How do I bring myslef to declutter? Just keep picturing money going in the bin...

10 replies

Abubu · 08/12/2011 20:59

I really want to declutter. In particular the kids toys. They have so many that they never play with and I know they wouldn't miss but every time I think of decluttering all I can picture is the money i have spent on it in the first place.
How do all the decluttery people get over the idea of all that wasted money?
Thanks.

OP posts:

smalltown · 08/12/2011 21:06

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pacifist · 08/12/2011 21:10

The money is already wasted if they don't play with the toys: keeping stuff just compounds the problem - then you have wasted money AND have a daily reminder and a messy house. A car boot sale or a trip to your local hospice is what you need

moondog · 08/12/2011 21:12

God, i hate a house full of crap that is not used and sweep throguh it every 6 weeks getting rid of excess.

Don't spend on the toys in the 1st place.
I get most of my kids from 2nd hand places so feel no issue with removing whn past shelf life.

oreocrumbs · 08/12/2011 21:19

I agree with selling the unwanted, and what I'm trying to do with new toys coming into the house is pre assign them places. So this year DD is getting a kitchen from us, have asked other relatives for the accessories, which will all be played with and then stored in the same place! I have no room for any more piles of random toys!

OriginalChristmasPoster · 08/12/2011 22:17

If you buy them from charity and give them back to charity, it's like donating twice. Think about the next person who will get a bargain for their dcs and the fun they will get out of it, and the people who will benefit from the charity.

Then think about the space you'll have for the dcs to play, the extra time you'll have because your house is easy to clean.

Don't think about the money you wasted buying the toy, you could, however try to work out why it wasn't a success with your dcs and try not to buy a similar thing again.

JarethTheGoblinKing · 08/12/2011 22:20

um... sell them?

notcitrus · 08/12/2011 22:26

Also useful can be going round a car boot sale and seeing how stuff just isn't worth anything once out of the box (and how cheaply you can pick up new toys).
Made me feel a lot better about sending stuff to the charity shop. :)

I try to think about the rent items ought to be paying for taking up precious space in my heavily-mortgaged house, and anything not earning its keep by being used/played with gets chucked out... eventually...

BloooCowWonders · 09/12/2011 13:07

As a half-way measure, can you put stuff in black bags out of the way? Label with the date and put a note in your calendar to get rid of in eg 4 weeks/ 3 months. If no one has noticed what's missing, just get rid.

I sense your hesitance so do it in stages!

Ciske · 09/12/2011 13:12

What about Freecycle? If you give them away for free, they will make another child happy and you won't feel the money is wasted. So close to Christmas it should hopefully not be difficult to find someone who can use them.

kbend · 09/12/2011 13:17

yeah, i got that feeling, look at the boxes of toys and think m ost days "i really must sort that out" especially with xmas coming. but it doesnt get done. need motivation xx use charity shops a lot and never by big ott expensive pressies as dd only 2

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