Would I be awful to get a skip and clear out?

[OnAMatOopEre]

Every cupboard, drawer and other available space in the house is just crammed with stuff. Not like absolute hoarders but I could see it looking that way in a few more years.

So im thinking about hiring a skip and having a massive no-mercy clear out. However, there's probably quite a lot of stuff of all sorts of genres that would either fetch a small amount on selling sites or would benefit someone on free cycle etc but... I just dont have the time or the energy to list things, negotiate with buyers, wait for them to turnup etc.

Theres a lot of clothes/bedding and the likes, and these I will send to charity, but for everything else - am i a bad person if I just get a skip? And just lighten my mental load as well as the physical? I feel like I cant breathe. Am I awful to send it all to landfill?

Just be mindful of having a skip outside your house longer than a day. You may well wake up and find someone else has filled your skip up with their rubbish, and you are conveniently paying for it to be taken away.

Me too! Every time we have a clear out, it gets put outside with a free to a good home sign - very very little remains at the end of a day.

We did this last year. I went into our cellar, which was jammed packed with unnecessary junk, picked out three things that had sentimental value (mothers china) and then chucked everything else out. There may have been things that could have fetched some money but I knew I would never list them anymore and they would just continue to take up space. It was the most liberating feeling!

Yeah probably as it would hurt me otherwise....I don't blame OP, but yeah it still hurts (personally) to know that reusable things have gone to landfill :(

A skip and a pile for charity maybe?
I can definitely see the appeal of the skip approach but it doesn’t sit right with me binning useful things.

Do you have a front garden or drive where you could leave it out for people to help themselves? That way it doesn't cost you or cause stress (people on free sites can be bloody annoying!) but it wouldn't go to landfill.

How about a compromise - box up everything Anglo Doorstep collections will take, skip everything else? https://anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk

I have been put off having a clear out as I didn’t want to throw away stuff I no longer wanted that could be used by someone else. But now I think I am just going to get rid of stuff - one thing at a time.

Have skimmed through the thread but might have missed someone else saying this. Bigger Sainsburys stores can be a great way to get rid of good stuff your don’t want anymore. The one near us has a book recycling bin and a clothes/shoes one in the car park, then inside the store they have boxes for coat hangers, soft plastics and creams/makeup.

Trying to sell anything is exhausting and you need headspace and time. I only sell things of value and even then it's a big job.

Maybe getting a skip will help your mental health?

Completely agree @user1471538283 , headspacee, time and perseverance, things you can bypass by bringing in a skip.

Handwringing about landfill is all well and good, but when you’re busy and time poor, giving yourself permission to get a skip is perfectly fine.

Today I used Anglo doorstep collections that someone recommended on here as I had tonnes of good quality linen, towels and clothes to donate. They were really good- you book a day online and then they give you a slot the day before - they turned up when they said and took everything. If it’s helpful to anyone I recommend them.

Did they knock or did you leave it outside?

I have booked one but now feel I should be using the local community shop!

They knocked but I could have left it outside if I wasn’t in. I do usually use the hospice shop as they have a drop off warehouse but they’re hardly taking anything at the moment as they have too much. The ones closest to me don’t have free parking and won’t take multiple bags of stuff and no linens etc

I use the free charity bags that get posted through our door. I live in a renovation house so completely understand how you can get overwhelmed. Personally you are best doing a room at a time, doing all at once will stress you. Things you can’t give to charity in poor condition - black bin liner and put in your black bin and use the free recycling bags. I would only get a skip of you have old furniture. You can get local charity to collect these though at no cost to yourself.

Anglo collections are amazing.

We’ve not had charity bags through the letterbox for months, if not a year or two. They seem to have stopped doing them.

Re charity furniture collections, only free collection if they have fire certificates sewn onto upholstered items and otherwise in excellent resealable condition, as evidenced by having to provide emailed photos before they’ll arrange a collection. They won’t take anything they don’t think they’ll sell. Even pre agreed, the van drivers often refuse things at their discretion. For things they won’t take our local council charge £25 per big item, so that’s £50 for a bed, ie mattress and base. We’ve had two bungalows (respective Mums) and our sons flat to clear and it was nothing but stress and hassle to get rid of big furniture by a mix of charity collections, council collections and selling on local Facebook. Even skip hire firms now prohibit upholstered items so you have to pay council to take them away if you can’t get rid via Facebook.

We get a charity bags at least once a week. But yep agreed it can be frustrating waiting for charity and people to collect I have cleared a house out when a relative passed away. I took the clothes to a recycling centre there is one at your local tip and was fortunate the charity took most of the furniture as it had the labels on. Yep in the above scenario skip would be the best way forward.

Skips are expensive these days tbh. In your shoes I would aim to clear out one bin bag of things to be thrown every time the black bin day is, and then fill up those charity plastic bags that come through the door with decent clothes.

Hey OP - skip doesn't = landfill. One of the reason skips are so expensive these days is because they have to sort through and recycle as much as poss. So if a skip is best for you, go for it knowing most of it will get a new life in a new form.

Personally I take as much as poss to the local tip. There's an area there for useable stuff you want rid of. So anything decent I put there and someone quickly takes it, often within minutes while I am still there!!

I say to put it in the skip - you will lose momentum if you waste time trying to sell or give away stuff. Just get it all out while you've a mind to.