To help myself part with clutter, I have been playing variety of games... if the house was on fire, would I run back for this item? If my house was swept away in a flood, and I had to start over, would I buy this again and have it in my house? Have I been using another item in place of this one and liking it better? Do I want to look at this item every day for the next five years?

These games have helped me focus on what is important to me. They have also led me to the ultimate question: if you had to leave your house forever, what *one* item would you take with you? Everything else gets left behind. Assume that all living creatures- kids, animals, dh will be going with you (sorry- no leaving dh behind ). So, then- what are you taking?

For me it was a toss up between photos and the journals I have kept for each kid since their births. I finally settled on the photos. The kids are still young enough that I could recreate the journals pretty well, but I could never get more newborn pictures.

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

I would have to say the same thing! You can't replace the pictures too easily.

I think your idea is a great one! I will try to do that as well! I have been really decluttering lately and it feels great! I also helped my dad yesterday with his basement. It was easier for me than it was for him!

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I would take my great great grandmother's antique dresser which I would first try and stuff with photos.

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We would grab my son's ashes and then try to grab other things off the shelf where the ashes are (pictures, momentos, a precious moments statue from his first grade class)

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~Happiness is a large family~

Definetly the kids baby books and photo albums-they are the best things in the house, everything else is replaceable

I know this may sound horrible but my mom has all the doubles to our pictures. I would grab our firebox. It has all of our records (marrigae, birth, ss cards and so on) and all of my childrens bonds (they have a lot of bonds- they recieve them for birthdays and Christmas) and all of our insurance policies. I would not want to go through all the steps to require these things (let only paying money for duplicates of certificates that we need). As for material items, I really am not sure.

Here is another way to determine what you want to keep or get rid of. I know it sounds sort of mystical but it really works.

Hold the item in your hand or touch it. Hold out your other hand and think about the item. Have someone else press on your held out hand. If you don't seem to have any strength in that hand, then get rid of that item. If you can resist downward pressure in your held out hand, then you like that item and should keep it.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

Ditto! Identification and important documents are really difficult to replace and some things you can't get unless you have the other documentation.

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* Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it's realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy.

~Ron Paul

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
- James Madison

I do this every time we have to evacuate for a hurricane. (We have done it twice now.)

I go room to room and look in it thinking, what can't we live without. I always end up with a carload full of pictures, photoalbums and that sort of stuff.

This isn't too hard for me. Although there are a lot of things that mean a lot to me, paintings my grandfather did, wedding pictures, etc. I'd have to say its down to 2 things my hope chest that my grandma built for me for my 14th birthday that is filled with quilts my other grandma made for me and our family notebook It has all our important information in it (copies, the originals are in the fireproof box). Of course I could just sit the notebook on top of the hope chest as I roll it out the door!

Dh would probably take his guns the big dork.