Join me in getting rid of at least one thing a day decluttering challenge?

[SandSnakeOfDorne]

I am trying to declutter, starting with our loft and garage both of which need some work doing so need to be a lot emptier! After they're done I want to declutter the rest of the house. I've already got rid of loads of stuff but I'm starting to lose motivation alone!

We have quite strict rules for what we can put in rubbish so I'm selling, free cycling, taking stuff to the clothes bank etc. At least one thing a day. I'm hoping to be done by Christmas!

Anyone want to join me?

[StealthNinjaMum]

Thanks basin I wish it was 'only' two years. I know that you're right and actually I feel do feel better after my hour's effort even though the house doesn't look it.

Before I got married I was really organised and I used to file everything. Then I moved house 3 times (in a 7 year period) and I just carried the papers with me always intending to throw them away but not getting round to it because I used to go out a lot and then I had kids and I was too busy looking after them (and our final house had a study where I could dump them and not look at them).

Anyway today I have gone through my 2004 folder and been shredding things with my name on. I have got rid of about a carrier bags worth of paper. I do feel good knowing that I have cleared out a load of useless paperwork. I even had my original Orange phone contract from 1996! That is now in the shredding pile while I sit here again with a screwdriver fixing my poor overheated, clogged up shredder!

[SandSnakeofDorne]

Oh God. The paperwork. I couldn't tell you how far back ours goes, but I opened a box and the top thing was a phone bill from 2001, which has survived four house moves.

[SandSnakeofDorne]

I am considering burning it, rather than shredding. We have an outdoor fire pit.

[StealthNinjaMum]

Snake thank you so much for posting! I thought I was the only one with that much paperwork. Since about 2007 it's just gone into the 'box of doom' (not really one, there's about 3!) and not really been organised and so the pre 2007 declutter is just the easy stuff to sort through as I used to file it in plastic pockets each month and then put in a binder.

I see this as a whole big organise my life project and when it is done I can sort out bank accounts for the kids, switch utility and insurance suppliers and so I am putting pressure on myself to get this done before December. I want to enjoy xmas without doing any big tidying - just day to day housework.

[Freshprincess]

I also have a box of doom (well many boxes of doom). I used to be so on top of this too, everything filed away in plastic pockets. It's completely run away from me.
Before I got a shredder, I used to put paperwork into the composter with the kitchen scraps. Good luck to any identity thief who wants to root through there.

So yesterday I managed a carrier bag full of stuff. I've also started a pile for 'important school things I need to keep' like passwords and such which I will take to work to scan and save to my Dropbox account.

[whirlyswirly]

I'm lucky that I work in an office where they collect confidential waste every fortnight and shred it in their giant shredding lorry. I take a handful of papers in on collection day and if there's room in the bins nobody minds. I keep as much online as possible, I hate a paper build up. I wish schools would develop an online sign off procedure for trips etc as most of it comes from them.

[Peppaismysaviour]

Please can I join in?
Our house is a pile of junk on top of a slightly older pile of junk and we just seem to wade through crap day to day adding to the piles!
We also are on a no spend month after an extraordinarily expensive September so have time to sort (around a toddler) and are more than up for selling stuff to make a little extra this month.
So today I organised all our adoption based paperwork which has been chucked in to the 'adoption box' for two and a half years. It's all in plastic wallets in a file now but not exactly in date order. We also managed a wardrobe and toy drawers in the playroom and posted lots of stuff on to eBay and Facebook (2 things have already sold which is massively more exciting to me than it should be!)

[BasinHaircut]

stealth at least you know that most of it ca probably go straight in the bin if it’s ilder than a couple of years, won’t need organising just a quick look over to check it’s not important.

I never thought of taking it to work and putting it in the confidential waste, what a great idea! I hate shredding it’s so boring and noisy.

[Peppaismysaviour]

This may be a-whole-nother thread but in relatively young (not really young enough to be asking this question) but how is best to organise all the paperwork that comes in to a home?

[StealthNinjaMum]

Last night I did a bit more sorting through the boxes of doom. I am trying to find homes for identical items and now have a drawer for photos - and need to take four or five unused photo albums (mainly presents) to the charity shop. The real issue is that at some point I need to stop doing the easy stuff and actually start filing!

Good question Peppa I have no idea! I used to just file things in a file by date but now I have so many household bills and guarantees, children's paperworks, mortgage stuff with dh so in theory I have a file for everything. The kids file is reasonably organised and up to date although I don't know where their birth certificates are so I am thinking of getting a safe for important documents like birth certificate, marriage certificate and passports.

[BakerCandlestickmaker]

I always had a big metal box file for relevant paperwork and then stored stuff I wanted to keep longer-term away in a couple of box files to be edited and added to at the end of the financial year.

