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AIBU?

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Original poster

To reduce all utensils and cutlery to two of everything

54 replies

TheSunnySide · 16/10/2021 21:50

I am fed up with the amount of cups, plates and utensils being used (mostly by me) in my household of two. I seem unable to rein myself in and think I should just remove everything and leave just two cups, two bowls, 2 plates, two glasses and two sets of cutlery.

We rarely have guests or visitors.

Anyone ever done this?

OP posts:
MissCreeAnt · 16/10/2021 22:58

I've seen it done on a vlog of a family with 10 kids. They have one set of everything per person, kept in a separate cubby per person rather than stacks of plates, bowls etc. But then, they always have a couple of children on washing up duty after every meal.

Why not split the difference and keep 6 of everything instead? It'll all fit nicely in the dishwasher and won't be overwhelming.

RandomMess · 16/10/2021 23:07

Just get a 2nd dishwasher and then you never have to unload the clean one bar the odd few things once the other one is full up.

I reuse my coffee cup all day but that's because I much prefer my 2 favourites 🤣

B229 · 16/10/2021 23:16

I did this slightly, only 2 normal sized plates. A couple of smaller side plates and bowls. Still have a ridiculous amount of cutely though. I'd second giving it a trial run before you toss them though!

GemmaRuby · 16/10/2021 23:21

I use one water glass for the whole day and just rinse/refill it.
If I was having more than one tea/coffee, I’d just run the mug under the tap quickly.
If I was having a dry snack (toast, biscuits etc) and thought I might have another snack later I’d leave the plate out to use again.
Think you need to have a greater tolerance to using things a few more times.

lisaandalan · 16/10/2021 23:43

A dinner set has six of everything, I'd stick to that, the same with cutlery ect.

skybluee · 17/10/2021 00:07

I do this. You end up washing up more frequently but when you do it takes so much less time it's not that much of a hassle. However I have four plates.

SortingItOut · 17/10/2021 05:00

I did this, there were 4 of us at the time so I kept 4 plates, 4 saucers, 4 bowls and 4 cups. I kept all the cutlery.
I was fed up with my kids hoarding stuff in their bedrooms so by tea time there were no plates to eat from.
Worked great and I kept the spares in a plasticbox in the shed.

Things have crept up recently (5 years after I implemented it and now down to 3 in the household) so I might cull them again.

itstrue · 17/10/2021 05:53

We did this. We were crap at doing dishes and having less forced us to do them!

Original poster
TheSunnySide · 17/10/2021 13:11

I think my real problem is an inability to change my slatternly ways.

I am SO messy I think I need an intervention but I am also very offended by any comments made about my house.

Trouble is the clutter and mess get me down.

OP posts:
RandomMess · 17/10/2021 13:18

Seriously if you could sacrifice a kitchen cupboard get a 2nd dishwasher.

You empty the clean one as you use the items and the dirty stuff goes into the other.

Once the dirty one is full stick it on and empty out the few clean things left in the other one ready to start stacking with dirty stuff. You could actually just leave it in there and wash it agin if really desperate.

You obviously need far less room to store crockery and glasses with 2 dishwashers so it's perhaps not as mad and unachievable as it first sounds - they are just cupboards that wash their own contents.

MissCreeAnt · 17/10/2021 13:37

It sounds a bit like you're trying to punish yourself though.

I use plates in cooking all the time, for ingredients or to cover things I'm microwaving. I try to limit my gadgets etc but to me, plates stack well and hardly take up any space so they are useful things to have plenty of.

HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule · 17/10/2021 13:54

Reduce to two of each but keep spares boxed and stored away in a hard-to-get-to place so that it’s more trouble to get extra than it is to wash up what you need.

hotmeatymilk · 17/10/2021 13:58

I would happily do this but it would need to be two for me and DD…

…98,000 for DP to squirrel in his gruesome WFH desk area/biological hazard area Hmm

CheapFoodShits · 17/10/2021 14:39

I did this with my cutlery, but down to four. Then managed to lose a fork and a couple of spoons (most likely distracted while scraping plates into the bin 🙄). I have to ask guests to bring their own forks and spoons if they come for tea now if there's more than one of them 😂

DaisyNGO · 17/10/2021 14:47

Is it just groundhog day with housework?

