Customer Reviews

Don Aslett's Clutter-Free!: Finally & Forever

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have several books on simplifying life and organizing the home. I have found the organizing books patronizing and useless. Organization books helped me organize some of my stuff but not get rid of anything. I never really organized everything because to do so was too daunting of a task as I had too much stuff.

This is the first Don Aslett book I've read. Especially in the beginning, it is something like 95% reader's stories of their clutter and junk. It is laugh-out-loud funny. These stories are so extreme that I had to stop reading and immediately started going through my own things and getting rid of stuff. I'd go back and read more and then go back to de-cluttering. It took me 6 weeks to read the book because I have spent hours and hours de-junking my house in between. There are also some funny quizzes and poems, those that didn't interest me I simply skipped over.

The overall approach with this book is that it presents many readers's stories of what they save and collect and how they got rid of some of it. Then Aslett chimes in with his two cents and sometimes some tips on how to decide whether to save something or keep it or other words of wisdom regarding the subject at hand. Then back to this format over and over. I actually loved the format and felt that it was not preachy in nature. It was also easy to read in small bits and pieces, something nice for a busy mother like myself.

Aslett focuses on getting rid of most everything that we are not currently using or using within the last year. While I can't get that radical, it is inspirational. He deems a "collection" as anything we have three or more of, and he recommends having no collections. When I started thinking of it that way, I realized that I had some true garbage items that Aslett considers a collection, so I got rid of some of it! "Getting rid of" can mean giving things away to charities or friends, doing a tag sale, or throwing out the true trash. As I was de-junking I found some things he stated to be true: that some of the things I'd been saving had broken some time while in storage, some things attracted mice and were chewed, newspaper clippings were so yellowed that they were unreadable, and some books so mildew-y smelling that I got a headache when trying to read them. After experiencing that I realized Aslett was right when he said that even the stuff we save is usually useless (or lost) by the time we get around to trying to use it so we are better off to get rid of it sooner than later and not even to store it at all.

There are some very common-sense and useful tidbits such as the discussion of "is having a tag sale really worth the time, effort, etc." to which the answer is "no". I agree with him that selling used clothing to a consignment shop or at a tag sale is also less "profitable" than donating it to a charity and taking a tax deduction. The part about saving empty containers (boxes, tins, etc.) hit home and is true, how silly is it to save empty containers! The part about saving newspapers until we have time to read them is hilarious and I had to share that with some of my relatives who are guilty of this never-ending project of catching up on old newspapers.

I do feel a sense of more freedom now, as Aslett tells us we will feel if we de-junk. I also feel that my things do not bog me down. I have more de-junking to go but I am actually enjoying it! I also love living in the spaces that I've streamlined and de-junked, I can put my hands right on things when I need them, no searching through piles, etc.

I highly recommend this book. A relative and have two others waiting to borrow it next. Just talking to my friends and relatives about my own de-junking has inspired four people to start their own journey, and they haven't even read the book yet. Actually I am considering giving the Aslett books as gifts in the future!
Addendum: I am now reading "Clutter's Last Stand" and "Lose 200 lbs..." and I find that both of those have harsher attitudes and sometimes actually are a bit demeaning and insulting toward people who have clutter. This book though, had none of that attitude and is by far much funnier and contains more reader mail which is fun to read.

This is not necessarily a how-to-dejunk book (like Clutter's Last Stand, which I HIGHLY recommend), but rather, a book of testimonials. It's stuffed with short paragraphs written by "your fellow packrats" about how they dealt with the clutter in their lives -- kind of like those before-after diet success stories you often find in women's magazines. Some of the testimonials are particularly helpful and poignant -- how to deal with stuff that belonged to a child or spouse who has died, how to deal with gifts. Aslett will have you getting rid of unnecessary gifts and memorabilia guilt-free, while saving those few things that have real value and meaning.

Some of the stories are downright amusing -- my favorite, a story by a woman cleaning out her recently-deceased grandmother's home, who found oatmeal boxes and all kinds of other boxes, even boxes in the attic, full of metal disks. She finally realized that the disks were the ends off biscuit cans -- grandma made biscuits for breakfast every day for over twenty years. A woman described her husband, who saved every school paper he ever had, because "when he's President it will be necessary for history." There are notes from a woman who saved all of the shoulder pads she had removed from her clothing, even though she looked ghastly in shoulder pads, another woman whose clothese are so tight in her closet she doesn't need hangers -- "They're just suspended there by compression."

In addition to the testimonials, Aslett includes all sorts of silly poetry about clutter that will have you laughing, poems about "The Junk Drawer" and "Purse of the American Wife." The poems and stories aren't necesssarily how-tos, but perhaps they will be a mirror to help you see the absurdity in your own save-everything behavior -- to help you realize that the faded curtains from the bedroom in your last house, the six-year old can of Slimfast powder, the abandoned ceramic projects, the dead flashlight and old bridesmaids dresses are a burden.

