Best Way to Purge

[AmyBoz]

So, we've listed our house, and had our first Open House on Sunday.

To prepare, I upped the purge factor around here, which is usually at approximately 97% to begin with.

I've said it before, but I feel the need to say it again...

If you put yourself in the mindset of "I have to sell my house...what am I not willing to pack, move, and unpack," you'll be surprised at what you'll be willing to part with.

We visited some Open Houses while ours was running, and I have to say, the cleanest homes were the ones that I was the most interested in. The ones with clutter completely turned me off.

Do any of you purge with this mindset?

[northernmom2boys]

Amy we are planning on putting ours up for sale next week and boy have I purged.Today I took 4 big bags out to trash.And I am not a packrat.I kept asking myself do I realy need this?
when was the last time I used this?
You know we moved here 9 yrs ago and I found two boxes not yet unpacked lol
Needless to say they wont be coming with us
Good luck on the move and I luv reading your blog,especially your guest blogger shes adorable ,she sounds like a little adult so cute

[IntlMom]

Totally purge with this mindset - whether or not I am moving!

[monkeywrangler71]

I've been using this mindset for a few years now, and I really don't have much left to toss. But, we are planning to list at the end of the month and I do find myself throwing out more stuff than usual. A lot of it was stuff that I was just making do with but not worth the expense of moving, in particular, I've gotten rid of a fair bit of ugly furniture. I've also condensed things, thrown out a lot of packaging, etc. I put games like Yahtzee in a ziplock bag and threw out the box (it's just 5 dice and pad of paper ).

Normally I have several bags of stuff to donate every month. I've freecycled a bit, but generally this time around it seems to be mostly trash.

[monkeywrangler71]

Totally purge with this mindset - whether or not I am moving!

Aren't you always moving?

[IntlMom]

Aren't you always moving?

here's to hoping there's at least one more move in my very near future!!

[mauimagic]

Purging is one skills that I have not yet mastered or even begun to really address - obviously!! However, I am not buying anything nor am I accepting donations unless they are edible. Mahalo for all of your tips, I do plan to use them!!

[nuisance26]

~I try to but I've never really had to move before. I moved the contents of my bedroom from my parents house to my home with DH and we've been here since.
Mostly I try to think of what happens if I don't purge regularly; I become like my in-laws. They aren't exactly hoarders and I don't want to sound like I'm talking behind their backs because I've tried to talk to them about this 30 times in the last two years they've been trying to sell their house. They have every conceivable corner of their 1000 sq. ft. house jam packed with 40 years of stuff. They still have their kid's toys(DH is 36!) and the furniture they bought when they got married. FIL is a music collector and has 1000 cd's and records. Their daughter and grandson are living with them too so tons of baby stuff everywhere as well. FIL keeps a huge stack of firewood and fire starters(newspapers)in the living room. There is no path through the house that is larger than 24inches wide. It truly frightens me with claustrophobia when I visit. I've suggested time and time again ever since they started talking about moving out of state for retirement(8 years ago!) that they should start packing up NOW. I just said this again last week. No one will even look at their house because of the clutter.
And that's my biggest motivation.~

[porembam]

I moved in 8 years ago - our house is not messy but I am itching to purge. With 2 kids it just seems like stuff just grows.
I'm planning on a garage sale this summer - so there is alot of stuff in the basement. Whatever doesn't sell will not come back in.

[MrsOptimistic]

I'm purging right now! My local freecyclers are loving me. Ha!

I have moved way too many times in the last 7 years and have seriously hauled JUNK around, stupid stupid stupid. Now that we are finally settled I'm looking around thinking "Does this belong in my HOME?" That whole 'Everything you own should either be useful or beautiful' type of thing has really opened my eyes to what is just taking up space in my life.

[TigerGirl1226]

I just ask myself, how often I use things? Then, if I just *may* use it "at some point", I can easily buy a new one or use something else in it's place instead of it taking up valuable space in our house.

[Luckybustert]

I must be missing the purging gene. I would be embarrassed to tell you just how many times I've moved things I should have gotten rid of.

[ubumartin]

I recently had a great way to purge forced upon us. FLOODING in the basement for the first time since we have lived in this house. We have been here 18 years and never had water from rain. Well with all of the rain we lost a ton of stuff. Rugs, and a laminate floor in our bedroom that was in the basement. Oh well. We needed to get rid of a lot of things. I would have liked to do it on my own terms. We also lost alot of sentimental things from the girls growing up, artwork and school papers and some of my husbands things that were in cardboard boxes.

[cheles2kids]

Yes...I used to use this mindset, but not much anymore...if I never move/sell a home again, it'll be too soon~lol.

Anymore I just look at items as to whether or not they serve a purpose for me, or have I picked this item up or used it in the last year? If not, more likely than not, it's gone.

I've found that learning to purge is like anything else really.
It seems to get so much easier the more you do it, now for me, it doesn't feel as much like a chore but more of a liberation of a sort~cleaner house, less junk, more relaxed.

[AmyBoz]

Sounds like everyone has good ideas that work for them!

Sorry to hear about the flood! I'd hate to have a purge thrust upon me, especially if it took the decision out of my hand about what to save.