Our dishwasher broke down ages ago and we didn't get it repaired till last week...only because the flat is going on the market and it's easier to have the dishes hidden away.

I did also think it would do us good to do the dishes, I didn't grow up with a dishwasher.

So I can see what you are getting at. We really would not have bothered with dishwasher repair if not for the place needing to look less cluttered. We didn't buy it, it was here already.

I think one of each is a bit too little. Could you just stop using the dishwasher?

We do have family round so we can't reduce the amount of stuff we have. When I make someone else a fresh cuppa,
I feel like I have to use another mug, though we will happily reuse a mug for all day. (Is that breaking MN law?)

Nsky · 17/10/2021 14:57

This sounds crazy, I live alone, dishwasher every other day roughly, 6 person dinner set, tho only 4 bowls, cutlery for 6.
At least I’m not hand washing the stuff

lllllllllll · 17/10/2021 15:00

I honestly don't think I have ever had two other couples over for dinner in my life. Sounds exciting though

But surely having even one guest round for food might happen in the future - and then you won't have any cutlery for them to eat with Confused

StellaAndCrow · 17/10/2021 15:06

Give it a try! I'm interested to know how it goes. I'm thinking of doing similar or at least only keeping the kitchen things that I actually use.

Not the things that I have to take out of the cupboard to get to the things that I actually use . . .

Knittedfairies · 17/10/2021 17:06

Another vote for trying it to see if it works; I got rid of a lot of kitchen stuff and haven't missed it.

Original poster
TheSunnySide · 17/10/2021 19:56

@DaisyNGO

Is it just groundhog day with housework?

Our dishwasher broke down ages ago and we didn't get it repaired till last week...only because the flat is going on the market and it's easier to have the dishes hidden away.

I did also think it would do us good to do the dishes, I didn't grow up with a dishwasher.

So I can see what you are getting at. We really would not have bothered with dishwasher repair if not for the place needing to look less cluttered. We didn't buy it, it was here already.

I think one of each is a bit too little. Could you just stop using the dishwasher?

We do have family round so we can't reduce the amount of stuff we have. When I make someone else a fresh cuppa,
I feel like I have to use another mug, though we will happily reuse a mug for all day. (Is that breaking MN law?)

I think you have hit the nail on the head. I am fed up with the housework and I barely keep on top of it, but the dish washer seems like a never ending task. Rather than get two dishwashers (no space and anyway cannot afford it) I think about just getting rid of the dishwasher. I didn't grow up with one either and only have the one I own because my ex husband bought it years ago.

OP posts:
DaisyNGO · 17/10/2021 22:15

OP I do odd things because of housework seeming so groundhog day

Maybe just don't use the dishwasher for a while, and use the same mug for tea.
Everyone has pet hate tasks

One friend has enough bedding sets in the house that they don't launder any for a few months and then all the dirty linen is collected and done by a laundry service.

10 years ago, that would have seemed odd to me but now, some days I feel like there's laundry hanging up drying all the time!

mountbattenbergcake · 17/10/2021 22:35

We have a dishwasher we never use, precisely because we like to wash dishes/pans as we cook rather than pile everything up in the dishwasher.

I know some people on MN say they have two dishwasher, and if we had two, we probably would use them.

In the meantime, the lone DW languishes unused.

KingdomScrolls · 17/10/2021 23:27

Can unloading the dishwasher be one of the ten year old's jobs? You might think twice then about using a dozen cups a day when one would suffice.

liveforsummer · 18/10/2021 09:59

2 dishwashers as a suggestion for a household of one adult and one child?! Mumsnet really is another world 😆. OP does your 10 year old not have friends round? If not I suspect he will in the future and not be able to offer them drinks. I'd say a set of 4 minimum. Reuse your tea mug and water glass throughout the day. I never get new ones each time

Mrscaptainraymondholt · 18/10/2021 10:12

You say you have a 10 year old? Within a couple of years everything will be in their room/under the bed etc so you’ll only have 1 of each of you are lucky downstairs anyway 😂

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