to ask for your decluttering tips (esp thin/fat clothes)

[INeedToThrowItAllOut]

I need to have a massive declutter but these are the issues I face

• time poor

• subject to big weight swings (sizes 10 - 18 range) - I wouldn't particularly say I'm a yoyo dieter but have phases of being a big exerciser when I lose weight and am healthy and then lose interest and go couch potato. For this reason I find it really hard to throw out clothes that don't fit me because it is realistic that I will fit back into them and I have some nice stuff some of which is designer and very expensive.

This is a huge problem because I have so many clothes which at any given time about 40 - 60% don't fit me but I can't bring myself to throw out so they occupy dead space in my wardrobe and storage. In turn this makes me a bit depressed when I'm in a fat phase (As I am now) - it's all very squashed in and cluttered and I look at the beautiful designer dress and wish I fitted in it today.

• tendency to keep odd things that may become useful in future - often they do - so lanyards, old cables/connectors from electrical equipment, sets of glasses I don't use (in case I need them for entertaining).

• fear of wasting money by throwing things out ("I could sell that") but combined with
• incompetence selling on Ebay.

I know the usual sort of tips like start small, do 15 mins a day, one area at a time but I was looking for anything else that helped anyone.

Part of me wishes I could go minimalist and throw it all in the bin.

Please help me with your wisdom.

I could have written your post! Watching with interest.

Let's hope someone comes to help us out @frankie001 !

I'm the same so no help I'm afraid! My attic is full of bags of stuff that I might need in the future (I won't but if I throw it out I will need it) plus I can't bring myself to just throw it out as so much could be recycled or reused

I’m the same as you too😔

I too have a range of clothes for my range of sizes and very cluttered up wardrobe/drawers. I’ve just gone through and picked out everything I can wear at the moment and actually like and that’s now in my wardrobe and drawers. So much more space, organised by type then colour. I have sorted through the other stuff and put into storage bags items I really like and can genuinely imagine wearing again. I’ve chucked out (oxfam) anything stained, damaged, dated. I’ve packed those bags under my bed. The bedroom feels much better, less cluttered and it’s easier to get dressed. Allow yourself one box to keep the stuff in that you might need eg cables. Don’t keep more than one of anything you’re holding onto “just in case” A book I found enormously helpful and also funny Which was recommended on Mumsnet is “decluttering at the speed of light” by Dana K White.
I still have masses of decluttering to do but I can honestly say I have never regretted throwing anything away and I have loads more energy after decluttering. Dana’s book has loads of really helpful tips for doing it and she’s totally different from Marie Kondo which is much better for me. Good luck! ( I had to look the book up in my kindle just now and noticed I have 22 different books about diets, emotional eating etc on there and I am two stone heavier than when I bought the first one!! I’m off for a donut to cheer myself up. ((Joke.))

Oh God, me too!
I even ended up with some of someone else's clutter recently, when I caught myself saying, "you can't throw that away; it was expensive and might come in handy."
I'm doomed!

I just got ruthless one day. I was forever leaving stuff just in case, I might wear it again etc

One particularly motivated day, I went for it. If I couldn't remember the last time I wore it or there was no event coming I would wear it to, it went to charity, including designer stuff that I could have sold but knew I would never get around to doing it.

My fat clothes all went, a couple of thin clothes stayed but only if they were 1 size down and I knew I would wear them again (so no beautiful posh dresses, no nice shorts that I only wore on holiday, no skirts because I never wear them)

It was hard, and I dithered on stuff but my ruthlessness won out and I'm glad it did. I can actually see things in my wardrobe, there's not stuff everywhere that I have to move to get to other stuff, I have a box (And space for it!) for sentimental things.

I was looking for more storage but I didn't actually need it, just less stuff

But, having lost over 3 stone last year, I have bagged up most of my "fat" clothes and put them in the loft.
I will get dh to bin them/take to the charity shop when I'm not looking.

I'm in a similar situation, I've really got to know some staff in two local charity shops and it's been a great help for me in terms of helping me to move stuff on ie: books sell really well in both shops and it's obvious when they're running low.A while back I found the so days challenge really good .It involved disposing of 1 item on the first day, two on the second etc. Initially,I was giving away items I'd no attachment to and then it really started to bite as the numbers increased.Listing each item or photographing it was really powerful.

30 days challenge

Re cables and things.

If you really can't throw away, store properly. Get proper boxes/baskets and have a suitable place to put them in. Otherwise, bin.

Clothes - chuck any, of any size that don't really suit you/are very dated/the tiniest bit tatty/still didn't fit properly when you were that size

If you don't actually need the money, unless it's an item worth more than £20-30, probably not worth the time and effort of Ebay. Check what things are actually selling for to see if its worth it, don't think about what you paid for it.

Join a freegive group if you want to try to salve your conscience a bit, but otherwise just be ruthless and throw stuff out. If you don't need it/it doesn't work etc, let it go.

I think getting them packed up and out of your day to day wardrobe will help a lot. It's great to have a wardrobe full of clothes you can actually wear! I'm going to do this tomorrow. Though to be honest I even need some slightly larger "period" clothes each month too!

Have downloaded the book mentioned above (no more stuff adding clutter!) This is it. New mindset - I'm ready! Anyone want to help?! Just going to have a cuppa while I read first...

