Decluttering one thing a day - Part 9

[SandAndSea]

Welcome to our 9th thread in the Decluttering One Thing A Day series!

As you might imagine, we aim to get rid of one thing a day (or the equivalent, if we miss a few days).

The idea is that aiming low in this way prevents us from getting overwhelmed. It's also sustainable so helps us to develop effective clutter clearing habits which last.

In reality, many of us have found that once we start, we often get rid of far more than just one thing. (But if we don't, that's OK too.)

Everyone's welcome! We're a friendly and supportive bunch, from aspiring minimalists to full-on clutterbucks! We're also pretty green so you'll find lots of recycling, freecycling, donating and selling.

Previous thread here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3612006-Decluttering-one-thing-a-day-part-8-the-one-where-we-de-tetris-the-cupboard-of-doom?pg=1&order=

I have sign [[https://www.therange.co.uk/home-furnishings/picture-frames-and-wall-art/posters-prints-and-visual-artwork/lost-socks-wall-art/#936715]] in the laundry room for stray socks. It has made finding odd ones and making pairs so much easier. but it is not foolproof, as I'm now realising I need a second one as all the pegs are occupied!

And this is with a Sock System. DS1, DS2 and I all have navy thermal school socks from M&S. They are lovely and warm, hard wearing and very reasonably priced. It only works as M&S put the shoe sizes of the socks on the inside - I am 4-7, DS1 is 12.5-3.5 (for now) and DS2 os 9-12. The remainder therefore have to be DH's.

The kids also have fun socks from Joules but never the same pattern, which helps.

I have bagged up three massive bags of DS1's outgrown clothes and they are ready to go into the attic for DS2. I feel loads better about this. So they haven't left the house, but they are sorted. SIL also happily took DS2's old stuff so that is Out.

I've also taken everything out of my wardrobe that doesn't fit, given the weight that I've gained over the last couple of years. Put it into storage, as i hope this is only temporary. But now everything I can see, I can wear, and it looks so much better and means that I am not rotating the same three tops as I couldn't work out what else I had.

This thread is really helping me to make steady progress.

*nailsathome, I have some boys 5-6 if you're interested. It is a mixture of Next and Joules tops, shirts and jumpers.

sorry nailsathome I meant to put your name in bold

Welcome to the thread, @Custardcreamfiend!

Medway - I just love living simply with just a case of stuff! While I'm away, I often find myself thinking of things I can get rid of back home. And I always find that when I get home, it's a great time to see and clear clutter.

WellTidy that would be great. Unless postage is a million quid which wouldn't surprise me!

I've thrown away 2 broken yo-yos and painted the windowsills in the kitchen

I bought these last year, thinking they’d be great storage for the wall, but I don’t actually use them, so if someone could help me figure out what to store in them, that would be great! If not, they’ll have to go, which is a pain, because I quite like them!

Times10 make up bits, brushes, face wipes etc in one?

Hello all, please can I join?

Today I have
Started under the stairs and binned 2 bin bags worth of utter junk (scribbled on paper, old calendars, broken toys etc)
I have found a bag of books to go to the charity shop.
And found my old bags for life that were missing.

I really want to start using things and then replacing them, rather than buying loads of the same kind of thing and then it all cluttering up my house.
I have 7 open bottles of shampoo!!??? There is just no need.

greenwillow at one point I used to get a patterned stripy white sock for dd1 and a more dotty holed pattern sock for dd2 but then as dd1 grew and socks got passed down the system got confused. I think dds would get told off for having coloured patterned socks at school even if the pattern was hidden.

welltidy I like that sign - but would probably need three! I have a foodbag on the back of the utility room door that odd socks go in and every so often I try to find their pairs. This system actually works quite well because previously odd socks would go between bedrooms and the utility room in the laundry basket and at least this way they sort of have a home.

We used to have school socks with 9 - 12 and 1 - 4 but dds have the same band feet now.

I've had a busy morning, taking bottles to the bottle bank and emptying the fridge. I don't like to count these as 'outs' because to me my clutter tends to be a bit more long term. So my single item is a picture frame given to me by my ex sister in law. I never liked it so I'll be glad to get rid of it.

Course you can, @Justabadwife! Welcome to the thread and well done on such a good start!

nails that could work, I’ll try it out to see if an easier system than we’ve got in place, although the blue one will be going as the pockets are too small.

Hello joining in :) I've started decluttering and over the last week have sold/donated our old travel system, baby bath, play pen, some outgrown clothes, and an old shower curtain. House is still heaving with clutter but its made a nice dent in the abyse of the garage.

I've got some extra storage in the kitchen now so hoping to focus in there this week.

More new people-welcome!
Justabadwife I am guilty of lots of open shampoo bottles-4 and 3 conditioners. I bought some different ones but am not so keen on all of them. I'm gradually using them up.....

Sunday: Halloween decoration that has seen better days
Today: withered balloons and dusty cat toys from behind the sofa.

As for socks, I'm planning on buying a load of black ones when we're all the same size, and never needing to pair them again.

I like your plan for socks Mumista - just beware of The One Child Who Never Puts Them In The Dirty Basket, but happily receives them back in the wash from others!

