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mustangs81

Got Rid of 53...

mustangs81
12 years ago

pair of shoes! Hi, my name is Mustangs and I am a shoeaholic. You don't know how hard this was for me as they were mostly high-end beautiful dress shoes that I wore with suits to work. Some never worn, some slightly worn. I threw 10 away and donated 43. The chunky heels weren't that hard to let go of. Now I need to "pare" down the remaining 76 pairs. They were organized as you can see below which made it harder; an ugly pile would have made it easier to get rid of them. I will Freecycle the shoe boxes.

Comments (5)

  • jomuir
    12 years ago

    I'm a shoeaholic too. But don't have as many as you. Good job getting rid of so may pairs of shoes! They're very well organized I must say.

    I have to straighten mine every day or they get unruly by the end of the week. I've got racks in my closet but have about 10 pairs too many for the racks so they're double-stacked now & on the floor of the closet too. Maybe I shouldn't be admitting this on this forum lol.

  • camlan
    12 years ago

    If my math is correct, you managed to discard 41% of your collection. That's fantastic!

    I think we all have something that we collect that is extremely difficult for us to declutter. For me, it's books. I've whittled the book collection down significantly over the past two years, a little bit at a time, so I can sympathize with how difficult some of the letting go must have been for you.

  • claire_de_luna
    12 years ago

    Wow! You are inspiring me. I have some shoes I never (will) wear, and it's time to let go. (I will confess that my closet has never looked as good as yours!) This week I'd hoped to get to my clothes closet, but I've spent the last three days on my office. The good news is I have empty flat surfaces that have been dusted, and a clean closet there (which was far worse than my bedroom). Instead, I shredded 8 trash bags full of paper I didn't need, and gave the things I use most the prime real estate in my office closet.

    Good job!

  • mustangs81
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for understanding the challenge in letting go. Considering what I wear now, the shoes validated a successful career...weird I know.

    Camlan, I got rid of 400 cookbooks when we moved but still have about 600. I collected them when I traveled for my job (local jr league, etc.) and dated them; I should have collected shot glasses. That's going to be a challenge too.

    CdL, Given my paper overload, I would trade all my expelled shoes for 8 bags of paper!! I find that amazing; good for you.

  • talley_sue_nyc
    12 years ago

    Congratulations! That's a big step. (oops--didn't realize the almost pun)

    One thing I realized once, in giving away a pair of shoes I didn't wear, is that the shoes don't age well sitting around. The liner glue had dried out, and the liner was curled up. And instead of looking like a decent pair of only slightly used shoes, they looked crummy, and felt weird when I wore them.

    I vowed not to let unworn or unwearable shoes just sit around anymore.

    my mom's church was collecting shoes for some charity--that's where my dad sent all of her size 10 shoes when she passed away at the end of January.

    I know what you mean about the shoes validating a successful career--being an indicator of your identity, in a way.

    I collect fabric like that. And once, I was able to get rid of a bunch of it by saying, "You have permission to not be a sewer for a while." But it was a HUGE change in identity for me. (Never mind that I hadn't DONE any sewing in a long, long time. And I came upon the chance to get more fabric for free, so I took it, and here I am again. . . )

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