After a chaotic few years where we had stopped chucking regularly it had descended somewhat into chaos.

Now my holding situation is that I'm using a cardboard document holder per person per year. Then they can sort it themselves. Plus my DH has a series of box files into which I dump his documents from work. (This is a visual evidence that he will be using a whole room to store this likely irrelevant stuff shortly! Just into Year 3 and he may be getting the point.)

God I need to attack the backlog of my own stuff really badly.

[BakerCandlestickmaker]

Ooh, an outdoor fire pit that's an idea!

I'm away to chuck this week's paper. At least I have become very ruthless about what I keep.

[StealthNinjaMum]

I have been googling incinerators and I can buy a small one for about £20. It's tempting.

I said before that I'm not a hoarder and it's true. I regularly go through my possessions culling but the paperwork is the main area of mine that just got out of control also schoolwork, toys and arts / crafts for dc. Dh keeps everything and I know me buying an incinerator would cause an argument because we also try to be green (not successfully really) and he won't like me burning rubbish or getting rid of files. In one respect he has a point, one of my to do's is to find my 1999 mortgage paperwork as I might be able to claim back PPi but I know you're only supposed to keep things for 7 years.

[Peppaismysaviour]

Ok so I must at some point dig out all old paperwork from wherever it has been hidden and burn it. Which also means this afternoons job may well be building the fire pit that has been in the box in garage for a year or two! Procrastination with a point, my favourite kind!

[StealthNinjaMum]

You are my people. Procrastination. Boxes of doom. Paperwork mountains, I feel like I am home.

Today I donated about 8 carrier bags of jigsaw puzzles, children's clothes, books and toys to a charity shop and arranged for a friend to pick up a couple of baby walkers for a parent and toddler group.

Tomorrow I am having coffee with a friend who I see about once or twice a year. We went out for Christmas last year and she gave me advice which I ignored about filing. I am really embarrassed that she's going to ask me how my big declutter is going. I will probably lie

[Peppaismysaviour]

stealth this is my new safe place!

[Peppaismysaviour]

Thank you for paperwork help. This afternoon I did absolutely nothing apart from normal tidying so this evening I plan to tackle a kitchen cupboard and drawer. Baby steps

[BasinHaircut]

I feel better about my 2 year paperwork pile now guys. 1999!!

Today I was meant to sort out the dining room storage unit but I didn’t get around to it.

I did do the big clean in there though and also sorted the shoe cupboard. Then took a carrier bag of old shoes and the 2 bags of broken toys that I dumped outside down to the tip this afternoon so they are actually gone now, do not a total write-off. Will do the storage unit on Monday instead then it’s on to my clothes after that.

[StealthNinjaMum]

Well done basin sounds like you had a good day even if you didn't do exactly what you wanted. I have just done some more shredding and fixing the shredder! Have to do the school run in an hour so I am intending to spend that hour going through some of a box of doom. I have a hole punch and some empty binders so might try to actually file.

[BasinHaircut]

Good work stealth!

Got home from work tonight and felt in the mood so sorted my clothes out. Did the summer to winter swap over and binned some of both lots of clothes and sorted another pile for the charity shop. That’s another job off the list!

Think I’ll get rid of a few more autumn/winter bits as I go along this year too, see if I actually wear them or not first though.

[GoGoGazelle]

I'm in - yesterday I handed down a dance uniform and bag of nappies, today I've got rid of 2 cards, gifts and a gift bag from my present drawer.

[ArcheryAnnie]

Have spent the entire day with crap telly on, going through mounds and mounds of stuff. I have bags and bags to go to the charity shop, two bags of recycling, and a bag of rubbish and shredded paperwork.

Place still looks like a tip full of crap, mind.

And I managed to remain calm when a big spider ran out of some ancient paperwork ans cuttled under the sofa. It's still under the sofa. (I don't really mind spiders, though I don't want them on me.)

[ArcheryAnnie]

Oh, and my blitz today is down to that I have a friend staying with me next week (I'm in the bottom bunk in my DS's room...) and I would be so ashamed to put her in my bedroom as it stands!

[SandSnakeofDorne]

You're all doing so well! My baby hasn't been well this week and I am completely exhausted with the disturbed nights. I've managed to freecycle a couple of things and that's about it.

[StealthNinjaMum]

sandsnake sorry to hear about your baby. Even freecycling just a couple of things is an achievement. I need to learn how to do that.

Well done everyone else. I spent about an hour yesterday shredding and fixing the shredder. I have a metal dustbin and I am wondering whether to burn a small pile of papers on the lid Monday as the shredder is slowing me down. I am frustrated too as I am finding that my house is a mess because I am literally spending all my spare time decluttering my paperwork. Tonight, if I have the energy I might go through more papers.

When DC are in bed I am hoping to do a bit more.