasmom]

I am hopelessly ignorant on how to sell things on eBay. Does anyone know how/have a link to instructions for selling on eBay? I bet I could get rid of a lot of things in this house that are only taking up room.

I've been saving a lot of things around here for a future yard sale, but in the Northeast warm days are few and far between. I say this now with approximately 2 feet of snow on the ground and more coming soon.