Part 7 of the decluttering challenge - can you get rid of one item a day?

[StealthNinjaMum]

Back again!

A group of mumsnetters have been emptying our homes, gradually decluttering our homes by getting rid of one item a day.

We’re very green and like to recycle, sell, give away and sometimes eat our clutter I’m still alive after the 8 year old gherkins.

Newbies are welcome to join us. We just get rid one thing and come back to update everyone on our progress, get support when it gets hard, and suggest new household systems and ways of doing things.

The most exciting thread on mumsnet. In this thread @SandandSea will tell us what she’s going to do with her big plastic sheet…..

Previous thread is here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3463110-New-home-for-the-new-year-still-getting-rid-of-one-item-a-day-part-6?pg=40

Ooooh - a shiny new thread!

I just wish I had something exciting to say. Since I last updated I have got rid of 8 newspapers from my "hoard" into the paper recycling. I defrosted 2 chicken breasts that have been long-term inhabitants of the freezer and made a chicken korma with them. I have also filled the brown bin with leaves and twigs from the back garden ready for this week's bin collection.

(I don't think I have admitted on here before that I have a hoard of newspapers. I have several large bags containing a few years' worth of our weekly local paper. I have kept them because I want to go through them and cut out any relevant school or club articles, photos or results. I have decided to try giving myself a weekly target, so I can get rid of a year per month.)

Yayyy new thread!

It's miserable here today, tidied a little and about to relieve the fridge of several items

Tomorrow is the day! FIL is going to help us out with a van trip to the tip (well his work bins that are apparently huge and fine to fill). This will be a good clear out of the garden/garage. I'm excited to see the clear space. I will wax the drawers too and with any luck we'll get those out of the conservatory and onto the next project!

purplefrog that's a great ambition to get rid of them like that and also quite fun to look through them. At one point I had a big stash of magazines and I quite liked browsing them (very quickly though) before I recycled them.

Can I meet your FIL wogglecone? I would love to have some massive bins to clear out stuff in my garage.

Another slow day for me. I think I've been going through my wardrobe for about 10 days trying stuff on. I've lost 2 stone but quite a lot of my stuff still fits so it shows that I must've really been squeezing into them. Anyway I have found a skirt that I don't like anymore so that's going. I am also really struggling buying new stuff - when a school mum gets in the papers for doing a naked school run you'll know that is me!

Yaay! Another new thread! I love a new thread!! Thanks, Stealth! It's hard to believe we're on no.7 now and still have too much stuff. Best thread on MN for sure!

Now, what can I tell you about the plastic sheet? Ohh, the stories it could share...!

(Stealth, it's possible you over-sold that ever so slightly. Don't worry, we can always distract people by talking about my icing kits again.)

Hello! Just checking in. I’m not doing terribly well on decluttering this week. I really must tackle the kitchen drawers.

Thanks for new thread @StealthNinjaMum.
I only post occasionally as I don't manage an item a day but try to make up for it when I can; recent decluttering has included a bag of bras and some old phone chargers.

Yay shiny new thread!
I’m hopeful that this thread will see me finishing my Kondoing but as I am yet to get of my backside and start the electricals- progress is slow 😳😂.
What will become of the big sheet? Any bodies you could wrap up in it prior to burying under the patio?
Some post in and out today and DH dropped a glass jelly mould tonight which smashed into smithereens. My thoughts when we cleared it up? At least it’s something I won’t have to make a decision about in the future!
I have given up coffee for lent. Wish me luck!

Luck!

What will become of the big sheet?
Dare I say, my big sheet is no longer in my downstairs area.

Yay thanks for new thread...Gibble, coffee??? Yikes!!! I said I was giving up chocolate for lent.. then cake and biscuits got chucked in to the mix by DH.. well I gave up chocolate but we’ve discussed sugar in general and I’ve just decluttered a piece of cake from the freezer..

gibble I'm laughing at that! Those are the thoughts I have now. And also Yikes to giving up coffee. I have tried before but get headaches. I hope you're OK, it's seriously scary how addictive that stuff is.

