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?

How are you doing op? I would get rid of big / broken stuff - something so you can see a difference immediately that will motivate you.

I have been decluttering for about 18 months, fairly slowly, but it has made a huge, huge difference. I lurked on a 'get rid of a carrier bag of clutter a day' thread and started to do that and now I'm on the 'get rid of one thing a day' thread which I find helpful.

In terms of what to get rid of only you know what you really need and love so it's hard to give advice but some things that have worked for me.

1. Some people blitz an area and will completely declutter it. I find this difficult so do an area and then come back to it a month later and then again etc. I get an emotional attachment to stuff and if I get rid of a few items at a time (e.g. cookbooks) I can come back later and get rid of a few more at a later date. I think I realise I didn't get upset the last time I threw those items away so I can do a bit more. With clothes you could really inspect them and start by getting rid of just those with small holes or dirty patches or the ones that are really old fashioned. You should see a clearer wardrobe. Come back and get rid of the things you don't really like or aren't flattering or adopt a one in one out policy with new clothes.
2. I sometimes set a timer for 15 minutes to clear an area so it feels manageable. I usually end up getting really into it and can spend hours doing it.
3. Selling stuff is a hassle so I do give lots away and free cycle a lot (there's an app that makes this really easy). I mainly sell dc's stuff as I know they don't like me getting rid of their toys and I feel less guilty if I can give them money. I now have a policy where I put something for sale or to give away and bump in for five days or a week and if it doesn't go I take it to the charity shop.
4. I put things to go in my car so they aren't sitting around the house. At the moment my boot has lightbulbs, batteries, medicines and clothes. When I next go shopping I'll get rid of them.
5. I have been really inspired by some of the women on my thread doing diy jobs and I am now doing more diy and buying things for the house as a reward for removing the clutter. For a long time I made my house look 'less bad' and now I want it to look better.
6. I have become more observant with clutter. I sometimes realise there's been a broken umbrella in the cupboard for three years and I see it but don't really see it so it just stays there! We have really lovely coat hooks by the front door. On Saturday dh asked why one had an empty bag hanging from it and I realised it'd been there for a few weeks but it looked tidy and so I hadn't chucked it out. I also had a broken floorlamp for about six years. It still looked nice - just didn't work - and I kind of just didn't see it. That's gone now.

I also keep a log of the stuff I get rid on my iPad. So far it's over 600 bags of stuff. Much of it belonged to my husband (computers, old settee, old chest of drawers) or was furniture (cot, baby changing table) so I am also training him to get rid of stuff. Our garage and shed were full and are now nearly empty.

Anyway I hope this helps. Join one of the threads on housekeeping if you have more specific questions.

Update: not touched clothes. Need to as these are overspilling and draping about the house (and on the floorS). BUT have chucked big piece of furniture I didn't need. Moved keyboard and a chair and looks much better. Pleased!

Excellent progress. You are probably overwhelmed but its all about small steps.

theres a throw an item away a day thread on here. It doesnt just have to be one item you throw away but its a great thread and I read it for motivation.

Also dont dispair that things just seem to be getting shifted from room to room to start off with. It does go down eventually but you have to move tuff about a bit first.

On top of this, draw a line with stuff and be ruthless with anytihng new. Its pointless throwing two items a day but then keeping a new item in its place.

Fessing up... I've done nothing for days. Been ferrying DCs from one activity to another, labeling uniform, etc. exhausted! Need to get going as skip being collected in a week or so and job starts a few weeks later, too.

Place marking as I've just spent this afternoon cleaning DDs bedroom - the task is so much easier with a less cluttered room.

I'm tackling a few other areas in the house tomorrow in a bid to ultimately have an organised by start of term next week.

Well, first off good for you for getting stuck in.
Last autumn we decided enough was enough, house full of expensive crap, CC, Loans, OD etc etc. With Brexit looming and no one sure which way this country will go.... who'd have thought Venezuela would end up in the state they're in?.. take nothing for granted!
So, realising we couldn't just bin everything, partly because it was so wasteful and partly because I needed to clear the debt as well as clear the clutter.
We began listing on ebay, gumtree, local forums etc etc.
Just short of 12mths down the line, all debt has gone, along with a huge amount of clutter. It's been very very hard work!! Coming in at night, then having to wrap, pack and post items, answer emails etc etc. But the year long slog, plus watching what we spent has cleared the £15K combined debt that we owed. It feels incredible.
The house is still far from clutter free, we will do some more to pay for a much needed holiday then what remains will go to either a charity shop or the landfill.

My advice would be, sell what you can and only discard the rubbish
Best of luck

mrcharlie that’s inspiring.

McCharie you're an inspiration! Wow.

Practical - you go for it. Hope to start up again soon

Watching this thread with interest! DD is heading for three and I've got mountains of baby stuff hanging around...

Marking place!

When's your skip being collected @interestingdays? Is it nearly full?

For the clothes, just try to look at them objectively - are they faded, worn, stained, holed, greying? If so - OUT!

Really good advice. I’m toughening up!

I kept reading about the Marie Kondo thing and thought what a load of tosh! Then for some reason I went and bought the book and did it! Sounds daft but it truly is life changing. I kept thinking I should sell stuff but I didn’t get round to it so I contacted 2 charities that I like and I gave them all the stuff we didn’t want / need / use. I do this instead of donating money to charity and it feels good. I feel I’ve got rid of so much mental clutter too. It’s made cleaning the house so much easier - almost a pleasure 😬 It’s worth a look - just making a start on decluttering really inspires me to carry on. Keep going OP - you will see and feel the benefits.