Getting rid of one thing a day decluttering challenge: Part 3: Are we nearly there yet?

[StealthNinjaMum]

For 2000 posts a group of messy mumsnetters have been chucking out, selling, recycling and cooking weird cakes.

Are we free of clutter yet? Sadly not.

Thankfully we're here to get support and be told off when we have a relapse and bring more clutter into the house, garages, sheds, gardens.

Newbies are welcome to join us, it's easy we literally just get rid of one thing a day and report back.

Previous thread here

More shoes have gone out today and yesterday.

Loving it!!

I had some nets and left them in the airing cupboard for about six years...

A pair of dh's trousers have gone today.They had a rip that was too big to fix.

Bloody forgot to buy the boxes for the loft. I have sorted some kids clothes though and a load of maternity clothes to go.

Nothing decluttered today but the whole house has been cleaned and mopped all at the same time for the first time in months. (DH chronic bad health, me pg, Dad very ill etc. so to be honest we do struggle).

I feel over the moon about it

Brutus lists are good. Like you I never finish anything so I have been wondering if I should focus on certain areas this week. Might do.

1. The garden today
2. Room of Doom tomorrow
3. Spare room Wednesday
4. Room of Doom Thursday
5. erm...... not sure Friday

I came downstairs to find 8 pairs of shoes in the hall - again none of them mine - and lots of bags and dirt as I can't hoover. Yelled at everyone. I think dd1 gets it and is being better about putting her stuff away but it's sad that I pick on her more because she listens to me. What's really annoying is that since tidying up the cupboard under the stairs you can just put things away and find them effortlessly so there's no excuse to not put things away.

I am just about to have a shower and will use the remains of a leave in for 20 minutes hair conditioner. My skin is lovely at the moment from using various creams and I wear makeup most days now too. I would like to use up most stuff I have and then buy new nice stuff and start looking after myself.

Well done grey clouds that must be such a lovely feeling.

Yes, well done grey clouds! Have you read Marie kondo? Sounds to me very reminiscent of her ethos: don't keep stuff for special occasions, use it now!

I've done well this morning. Got rid of: a big black bin bag of rubbish, three bags for life of glass bottles (I've also ordered a replacement glass bin as ours has disappeared!) and three loads of laundry that was piling up in the utility room. Having a rest now before school run

Oops! Well done grey clouds but the kondo comment was aimed at Stealth! Sorry...

Hi Brutus I haven't read Kondo but have read a lot about it. I tend to do my own thing as I hate following rules but maybe I should as it gets harder to declutter.

I spent half an hour in the garden. It was a disgusting job. There are half a dozen plastic plant pots that must have been outside for years and had collected water and dead leaves. I had intended to wash them and reuse them (or donate them on freecycle) and tried but I actually (sorry for the information) retched at the smell as I emptied them so threw them in a bin bag even though it's really ungreen.

I also failed to take the old barbecue to the front of the house as I tipped it over and got charcoal everywhere so that is now in a bin bag. I threw away some toys that could not be cleaned. There is a patio where dd2 makes potions out of sand and earth and I started to sweep that and empty her precious mucky buckets of potion but will finish tomorrow.

I have traumatised DS by pulling out a cubby full of random things and making him sort through it. It has yielded such gems as dirty pants (!!), old slime from a science party that he must have fished out of the bin, empty bottles, pencil sharpeners, and the coup de gras... a lovely DVD from last year's school concert which DH and I have never seen. Oh, and random twigs, rocks, and bits of string. I despair, really I do.

stealth I'm doing similar with "beauty" stuff. Had a face mask thing in the bath tonight and gave been using scrubs and body butters .

Today I have put the maternity clothes in the car as a woman is collecting them from me at work tomorrow, and someone else is collecting the steriliser.

I've sorted through a small pile of post and put the rubbish in the recycling. And inspired by someone else's post at the weekend I have disposed of the out of date medication!

I'm really getting into this again!

