Decluttering (again)

[interestingdays]

I've a skip.. and no excuse - although I can muster many!

Help!

I have no idea how many t shirts etc to justify hanging onto and I've far too many (of everything), full stop. My garage is bulging with stuff. My head feels cloudy with the amount of stuff I have hoarded away. I need it out, out, out! But every time I look at it, I feel overwhelmed and can't do anything about it. When I think of throwing things out, I feel it's a huge waste so hero hanging onto everything that's weighing on my shelves and mind.

Anyone else felt like this and found a way through?

Well think how other people can make use of your things, then if, say, you give to a charity shop, you are benefiting the charity, providing volunteering opportunities to someone, if it is beyond saving and goes in the skip then you are helping keep someone in work by providing a full skip that needs to be collected etc.

And if that doesn't work, remember it will all end up in a skip sooner or later anyway. If not now, then in 5, 20, 80 years. The moment it was made/manufactured that was always going to be it's final resting place.

I arranged with British Heart Foundation for a collection and picked up 6 of their bags to fill. I found that once I had the deadline of the pick up it was easy to get a lot more stuff together.

As for how many of each thing to keep I would say minimum is the amount you need for a holiday and maximum is what you sensibly have space for (e.g one drawer or shelf in wardrobe not there's space for more in the garage!).

I still have a long way to go but think I've made a start.

Start with actual rubbish.

For instance, in my house I can instantly think of the following things that would go in a skip, that are hanging around because I can't put them in the weekly rubbish collection and need to be driven to the tip:

broken George Foreman grill
kettle where the bottom melted when someone put it on a hot hob
3 x broken camping chairs
2 x bicycle tyres
old unusable saucepans & chipped crockery
plastic baby toys
broken pop-up tent
old mop
old lampshades x 2
toddler/baby set of plastic garden table & chairs

etc.
That's just off the top of my head.
Start with the real, actual rubbish.

You just need a bit of momentum. Report back ...

I’m having a massive decluttering at the moment and I know how overwhelming it feels. DH has put be on notice that he’s only half joking when he says it’s go to go or if divorce but it’s such a massive task.
I randomly found this book in the library and I’ve been enjoying it immensely, it’s all about a woman’s personal story of her one year of decluttering. I really really relate to her and in a weird way it’s helped motivate me as it feels like I’m not the only person in the way with huge clutter issues.
Was looking for a link to the book and found a link to this video which showed the mess she was dealing with - makes me feel so much better!

Oh no now I’m procrastinating and going down a rabbit hole of watching time lapse clutter clearing videos. Send help!

Pick a room or an area of the house and go to work on that. Put the rest out of your mind.
I had to clear out my parents' stuff last year and I found it really really hard.
The tip on broken stuff is really good and be ruthless about it - NOTHING that is not in perfect condition. The same could be extended to clothes.
Another tip with clothes is this. Imagine you are about to buy the item - stop and think could you walk out of the shop without it? If you got to the till and you'd left your purse at home would you go back?
With sentimental items, I decided in the end to take photos then pass them to the charity shop.
And with books I made myself think if I do ever decide I really must read this book I can always buy it again second hand on the internet or borrow it from the library.
All the best. You will do it.

Fantastic advice. Thank you all!!! Am now going to watch the video

Loved it. Mine is ... worse! Particularly The (double) Garage

Start in the kitchen, you will most likely have less emotional attachment to possessions in there and likely have a lot of clutter, so it is a good place to practice your decluttering techniques and gain momentum.

Get rid of..
Broken items
Duplicates
Break up "sets" of crockery, pans, knife blocks etc and look at them as separates only keeping what you actually need. The large saucepan will not miss its matching milk pan!!
Think about the largest number of people you have ever served a sit down meal to, and use that as your maximum number for plates, cutlery etc (this will leave you with day to day spares).

You don't need a special occasion dinner service, is the food that counts after all.
Don't feel guilty if you keep one luxury or sentimental item (I have a Kenwood chef that doesn't get used much and I could cope without, but won't get rid of).

