Very occasionally, I will look for something (clothing or household) I've given to the senior center, but once I remember it's been deep-sixed, I just shrug and move on. Some things are more difficult to let go of - my parent's Marine uniforms, for example. Not at all my memories and both have now passed on, but they are still in mothproof zip bags in the basement. A very fond memory was when my granddaughter (at the time about 10) dressed up in Mom's uniform and sang a medley of all the armed forces songs at my folks' assisted living facility for Veteran's Day. Brought more than one tear to the eye, and she loved the attention!

@Bubbles I can't believe you edited your post with this "I just finished reading all the posts in this thread." OMG. That must have been quite a task ! Sorry about your closet but I bet it will turn out to be a good thing in the long run.

I was making some progress at finding the actual top of my desk. You know the one - the part that's used for writing. So much for progress. Homeowners insurance was due on Monday so I had to find a few other years' documents. Seems like I always ask the same questions every year. 'Now what does this mean?' and 'What's the difference between this and that?' Every year I scribble down the answers to those same questions. But I scribble so fast that later I can't decipher what I wrote down. So anyway, now my desk has additional paper on it. But I wrote down my questions and left space for the answers. Called and got my answers written neatly (I think) and then paid the bill. Very proud that I did this on Saturday instead of Monday. I was ahead of schedule for probably the 1st time. (never late, just don't like to pay until something is due.)

Now, however, it's time to do the same thing with my Car Insurance, and although that one is a little more straightforward, there are still the infernal questions. What a dang coincidence that I bought my house in the month of January and got my car in the month of January. (not the same year) So I get grumpy b/c I have to shell out a lot of $$ at one time. Plus I usually pay my property tax at the end of January but this time I paid those in December so I'm a little less grumpy.

Will really feel good when the financial torment is over,. This year I will definitely probably file what I need and shred the rest. And then go on to celebrate my birthday!

It's hard when all the big bills come in the same month.

@tx_flower_child. No work on closets. We spent the day in the lake yesterday! They lowered the Highland Lakes chain so people could work on their docks. We worked all day in the lake with garden rakes and plastic bags clearing moss and sticks around the dock. It was exhausting.

We pay our property taxes quarterly. It takes the sting out of it. The car insurance we pay monthly. The bill comes twice a year, but the billing is monthly.

Back to the closet today. We have company coming next month. I will probably be in a panic if I don't get everything sorted and put away this week.

We do the same with property tax and insurance .. nasty bits of business!

There is no good time for taxes... Ours come due half in April, along with federal taxes, and unfortunately my husband's birthday. Ouch. Second half is October which drains the bank before the winter holidays. We pay insurance monthly and bundled both home and auto, so it's a bit of a bite every month.

I have a separate savings account for "annual costs". I take all of my annual costs and add them up and put in 1/12th into that savings account every month. When they come due, the money is there.

The account has a small buffer in it just in case I have under estimated a cost ... like house insurance, but so far I haven't dipped into the buffer often.

I just don't like to worry about stuff like this. I consider the money already spent and it helps me not spend it on other things ... I can be a very good spender, but if the money is not in my checking account, then I don't spend it.

Since I don't like to pay interest, especially since my savings are not earning any interest (grrr), I just bite the bullet and pay those puppies off in one fell swoop. Then I don't have to think about them for a year. And thus I get grumpy when January rolls around.

When I pay.....I feel an imaginary pressure at my back and a small and smug voice whispers... "hey you...stick 'em up"

I realized that there is an opposite argument to make regarding interest. By biting the bullet, not unlike ripping off a bandage, and paying in full, then that allows the insurance company to make interest on my money. I don't like that either. So I guess it's all relative. (But wait! How did my relatives get in this picture? 😝)

Neglecting this thread, but I have been decluttering ..for sure.. got rid ogpf the baby crib and mattress ., a huge dog crate, chairs, tools, cans, pots, all kinds of shed inhabitants. Came across these today

I have still be at it to. I have worked a lot on paper clutter. Really going thru stuff and getting rid of what we don't need.

The more I attempt to declutter, it seems like I have more clutter than ever. I'm just so sick of it! Makes me want to run away!

I'm still at it too. We need to condense 2 homes into one, and I'm selling things, giving things away and donating to the thrifts, but it seems never ending. I have no idea how we accumulated so many things! Most of them haven't been used in years, but "might be' someday!

That 'might be' is the tough nut. I am trying to be diligent about 'if it hasn't been used in the past year, out it goes.' We have pretty good luck with just setting large items out at the end of the driveway with a free sign and boxing up smaller stuff for the senior center, but I just *hate* to throw stuff in the trash, seems so wasteful to me, bad for the planet, and I'm *sure* someone can use it.

I have a hard time with the year thing. Our interests change and some years we use certain things, and then we don't use them for a few years. I often won't wear an item of clothing in a year, but will wear them again for a special occasion.

We just returned from a road trip in which I left my entire suitcase at a house we rented in Morro Bay CA. By the time we realized this, we were 2 hours away headed toward Yosemite Park. We stopped for a cold beer, considered our options, and decided not to burn 4 hours to retrieve my suitcase. It was just stuff. I liked what I was wearing, still had shoes and a coat in the car, the dog was with us, along with both my camera and computer. Picked up some toiletries, underwear and a new swim suit, and just made do the rest of the trip. The owner offered to ship it all home to us, but we decided it would likely cost more than it was worth, so told him to just wheel it all down to the local thrift shop. Slowly replacing lost items, focusing on comfort and practicality.

Heck..I am gonna follow you Deb?.I will hit the jackpot!

On our last trip to Florida, my luggage took a trip to Puerto Rico for 2 days. I had to go shopping and buy the basics to survive. When we got back, we put in a claim to the airlines, and they paid for all of the things I bought to wear until my luggage returned. I had figured it was not worth doing, but they surprised us.

You were inconvenienced and some things can't be had that easily,

I always follow the rule never ever take anything on a trip that you can't stand to live without should it get gone.