"Organized Simplicity"

I tend to read a few books at a time, so while I'm reading The Together Teacher, I have also started rereading Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider. The premise of this book is not that people should get rid of all belongings and live in a hut, but that people should create a life that is as simple as possible, so that all of their time is not spent running around and managing all of the things they possess. Instead, they should spend time enjoying relationships with loved ones and on the things that truly matter to them. It reinforces the idea that life should not be spent spinning our wheels, running to an unlimited number of events/commitments, or trying to make more money to be able to have more things.

This book has me thinking a lot more about the number of things I have in my house. Now, I don't go on shopping sprees, I don't buy lots of decorative-type stuff for my house....I don't even buy all that many clothes or shoes. But in spite of that, there is still SO much stuff in my house (belonging to the 5 of us). Even though I know I have gotten rid of some things when other things were purchased, I still feel like I don't throw anything away. I do give a lot of children's clothes away because someone could definitely use them, but I hold on to so many things, "just in case" they could be used again. I started to think about why that is, and it occurred to me that it could be because my mother never threw anything away. Throwing things away was wasteful. My parents were children during World War II, and I know they did not have a lot of possessions. So, what they had, they saved. But this idea of saving everything so as not to waste has just seemed to lead to so much clutter for me. My husband is the same way - he just does not want to get rid of ANYthing. So, even though we don't buy all that much, it's probably still so much more than our parents bought. And since we don't throw much away, it's starting to feel like we're hoarders (not REALLY, but kind of....or we will be if we continue to save everything!)

So, how do I get past the idea that everything should be saved, just because it COULD be used for something? What can I do with everything? Do I just fight these habits and throw things away (continuing to give away the items that could definitely be used by someone else)??

I do want to get rid of the clutter in my house and simplify things, but I don't want to waste things!