Keep on getting rid of one thing a day decluttering challenge!

[StealthNinjaMum]

After a thousand posts our homes are beautiful, decluttered places of harmony and relaxation….. or perhaps not?

We’re still trying to recycle, freecycle, sell our unwanted stuff and most of all clear out our houses, garages and sheds.

It’s easy to get involved, literally get rid of one thing a day and report back for support (and sometimes finger wagging if you’ve ‘accidentally’ bought a load of new clutter!)

Please join us and a warm welcome back to

@SandSnakeofDorne @PenelopeFlintstone @MajestyRoyal @Cupoteap @Gibble1 @SandAndSea @Medwaymumoffour @Rainbowqueen @Namethecat @lljkk @CapricornWithAUnicornHorn @Helsingborg @Panda81 @abitoflight @fannyanddick @AbbieLexie

(Apologies if I missed anyone out)

Original thread here

Going to tackle the pants drawer today one thing I'm guilty of having a lot of.

DH and I have a bet going that I can't sell at least one pair somewhere on the internet.

If I have to concede he's correct, they'll go to the clothes recycling bin that'll be around 24 pairs ...

hello abstardust I'm the same I have dds school books too and even though they're still primary they take up so much space. When I look at the books they're largely empty too so I will probably throw away things like maths books and keep any where they've been creative and rip out empty pages for scrap paper.

Hope you're feeling better tutu

Thanks Penelope, I don't feel great at the moment. Yesterday was very nearly a second day without throwing anything out so I reorganised my sanitary products just before bed! Where I have emptied out drawers and handbags recently I had put loads of odd ones in the bathroom cupboard. So last night I threw away some lillets that I will never use and consolidated boxes. I would never tell anyone about this in real life.

Pants drawer. That reminds me that my washing machine ate a pair of my knickers last week. Does that count? They literally came out as two pieces of fabric. Washing machine repair man couldn't find anything wrong.

IHateToCashew I almost (note the word almost) want to buy a pair from you just to help you win the bet.

Sorry you’re not feeling great Stealth.

I have a box of sanitary products in the bathroom. I haven’t had a period for about 7 years! My bathroom is a disaster. I have so much stuff.

A productive day so far. I had some stuff in the car to take to the charity shop so I dropped that off this morning. Also printed off a returns label to return a couple of pairs of shoes I had bought which are too small. Will take parcel to post offfice this afternoon.

We have a pantry type cupbroad in the kitchen and the top shelf was full of stuff I’d had bought for various health kicks ove the years. Took down a Tupperware box of packets. Have gotten rid of two packets of quinoa, a packet of quinoa flakes, a bag of coconut flour and a bag of cashew nuts. All use by mid 2016. Ridiculous. Such a waste.

Also took down a box of Herballife shakes which I am going to use for breakfast until they are all gone.

Was going to attempt clothes today but not sure I will have time.

cashew you will absolutely be able to sell a pair of knickers on eBay. I imagine you’d get around £10 a pair.

I sold a pair or “trashed” ballet pumps a while ago. I specifically listed them as “trashed”. £7.99 new in new look, I’d worn them every day no socks for about three months. So they were past their best. £24! Some eBay weirdo feet fetish person bought them (there were some odd messages...how much did they smell/were they stinky etc...) but one woman’s trash is another foot fetish persons treasure.....

I sold loads when I was pregnant. Apparently preggo feet is a thing too!

That’s so gross ememem!

So you're telling me I could have made hundreds by selling my old worn and tatty primark dolly shoes instead of binning them?!

In theory, yes.

You have to specifically list them as “trashed” though. Try it. Once you get over the Ick factor and think about the cash its ok....

I haven’t done it for a while as have been on maternity leave and mostly living in boots etc but now it’s barefoot no socks season....

Emem!

I'm really annoyed I chucked a pair of rather crusty, well worn sandals now.

next time cashew

Today I have:

Sorted laundry.
Tidied the bathroom drawer and ditched a few things - an old box of tampons - non applicator which have mostly come out of their wrappers; a fake tan mitt, and an empty bottle of mouthwash.

Wow, those shoes really ARE trashed 🤮

I am currently trying to come up with a daily chore list. When I'm in a decluttering mood my house ends up so messy. So I need to think of things to do each day which will make my house seem clean and tidy all of the time.

Well. Thrown some fridge magnets in the bin. That's mine done for the day.

Our move has just fallen through. We're stuck here for another three years. So pretty much all motivation gone now. If we have to stay in this shitty house in this shitty town, there's really no point in trying to make it look nice. It'll only get broken into again.

That’s rubbish iHateToCashew.. What happened? Why are you stuck for 3years?

