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Housekeeping

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Original poster

New home for the new year - still getting rid of one item a day part 6

986 replies

StealthNinjaMum · 29/12/2018 10:28

Here we are again!

Little by little a group of mums netters have been decluttering our homes by getting rid of one item a day. Whether we eat it, bin it, recycle it, sell or give it away we are slowly tidying our homes.

Is this the thread where we finish? Probably not

As usual newbies are welcome to join us. We get rid of one thing and come back to update everyone on our progress and get support when it gets hard.

Previous thread is here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3381702-Getting-rid-of-one-thing-a-day-decluttering-challenge-Part-5?pg=1

OP posts:
Original poster
StealthNinjaMum · 15/01/2019 18:30

Well done reallyanothername. I think the most satifying thing to tidy (when you've finished it) is paperwork.

It was a paperwork day for me too. Lots of filing and shredding. I am going through the mountains of schoolwork dc bring back. They have loads of schoolbooks that they only seem to write on 4 pages so I then tear out 30 pages as scrap paper and either throw the book away (if it's maths or something boring) or keep it if it's creative. I have a small pile mountain of scrap paper. I already have enough scrap paper for the next 30 years of shopping lists so I wonder if I should see if anyone wants it on free cycle - but this sounds awful - I am so desperate to declutter the room of doom I feel like just throwing it away.

I also put up dd2s clock so that's a really big box gone from my bedroom.

OP posts:
MsAwesomeDragon · 15/01/2019 20:34

I haven't done anything yesterday (because I was very busy with work) or today (because I'm still very busy with work). I'm not sure I'll be able to do much during the week, so I'll have to just do my decluttering at weekends.

Sorry to hear about poorly baby though. Hope he feels better soon.

PenelopeFlintstone · 15/01/2019 21:06

Stealth - Last week I went through some papers and schoolwork and put it in a pile. I'm going to spend an hour shredding that pile

Are you shredding the schoolwork too? Shock

Re. all the scrap paper - just chuck it in the recycling. I did what you did thinking my kids would use it and they couldn't get through it all. It went into the recycling anyway - just dustier and with cobwebs. That way you only have to flick through the school books on the last day of term, just in case something catches your eye, and straight into the recycling. Obviously, I wouldn't do that if the book was nearly full of blank pages but otherwise I do.

gassylady · 15/01/2019 21:12

Pair of outgrown lovely warm fleecy kids PJs and a book for the charity shop bag today. And also @stealth throw the teeth out (perhaps keep one each for the kids to see how small they were if you have keepsake boxes!)

Original poster
StealthNinjaMum · 15/01/2019 23:48

penelope yes I have been shredding and chucking out lots of schoolwork. If you were to stand my dcs schoolbooks in a pile I reckon they'd be 4 feet high and as I said most of the books were almost empty so I was keeping pages of blank paper. I decided there was no point keeping maths books and then started to chuck out history, geography etc with the aim of only keeping creative things like writing and art. i have surprised myself by being so brutal but dd1 doesn't want her schoolwork so I don't want her to inherit a hoard of childhood memories that wil be hard for her to get rid of.

OP posts:
Original poster
StealthNinjaMum · 15/01/2019 23:49

The teeth will go tomorrow!

OP posts:
SandAndSea · 16/01/2019 00:03

Not much going on here as I've been a bit poorly. However, I have posted an item for sale and pulled one of our leftover Christmas crackers.

PenelopeFlintstone · 16/01/2019 07:02

But why does the schoolwork need to be shredded? Can't it just go in the recycling?
I'm keeping my kids teeth Grin

PenelopeFlintstone · 16/01/2019 07:12

Not picking, Stealth. I'm just nosey and also wondering if I'm doing something wrong by just chucking it all in the recycling.

abitoflight · 16/01/2019 08:08

What does anyone do with colouring pencils and graphite pencils? I've got at least a couple of shoe boxes filled with these - some used, some not.
Would a school use them??

I've done spare room wardrobes and binned/charitied unused bags

Done larder unit in kitchen. Made a lot of space and now I can store my flavoured loose leaf tea😄

I've got various paintings and etchings from cupboard and put them up on. Lounge looks much better now and much more homely

I've got a car load of cardboard and stuff for charity shop

Battenburg1978 · 16/01/2019 08:11

I hope your DS is on the mend Mumof1 and you can declutter the sick smell from your house!

Popping back to refocus on the decluttering. It's so inspiring to read everyone's updates.

Since I last posted:

2 big bags of baby clothes and some toys/books have been collected for local families in need by a very kind Health Visitor.

1 clear refuse sack of clothes only fit for recycling dropped off at clothes recycling bin

1 large suitcase collected via Facebook

To do over next week-

Post some remaining baby clothes /blankets to local hospital whose stocks are running low for mums who arrive without anything

Drop off remainder to local charity

Make a start on the Wardrobe of Doom - argh!

Any decluttering tips for cookery books? I have loads and while I mainly use the Internet for recipes, I used to find them inspirational to look through. Thinking one day (in years when DD is at school!) I might go back to them so tempted to keep....they've been in a box in the loft room since we moved!

Original poster
StealthNinjaMum · 16/01/2019 09:27

Ha Penelope ask any questions I don't see it as picking.

In general I am obsessed about shredding anything with our name on - even just a forename. I know I am overly paranoid but we have clear recycling bags in the street and would hate a stranger to know my child's name! Sometimes I just need to shred the front of a school book but if it is made up of stuck in worksheets with their name on I'll shred it. I know it sounds over the top!

