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?

[ZeppelinBend]

Sand ours go to the electrical I think as I've watched them cut the cables off everything before. I assumed it was for the copper in the wires but I could be way off the mark. Is yours manned? Maybe you could ask.

I hope things continue on upwards for you Medway. Brand new start!

The bags are gone Stealth, whisked away this morning! Had a bit of a wobbly moment whe the dc asked what was in it and I had visions of tears over getting rid of coats two sizes too small but managed to distract them Putting them in the car is a much better idea.

Continued on today by recycling a stack of Good Food magazines I've had yonks and never look at bar the odd favourite recipe which I pulled out. Then gutted ds's room - just in time for his birthday and Christmas. Sigh.

[ZeppelinBend]

Oh and Stealth, I completely understand about the teddies, feels silly but it's nostalgic. Would it make it easier if you just keep one or two and see how that goes? I still have one of mine, he's a good 30 years old now and he's never getting binned

[another20]

Been unable to join in for a week or so as have had an injury.......BUT read this - so will be back on the campaign when the shoulder defrosts..

www.treehugger.com/cleaning-organizing/swedish-death-cleaning-new-decluttering-trend.html

The above article is great - talks about "Swedish Death Cleaning" which is a tradition that at a point in your life you start to declutter so that you live minimalistically from a possessions point of view but maximalistically from an experiences point of view...I have heard this before that you spend the first half of your life acquiring possessions and the second half disposing of them.

I have this fantasy that I should be able to exist out of a carry on bag as I am able to do on holiday for a week.

keep going all - think it is a lifelong behaviour - will be back on track soon

[BakerCandlestickmaker]

Oh dear that's me. I'm decluttering so the kids don't face a paper and kitchen utensil mountain when I pop my clogs!

[BakerCandlestickmaker]

I started off poor, thrifty and nomadic. Everything in a rucksack and a cardboard box! But things have accumulated quickly in the past years. The garage makes me shudder. My DH accumulates random, unsorted stuff at a frightening rate (like lots of little time capsules!) but I try to put that out of my mind or it gives me an excuse.

[Medwaymumoffour]

I don't like the death cleaning idea. It's too depressing thinking that that decluttering in readiness for your death should be forefront daily in your mind for decades.

I hope when I'm 80 I will have a tiny flat anyway full of sentimental tat that can easily go into one skip.
If I died now I'm sure my extended family would dump everything anyway. I can't believe anyone outside of my house views anything of mine with sentiment or value. But that's possibly my family. No one even talks about my dad since he died. All His stuff was thrown out, I have one tiny thing of his and he was cleansed away like her never existed. I can't believe I'd suffer a better fate and I'm doing this for me and the people under my roof.

[ZeppelinBend]

Goodness I don't want to think about dying yet. I too have been pretty nomadic, I've moved 14 times in my life and ten years ago came back home from abroad with only a suitcase of personal belongings. Why it astounds me the amount of nonsense I've collected around me now.

Since I've done some pretty big jobs the last two days and have an achy back to show for it I kept it low key today. Cleared out the bathroom drawer which doesn't have much in it anyway tbh. Then the top of the microwave which seems to breed paperwork. Few papers shredded and the rest moved to beside my box organiser. I think I'll leave that until the end and I get it all together - the one job I am dreading!

[BakerCandlestickmaker]

I need a long term rationale that involves doing it for someone else's benefit ( in this case my future middle aged children with other things to do than sort through their parents stuff!) or else I find something I'd rather do!

[CandyMelts]

Joining in, we're buying our first home so I'd love to declutter before we move. I'm also off work sick and run out of other jobs I can do. I'd already sold lots of dvds and books so good to continue.

Watched some of clutterbugs videos after someone on here's recommendations so started her October challenge and did under the kitchen sink. A million bag ties and Hoover bags binned, we've not had a Hoover with a bag for months...

DH is a hoarder and looked very alarmed to come home to this, I needed praise dammit

[BakerCandlestickmaker]

Well done Candy.

I put out a bag of outgrown clothes and children's books this morning for collection. It's nice to think it will be picked up rather than us heading to the charity shop with it. An easy gain in the clutter campaign.

[SandSnakeofDorne]

I love it when we get a charity bag through and someone comes to collect my clutter!

I'm going to try and sort out some of the craft drawers today, if the baby will nap!

[StealthNinjaMum]

Zeppelin I know you're right about the teddies and I do have one or two favourites, I suppose I was upset because I suddenly realised how manky they are and no-one else will ever love them!

Well done with getting rid or your bags zeppelin. Mine hate throwing clothes away - dd2 will squeeze her feet into too small shoes and get blisters rather than throw them away! Getting rid of shoes is really hard in this house.

I think my mum did the death cleaning idea when she gave me the teddies. I think her loft is quite inaccessible so it's amazing she got up there (she's mid 70s) to do it. She has been obsessed with my inheritance for about the last 20 years lots of comments that she won't buy a brand new car because she'll have less to leave me. I think there is a generation that is slightly obsessed with that sort of thing. I have to say I wouldn't want my children to find a love letter I shredded about two days ago when I die! That was actually quite hard, my first boyfriend dumped me in a nasty way and even though I am married to an amazing man and barely think about nasty boyfriend I felt a bit sick when I found a 'contract' he had written and signed saying he will love me forever. Anyway it's in the shredder now!

Today I spent about 30 minutes shredding things and actually doing some filing. Tomorrow I am going to try to spend about four hours doing it.

