Anyone else trying to declutter and stop buying things they do not use

[Bubbletails]

Hi all.
Inspired by the AMA minimalist thread.

I have been looking around my own home this evening like really looking, and my good god the crap i have and dont use, or even need is unreal.
Im getting some box`s in this week and have bloody good clear out over the weekend.

I must have about 14 pairs of shoes and only wear about 3-4 pairs.
Dont get me started on the kitchen, utensils in the drawers utensil holder on the side, i must have about 12 of every thing, biscuit tin ive never used, but thought it looked cute at the time ( 3 years ago) pots and pan sets.
Overflowing cupboard of plates, cups, glasses, bowls.

My bookshelf in the living room pretty much full and i dont read any.
Little things and ornaments i dont know where they come from or who gave them to me.

The clothes i have a huge wardrobe full and on top of that is boxs of clothes, now turning to a floordrobe.
Im always tidying up but it always looks as if iv`e not touched it.
My hallway coat hooks well i cant see the hooks.

I need to stop buying stuff, stop being sucked into deals and offers, or just because i think i want in.

My own home gives me stresse and i need to change it.
My bank statements are an eyesore subscriptions for things i dont use anymore spending on things that just sit there in the end doing nothing.
I have about 5 hobbies i dont do but at the time i thought it was a good idea.

This month alone i have spent around £450 nearly £500 on stuff that i really dont need, i could have saved it.

Iv`e got to get a grip anyone with me.

Yes. There are various threads on here so you’re not alone. I ship out stuff to charity shops but it doesn’t seem to make much difference

Thats my issue as well, i take a few things away but dont see any change.
I might have to get a skip.

Yes. Im in. Ive spent 10 years decluttering. Best thing I got rid of was my husband.

This is me. The trouble is it gets to the point that you just don't know where to start or what to do.

I hear you.
I would love to just wake up and its all space clean tidy fresh.
Instead of usless things and a stuffy feeling.

Anglo doorstep collections are brilliant load up your front garden and the fairy's take it away after my friend died they took something like 26 bags of clothing away for us you nominate a charity too benefit from it too

Im getting rid of a chest freezer and large fridge and replacing it with a 50/50 fridge freezer because im a food hoarder (childhood trauma response) ive just bought new nightwear and im actually (shock horror) throwing away my old ones

Its tough relearning everything i still have three vacuum cleaners but im better I only have one iron one kettle one toaster ive cut down my cat carriers to three (i have three cats i used to have four cat carriers no idea why) im currently facing the prospect of going through my kitchen cupboards i just know I will have out of date food I need to throw away

1. Get all important things together put it all in a box paper work chargers laptop etc.
2. Clothes only keep what you know you wear.
3. blast some music and get brutle with black bin bags, no looking just bin. No checking things you have not bothered to look at in months.

Skip or tip run.

Yes. I did a lot of this last year when moving house but I’m now using face creams for example I haven’t used and reading books I haven’t read before buying anything new

If it's hard, the secret is to do it a bit at a time. You need to commit to going to the charity shop and possibly the tip every weekend.
If you get boxes, don't get too many or you'll then have lots of boxes! Get normal sized bin bags and tackle a drawer or a cupboard at a time. Deal with the obvious bits first. Make sure you're working on a clean and clear surface.
Sort into keep, charity shop, bin/tip. If there's too much in the 'keep' pile, go again. Tidy the 'keep' things properly ...fold or hang up clothes, arrange drawers or cupboards tidily. Then stop and do not revisit the bags/boxes that are going. Try to get them out of the house as soon as possible!
Reward yourself with a nice glass of wine/ G&T/ cup of tea or a little treat of your choice. If you do this for less than an hour a day you will soon see a difference.
Alongside this, stop buying stuff....it's just stuff! It's not going to make you feel happier, better or more fulfilled. Have a serious word with yourself about the groaning landfill sites full of tat and waste. It's obscene. Only buy what you need and think whether something is worth the £s that will mount up to a lovely holiday for example.
Clearing out two houses when my parents and my in-laws died had made me realise how much we accumulate, and their houses were not over cluttered at all, just normal family homes. My mum had heard Marie Kondo on the radio and an article about Swedish death cleansing so she had really started to organise things just before she died unexpectedly. I was so grateful for what she'd already done but there was still 50+ years of memories and things it was really hard to part with. I don't want to put my children through that. So I'm decluttering now although I will never be a minimalist!
Good luck!