Aslett's masterwork is CLUTTER'S LAST STAND, which I have probably read at least 30 times (I even gave a copy to my ex when we parted ways). This book CLUTTER-FREE!: FINALLY & FOREVER is full of testimonials--> but in many cases they are more than that as they show how real people have grappled with the concept of clutter, freedom, guilt, obligation, etc. I find I read different Aslett clutter books at different times, depending on my level of motivation. I definitely recommend reading CLUTTER'S LAST STAND before reading this one. Nonetheless, this is a really good read.

I'm giving this book 5 stars. I know some people were disappointed that it's mostly full of testimonials and reviews of Don Aslett's earlier books. Even though there wasn't much "how-to" in this book, I found the experiences that people shared very interesting, entertaining, and even kinda scary. But, the important thing about reading the book was that it worked for me. Over the last couple of weeks I've gone through my stuff and have hauled away 2 1/2 pickup truckloads of junk. And I'm not done yet! I didn't think I had much clutter, but I found a lot. It's just wonderful to let go of things that complicate my life. I think this book has potential to inspire many people to let go of their junk, and live a more simplified life.

I love this book!! It is full of stories that people sent Don about their experiences. Oh My Goodness, I laughed so hard I cried!! And then I started dumping junk FAST!! I didn't want my mother to read my high school diary or know that I kept broken tongue depressors from childhood imunizations!!

If the normal "dump your junk" books just don't work for you, try this one!! It will entertain and scare you into getting rid of the junk in you life.

This book is not as motivational as Don's other books (such as Clutter's Last Stand - one of his best!), but it is great reading for those of us who have decluttered our home, but find the clutter has crept back in the door a little. Reading all the testimonials in Clutter Free makes it easy to realize how decluttering must be a lifestyle or the freedom obtained by decluttering could be lost. I think the experiences of others recorded in this book could be encouraging to people who think that their house is too hopelessly cluttered to clean out.

First, let's be blunt. Aslett got a free book out of the letters and emails sent to him by fans of Clutter's Last Stand. This book has very little Aslett and very little practical advice other than "toss it." It consists of personal stories of being a prisoner of clutter, the wilder the better.

That said, if you want to feel massively superior to people who've saved sixteen years' of National Geographics, the entire contents of the city dump, or a barn full of fluorescent light fixtures, this book is a hoot. Once you've started decluttering, read this book during your drink breaks. It's easy to put down, thanks to all the short sections, and the vision of not being like these people will keep you going.

I appreciate the irony of buying a book on clutter with which to clutter up your bookshelf. But I still love this book and leaf through it often. The thing is, once you've read Clutter's Last Stand and then implemented the helpful suggestions there, it's a life-changing moment. You see things differently than you did before. Kind of like a born-again nonsmoker, you want to dwell on the subject of clutter and read more and more anecdotes about other people's before-and-after moments.

The chapters are as follows: 1 - More Sightings of Unidentified-Lying-Objects (examples of strange junk that people keep). 2 - The Cost of Keeping It (the hidden costs to your finances, energy, and health). 3 - More Incredible Excuses for Clutter. 4 - Help with How to Dejunk. 5 - How to Identify Junk and What to Do with It Afterwards. 6 - More Advice on Specific Topics (e.g., kid clutter, kitchen cabinets, vehicle junk). 7 - Preventing Re-Junking. 8 - Success Stories.

True, this book could be viewed (by the hard-core de-junker who wants to keep his bookshelves bare - who doesn't even HAVE any bookshelves!) as a bit of a retread. Basically, this book is made up of hundreds of letters sent to the author by all those former packrats whose lives he's changed.

It's like browsing through an especially content rich online forum with hundreds of people sharing their personal anecdotes - except it's a whole lot better edited! This is the book for those who have managed to clean up their lives and who either want reinforcement, or who remain fascinated with the concept of de-junking and what an incredible difference it makes in the lives of so many. Plus this book has a wonderful tone: never condescending, and full of laugh-out-loud humor.

What happened, Don? Mr. Aslett's previous books like Clutter's Last Stand were very motivational and informational; this book was a huge disappointment. A reader must wade through tons of testimonials to scavenge a few tidbits of useful information, and this info is by and large a repeat of that found in his previous books (even he admits this). This is the ultimate in clutter recycling! If you want good how-to information, stick to Clutter's Last Stand; if you want an overwhelming amount of clutter confessions, this is the book for you. As for me, I'm going to reduce my household clutter by tossing this book!

I have enjoyed Don Aslett's books through the years, as have - to my delight - my children, who found him entertaining. This book, however, is a collection of hints from his devotees and just doesn't do it for me like the previous volumes. I might recommend looking through this one before buying - maybe the hints will strike you differently.