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

You are all doing so well!

Feel like ive lost my mojo trying to get clothes sorted.

I think I may be anaemic again though as I have no energy at all.
Doesnt help that kids have been up 5.30am past 2 days.
I do suffer with anaemia a lot esp during pregnancy to the point I need drips etc as oral doesnt work fast enough.

Took kids to the park so they could play football while I sat on the grass. Wasnt very comfy but they did end up becoming tired after it

Ohhh Emen! That sounds really good. I have a few savoury pastry cases I prepped ages ago in the freezer, so that could work well!

I also decluttered my CV a bit and applied for a few part time jobs this morning that I'd been sent no intention of going back till September, but I guess there's no harm!

DH has also listed our next2me on eBay ... which I'm hoping is a sign he's more open to adopting DC2!

I'm not too well today so on a go slow but have managed to post another item for sale.

@StealthNinjaMum - It sounds like we've got a very similar paperwork stash going on. The problem I have is that I also have a box for something else and another box... Oh and another box... I would like to cut it a lot more.

namajesty was the 132 target for May? At this rate you'll do it in no time.

cashew did I read correctly that GCSEs expire? That's terrible. if I ever needed a maths or English GCSE to retrain I think I'd fail.

baubles I hope you're feeling better, the heat added to anaemia and pregnancy must be awful.

sandandsea but at least we know what we have and can take baby steps to deal with it. shredding old bank statements last week was a very big step for me. I have lots of other folders but that part of the house is kind of organised.

I also have a box with hanging dividers in which I have payslips, p45s, contracts etc from my very first Saturday job 30years ago. Are you the same? I would like to perhaps throw them all away and just p60s and p45s. That would probably fit on one small plastic document folder.

Yesterday I started sorting through our outdoor toy box and threw away some burst balls and a couple of empty bubble mixture bottles. I am going to carry on doing that today and also more weeding and leaf sweeping.

@StealthNinjaMum

I also have a box with hanging dividers in which I have payslips, p45s, contracts etc from my very first Saturday job 30years ago. Are you the same?

100%. Not a hanging folder but numerous, beautifully filed, ring binders. Years ago, a friend of mine had problems claiming her rightful pension and was told by the govt dept that their systems had gone down and they'd lost loads of data. It was her paper copies which enabled her to prove what she was due. This has stayed with me.

Today I am washing my buggy ready to sell. All fabrics have been removed and are in the washing machine and ive washed the frame. Did get all emotional as this is the last baby item I had but we are definitely not having any more children so needs to go 😂

More stuff sold on Facebook, so handy when people actually turn up when they say they will!

Stealth yes it's for May, I am steaming ahead and trying to get loads done because I'm scared I will end up fizzling out and stopping if I take it slowly. As you can probably tell I am a 'black and white' person so for me it's very much all or nothing

Loads going on here today, well done

I have got a small stash of things on the kitchen side but I will list them all here and tally them up tonight once I've got more.

Not planning on doing much today. Just doing washing and bits and pieces. Plannnig in sitting in garden with my book for an hour later. BBQ for dinner.

I did put away 3baskets of clean washing this morning and sorted out my winter tops and switched t-shirts into those drawers. Found a brand new grey top I bought last Nov in Boston which I had completely forgotten about. I did found four tops to go.

I think I have too many summer pjs. 6 pairs of pjs and 3 nightdresses. I like them all though!

Finished the veranda yesterday and sat out. It gets full sun late afternoon and was far too hot! I’m sure it will be nice at other times.

Fell off the thread, but starting again. Out of the house in May: 4 lots of duplo on ebay, 2 toddler toys to a friend, bag of 5 things to charity shop.
So, 11 things out.

Yes Stealth. I thought the same! Apparently they expire after five years. I mentioned it to a friend and they had to do an access course before being allowed to do a completely irrelevant course for work. It's bonkers.

Got rid of a load of BBQ stuff but no one wanted the non alcoholic wine there's always tomorrow...

cashew I’ve done it with Christmas chutney and also plain old Branston. Both delicious.

I have nearly filled a big garden waste bin with leaves and weeds and had a lovely time with music and dd1 helping me pull up leaves. My garden is a bit of a jungle so it'll probably take a few weeks to finish but I have made a good start. I will probably never look at it again after today

Bundle of 14 books sold this afternoon so they have been collected. Threw away old basket for pram that had a hole in, seat covers that had marks on I couldn't get off, tins of paint ready to be thrown away but unsure what to do with them as I don't drive so can't take to the tip....

