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?

I ground to a halt due to bedroom being done which started about 4 weeks ago. I've got stuff all over house in bags and cases
Should be finished midweek and looking forward to going through mine and DH's stuff to decide if it deserves a space in new wardrobes
Need to file recipes rather than current hotchpotch of magazines, clippings and print offs

Okay so the bedroom has been completed. I threw out some things I came across but I don't know how much I actually threw away. The black bin is full and is usually only two thirds full by collection day so this particular de-hoarding weekend must have been successful.

I have also managed to cook a roast and clean the whole house. I think I may have been drugged

I can now start to decorate that room (tomorrow) and make a start on decluttering some other place (I haven't got round to deciding where though).

You are all doing amazing by the way! The amount of success stories really keep me going

Ha ha laughing at suggestion of thread to declutter our cars! I don't use mine very often and I've moaned before that my favourite charity shop is a long walk from a car park so my boot is always full of stuff. I did give away four bags of stuff last week but haven't done anything since.

Penelope don't show your family what you're getting rid of. I never do or it would still be here.

My spare bed has a mountain of stuff on it to go in the car to go to a charity shop but it's snowing heavily. I can see it's going to stay here for a bit longer! Maybe I'll start selling some of the mountain of stuff in the sitting room on Facebook.

I have had a bad 3 days - got rid of nothing and dc / dh trashed house as usual. so I am sitting here in mess. I have just emptied the dishwasher and put a load of washing on and am sitting here with my coffee and long, uncompleted list from last week. Need to get organised as I am so unmotivated at the moment.

Come on, Ninja! You can do it!

I started on my main food cupboard over the weekend. It was a bit of a horror story but is coming along slowly. I've thrown out loads of out of date dried food: rice, pasta etc. DP has a thing about stocking up when things like this are on offer. Even as I was clearing it out he mentioned that he's going to get some more bits as soon as they're on offer again. Anyway, I've done half the cupboard and am planning to finish that today.

I've also booked a decorator so that'll be another good job done.

Well done, everyone!

I found some bouillon dated 2011!!

Thanks for the encouragement Sand

it was a productive day in the sense that I did lots of washing, changed beds and did some important admin but I hadn't decluttered until 5 minutes ago and I've just found two old pairs of children's wellies that can go.

@StealthNinjaMum I get frustrated when I'm in the mood for decluttering but I really have to get on with normal chores like the washing etc!

But today I managed to take 3 bags to the charity shop. Lady in the shop said she remembers me from before and I told her she will probably see a lot of me ha! They are in desperate need of donations so nice to know I'm helping them out

Think I may need to join this thread!

Welcome fannyanddick it's easy to just get rid of just one thing a day says someone who did nothing for three days

Thanks panda I unexpectedly emptied the fridge and had a bit of a cull of some of the jars in there - among other things some Branston pickle has gone. It looked ok but had gone off in 2015. (I think I opened it last year and it was ok but if mil came round she'd inspect the fridge contents and would not be impressed.) It is frustrating because I am so green I end up spending hours putting jigsaw puzzles together and finding every single bit of a toy set before I give it away. I know I turn it into a big job. Hopefully as dc get older they won't be so messy with the bits of their toys.

I got rid of 3 tubs of glitter tonight. Sent to explorers with DS.
Sadly more items have come in though.

Gah, snow day! Less than an inch of snow and school is cancelled. I don't think I'm going to get much time to declutter today. Dds are very happy tough.

though not tough!

@StealthNinjaMum school is cancelled here too. I measured this morning - 1.5cm of snow both the roads to school and the school grounds had grit salt put on them a few days ago. England must be a laughing stock to the rest of the world where it snows 5ft daily and life still goes on.

Kids are currently in the garden making a snowman with 100g of 'snow' that's melting and making their hands 'really freezy frozen cold mum'

None will wear hats, gloves or a coat. Toddler DS is still in slippers and pyjamas, I have managed to tie his dressing gown on so that he can't pull it off for at least another 6 minutes. DS1 is in shorts, no shirt, a jacket (unzipped) and wellies

I'm expecting a visit from SS in the next few days after a report of neglectful parenting

I need to tackle this as likely daughter will be returning home but this time will be also bringing furniture. Feeling overwhelmed at where everything is going to go. Coming home is the right decision as she needs out of the situation she is in. Hoping she decides sooner rather than later. I need to drastically declutter to help her.

