Living minimally?

[nyxjord]

Anyone have suggestions for how to live minimally and without more than you need? I'm wanting to de-clutter the house this summer and only want to keep what we actually need/use and put in more things that are aspie-friendly for myself. Anyone have any tips? My main issue is buying stuff I only use one time and my fiance buying stuff as memorabilia or stuff we may use one day but haven't actually used yet. I want to make it a haven but with all the clutter on the counter, it's actually stifling.

 

[Spiller]

I've heard it said that anything you don't use for six months, you're probably never gonna use so it's worth disposing of. You could also put stuff in storage.. collections are always going to be an issue though.
My ex was - still is - a hoarder and the house is always so stuffed I wonder how my kids are able to move around.. divorce and moving onto a boat solved my problem there - I haven't the space for excess gear now, all my books and films are on hard drives and I can only own as many clothes as fit in the storage lockers.
I know what you mean by stifling too - the loft was crammed, every room, every flat surface, every chair.. I always felt like i couldn't breathe and the weight of it all was bearing down on me.. Ackkkk!

 

[King_Oni]

I suppose there's a difference between a realistic approach and the pragmatic approach, lol.

Pragmatic me would be "throw everything out and start again with rules about clutter in place". Hardly realistic, since it'll set you back quite some money I guess.

How about you makes some rules that counters are clear and such? If your fiance is telling you "but where should I put all my stuff?" it already sounds like an uphill battle, since obviously someone wants to have clutter in the house more than you

 

[Greg]

I don't like having a bunch of clutter around the house either. It just stresses me out. With that being said there are a lot of things around my house that I do not use and need to get rid of.

 

[Harrison]

I have a twelve month rule. If I haven't used it in twelve months then I get rid of it.

 

[tree]

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Major points:
category by category organization
the 'spark joy' concept

Bonus: The way she describes her interests as a child,
she sounds aspie. Her interest, at age 5, was home decor & organization.

 

[Dee317]

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Major points:
category by category organization
the 'spark joy' concept

Bonus: The way she describes her interests as a child,
she sounds aspie. Her interest, at age 5, was home decor & organization.

Great minds think alike! Many of her methods in the book were ones that I have developed on my own, over time. Her descriptions of organizing the school while no one was there I found hysterical, because I go to friends houses and help them organize their items. I think she felt the chaos of sensory overload like many of us aspies do and always felt the need to find calm. This is true for me at least. I was told to save everything for the future, I was doing a great disservice to my family thinking that way. Now I can have the whole house clean in 20 minutes and have time to do what interests me....constant medical based research, pinterest, and aspiescentral.[emoji38]

 

[Astroganga]

My sister is a Marie Kondo enthusiast, so much so she was even on national radio talking about the Kondo method

 

[Dee317]

I really do feel that NTs get a lot of their great leaders from the aspie pool, and don't even know it. When I started my towns community page, I received so many messages that I had such an inspiring voice, a voice to look up to. None of them know that I'm just seeing a lot of flaws around me and trying to guide them into caring about things they don't seem to care about. Everyone is into competition with who is better, I'm just trying to promote a sense of community to keep crime away, and advocate for those few good people around me who are trying to do good things to keep our area safe.

 

[Judge]

Seems the fine point is that you live with another. Unfortunately not everyone is equally and practically-minded. Probably first and foremost are two concerns about them. Are they sentimental about even the most minor of possessions? And how fastidious are they when it comes to maintaining a clean and dust-free home?

Beyond that, there are some potential incentives for doing so:

* Limited income
* Lack of room and closet/storage space
* Avoid unnecessary clutter and all the dust and allergic reactions it can draw
* Maintain a sense of order providing instant access to everything you own.
* Easier to move when you have to or want to