Up to date on email deleting and paperwork filing.

Fridge sorted out, bits used up today and manky melon thrown away. Ready to meal plan for food shopping on Tuesday.

Also found 5 new boxes of ice poles in the cupboard of doom so have put some in the freezer 😁

Found loads of opened roles of wrapping paper so going to use this mish mash on dd2 birthday presents rather than buy more just to have it matching.

Had one of those unexpected, synchronicitous (sp?) situations tonight. My cat came in bloodied and with fur coming out and on checking her over, I realised she'd lost her collar. DP went out in the dark to see if he could find it and, completely by chance, found a baby bird down the bottom of the garden! It was too young to leave and would have been cat food quite soon anyway so we brought it in. (My love of boxes, organisation and decluttering finally came into its own!)

We have a great bird rescue charity here so we got onto them and they have just been and collected the bird. It was apparently only about 5 days old and had an infection so it looks like its mum might have rejected it. It will probably be OK now though.

So, I've decluttered a box, some old newspaper and a poorly bird.

Also, with thanks to this thread, it took about a minute to tidy up in preparation for our unplanned visitor.

P60 & P45 YY keep all of them safely, a friend had to provide ten years worth of them when she retired in order to claim her correct pension, the Revenue had no records at all for her for some of the years, even though she had been continuously employed.

Hope you're all having an excellent long weekend of decluttering

Unsurprisingly, MIL cancelled for today probably because SIL kicked off so I've been staring at the toilet and trying to not go out impulsively and buy paint and shelving and pot plants!

I have been thinking about how I can use up all the crafty bits I've got kicking around the house though and figured I may be able to make some curtains and a lampshade for DS's room with all the bits and bobs I have kicking around - as soon as I get the time!

Got a few more dresses to list on eBay, and I might sand off the fireplace shelf today. Whoever lived here before did an awful job of varnishing it and staining it a weird not quite mahogany colour. It looks like it's a beautiful colour underneath that actually coordinates with the living room!

Good news on the baby bird. It turned out to have some cat injuries too but is doing well.

I'm about to declutter myself to the beach. Hope you're all having a lovely day.

Good news on the bird. Poor thing.

Not much achieved here today. I sorted out my workout clothes to put winter stuff away. It’s now on bedroom floor as nowhere to put it yet!

I did find a few bits to get rid of though so put them into a bag ready to go with the few tops I found yesterday. They will go tomorrow.

I might do a basket from th food cupboard in a minute. Needed poppy seeds for a recipe yesterday but didn’t have any. Whilst looking found out of date sesame seeds which went but there is def more to go. And DH found an out of date bottle of sesame oil. No idea how to get rid of it though. Any ideas? Don’t want to pour it down the sink.

I have a few other random bottles of things that could go. Old salad dressings etc. We have one of those tall pull out narrow cupboards and it’s full.

Cider my first thought is to pour it over the soil in your garden though I'm not sure what it would do!

Listed 51 items on eBay today! So hopefully that'll clear some space.

Thanks sandandsea and ada it's good to know my natural distrust of the government isn't unfounded. I will shred payslips but keep p45/ and p60s. Of course this is largely theoretical as I still have a huge amount to do before I get to that stage.

So far today I have done nothing. We went to a park in the morning and I have done cleaning since we got back. I might pop out into the garden to see if I can sweep up one last bucket of leaves.

Glad the bird is ok.

cashew 51 is amazing!

With cooking oil I tend to put it in a container (whatever I have lying around eg margarine tub).

Cheers Stealth to be fair it's more than 51... I bundled together loads of books by theme hoping it'll get rid of them faster! I found ton of books I'd forgotten I had.

Emen who I've decided to rename the queen of pastry has inspired me to make a massive tart out of some strawberry champagne M&S jam we were gifted but doesn't taste right on toast. Now I just need to find a way to use up the not as nice glittery peach and champagne jam.

I also realised my sewing box is shit and contains nothing useful. Just pointless scraps of fabric not big enough to do anything with. So they've been binned. Will need to restock with useful stuff though. It didn't even contain a needle!