I’m about to start trying to declutter the house my mum has lived in for 45 years. Including stuff brought from the previous house and still in the loft!

It’s made me determined not to live like that. Literally every drawer, shelf, cupboard rammed with stuff. It’s impossible to find what’s important in all the dross.

My mum got ill recently and in caring for her I’ve not had time to do my own decluttering to the extent I wanted this summer. So I’m doing a little at a time. Today was socks! Tomorrow will be a few kitchen cupboards, and so on.

I'm trying to help my mum with this right now. You're right to identify that the root issue is not clutter but the buying of things. If you don't stop accumulating stuff then you'll be in a perpetual state of decluttering which is horrible. The next step is to try and understand why you keep buying things, what are the triggers. Feeling bored? Feeling sad? Feeling like you're missing out? And how can you redirect that feeling so you're not defaulting to shopping.

It might help to set some hard rules. I set myself a target to go a year without buying any new clothes and, at the same time, decluttered my wardrobe. Now at the end of summer / winter I donate anything I've not worn in over a year and chuck out anything that looks too sad and worn. It makes buying new clothes much nicer as you don't have that guilt of knowing you already have too much.

One small step at a time. Just one drawer or shelf, and have boxes or bin bags ready for stuff to chuck. And put the ‘chuckings’ straight into the bin, or the car for taking to tip or charity shop. Don’t leave them lying around - you need the satisfaction of having finished that one small step.

While clearing just one small drawer recently - untouched for God knows how long - I found a pair of pearl and diamond earrings I really thought I’d lost several years ago through my own stupid carelessness.
So you never know what might turn up!

I had a minor clear out last week and sold some things on Vinted, I’ve made £150 and taking the kids to an interactive computer thing tomorrow costing £110. I’ll have enough to almost cover lunch as well at almost no cost to me (well obviusly the cost of buying the tat in the first place but you know what I mean!)
once I have a proper clear out I’ll maybe get us all a trip on space X 🙈

If you can put some of the (saved from not spending or from selling) money away, your future self will thank you when you have options to go part-time or retire early in your 50s/60s.

Have a look at the demotivated tool or compound interest calculators on the MSE site.

Have you ever regretted anything you’ve chucked? Thought not.

I’ve just unearthed 2 fantastic arket dresses I’d bought in the sale and not worn.

Yikes, that was the sign the rest of the pile needed to go. I just skipped to the recycling bin with 2 bin bags in the dark, to complete the get rid feeling.

I’ve got 3 rails of vintage i keep for my nieces, leaving not much room
for the seemingly endless pile of maxi dresses and jumpers I aksherly wear. Something has to give.

Yes I am so bad at this. I desperately want to be a minimalist. I hate throwing things away 😩

I did a huge clearout before I moved, and I mean HUGE. I'm now on my 18th sweep after moving a year ago and I still have useless crap everywhere. Most of it is from my mum, grandma and her spinster aunts when I cleared out their houses and I couldn't let their memories go, so books, crockery, bakeware, ornaments.

My biggest wins was not going to Aldi or Lidl middle aisles anymore, or Adsa homewares. I now need to wean myself off Sainsbury’s kitchen wares 😂

I’m finding I can revisit areas I think I have done, sometime later. It’s like an onion, you peel stuff away a layer at a time

Yes I'm intending to do this. I have more clothes than I could wear even if I changed twice a day for 6 months. It's overwhelming. I'm going to list some things on Vinted and see how I get on.

I did sort out a box earlier today and threw away two pairs of sandals and a pair of slippers. Every little helps as they say.

I have stuff that I might wear once a year for special occasions and don’t know what to do with them?

I feel this too. But also currently brassic. So no subscriptions but things I have taken from family members just in case