[CandyMelts]

Yeah I don't think that contract is legally binding Stealth

Day 2 of clutterbugs challenge is Tupperware. Ours live in our cupboard of doom which is pretty inaccessible so it needed a good clear out. Had it empty when heard a crash and it was suddenly full of random stuff that isn't ours, a plastic colander, some baking tins and most gross a load of red onions... I think. We've never put food in there and have lived here a year.
Sure it was all just balanced somewhere I couldn't see it but it's freaked me out so I've shut the door until DH gets home. Did bin a lot though, and found lots of Halloween cookie cutters which is timely

[Medwaymumoffour]

Tupperware is the bane of my kitchen! I haven't done anything for two days so I'm behind now. However I have got rid of 215 things so far this month and it's only half way through the month. I'm sure I can still hit my 300 target and maybe even set a higher one. I just must not stop, that's the key

[GoGoGazelle]

I also spent much of my 20s living in various countries out of a suitcase. I'm still fairly minimalist and prefer paying for experiences/holidays than things. But family life, a prone to hoarding dh thank God for an attic and young kids (party bags, artwork, piles of clothes) means my home isn't exactly calming.
I definitely need to pay more attention to what comes in as well as what goes out. Sold 2 things on eBay this week but also bought 2 pairs of shoes for the DC so no real change. Going to try and do one in, one out in addition to one item a day.
As well as the eBay items, I also returned an incredibly overdue library book.

[BakerCandlestickmaker]

That sounds impressive to me Medway!

I don't count but I can see that would be a help to motivation to get back to it after a brief pause. I used to tot up my miles walked over each week so that missing a couple of days didn't feel like a setback but a spur to do more.

[BakerCandlestickmaker]

When I moved about in the very early days I just couldn't keep things. I remember giving a friend my really rather nice Phillips tape deck (along with a pot plant!) because I just couldn't transport it. Clutter is a whole raft of postponed decisions..

[BasinHaircut]

candy/medway I did my Tupperware drawer yesterday! Chucked half away as I don’t need it, and it was well past it’s best.

Also offloaded a car seat and couple of smaller baby bits to a friend so that’s a few more bits gone forever and space made.

Also did I bathroom grout spruce up yesterday as it was all looking a bit grey .

[StealthNinjaMum]

Medwaymum that is amazing! Do you have any sort of end date? I set myself a target of getting rid of 365 bags this year and establishing new ways of organising myself. I think I'm now up to about 240 bags. Don't think I'll finish the whole house declutter this year but I am organising myself better and am so much happier at the end of the year than I was at the start.

I did my tupperware a few months ago. We have a big drawer for it so I didn't need to throw much away. But I did make sure that every piece had its lid on so now it just takes seconds to find what I want rather than spending hours looking for the lid.

I didn't quite manage the four hours I said I would (I forgot I had to go out) but I spent 1 hour with paperwork and I emptied a Box of Doom. There's still several mountains of paperwork but I have done some filing and found important documents like dd2s birth certificate and my marriage certificate. I have nothing on next week and I am really determined to spend 10 hours on paperwork and decluttering before the kids trash the house at half-term.

[Medwaymumoffour]

stealth my end date is the 1st of Nov ( so clearing still over half term 😭) then I need to set a new goal. You couldn't tell I have thrown anything out yet. Next goal might be weekly by room. At some point my goal will be one thing out per one in but I'm nowhere clutter free to start that anytime soon.
I'm still not buying which is making me twitchy but I need to know I can resist and survive.
Then hopefully next year I will be able to just do these big purges at summer winter as the kids clothes need shopping over and they have outgrown things.
My end goal is a bit wooly as it feels to unachievable thinking too long term

[Peppaismysaviour]

I walk to groups and shopping with LO in buggy so this week every time we go out I take at least one bag to the charity shop. That six bags gone since Tuesday when I was walking past charity shop anyway.
Also managed to sell four things on eBay and about ten on Facebook. So stuff out and money in, winning all round there£

[StealthNinjaMum]

Medway possibly asking the obvious but you have FOUR children and you are still decluttering. I am impressed. I do practically nothing when kids and dh are here. But the good thing is that because of what I have done we have more clean surfaces. Dc/ dh chuck stuff down and it just takes minutes to look tidy. The hallway is the most hated area of the house because coats / shoes / bags get thrown down and there used to be the dreaded post pile.

Today I have thrown away a packet of wet wipes that has been on a bathroom window ledge for about two years. I looked at them and they were all dry. Not much but better than nothing.

[StealthNinjaMum]

Was meant to be you have FOUR children and you are still decluttering?

I missed off the question mark. (grammar pedant).

[BakerCandlestickmaker]

Medway and Peppa you sound like you are doing well with the bags of stuff!

I am doing a thing or two a day.

Last night I threw away kitchen bits that survived a fairly radical cull last year. They have been sitting in that "last box" ever since as I hate to throw things away but they were not suitable to donate. A couple of timers have been rescued and put in an accessible drawer as I plan to use them for ten minutes tidy ups with the younger kids. I will pass them on though if that scheme fails!

Today I'm doing a purge on the bathroom contents. I do keep picking my easiest areas but it's keeping some momentum going.

[SandSnakeofDorne]

Today I've been through the big basket of toys we have in the living room and thrown away anything broken! Quite impressed with myself for that, though it didn't take nearly as long as I expected.