Ahh long story short - we've been where we are three years and we're due a posting. We were supposed to be moving to Halton or Cyprus but DH has been forced into a posting exactly where he is, but basically just in another building.

I'll get over it. There's a chance we might still end up going to Cyprus, but there's no chance of moving out of our tiny two bed if we don't get sent out there. Which scuppers my plans of hiring an au pair as they'd have no bedroom. So god knows what I'm going to do with DS!

Ah well. I can still try to make the house look nice! I'll sulk tonight and start fresh tomorrow.

Ah. Ok. Sounds a bit of a pain indeed.

Huge pain if I'm honest. Knowing we were due to move any day is all that's really kept me going. Oh well, onwards and upwards!

This has spurred me on .. I did a cluttered cupboard in sons room and a few things I don't wear anymore last week ... have to sell my house as part of divorce next year .. it's not mega cluttered but if I start now will be great .. I'm going to tackle the "man drawer" in the kitchen tonight .. the one with Birthday candles, cat treats, rubber bands, a sheep ornament , take away menus etc ! I think a little bit each day will work. Way too daunting to do in one go !
My finest hour was re homing 8 massive bags of cuddly toys from when my kids were little ... their faces were looking sadly at me .. but I remained strong and they went to new homes via someone's school fair !

Ihatetocashew sorry to hear that. Perhaps you have some ice cream and alcohol you can declutter?

Shocked about shoes / knickers posts upthread. .

Another day of no decluttering, two people didn't pick up things they were going to buy which annoyed me a lot. I did sit with dd1 and went through her school bag and pencil case and we threw loads of stuff out so I suppose there has been some decluttering. Looking around now, I am determined to find something to get rid of before bed.

Sorry to hear about the non move Cashew.
DMiL decluttered a mug today by dropping it out of the cupboard and smashing it. It has chipped my new worktop 😩. DH thinks we can fill it- we’ll have to do something with it as although it’s a small scratch, it’s all the way through the laminate.

Stealth I don't understand that... you mean to tell me you have bottles of wine in your house you HAVEN'T drunk!? that never happens in my house.

And thanks Gibble I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about it all this morning. As soon as I'm done de-cluttering, I'm going to maybe look at getting lots of storage for the dining room. And I'm going to demand new carpet and paint the house (if we still can't move to a 3 bed).

This thread is just so inspiring even if it's not the home I want, I can still make it a clutter free and lovely space.

Cashew sorry I don't drink much so have many bottles in the house. (But not much ice cream!) In fact as a declutter about a year ago I spent an afternoon sampling alcohol to see if it was drinkable or should be chucked out! I had vodkas from before I went out with dh i.e. 1999. And as much as it felt wrong chucking it out it cleared a space in the cupboard.

Glad you're feeling better. Even if you aren't moving just being better organised is a good thing. I could bore you at length with how much better little aspects of my life are compared to 18 months ago but won't.

After last night's post I went into the Drawer of Doom in the bedroom (big drawer under bed where I 'temporarily' chucked a load of stuff before I find homes for it). I threw away some receipts and a particularly ugly, broken brooch which was a present 20 years ago and I never even liked it when new.

Today I need to tidy as dc are back at school. My priority is to do lots of washing and maybe take a few bags to the charity shop.

Cashew sorry to hear that I've been in the same situation of being in a flat that will never really be homely or 'yours' and it really makes you not want to bother cleaning or making it look nice. If it helps keep your hopes up I have now (finally) moved into a lovely house and I'm making it nice and homely. You will get somewhere in the end, it's just a waiting game and in the meantime you may as well try to declutter. Just think of your new house. You don't want to be filling it with crap so you may as well start getting rid now HTH and I'm really hoping you get a nice new house soon, good luck

I have just given 5 bags to a charity shop - mostly things 'decluttered' in the last month. So my two items which I added today are children's DVDs.

I tidied but things are pretty bad after the holidays so I'll do a bit more until pickup time. Pleasingly I found I was filing/ shredding paperwork from 2018. I haven't been this organised in years.

Sorry to read that, Cashew. Good that you're being so positive though. There are definitely benefits to living in a small home - it has really helped me to declutter and focus on what's important. By the time we move, I'm determined we're not going to be paying movers to move any clutter and it will all be much easier. Every cloud and all that.

My selling has stalled this week so I'm currently building up to 'doing the kitchen & bathroom'. It may take a while.

I've now cleaned out the fridge and have recycled a surprisingly large amount of ood foods: about 8 preserves/sauces, 2 almost empty margerines, some chillis, a lemon and a ginger root. I was very pleased to see that most of the fresh veg was fine. Needless to say, DP has been lectured about his spontaneous purchasing of chillis, preserves and sauces.

I'm also throwing out one of his old t-shirts so a good day today.