It's so hard to even give stuff away in the UK!

Since the New Year, hubby and I have started to declutter slowly. I always feel like we're drowning in stuff or 'stufficating', as I accidentally said the other day! It's even worse after the festive period, although we did calm it down somewhat this year compared with years past.

Still, we have accumulated a lot of 'stuff' in the last 10 years and I am sick of trying to find more storage. The answer was obvious all the time, just don't have so much 'stuff'!

Somehow, we've fallen into the consumerist trap of feeling we need 'stuff'. I know from experience how liberating it was when I sold almost everything I owned 13 years ago and moved to California (from the UK) with just two suitcases.

My tiny human, made in the USA!

The year I lived abroad, I only bought what I thought I needed. Looking back, even then I could have bought less, despite having my daughter while living in CA. We didn't buy a lot of 'stuff' for her as we were in a small apartment and didn't know if we were going to stay. We didn't. After a year we came home with a new tiny human in tow.

Oddly though, when I costed the price of moving our minimal furniture and possessions back to the UK it turned out cheaper to pay $1000 (roughly) to have it all shipped than it would have cost to buy these things again when we got home. I loved the lower cost of living in CA. It made me see just how expensive the UK is.

A decade later, I'm back to being overrun with 'stuff'. I fell back into the trap of consumerism, even though I thought I knew better. Granted, some of our furniture is secondhand but I still wonder if it was an actual need when we bought it.

Over the last 6 weeks, hubby and I have been tackling one area of clutter that bugs us at a time. We warmed up by sorting out our bookcases, CDs and DVDs. About half the books were put aside for charity. Missy doesn't read the babyish books any more and we had some that we didn't expect to ever read again. Most of the DVDs went as we don't watch them very often. Just the favourites were kept for when our internet (frequently) goes down. So into the charity box they went.

Encouraged by our progress (and the neatness of our bookshelves) we tackled the sideboard cupboard. I'm sure that stuff hadn't seen daylight in nearly a decade! Most went into the bin or charity boxes. We were on a roll. We tackled the kitchen cupboards, larder, even my office has been started. Then we needed to take the boxes to charity and things stalled.

First of all, I have to do things in little steps so Marie Kondo-ing our 'stuff' isn't feasible. But also, we were storing loads of boxes and bags downstairs waiting to go to charity after the rubbish was taken to the tip.

After the snow cleared (as that was our original time allotted for this task), we hubby loaded up the car and off we went to deliver our still very good condition 'stuff' to charity.

My preferred charity shop, The Shaw Trust, as they helped me try to get back to work years ago, wasn't taking any donations as they were full. The second, The British Heart Foundation (who funded my PhD) took some of the boxes. I'm glad we checked before hubby carried them to the shop as parking is a bitch and they didn't want everything. We ended up just picking a random third charity shop (with no personal attachment) nearby just to get rid of the last few boxes.

No way is this going to the tip!

I couldn't believe how long it took to donate good 'stuff'. These shops are overloaded with good quality items but can't seem to shift them. I really thought that the charity shop stigma in the UK was dying but maybe I'm wrong. I've had the same problem trying to sell things online for next to nothing, like a great violin that Missy has outgrown (she now has a full size one). I can't even give things away! I still have the violin as I'm not taking a really good instrument to the tip! I'm sure I'll find a little boy or girl who would love to learn someday.

Here lies my problem. I can't in good faith throw away really good items but I struggle to give things away as well as no one seems to want secondhand. Our local Freecycle page doesn't have much on there either. I'm pretty sure there is a LOT of money's worth of unused 'stuff' in everyone's attics and garages, or maybe I should be looking for gems at the local tip if others just throw it away. Who knows? I obviously live in an area where people have to have brand new and look down on charity finds. It's so sad. I've found some great things in charity shops and some of Missy's favourite clothes are charity shop chic.

I've moaned about this a lot to my poor hubby. We agree that the answer is for us to simply stop buying. We are not saving this planet by spending more on crap we don't need and then can't rehome later. Consumerism is my pet hate these days. Missy is an eco-warrior so she's more than happy to go this route. As for hubby and I, think of the money we will save!

Back 9 years ago when my last marriage broke down, I had to rely on charity shops for things we needed. Missy had lots of clothes from there, not to mention her beloved books and toys. I also replaced broken furniture with secondhand. I still use most of it today and am more than happy with it. I do hope that people catch on, especially in an area that is known for poverty and is in fact, one of the highest poverty areas in Europe!

So please folks, don't look for the cheapest deals, just stop buying 'stuff'! 

If you NEED something, then look for secondhand or deals first. 

We can save money and save the planet one secondhand item at a time. Missy and her generation would be very grateful.

*Steps down from soapbox!*