OP posts:
Battenburg1978 · 16/01/2019 10:38

We shred anything with names/addresses on too Stealth. Leads to piles of stuff around the house waiting to be taken to our jobs where there are confidential shredding bins!

MotherWol · 16/01/2019 10:49

@Battenburg1978 with the cookery books, sit down with a pack of page flags, go through the book and put stickers on the recipes you want to try. Then cook them! I've got a big pile of Waitrose Food magazines I need to do this with - I'm going to flag the recipes that interest me and add them to a pinterest board, then I don't need to keep the physical magazines.

A really big one out of the house today - a pair of huge floorstanding speakers that DH wasn't using have been sold. The landing of doom is in my sights and I'm not going to rest until it's clear, it's a flipping fire hazard at the moment.

Battenburg1978 · 16/01/2019 10:50

Abi, would a local library craft group or after school club type place take them?

naturistmum · 16/01/2019 10:59

Well done on all your efforts everyone. I have come to a full stop now the kids are back at school and the 'day job' has kicked in. My excuse is that I've had to get back on top of work and get my tax return sorted. Just about there now and I have done some decluttering of my office so I'll chalk that up as a win.

I have so many memories on my facebook feed re previous Jan attempts at deluttering and to my shame most of the things are still in the house (years later).

Still have over 100 books lined up in my spare room to be sorted, catalogued and repacked. I need to really get this sorted as the room is now unusable til its done.

gassylady · 16/01/2019 11:40

Sorted out sideboard. Two sets table linen into the charity bag - both gifts bought to the buyers taste not ours been unused for at least six years

chloechloe · 16/01/2019 12:08

Good work everyone. That’s amazing amounts of stuff you’ve shifted abitoflight and battenberg!

I was a bit puzzled about shredding school books too but understand if your child’s name is all over it stealth. My Mum recently gave me a gadget that might help - it’s an ink roller that you just roll over text and it makes it completely illegible (even from the reverse). I wonder if that would be quicker than shredding if it’s just babes you need to remove? My shredder gets jammed pretty easily if you put too much paper through at once. When not on mat leave I tend to take stuff to the office and put it in the confidential waste bin!

My unexpected item today was a rather expensive winter footmuff for our single buggy which was in the garage as I usually use the double buggy. I went to put the recycling in the garage and saw a mouse scuttling about. I then realized I should take the footmuff out the garage as it would make a rather snug nest for a mouse. Turns out the mouse had the same idea and had chomped its way through it. It must have happened in the last couple of days as there are droppings in the floor which were not there before. I am sooo annoyed! Still I guess it’s a lesson not to have stuff lying around where it doesn’t really belong!

chloechloe · 16/01/2019 12:10

“Names” not “babes”, that really would be going too far!

MrsNezbit · 16/01/2019 12:35

Sorted a bookcase and got a small bundle to send to we buy books, some outgrown kids clothes to charity and that's about it

WoogleCone · 16/01/2019 12:45

Hi everyone

Sorry been absent for a little while, I seriously need to declutter my head! id start a PIL AIBU thread if i thought there was an actual answer going to use work later to calm down haha.

It's been more of a cleaning few days, the laundry is completely caught up on, were going to do a load as soon as there's enough for one going forward and whoever is at home sorts it. I'm fed up of the overflowing nature of the basket!

Got our annual leave next week and I'm so freaking excited to get stuff done, I've written a long list. Those will be some good update days!

Well done everyone on all your stuff this week, sounds like some amazing progress!

RaspberryBlonde · 16/01/2019 13:13

Morning all. Giant bag of used batteries and another of textile recycling out this morning. I got rid of several manky tea towels and have promised myself I will start using nicer ones! Focussing on cleaning a bit today though, DD’s bedroom is always too messy to hoover but it’s being done today no matter what.

Thanks to whoever upthread mentioned storing rolls of wrapping paper in a suit bag...I have now done this so one less thing is falling on me when I open the cupboard they were in.

Cookery books are my weakness too @Battenburg1978. I also have a massive and messy file of recipes clipped from magazines. How would the Pinterest thing work @MotherWol? I need a solution that lets me find things and is ideally searchable in some way.

MotherWol · 16/01/2019 13:20

@RaspberryBlonde what I've done so far is set up a Pinterest board called 'recipes' and when I find a recipe in the magazine that I'd like to keep, I search the web for it and pin it to the board. Waitrose seem to have all of the recipes that are in the magazine on their website, as do lots of the other food magazines. It's worth googling the title of the recipe to find out if it's online somewhere before charity-shopping the books though, just in case!

Original poster
StealthNinjaMum · 16/01/2019 13:22

Ooh chloechloe I might look into getting one of those rollers. Having said that I love my shredder. I bought a new one about a year agI and it's more expensive than I would normally pay but so far it has never jammed, so well worth the money.

Today I have shredded and chucked out even more papers.

The house is a mess so I need to do housework rather than decluttering and I need to pick up two new lamps for my bedroom.

OP posts:
Original poster
StealthNinjaMum · 16/01/2019 13:25

battenburg I agonised about my cookbooks on about thread number 2! I think I did culls in about 3 stages each time getting rid of the books I didn't really look at. I should do cull number 4 and get rid of books stbexh and stbmil got me like a pointless Heston blumenthal one with no actual recipes.

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