Hi,

I really need this idea! Currently completely frozen in a cycle of “ah I don’t know where to start” and just moving STUFF from one place to the next.

We’re in the middle of a big house move to a lifestyle equestrian property... it’s taking AGES! It feels so out of my control :(

Anyhow - we’ve moved my mum and 2 cats into my 3 bed house (I live with my DD2 and my dog!)

So, in the blink of an eye our whole routine is upside down and the house is full of stuff! Both my mum and I are a bit dazed with it all grrrr.

I’ve really great intentions of cleansing myself of stuff I don’t need but it’s actually making the whole thing more complicated as there are just really long winded tasks everywhere - say for example my closet which I’ve reduced right down - but want to Ebay it all - and need to take photos while the clothes are crease free - but there’s literally 4 wardrobes FULL of clothes and I do not know where to start!

Wondering if I just chuck them all in a box and tackle if after we move!

Dreading the next 8 weeks until moving day!

Handyman jobs, packing, organising and chaos grrrr!

Oh and I’ve 3 horses to move too!

Any advice nice ladies?!?!

Oh god. Some old ladies have just been into my house who used to live here in the 1940s. They were just looking at the outside but I invited them in, as I've had a couple of others come in before. Sounds strange to some but it's a small village and they'd come to see their childhood home. I know some of their relatives too.
Anyway, it was quite embarrassing even though they were 100% lovely.
I'm going to use it. I'm going to think of all the things that made me cringe the most and fix those first.

Hello nofilter. Wow you've got a lot on,

It can be hard working out where to start. I wonder if you really NEED to sell things on eBay. If you think about how much it'll cost to move them and how much time it'll take you.

Could you go through your clothes objectively and put into a pile of things that might sell and things that won't and quickly get rid of those that won't. I don't tend to sell clothes but do put a lot as rags as they get holes. So you could go through tops / t-shirts looking for those holes you get at belt level and get rid of them? You could maybe focus on just selling workwear or formal wear to begin with or one brand. Thinking about how I buy on eBay I'll do a search for a brand or style and if someone is selling something I like I might see what else they have.

Also and I recommended this to someone recently you could do a big push on your kitchen as it is almost sure to be full of tins / foods that have gone off. I found the last time I moved that the kitchen took the longest to pack because it had so many fragile items so you could get rid of chipped crockery, extra mugs and gadgets you don't use.

penelope my window cleaners are coming today. They come about once every two months. I always imagine they think my house is the messiest they clean. It's actually not too bad at the moment but I am going to whizz round a couple of rooms.

My list says today I'm working on the spare room and I am going to go back in the garden to finish yesterdays work.

Step 1 Go through your clothes objectively and quickly get rid of those that won't
Step 2 Chuck them all in a box and tackle if after we move!
Step 3 Focus on just selling workwear or formal wear to begin with or one brand. (StealthNinja is a Ninja at this decluttering business)

Stealth - my windows are filthy. I wish a window cleaner would come to this village.

Filter In addition to Stealth's excellent advice, have you thought about selling the clothes in bundles? Or listing it as a house clearance on somewhere like Gumtree? May shift stuff a bit faster.

@Nofilter - I think it might be a mistake to think you will have more time after you move. I'm also getting ready to sell and just don't want to pay movers to move clutter.

4 wardrobes of clothes really is a lot. Is that just yours?

You could hire someone to sell your stuff. Photograph each piece quickly (for your security) before handing it over and then just get them to do it all for a %. (Good for expensive stuff.)

Or, you could group items and sell them in bulk.

Or, you could do a car boot, then charity the leftovers.

Or, you could charity shop the lot.

I've been selling bits here and there - it can be very time consuming, esp on Facebook, due to all the no-shows and cancellations.

You just have to start. Overwhelm is the killer for me which is why this thread works so well. (Slowly slowly catchy monkey.)