For a start, don't buy anything more, in any size. Most of us could realistically get by on just 4 day time outfits. I bet you've got at least 20 full day time outfits in each size.

I stick my summery holiday clothes in vacuum bags (the ones you suck the air out of not the ones you put in a vacuum cleaner) then those go in the underbed drawers. Frees up so much space and Im not trawling through bikinis when looking for knickers. You could do same with clothes that don't currently fit.

My best tip is find you have a flea problem. Our cats had a persistent problem and it drove me to gutting the house so I could treat every blooming inch. Threw so much clutter away in the process and my house was (briefly) spotless!

Get some of those vacuum storage bags and put away what doesn’t fit you. I don’t think you sound ready to properly sort through those objectively.

Then it’s time to look at what you are currently realistically wearing at the moment. This is your starting point for being ruthless. Anything worn out or not worn frequently get rid of.

I try to operate a fairly strict one in one out policy (clothes for specific occasions and really beautiful things I love just ‘because’ get a little bit of leeway) and other than that I’ve worked out what’ll get me through two weeks so any washing machine malfunction isn’t a disaster and that’s what I stick to.

Styles can date a lot... there were used clothes I bought DS when he was 11 (now 19). Almost flare-like trousers. OMG. Other DS's will never wear them. Off to clothes bank.

I need to do this too - like lljkk says I have similar outfits in different sizes - not done deliberately but think my style is pretty much consistent so when something does not fit I subconsciously by it in the right size.

I have been wearing the “4” outfits you talk about not because this is all I have but because i haven’t got the headspace to faff around trying out new looks. But if I was in a better headspace I think I would be bored with wearing the same stuff all the time - that’s why I’ve got so bloody much!

I’m moving very soon from the family home following divorce - kids are off to uni and so everything is chaotic and emotions are running pretty fraught. I was hoping to do a mass clearout but with one thing and another I haven’t managed to so I’m taking it all with me and will sort it when not under pressure.

I have been packing along Marie kondos guidance though all like items together - I’m sure when I start unpacking I will be thinking wtf Was my head
I also have enough packaging that I’ve been “saving” - for eBaying.

I can’t bring myself to throw it away - I will need the money - think car boots and eBay will be my new hobby !

All this brings me down as much as anything else

I would say think about the end result. At Easter I did my whole house. We got rid (charity shop and tip) of 80 bin bags of stuff. I didn't Ebay/sell anything worth less than £50 as I knew it was holding me up. It sounds dramatic but it has changed my life. I dont keep anything anymore and instead of tidying one of the kids does "the stairs" (delivering things to the right bedroom) and we can actually clean. I have so much more time, I cant believe I didnt do it sooner.

Ooh I live with a hoarder - nothing I can do about it so I have to ensure my stuff is organised.

So I was v slim but put on masses of weight - kept old stuff on the vain hope of weight loss but it didn’t happen. Put those clothes in vacuum bags and stored them under my bed. Then I gave them away to a slim friend but regretting now as I had health scare so have been forced to get fit and the weight is now coming off (no money to buy new clothes).

Pack away what doesn’t fit - use those bags that you vacuum to suck air out and shrink them - put under bed or in loft etc. Your cupboard - I’ve got these hangars sorters that hang down so you can hang more things in your cupboard.

The cables - if you really don’t know what they are for and possibly for old tech that no longer exists, bin them.

Lanyards are not important.

When I clean/clear I do it in small amounts ie one drawer every week. Break it all down into manageable bits.

I’ve had to downsize and my tendency would be to hang onto everything ‘just in case’ but since paring down, there’s nothing I’ve got rid of that I now need or regret (except my clothes).

Also, I do car boot sales so I feel at least I’m making money out of it. Makes me feel a tad better.

I was like you with the clothes, until I got rid of all my "fat clothes" extra motivation to stay slim cuz when my jeans get tight it gives me a real life measure that I need to loose a few pounds again. I can't make myself feel comfortable by reaching for a new pair of bigger jeans.

As for keeping things "just in case" I used to be like this too. But now I think they benefit if getting rid of things and having a fully de cluttered house waaaaaaay outweighs the one time in 6 months that one of those things might come in handy. If you REALLY need it. Get a new one (not so good for the environment- but I bet you won't even need it when you don't have it there to reach for,
You'll just improvise)

I have been doing a de clutter lately. For about a week so far.
I started off with doing a bootsale and I made £105. I sold a few other bits on Shpock made about a tenner not much.
Then used Freegle to help some others out, I now have a charity shop pile to take down.
Then I will start over again.

I recycled all my biggest clothes, because I'm determined to never be that size again. I have a few clothes that are a bit big but still wearable so I've kept those and will just replace them when they wear out properly.
Having said that all my clothes are primark/supermarket standard, so no great loss financially.
All our old cables/chargers etc get recycled at our local library.
Glasses seem quite popular in charity shops, so maybe donate a few?

Little and often wouldn't work for me. Konmari method worked wonders. I found the immediate results really motivating , and focusing on what makes you happy means the process itself is motivating.

I read both books (I think there are only two), then over about a month got rid of about half my belongings. My drawers still make me happy when I open them and see everything nice and organised (and I don't care how sad that makes me!) I did do it in a quite focussed way as I had some time I could dedicate to it and I knew I wouldn't have much time after, but you can break it up and tackle the categories separately and though certain categories will take a bit of time, I think it's much more time efficient than the 15mins a day kind of thing.