I thought today was going to be a total waste, as I had so much to do, but I've got loads of outs!
3 pairs of my shoes (2 to charity, 1 to recycling)
1 set of wall stickers that make a PacMac pattern that no-one wanted
2 bamboo soap dishes that didn't drain and so just sat in soapy water at the end of the bath and went moldy. What was the point of that?
4 bottles of DH's lotions and potions from the end of the bath that have apparently been empty for months, but have not magically moved themselves to the bin .
1 piece off hardboard that was originally the back of a drawer. We kept it when the drawer fell to bits in case DS2 needed mounting board for his Art GCSE. He didn't. It fell on my foot today. It is at least going into the garage, if not actually to the tip!

I also managed to properly scrub our bath, including a go with the viakal so it's super shiny (I'm easily pleased). I will be having a lovely bubbly bath later on using some left over shower gel of DH's that I love but he doesn't.

Tomorrow, I shall look at the children's bathroom - there are so many bottles in there I'm slightly afraid to look!

Some more outs today:

2 empty tech boxes plus various packaging bits & bobs.
1 double duvet in a big box.
Some financial papers.
A bank account (closed).
Stained teeth & dental plaque. (I'm counting it!)

A bag-for-life of cables is going in the loft.
Christmas presents now have their own box under the bed.
We still have too many duvets.
A box of old papers (all filed nicely) has left the loft and is now in the living room, in the hope that DP will go through it.

I still have too many boxes of old stuff to go through.

Only a few outs today:

• 2 new craft sets/games that were surplus gifts donated for the school bonfire night tombola
• posted a dress that had sold on eBay
• finally got around to dropping an old pair of glasses to the optician so that they can be sent overseas

That last one has been on my to-do list for months, so it feels like a big win!

Thanks for the welcome Sand and the advice Stealth. It really helped me think more clearly. I have decided to focus on what I can see first and then start tackling cupboards and drawers when there is less to find homes for.

I made an effort to do a bit when I got in from work. I put another load of clean laundry away. I know that's technically not clutter but it is cluttering a corner of my living room so I'm counting it for now. I had a quick look in my ebay box. I have to confess I have a lot of boxes. There were some of DD's summer clothes in there which didn't sell so they've gone into the charity bag. I did think about keeping them until next summer but there's nothing particularly special so there's no point. I found one of those cover up bib things in a drawer. I didn't know we still had it and will be too small for DD now so that's gone too.

It's really motivating to read about everyone else's successes - thanks everyone!

It's been a mug themed day. The mug I took to work was a cat mug with pointy ears, it was impossible to use a mug. It has been repurposed as a pen pot holder. I've nominated another mug to go to work.

Then DD accidentally smashed a mug so that one is an out too. 3 mugs out the house in one day.

Welcome to the thread, @LivingDeadGirlUK!

@Custardcreamfiend - I definitely count laundry when it's piled up (as you might have noticed). It makes such a difference to the house when it's cleared.

I've got some more outs tonight:

A cake tin - I still like it but it's gotten a bit rusty and worn looking and I haven't used it for years. I feel a bit sad as it was the first proper one I bought for myself when I was first setting up home. But, I know better than that, so it's going!

A sack of old bedding.

Some more papers.

I've placed an ad on freecycle - I've had enough of waiting for buyers so I'm now trying to give it away.

I've bought all our special, family Christmas cards online. (For the family members we can't bring ourselves to give generic cards to.) I'm counting this because it's a significant weight off my mind.

There's been a lot of activity the last few days! All the posts about socks have reminded me that I had to throw away 3 pairs of mine in one day! They keep getting holes in them, although I have yet to replace them.

I took all my Halloween decs down Sat, de-cluttered some leaves and generally cleaned outside. Sunday we helped PILs and I raked even more leaves for them. I did manage to fill a bag for the charity shop of Halloween decorations that I haven't put up for a couple of years. It's in my car, ready to be donated, I just have to remember it's in there.

I do still have some costumes that I need to put back into the storage unit to sell next year, but I will also see if I can grab more stuff out of there to donate or sell on fb.

I really need to work on being ok with just donating things we don't use anymore. I think because we are drowning in debt I feel like we need to recoup some money we spent on that "stuff" but I'm realising it's really not worth it.

Has anyone else overcome the same thoughts? I know that whenever I have taken things to the charity shop it feels good and I don't regret anything I've taken in the past, I think it's looking at everything we have and knowing a lot of money had been spent.

Hungry I'm in the same situation re debt and needing the money but I'm now giving away a lot of things. I put them up for sale on marketplace, Shpock etc and give it a couple of weeks. If there's no interest, I put it on the free sites because it's helping my mental health to declutter and that way I have tried to recoup some money.

I'm finding more and more that people just don't want to pay for anything, even a couple of quid for a bag of clothes.

I'm also finding that dealing with things immediately means I'm giving away carrier bags of stuff rather than bin bags which makes it easier to swallow iyswim

Has anyone else overcome the same thoughts?
Yep, definitely me. There’s been a fair bit of chat about it earlier on this very thread.