Hi all

Have fallen by the wayside a bit in the last week or so. But Im trying to get back into it. Did some of a kitchen cupboard yesterday. Prompted by DH taking some tins of fruit down from the top shelf. One of which we obvmoved with us from Hungary. We have been back almost 7 years! So 3 tins of fruit gone. And I sorted through some boxes of nuts, seeds and dried fruit and got rid of some out of date stuff.

I need to sit down and do a list. I have some stuff to go to the charity shop and we need to do a tip run. I’d love to just get a skip but don’t think DH would agree.

Our garden is huge and a constant battle. But have a plan going forward for some of it and some people booked in to come and do some work in it so it will get there slowly. Half of it looks like Steptoe’s yard!

We have a sort of covered porch thing on the side of the house where we keep the recycling boxes etc. It’s currently a mess. I’m going to tackle that this afternoon. Although there are spiders.........

Nofilter - sounds beyond stressful! Be ruthless with the clothes. In reality it’s hard to sell them in my view. And you need to work out how much you’ll get and if it’s actualy worth the time it will take you to sort, iron, photograph, put on eBay or whatever.

I am knackered. Just spent the morning sweeping the patio. I didn't intend to but I haven't done this for years. I have bleached a mouldy table that I was going to throw out so dd can make potions on it. I have also swept some furniture that was a wedding present ten years ago and will sand it and varnish it - maybe this week.

I am so angry I let my house and garden get so messy.

Ps I used to have four wardrobes of clothes just for me. I just have one now and a few drawers. It's so hard getting rid of them.

Thanks ladies!

I actually came to our caravan late last night as DD was in bed and had a full day planned today with my mum and her friend and grandkids, I’ve got a whole day here to get the sun lounger out - it’s BLISS! I’ve an audio book on. I feel like I can breathe again haha

I’ll definitely be ruthless with the clothes and just sell what is brand new unworn designer or excellentcondition popular brand - it’s most of it though as my body has changed twice quite considerably - from 16 to size 12 since getting my horses... that’s something to be celebrated though!

Are there people you can pay sand to do it for you?

That is a definite great first job stealth the kitchen as I’ve just stuffed all mums tinned stuff in with my old tinned stuff - I know a man who lives in a homeless sort of way actually and I will give anything of use to him and be RUTHLESS!

Might get car washed and junk out of it chucked today and book it in for the spare wheel to be changed and MOT this week that’s absolute desperate to be done.... I always feel better with a clean car and it’s a nice quick job too ;-)

You are all doing so well!! Been pretty stressful here ( busiest time of year at work, bosses away, etc) but trying to catch up a bit now.

betsy I hear you about the hayfever, been awful here this year, and all the dust I'm stirring up doesn't help. The only tablets that work are the ones that make me drowsy...

DH is tackling the kitchen, you've inspired me enough to go join him

@Nofilter - Yes, definitely. I don't know anyone at the mo though or I would put you in touch. I have also seen a shop which sells stuff for you and takes a cut. Maybe a Dress Agency could work for you??

Buffy dh is tackling the kitchen? You lucky woman!

So after sweeping the patio I ended up throwing away another couple of bags worth of broken outdoor toys and plant pots.

I then thought it was Wednesday and tackled the spare room (the wrong room, my to do list says it's tomorrows job.oops!) and put a load of bags in the car to go to a charity shop. I put a few toys for sale on Facebook too.

no filter size 16 to 12?

Booked the car in for next Wednesday that’s actually a massive job dealt with as it’s had a spare tyre on for 6 weeks...

I’ve chosen a few old toys to throw away today even though I’m not actually “at home” and it felt good might choose a few more bits later! #likeit

I have actually made £700 so far selling things on Ebay and Facebook. Two old style radiators went for £250... I used to spend a lot on my clothes but am happier in simpler things these days and spend a lot of time in johdpurs.. I shall try and persevere but cut it right down in terms of the things I’ll only get a few quid for and probably send them to my cousins daughters...