Last Sunday we talked about some basic organization tips for getting started. It's important when organizing to get rid of things you no longer need or want before physically organizing the things you are keeping.
We talked about keep or toss with toss meaning to sell, give away, donate, rather than actually tossing items away. Sometimes keep or toss is an easy answer. Today we are going to talk a little more about when keep or toss isn't an easy answer. When in doubt, keep it.
I have a few examples of some harder keep or toss items from the spring cleaning that we started.
One item I can't seem to decide on is a Hamilton Beach food processor that I bought a couple of years ago for $50 from Target. I bought it because I can foods like salsa and applesauce. The first time we made salsa, we cut everything up by hand and it was a huge pain in the butt. I bought the processor specifically to remedy this horrible problem. The new problem that presented is we now have salsa with oddly sized chunks. No, it isn't an OCD issue. I'm saying you either get mush or nice chunks with many freakishly long pieces. I feel it defeats the intended purpose of the processor if I have to constantly pick out the freak pieces and chop them by hand. The processor does a wonderful job getting apples or pears ready to be made into sauce but I hardly make apple or pear sauce. So the question is: Does one batch of freakishly chopped salsa per year and the rare batch of apple or pear sauce justify the cupboard space? My answer is: I don't know. If it was a cheaper appliance, I would probably have sold or donated it by now. I'm going to make salsa this year and decide after that.
Another item I've been struggling with is a set of dinnerware. It seems like forever ago now that my mother gave me two sets of dishes that she said were "China." They were not technically what most people consider to be "China". She got the dishes from Walmart and because they were made in China, she believed them to be fine China. The dishes are plain white with a silver rim around the edge of each piece. It was a very thoughtful and well-intended gift. The problem is that we never used them. I made a point to use them on Christmas or Thanksgiving the first couple of years but then after that, they sat in my hutch and were forgotten. Every time we go through things we debate if the dishes should be kept or given to someone who will use them. I have always kept them because I felt that I should because it was such a well-intended gift from my mother. This year I finally parted with the dinnerware set because we realized that they almost never saw the light of day and truth be told, they just never got used.
There are a few items that are not mine and therefore not my decision. My husband has an Atari console that I question each time and he always says to keep it. We've been together for a decade and it has never come out of the box. He feels it's nostalgic and I always say "I'll ask you next time then."
He also has a copy paper box full of Magic: The Gathering playing cards. They are the old ones from the 1990s and he always says he is going to go through them because he probably has some valuable cards. He doesn't have time to go through the box and sell things. I find it attractive that he played Magic because I have a warm, mushy spot in my heart for those types. I know that you need to "tap" your "mana" to make a play in the game. I enjoy teasing him that he just doesn't have enough "mana" to get the job done.
I feel it's better to keep something than to get rid of something and regret it. I've never longed for something that I've given up though. If you can't decide, wait. If you still have it the next time you do a spring or fall cleaning and you haven't used it, let it go. Maybe put a post-it on it with the date, so later when you can't decide, you'll realize how long it has sat there and you will be ready to part with it.
If you don't want to give things up, don't. A lifestyle of less isn't for everyone.
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