I posted a while ago that my niece is pregnant and having twins in Dec; she has a dd that will be one in October. So my oldest sister, who has been a single mom for ages, is moving up to Philly to be with my niece and her husband and help take care of all the babies. Really nice of her to do that- although I will miss her here.

ANYWAY- she isn't moving anything- just putting her house up for sale and giving away pretty much everything she owns. I can't tell you how much craft/scrapbooking/fabric she has given away. Today she brought me three huge boxes of just paper- card stock, scrapbook, stickers, you name it.

She had TONS of this stufff. Tons and tons. How could she have ever used it all? She couldn't have. I think that she, like most of us, enjoyed the shopping more than doing anything with what she was accumulating. I was stunned by all she had stockpiled, and so sad that she never had a chance to use it. She did work long hours, lived by herself, and like most of us was tired at the end of the day and never felt like starting a big project.

It was a good wake up call for me- no more stock piling. If I need something I will go buy it. I think my sister is relieved in a way to unload all this stuff. Now she will be starting fresh... I almost wish I could do the same....

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

I guess you could do the same - you just aren't being forced to do it though. The same when you are selling your house to show it or move it - it is amazing what you can get rid of when you need to. Just the realization that stock piling is clutter causing is enough to start with, I think.

I know you will miss your sister, but your neice will appreciate the help!

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Debbie

"Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves." --Benjamin Franklin

My husband jokingly said recently that he was going to have us move at least once every 5 years just to clear out some clutter! The last time we moved, we had 2 whole rooms in our house that were completely empty (but that was before 2 kids!). And, I have to say, after having moved this summer, that even moving doesn't solve the problem! We only brought less than half our stuff since we'll just be living in our new place for a year, then moving home, and we still have too much stuff!

We're mostly unpacked, but I've gotten to the point that I have no more places to put things (winter clothes, books, craft stuff). I don't really want to buy storage items, like bookshelves and dressers since we'll only be here a year and can't really use those things at home. At the same time, we really can't live with piles of stuff everywhere!

I just need to stay focused and do a little each day! And, try, try, try to stop before buying something new to bring home!