@AbbieLexie

Start small. Just do one cupboard or surface at a time. Once the job is broken down into more manageable pieces you will feel a lot less overwhelmed and completing the small jobs will give you motivation.

Bedroom has been a complete tip as it has been re decorated. As I was sorting things back out and putting everything away into the new furniture I managed to find and throw out the following:

2x pairs of slippers that have seen better days
1x jacket that has a bleach and paint stain on
2 off cuts of fabric from like, a year ago
The pants from a loungewear set - I think I lent the jumper to someone but no point chasing that up
A shoulder handle from the bag that I threw out last week
Broken headphones
And two empty make up wipe packets that I found in the bottom of a storage box

Oh shit I missed off an item. I also threw out one of those wrap around towel things that have straps so you don't worry about it falling down. Completely useless and uncomfortable I wouldn't recommend

Ha ha @Capricornwithaunicornhorn dd2 went out in her pyjamas too this morning. She wasn't out for long. We had a lot more snow. School have also emailed homework which I'm ignoring because they're having so much fun.

You're obviously a regular declutterer Capricorn. When I find bits of fabric they're usually from 8 to 10 years ago!

AbbieLexie It does seem daunting at first. I used to set a timer for 15 minutes on an area and almost always get into the task and end up spending longer. Now I do half an hour. I rarely 'finish' an area but find I come back to it a few weeks later and do a bit more. It sounds like you need to be quick, I hope things work out for your daughter.

I did something! Well put something in a pile rather than actually got rid of it. I have gone into the hellhole cupboard under the stairs and tidied a few things away. I also put one bag in the charity shop pile and another in the Facebook sales pile. In the charity shop bag was a bank statement damn paperwork gets everywhere so when dds are in bed I will be filing it in my amazingly filed files.

@AbbieLexie when I first started I thought about what would give the biggest impact initially, "big ticket item" I call it!
e.g. selling/recycling bulky items (shelves, wardrobe) because it instantly made more space. Do you have anything like that you can do to start the process?

Otherwise like others have said, just do 15 mins a day. It's amazingly satisfying once you get going.

DH has been stealthily decluttering the freezer which is amazing as we still have our old freezer and it’s full. As soon as the new one is empty, I can transfer all the food and defrost, clean and sell the old freezer. Then I will be able to make a start on the cupboard under the stairs and we can get a bit more order downstairs 😁

I noticed something last night, and I'm going to fix it tonight.

Someone came over unexpectedly and as I walked them through I saw: multiple towels on two teenagers floors, and a large pile of clean towels in the hallway. I know those towels are clean but it looked like a pile of dirty washing, a couple of towels draped over chairs in the living room, a pile of towels in my back verandah room.

Tonight, I'm going to cull the towels. Everyone's getting two each and I'll hide the rest till the others wear out. I'm not chucking them because they're quite new, well not old anyway.

I think it will make a big difference to how my place looks day-to-day.

I've finally finished my food cupboard. Did the herbs and spices today and threw out quite a bit. I now know what we've got and where it is and it's all clean. It's so satisfying - I keep opening the doors to admire it!!

wemt through the cupboard under the stairs again and got rid of another couple of bags and some teeny baby gloves. There are lots of shoes to tidy away so I need to tackle my wardrobe to find a home for them.

Spotted four open hot chocolate / cocoa jars in the crammed tea/ coffee cupboard. Gave dds a very rich drink and one is now in the bin!

Along with de cluttering this year I am aiming to stop buying beauty products. (Well not buying 359728 of the same thing and only have a bottle of each thing I actually use almost daily). Today I had a few empty bottles - deodorant, body oil spray and a perfume.

I have someone coming to buy one of my sale items tomorrow.

Nothing majorly de cluttered today but I've still thrown something out even if it was just empties

@SandAndSea your comment made me laugh! It's amazing how good a clean and organised cupboard can make you feel isnt it I was the exact same when I cleared out my under stairs cupboard. I still to this day get a shock each time I open it and see how tidy it all is!