Can a Packrat become Minimalist?

Wow can stuff pile up.

Even when you have only been married a few years and haven’t had tons of money, its amazing how much you can accumulate.

All of the things that we had before we got married. All the things that people have given us since we got married. All the things that people gave us when our children were born. Other stuff that I can’t remember where it came from. And yes, the many items that we have “needed” and bought on our own.

I tend to keep things. I keep things that I hate, can’t use or don’t use, even things that are broken! There are lots of good reasons that I collect all these items, “because someone gave it to us”, “because we might need it someday”, “because we spent money to get it”.

Lately I’ve been getting tired of picking up the many many many things that my toddlers are pulling out of cabinets and drawers throughout my home. So in an attempt to get “more organized” whenever things got out of control (in the last couple of weeks) I went through with a large bag and picked up the utensils, toys, clothing items, decorative items, dishes, that were strewn throughout my house. Then I put the bag in a place the children couldn’t get to it. It was my intention to go through the bags later and sort them and find new place for everything where the children couldn’t get into it.

I now have 4 bags filled.

The strange thing is, I haven’t missed a single thing I put in those 4 bags. Actually I can’t even remember what I put in those bags. I have never had a moment where I couldn’t find something I needed and realized that I’d thrown it in one of those bags.

What can possibly be in those bags?

Apparently nothing important. Why am I keeping all this stuff?