KT,

First, welcome to our group. Second, as far as "10 rules," you must recognize that in this endeavor the inmates are running the asylum. We have good intentions, but most of us, as you say, have full-time jobs so follow-through is the biggest challenge.

I know, we all know, that the easiest way to declutter is to haul it all to the dump, but that is an irresponsible way to do it. How many times have you driven by people's trash or swung by the drop-off for municipal bulky waste and wondered at the "good stuff" that people just throw away? Wondered why useful materials are going to be plowed under in the landfill?

As an environmentalist who has been a first-class packrat most of her life, I am trying to redistribute this responsibly. I don't have the income to give it all away if I can get a good tax deduction or sell it. So I'm having to handle it more than I would if it all went out to the curb. I've been thinking this morning about a set of shelves and cabinets that I don't have room for. I'll photograph it and list it on Craig's List, and if I don't get my price I'll donate it to someplace like Habitat for Humanity. I have a huge vet bill this month or I'd just go ahead and donate it.

Books can go to the Friends of the Library or the used book store. The used book store has a network of places they filter books through before they go out to the paper recycling bin, so I really don't have a problem with either place. I get a deduction from the Friend's donation, and our library is hurting for funds. But I may simply send a cash donation to the library.

The heat of summer down here has slowed some of my work, and I think also for Kat. You're fortunate with your climate this time of year, but in winter your work may be much harder. No garage sales in February for you, I suspect. We all have to plan, and to pace ourselves.

When I've dealt with bouts of depression I have benefited from talking about it ("The Talking Cure"), and learned that forming a plan really helps. In this series of threads it is clear we have, at the very least, depressed households, weighed down by all of the "good stuff" and not-so-good stuff that crept in. We've shared our visions of where we want to end up, and we should probably revisit them occasionally.

We need a "Philosophy of De-Cluttering" (a spin on a wonderful undergraduate class I took where the professor said that before we became parks and recreation professionals we needed to know what we stood for, we needed a philosophy of recreation. Best class I ever took to help define who I was and defend my choice to be a park ranger for a living. That exercise can be applied to just about anything you want to get serious about.)

I'll let this stand on it's own and report the morning's progress in another post. I hope that in discussing our individual approaches you can craft one for yourself.

SRS