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

Sounds good, Peridot1.

I've been trying to get rid of something for ages but tonight, I realised that, actually, I want to keep it, so, I've put it away. This feels surprisingly good! I know this might not sound in the spirit of the thread, but I've had the item out and hanging around, in limbo, for ages, so it feels good to have made a decision on it.

Sorry for your loss, everythingisginandroses.

Welcome, CruCru!

I'm doing a late night catch up. I've got the washing machine and dw on and have finally dealt with the receipts on the dining room table. (The 2nd lot from the previous page, not the first lot which I did deal with.)

Sorry for your loss ginandroses

Up at the crack of dawn for me, DD rose very early!!

The plan today:
New door handle on door 2 so DH can rehang.
Another coat on door 1.
Clean bathroom.
Midwife appointment.
Trip to Costco. (Need fuel, and hospital bag snacks!)

Not going to aim for more than that today, but will think of anything else as bonus if I manage it :)

Haven’t had time to properly catch up with thread - have messed up my knee so everything is taking forever to do. Was looking for an easy win so just cleared out a load of expired and unwanted food from kitchen and divided between a bag for the food bank and the part used/refrigerated/out of dates items have gone in to the food waste collection box.

Hope everyone is well - will try to catch up later!

I’d count the mirror, WoogleCone. It’s now where it is meant to be.

Just had a most delicious trip to the dump. They have a book recycling section so I left three boxes there.

Just took a load of children’s books to my children’s old nursery (and had a nice chat with the lady there).

The problem with decluttering is that the more I do, the more stuff I see (and want to get rid of).

Today I’ve discovered that our equivalent to everyone else’s cluttered dining tables may well be the top drawer of the sideboard. I’m not sure what made me open it but it’s a disaster zone! Mainly full of old birthday cards but also a stash of those DVDs they used to give away with newspapers and at least one thing that I’m not actually sure what it is! I’ve made a start at getting rid of the cards and made a few gift tags (there goes the resolution not to add to the wrapping stash) but I think I need to think of a dedicated purpose for it to prevent recluttering.

Also on today’s list are 4 files of university notes. I’ve been prevaricating on these as they represent so much effort at the time, but really it is a long time since I was at uni, I didn’t actually like my course that much and I certainly have no use for my thoughts on literacy in medieval England! So posting for accountability as I know that way you lovely people will give me a nudge if I don’t actually chuck them!

Hope that your knee isn’t too bad Extant.

Welcome Saffa and Crucru, sounds like a productive morning for you. I like the Morris quote - Willow surely household things fall into the ‘useful’ box? Can’t say I love my dusters but they are useful. Off to find out more about the ‘Peculiar Domestic Set-up’ now.

I'm looking at 4 overflowing boxes of sentimental cards, papers etc. (2 file boxes and 2 box files.) I've brought them downstairs to sort out but am avoiding it by being on here and doing other things, like the floors and laundry.

The plan is to sort them all into order and get rid of enough that they close and feel good.

Urgh! I might start dinner and come back to it.

I think the tags are fine raspberry, they might be in the bin but they're also not wasted and have been given new purpose :) - you just have to use them now!

Crucru that's the beauty of it, eventually there won't be anything hidden behind the clutter and then you'll be done!
Well done on the books, DDs books are still very well used and will go through another child cycle before being dealt with but I'm hoping they stay in good enough condition to donate somewhere too.

Well I got the new handle on door 2, a few slightly not quite dry bits still there so will have to be hung in the morning after some more drying time.
Aiming to paint the other door later, was way too hot to be in the conservatory for more than a minute earlier.
Midwife appt done and good (head is nice and low apparently) and Costco trip achieved.

I'm tired today, got a quick oven dinner and will probably go to bed early!

**might NOT be in the bin

I've packed up a nice bra which doesn't feel good to me and have it ready to send off for rehoming/recycling.

I'm on top of the laundry and I'm seeing more spaces around the place again.

I haven't sorted out those boxes yet.

PS Lucky I kept those jiffy bags! I've needed 2 in the last 24 hours.

