Originally Posted by
LexieCat 
Anyway, as I said, I have hit my bottom with this situation. I feel better just for having made the call. I spent the weekend cleaning out my clothes closets and I took four HUGE bins to Goodwill. So that's a start. I gave away stuff with tags that I have never worn, as well as stuff I haven't worn in years. It's a start.
Thanks for listening--this has been a huge burden on me, and just as with the drinking, the insanity of living with an alcoholic, and a couple of other unmanageable situations, just getting it off your chest helps.
I was going to suggest FlyLady... but I note that you already know about her! What I do, though, is essentially "FlyLady for Dummies." I don't keep the journal, do all the routines, etc., because essentially it's one of those things where if you could do the routine, you wouldn't need it because your house would already be clean! :-D
What works for me ("works" is using the term loosely -- after living here almost 7 years, our apartment is still pretty messy, and it's only if you compare to what it looked like 3, 4, 5, or 6 years ago that you can notice improvment) is basically her "27 fling." Whenever my wife (the primary mess-maker of the house) is out, I just grab a trash bag and fill it up -- with anything, it doesn't matter -- and take it out to the barrel.
Don't worry about "donating" stuff -- that's just to assuage your guilt for having bought stuff you don't use (i.e., thrown money away). They can't get peanuts for old clothes anyway, except certain kinds of vintage jeans and leather jackets. Just FILL THE TRASH BAG and THROW IT IN THE BARREL. That's how simple it has to be, for me to be able to do it.
And if nothing else, I do love the term CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)! :-D
T