The suspense is killing me SandandSea where's the sheet? I need a big sheet, am thinking of painting my spare room.

can i bury stbexmil under the patio?

Remember how I spent weeks in the autumn labelling all the stationery and putting it all in the same place and I briefly had a good system that worked and dc seemed to respect. Well I just went to look for one of our 10 pairs of scissors and none of them are there! I am going to have to look under beds tomorrow as I'm sure small children have taken them.

New thread! Stealth I think he does see the point, in the abstract, but when it comes to actually tackling it, it's just not a priority for him. For example, at the moment, there's enough shelf space for all of our books. I'd still like to take some of them to the charity shop, on the basis that neither of us want to re-read them, and our tastes have changed. From his perspective, there's no need to declutter them, as they're tidy and they fit the space allocated. But I don't want our storage space to be full, as that means new stuff can't come in!

I seem to be bringing in more than I'm disposing of at the moment. Nothing too frivolous but nothing too necessary either. Need to knock it on the head.

I will be decluttering some of the stuff from the baking cupboard into a cake soon, but I can't decide between lemon roulade (lemon swiss roll with mascarpone and lemon curd filling) or raspberry bakewell cake (squidgy raspberry and almond). What would my friends prefer?

They both sound amazing pippistrelle but I’d have to go with the almond and raspberry!

Dropped off the last bag of charity stuff off this morning although there’s another one well on the way to being filled. I need to go back and look at the spare room as it’s full of bits that need moving before it can be painted.

Good luck with giving up coffee Gibble. I’m on week 2 of decaf only to see if it improves DS’s not very good sleep. It hasn’t!

Off to find some lunch now plus some freezer surprise for dinner.

I suspect you may be biased, Raspberry Blonde! (But I think the raspberry bakewell is a good shout, and you've helped me decide, so thanks.)

Went threw a shelf in my wardrobe last night and threw out a few items including an old handbag; it was a bit of a wrench as it was a expensive ish bag but the catch was broken and I don't like it anymore so I was never going to get around to getting it repaired. I think I'm in the right frame of mind to tackle my wardrobe properly so that's my next plan.

Ha, it was unconscious bias pippistrelle! Hope it turned out well

Today's items: 2 t-shirts which have survived numerous previous culls and have still not been worn for ages. (No joy was sparked.)

Hey everyone!

Both of those cake choices sound amazing pipistrelle!! Show us a pic when it's done? I have cake envy

Well FIL came today, brought the van. Three old carpets, three broken up bookcases and a load of cardboard in the shed that I didn't even know was there has been bid adieu! (Sorry stealth, I'm pretty sure we've filled all the bins haha). But I'm pretty sure that lot makes up for my fortnight of malaise.

Also done today, the drawers I've been working on for the last month are finally finished! Waxed on and off, knobs attached and it's in its new home in DDs bedroom. Just finished folding a tonne of laundry to fill it!

Now I can wash all the new baby clothes to fill DDs old tallboy in the nursery and regain two drawers in our room.

My working week starts tomorrow so I'll see what i can get done but not holding my breath on anything groundbreaking.

Happy Friday folks x

Well done, Woogle. That all sounds great.

I'm debating over a festival t-shirt from the 90s and 2 mini-dresses. I'll get back to you.

Had an inadvertent OUT this evening. Took a National Trust coolbag to cubs as a prop. One of the parents asked who’s it was and commented how posh it was. Sent her home with it! 😀

Thanks sand ☺️ i wish I could still rock a minidress. I spent too many years decluttering food cupboards 😂

Inadvertant outs are the best gibble!

I'm chucking one of the dresses. I realised it would have to go for rags too. You know it's got to go when the charity shop probably wouldn't sell it.

Back on the wagon - a jumper yesterday & a mug today.

I am building up to the kitchen drawers

Hi everyone, I’m on a roll this week having cleared out 3 kitchen cupboards, 2 freezer drawers, and taken a box of clothes and books to the charity shop. But there is SO MUCH more clutter, I am terrible at keeping things because they might be useful one day, so I definitely need to keep on top of it rather than have the odd burst of enthusiasm where I get overwhelmed and end up defaulting to ‘clean everything and put it all back’.