Purging/Rant

[waterspyder]

I feel like life has become way more complicated than it should be.

I find the amount of paperwork I need to keep track of in my home life to be overwhelming, which means I need to file things. I'm actually in the process of cancelling bank accounts, utilities and credit cards just to reduce the amount of paper that I have to account for. I really just want to burn it all, but Canada Revenue Agency might not appreciate it, and I'll guarantee you that I'll be audited in the next 3 years because some half-wit monkeys over there keep doing reevaluations and doing them WRONG. Yes, I submit my taxes properly and they reassess me and screw them up, costing me money. I now have to keep track of stuff like "You have to clain $5.84 on your 2007 taxes as income from the interest on the money we shouldn't have penalized you for." I also want to figure out how their math works if when I submitted my taxes the first time, I got a $500 refund, and then they reassessed and I owed them $600, and then they reversed the decision and I only got $90 back. WTF? *sigh*

I also have too much clutter in my life. I am increasingly appalled by the amount of packaging everything comes with - food, clothing, everything. I seem to throw out just as much as I keep in the apartment. I wonder if there is anything I can actively do as a consumer to send a message that much of the packaging is completely unnecessary. I do not need my cookies to be able to withstand a nuclear holocaust in 2022.

I also want to purge a lot of things, but I have a hard time just chucking stuff out when I know it's perfectly good. I really should just abandon hope of finding people to give my clothes to for free and just find a charity to donate them to so they can get a nominal fee from a place like Value Village.

I just want the clutter out of my life, so I can replace it with the chaos that a baby brings.

Comments

[twiin.livejournal.com]

This is what personal accountants are for. You'll save both time and money.

[waterspyder.livejournal.com]

My last accountant kind of screwed the pooch on some stuff, but I think it's definitely something I should look into again. And a cleaning service. I make an awesome housewife, see?

Math and finances don't scare me, but keeping track of the documentation and not to mention filing monthly paperwork for ODSP (which I thankfully will be able to give up in about 2 years should all go well) is overly time-consuming for me. I need a better system. I have no idea why it's not a problem for me to handle this at work, but not home. Of course, being paid and having a full work day to deal with it could influence that answer.

[twiin.livejournal.com]

That's it exactly; it's not a matter of ability, it's a matter of time. If you're getting paid (random numbers here) $15/h at work, you spend 40 hours a year on paperwork, and an accountant will take care of it for $200, you're essentially throwing away $400 worth of your personal time by not getting it. (More, really, because your personal time is probably worth more to you than your work time)

Throw it at a pencil pusher, never worry about it again, and go for a walk in the fall leaves.

[feli-valkyria.livejournal.com]

Diabetes Association has dropboxes all over the city for people to donate clothes. They will even come to your place to pick up your donations.

[evilbitchqueen.livejournal.com]

Sounds about time for me to come over and help you clean the apartment again, at least I don't need to remind you to do laundry/groceries anymore <3

Just tell me whenever you have time and I can come over and help you do stuff, I don't mind being put to work if it means I get to see you more often.

[okcismelanie.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the start of "nesting" :)

[waterspyder.livejournal.com]

I think "nesting" already started somewhere before I bought $2200 in furniture because I was convinced the baby would kill himself on the old stuff.

[kookiemaster.livejournal.com]

Purging is good. It's hard at first to throw out stuff or give it away but it gets easier with practice. When I did my big purge I basically threw out anything that I had not used in a year or looked at in the past two years (for books and things that you don't really "use". It's amazing how fewer boxes I had to move when I did that.

You can give your clothes and other assorted gizmos to the salvation army. I don't think they pay ... I just threw my stuff in the bin.

My pets are what keeps me honest ... any bag or paper left lying around is pretty much dead meat with the cat and anything on the ground in the kitchen or living room will be investigated and potentially chewed to bits by the rats.

And at this time it is probably a very good idea to de-clutter because baby stuff sure can take a lot of room.

[kali-kali.livejournal.com]

Shop at Bulk Barn as much as you can, that's one way to reduce packaging. Not entirely, of course, but you can get things such as pasta, candy, spices, baking supplies, honey/syrup/peanut butter and maybe rice as well there with less packaging than you'd get at a regular store. And the packaging it does come with (that is, a plastic bag) takes up a lot less room in terms of disposal than most regular store packaging (and, when empty, could also be used for Pebbles).

Actually, if you think about it like that, you can buy as much as you can at Bulk Barn, use those bags when empty for Pebbles, and for the rest of your shopping, use reusable bags, so you don't accumulate even more plastic bags.

[furious-g.livejournal.com]

Purge ! It is liberating to get rid of all your stuff!

[slobberpuppy.livejournal.com]

I'm a hug fan of the "less is more" concept and de-clutter my household at least twice a year. Living in a small place helps keep everything under control - there's just no where to keep excess stuff!

You might want to look into Freecycle or Craigslist to purge perfectly functional items. As for thrift shops, Value Village might be the best place to shop but it's the worst place to donate - better off dropping your stuff off at a non-profit like Goodwill or the Sally Anne.

Then again, if you're feeling you don't have enough to do already and wanna make a little coin, there is always eby! ;-)

[waterspyder.livejournal.com]

I keep telling myself I'll get around to selling stuff on eBay... but yet it's still in my bedroom closet (albeit bagged and ready to go).

My massage therapist even gave me a good tip to bundle clothing into lots to increase the perceived value and get rid of less desirable items and schedule auctions to end on Sunday evenings.

Maybe I actually have the motivation right now...