Thank you for your kind thoughts, everyone

Yesterday I sorted thorough half of DS's memory box, to find that (as I suspected) I had chucked in some old jotters and random bits from parties and days out, in the mode of "This might have sentimental value, I can't decide now, so will do it later". Birthday cards from ages 1, 2 and 5 also present in unnecessary numbers... I have disposed of half a laundry basket of such items and will do the rest later.

everythingisginandroses SandAndSea when facing boxes full of sentimental cards I pruned them by only keeping the ones from people who I had a strong emotional attachment too.

I then repruned by only keeping those for important anniversaries.

I now have a very small box with just a few cards / letters from my DM, DDad, DGran, late DH, DD & Grandchildren.

Morning everyone.

Couldn't be bothered to paint last night so I did that coat this morning while it was still cool in the conservatory.
DH is currently cleaning down DDs slide and swing so it can dry quickly in the sun and she can use it this afternoon.

Haven't got major plans today so will report in later with any minor achievements :)

Today I chucked out a couple of random bits of crap on my bedside table. I’ll do more tomorrow.

sand well done on the sale! It’s very satisfying to get something back for items you no longer want 💰.

Also sand I thought I’d check in to see how you are getting on with those 4 boxes of cards etc😉 (gentle nudge 😊). I’ll make a deal with you - for every box of sentimental items you clear ... I’ll purge a box of my sentimental wardrobe collection. It’s going to be a tough one for me so this might be just the ticket to finally face it head-on 🙈.

Woogle great work on the painting. A good move to do it early - my conservatory is already ridiculously hot!

Willow decluttering recycling is definitely a win in my book. It’s amazing how much recycling I can collect up from around the house the day before bin day ... and when it’s cleared it certainly shows.

Got rid of an old outdoor chair cover yesterday but not a lot else. Today I’ve listed some glasses on freegle and am about to go on the hunt to see if there’s anything else to go.

Wore a brace on my knee yesterday and have been taking everything super slowly so it’s feeling much better and now I’m feeling motivated to get plenty of decluttering done today. There ... I’ve said it now ... so I’d better be able to report some ‘outs’ later 😳

Read the full thread in bed last night and jumped out of bed this morning ready to tackle the shed.

It is proving hot work but the pile is growing !!

Now I just have to work out what to do with it. Can’t bear sending it to landfill, so am seeking out new homes.

Glad your knee is on the mend extant, slow and steady wins the race :)

Got door 2 hung this afternoon, DH held it in place while I screwed the hinges on. It was mildly frustrating but didn't take long in the end. I'm very happy with it though and super glad I took the time to paint it thoroughly and over such a long time, made all the difference.

We also cleaned out the car, here is where my wins are today. Got rid of some paperwork which turned out not to even be for our car(!?), put the CDs in little sleeves and got rid of the outer cases like I did with all other disks in the house. Few broken bits of toys also thrown and general car rubbish.
All my car things are now in a basket together in the boot (first aid kit, scrapy thingy etc) - this basket was repurposed from under the stairs so also kinda counts as an out. We were going to wash it too but after hoovering and cleaning dash/windows it was waaaaay too hot to carry on. Maybe tomorrow.

That's all for today, got some bubbles for DD so probably going to go play in the garden :)

Thanks, Flying. I certainly like the idea of getting down to one box of cards etc.

Extant, I'll keep you posted. I haven't done those boxes yet but I have done other things, including weeding and clearing out my freezer.

That’s what I thought Woogle, and they are birthday tags which we didn’t have before so they will get used. They’re in my newly created ‘box of wrapping stuff’ so I’ll actually be able to find them when I need them too!

The uni notes are now in recycling bin outside. Some actually turned out to from A-level so even further back. I’m sure I have some more files somewhere but they weren’t where I thought when I checked earlier so they’ve got reprieve for now (and I have a quick win for when I do find them!)

Don’t think anything is out today but dinner is leftovers so that counts, I think. I did a few admin jobs today so that should give me some time tomorrow to make up.

Well done RaspberryBlonde it took me a ridiculously long time to throw out my School Books and University files.

The biggest shock was reading through some of those notes and realising that I didn’t have a clue what they were all about.

What a waste. Years of learning things that mean nothing to me now.