I think you and my husband have the same school of thought. It drives me knucking futs!!

I'd rather organize as we go instead of getting a wild hair and tossing half the world just to realize later we needed that which was tossed and having to repurchase said item:rolleyes:

Sure that happens some, and every now and then we lose that scrap of paper that had great aunt's Sadie's recipe for stuffed prunes scribbled on it, or some similar national treasure but my view is we can never find that type of stuff when we want it anyways because of all the other stuff so what's the point? A good purge now and then at least saves you time because there is a lot less stuff to look through before you can give up and go have a nap.

Mrs. Moonie is of the "keep it if we might have a use for it someday" mentality, whereas I'm more of a "What have you done for me lately" frame of mind. Nothing? Right, out you go.

Move every two years. If something is still in a sealed box from Move A when you get to Move B, then toss it.

Do you own or rent? Moving is a tad more difficult (ie costly) once you have a mortgage, kids, etc...

Still all in all, I agree with your central tenant. We have some boxes in the garage/basement/storage room from out last move (5+years) that I'd be more than happy to toss without even opening.

Rent, and I certainly don't move every two years.

But the general idea is one I do seriously advocate. When we moved into the current place there were plenty of iffy boxes that Lani insisted were things we needed and would use. So I put them out on the patio and told her that if they were still there and open in 6 months I would throw them away. In realilty it was closer to a year before I got around to it but that just made the demonstration stronger.

Really though I am a pack rat with little emotional attchment to my possessions. I accumulate stuff I don't need, but I know I don't need them, and when the time comes I deassession (to use a word from library school) them with without any difficulty.

And if there is any conflict between Lani and me, I just say "ok, we'll put it over here and if it is still there after X time without having been used I will be free to toss it then."

And there be the sticking point. Mrs. Moonie won't agree to any viable value for 'x' because whatever it is could one day be useful in some MacGyver'ish senario.

Well, it helps that your wife is of the "Travel light" persuasion, Alex ;)

She most certainly is not when it comes to the home. She's most certainly willing to go to Europe for two weeks with just 12 pounds total of luggage each (which we really did last year).

But anything that enters our house will stay there forever unless I intercede.

Regarding pack-rat-ism, I am still "in process" of scanning all my old notes, cards, ticket stubs, etc, and tossing them. It's something I touch very rarely, but when I do, I get a lot done and it's very satisfying to see it go.

At the rate I'm currently going I'll be done in 10 years.

I'm surprised at the number of people who have cleaning crews on hire. Count me among those who would have to clean for the cleaners. Only I wouldn't be content to tidy - I'd be polishing the furniture and scrubbing the tub and basically making sure there was absolutely NOTHING for them to do. Because, after all, they might know my mother and report back on how untidy I am. And since she's flying down in two weeks, I guess I know what all my free time will be spent doing until then.