This is a really good list to get you started (not sure if the clicky link will work replying on my phone).
www.therusticelk.com/117-things-declutter-right-now/

Start with throwing away just 10 items (or 50 or 100), count them. Then take a break. Then repeat.

Like the idea of counting items. Trashing duplicates? I live by duplicates. Lol
Erm perhaps that's the problem

Fab list and tips. Thank you C

When I started decluttering, I noticed that it was much easier to get rid of things if someone was paying me for them, even things I felt relatively attached to. This told me that there are 'ways' to do it. That I don't have to just give up when I get stuck. I can be creative about it.

So, you could hold a garage/yard sale or a car boot. You could sell things on fb or eBay. You can take photos of things before they go. You could have a swap party or just give things to friends and family. You could also donate to your favourite charity. You can set an alarm and blitz a space at speed in a few minutes. You can also stuff clutter into sacks and live with the sacks for a set time - this allows you to feel safe about letting things go whilst also getting the job done. (If you don't find yourself rooting through them then you know you can let them go.) You could try getting rid of one or more things a day (we've got a thread for that on here). You can even use mantras: "It's safe to let go" etc.

Give yourself regular rewards and take time to enjoy the lovely, new, clear spaces which you create.

Basically, do whatever you need to do and just keep going.

Sandandsea... is just love to pop it all in a skip!

Not ideal but woke at 3.30am and decluttered utility room. Two full black bags. You've all helped to get me started. V tired now. Lol.

Well done!

Another tip I’ve noticed. I feel guilty about not giving masses to charity during the year. If I tell myself anything I give to the charity shop is in lieu of donating actual cash to a charity, then I feel much better about giving ‘good’ stuff away that I probably could sell but know that I won’t get round to doing all the photographing/listing/posting etc.

Eg there’s an item I think ‘this is practically brand new! I could sell that for £10 at least!’ If I just pop it along to the charity shop immediately and feel good that I’ve just given £10 to the charity, it’s out of my house much more quickly and with less stress than trying to sell it.

@interestingdays - Well done! That sounds great! Sometimes you've got to go with it when the mood strikes.

@ProgressPenguin - Yes! I do this too.

So glad. Small start (BIG job)

I started a massive clearout last year, and checking back, the local charity shops have made around £1000 out of the Stuff in my house that I never used or needed. Embarrassingly £100 of that was a wool stash in the attic I'd forgotten I had .

Yes, I could have done with that £1000, but how many hours would I have had to spend to sell it, in terms of photos, listing on ebay/FB, car boot sales, and then just general moving it around the house/stepping over it.

I tell myself that the charity shop will always get more money for an item than I would. It’s also easier as a buyer to buy things there. It’s anonymous. I would never bother going to someone’s house/use eBay for the sort of things I buy from a charity shop.

I use gift aid as well so the charity will get even more money from my unwanted things.

My Vision, and THAT'S just it. I'm sitting on a not-so-small fortune here. But I've not the time to put it all on Ebay and FB selling pages. Really haven't. And the stuff would linger even longer. People on FB generally don't turn up for things and it becomes hugely frustrating. I've looked into finding someone who'll sell and split the profit but no one seems to do it for anything other than ££££ or designer items nowadays.
So I'll charity shop or skip it. Just need it out!

I assume you’ve read/seen/heard of Marie Kondo?

Definitely get rid of broken stuff first, then work your way through.

Good luck!

Yes I love her folding methods. Can't quite do the 'if you don't love it, chuck it' thing though. Natural hoarder. Scared just in case I'll need it (whatever 'it' is).

do not buy decluttering books, more clutter! Borrow from library if you must.

stop buying clothes until you actually have none of the item left that is wearable. Boring way to spend time, anyway. Chuck out everything stained, holed, wrong size - straight in the rag bag. You probably won't need to go shopping for years.

I have the Marie Kondo book borrowed from the library. I also have from the library A Life Less Throwaway by Tara Button, which I am enjoying.