Hello Wooligan :)

If you would like you could join us in "The Daily Chat" thread where we talk about our daily lives.


It seems too overwhelming when we look at everything needing doing at once.
So we break it down into smaller do-able decluttering, cleaning tasks.

Choose one box or small area and find something you are willing to let go of.

Try to not bring home anything new during this time.

Think about your goals and priorities right now in your life and slowly begin to let go of anything that does not match your future plans.

Hello everyone,

I hope that this website is busy and that I will get answers to my questions.

(my mother tongue is French so I am really sorry about any mistakes I might make)

I am 22 years old and as said in the description I have been collecting materials and tools (paper sheets, cardboard sheets, wood, fabrics, paint and so on), clothes (I can sew and I always think it might be useful even as fabric), paperwork, books and magazines. Maybe some other things..

I have never really spoken to anyone about this and even though there are some times when I feel more in control, I do have times when I am just surrounded by papers and clothes and materials on the floor and every surface.


I know I probably got triggered by the fear of loosing my possessions as I have quite a rough father who allowed himself to invade my private life a few times while I was away from home.

1st time, it wasn't nearly as bad as now, he put all of my things in bin bags and like my ashtray emptied in there with my books and clothes.

2nd time was a remake of the first just my things were in the bicycle shed outside.

3rd time, I was away from home for 5 months and him and my step-mother decided to go through my things and throw away anything they thought was useless. this time I lost things that were really dear to me and I started seeing some of my things being used by my step-mom as her own. (my paints, brushes, books, even clothes). When I went back they had repainted, everything was empty and a few boxes were left, only objects my father gave me were put on display.

So that is what happened that made me think that I could loose my things.

Now, today I am now feeling very different about my things. I went to England for 6 months until new year and so I left everything in a friend's loft and went to England with one suitcase. When I went back to my country I had 2 suitcases and a bag which felt normal after 6 months away.

I had my exams right after so I didn't get my things back from the loft until now. I am unsure about my future as in where I will be living in the next year or if I want to go travel the world and that pushes me to think that if I am able to downsize the amount of things I have, quite drastically, I would be a lot more "mobile".

I am prepared to go through my stuff and get rid of more than half of it as it will allow me to feel lighter if I want to move around, to be able to invite people over and also focus on my career plan which means having to use some of the space as a workshop to make things.

I am looking for any kind of advice, similar stories, ways to sort stuff out, anything that you think might help me accomplish this, on a VERY low budget !

Thank you for reading me