Our home (ashore) is characterised by crap - sorry clutter. I am sitting typing this in our 'office' which is just full of clutter. I would take a photo but to be honest I'm ashamed of it !
I am also sitting here dreaming of living afloat - or spending a significant amount more time afloat - but how I'll ever clear the cacophony of clutter to enable us to do so I cannot image. So you live-a-boards - how did you get from living in a house full of stuff to living on a boat with all the associated lack of storage issues....??
Give me some hope????????????????
Nev
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
.jpg)
6 comments:
Hi Nev,
First of all you have to be "ruthless" with all the "junk" & what wasn't classed as junk before - well you've got to somehow widen the goalposts in that department. I don't have a ruthless bone in my body but when you've got a goal & you really, really mean to achieve it, the spare iron, the old cassette video camera, rolls of wallpaper & tins of paint - kept for just in case...
A good system is "4 tier" as in 1)charity stuff, 2)tip trash, 3)what's going with you - oh & 4) It's a good idea to get yourself some storage too.
Sentimentality is a big thing tho: I found that I'd kept birthday cards in a massive box, going back to the year dot but what's the point when I NEVER looked at them?? Then there were A4 lever arch files with coursework from YEARS ago, (never looked at since) again you have to ask yourself What's the point? And all that lot went to be recycled... However, sentimentality prevailed in places, (the kids old schoolbooks, well I put them in storage) as for the 2000 photos (mainly of the kids) well they HAD to come with us in a storage basket cos stuff like that is irreplaceable...
But anything that makes you think what's the point in keeping it? Well it's safe to chuck & you'll never miss it...
We became liveaboards on 11th Nov last year, we've got a storage lock up but it's mainly for our son's stuff! He's in the Army (Germany) & I just COULDN'T chuck anything of his... So basically there's a line you have to draw & stick to!!
Our experiences leading up to us living aboard are all documented on my blog in the lead up to 11th Nov, think you'll find more detail about how to cope with it all even if your circumstances are different!
Been there done that, got the tee-shirt lol, & good luck with your plans...
Heather
From my reading of those who have taken the plunge - Takey Tezey; Derwent6; Caxton etc. - you have to actually throw it all away! So that rules me out of ever being a true liveaboard.
As a fellow sufferer I sympathise with your cravings!
Hi Halfie & Nev again,
From experience - if it's what a couple / single person would
"like" to do, but are not entirely commited, or have reservations, then there's room for regrets later. (I've seen this happen).
Then again if there's total commitment, then "shedding stuff" & "shredding stuff" LOL (lots of that) well it turns into part of the process of "making it happen", like it's no big deal if it means you can follow your dream & never look back. There is "room" (excuse pun) for compromise on a boat where personal belongings are concerned, but starting off whittling down 20 / 30 years of cupboards full of stuff is daunting at first, took us months. Like I said, storage is a great option, for some stuff that you feel you can't part with or put on the boat - but you know what, ever since we got the storage locker (same week we moved aboard) we haven't been back there for anything yet...
WOW this is a deep & serious comment for me..!! Maybe I should set up a support group or something...!
Heather
Hi
I agree with all of the above. Be ruthless - "am I ever going to read this book again, wear these clothes again?" and so on.
Books are the big problem - music goes on the iPod, hopefully one day the eReaders will do the same for books.
It's a great relief just to chuck stuff away!
ATB
Bruce
Hi Nev
You're not alone! We have an incredible amount of tut all over the house and hubby is an inveterate hoarder! But if you want something badly enough...
I'm already looking at stuff and saying, 'Do we really need that?'. I actually brought a whole load of stuff back from the boat the last time because we'd never, ever used it. Why on earth did I think I needed an Alessi toast rack?!
You'll do it, I'm sure. Can't let possessions and clutter derail the dream!
All the best
GG
Hi Nev
We have de-cluttered in stages. Last year when we were having Caxton built we did the 'junk' tip runs, items of 'value' we put on Ebay, we gave all the solid wood garden furniture to the daughter and a lot of clothes went to the charity shops. But, we still had a house...so a lot of gear still remained. Now we are about to complete the sale of the house it has focused the mind and what we considered valuable last year, golf clubs, golf shoes and paraphenalia we have simply given away! You take what you NEED and you DISPOSE of what you don't NEED. There is no other way of doing it, keeping things 'just in case' is not viable, you will end up paying storage charges for years and for what? You are going to live on the confines of a boat and if you are going to do that comfortably the HOUSE lifestyle must be ditched!
Lesley
Post a Comment