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=

Today's out will be a child's push a long toy that I managed to sell on eBay. I have found eBay more hassle then it was worth and won't be doing that again, the charity shop can benefit from my decluttering!

The bottles have gone & I found a thing I’ve been looking for for months behind them, so yay.
Freezer is empty & defrosting, so a load of old spices have gone out. I’ve done some ironing, some washing up and a load of washing is on. I have not yet packed anything.

Today, I gave two bottles of vitamins to a visitor who was talking about buying some! A bit weird but I bought them for my DD and they were too big and too smelly and so she didn't want them. They've gone to a good home and that's great!!

I am still trying to convince DP to throw out three pairs of trainers that are broken, have not been worn in several years due to this and have now been replaced. But apparently they cannot be binned, yet. Sigh. Can you understand why my house is full of clutter and this is an uphill struggle?

Really daft question - we seemed to have amassed several unopened bottles of random alcohol that nobody in our house drinks. Any ideas how I can best dispose of them, pouring down the sink seems a waste?

@Coldhandscoldheart I'm giving most of the no longer required baby things, including bottles (without teats) to a local women's refuge. Just as another idea for you.

keiki are they still drinkable ? If so ( send them to me... ) could you donate them to any local raffles ? Our school is always looking for alcohol when they do their raffles, and our local church too.

Keiki - I always donated unopened bottles of alcohol we didn't want to raffles. If your family don't belong to any clubs that hold them, see if any local causes are advertising such events on Facebook and are looking for donations of prizes.

Oops - cross post with Times10!

tidy2018 hmmm. lego boxes. I have tonnes so I understand why you'd keep them. I kept the duplo boxes and then spent a couple of days putting the duplo in them and sold them for quite good money but I have so much lego it would probably take 3 years to sort back into the boxes!

I have found a remote control with no obvious device that it belongs to... I'm sure I come back to the thread every six months with this statement and each time it's a new remote control because I take the others to the dump. Anyway it's going into the electronics recycling pile.

keiki have you googled recipes for the alcohol? It might be that you could cook with them. I love Baileys but never drink it on my own so have made trifles with Baileys before when I used to entertain a lot.

Keiki - If it's vodka, I might use it for cleaning. Otherwise, donate/gift it.

Good idea, Stealth. Or, what about a Baileys cheesecake?

sandandsea I tried cleaning with vodka and it didn't work - but I still have the bottle!

Baileys cheesecake. OMG, that sounds amazing! I might invite some friends over just to make that. We have some unopened Baileys from last Christmas.

Stealth - I remember your vodka posts. How did cleaning with it not work? (Just curious.) Was it the smell?

Woohoo, finally got an out: 2 books, one I didn’t enjoy reading much and another that I still haven’t started but I just don’t feel compelled to either, so it can go.

Trying to understand unopened Baileys from last Christmas 🤔😁

I've put 4 items of clothing with holes in them in a bag to go to the recycling centre today.

I've done some deep cleaning today of the fridge and in the bedroom.

Outs include old food, 4 small boxes and 2 bags.

I've also collated some old jewellery which I'm thinking of selling.

And I've posted an item for sale.

I put our 2018 calendar in the recycling today.

Bailey's cheesecake sounds amazing!! I made Bailey's truffles for our Christmas party last year that were delicious too. I also cannot understand "unopened Bailey's" lol.

I'm sitting here at urgent care with dd right now as she got hurt in PE this morning, had to leave work to have her checked out.

I have plans to stop by the charity shop after work today, as I ran out of time on my lunch break yesterday.

Welcome teapot (I hope I remembered your name correctly as my memory is terrible). I would start with easy things to get rid of first, then tackle the paperwork. If you can't fully get rid of it, scan the clippings onto your computer/ take pics so you can look back on it all without having it all cluttering the house. When you do work on that, set a timer for 15 minutes and stop when time is up, so you don't get overwhelmed.

Well my CIN meeting was hideous so yesterday was a write off. Someone has arranged to collect some clothes but after months 22 things have gone for £7 so I must use that to reinforce it’s not worth it for the time it hangs about. Another person asked about my pram but again no intention of buying it. It’s going on Monday to charity. Even if I did have another baby, I don’t want to store it. I could buy a used anyway.

12 items of kids clothes into a bag and straight into the car for charity tomorrow. So even in a bad week I can chug along. I need to remember that.

Re vodka - I only use it to de stress 😂 I don’t particularly love it but in the past few years I have bought two bottles because as soon as dh came home I could get drunk in ten minutes and be in bed in all under a hour. Was extremely naughty but for one of my sons SEN appeals it was needed as I could bearly face seeing it through just before the hearing.

medway sorry to hear about your meeting

I had a small win today, as the DCs wanted to invite a classmate to play, with no warning, and I knew the house was somewhat presentable, so could say yes. It's a massive difference than what it was like just 2 months ago!

In other news, the cot is up, and I've ousted an old (broken) changing table to make space for the bookcase that I had to move to make space for the cot. It's all starting to come into place.

Out today -

Leaky shoes.

Tupperware with no lids.

Glass jars.

Its a start.

Gave one of our 2 sofas away few weeks back and love the space freed up. It was only ever a shelf for paperwork, no one sat on it.

Today’s tally -

One pair very shrunken socks in bin
One outgrown school v-neck and two cardigans for donation
Two blown lightbulbs in garage for recycling

All clothes are out of the sitting-room, and must stay out. Next I must look for any toys that have been left in there. Kitchen continues to be a struggle, and improves very slowly.

Welcome, @afternoonspray! Sorry I missed you earlier.

but they are not him

Willow - These were exactly my thoughts the other night when I was looking at my mum's stuff. I think this is quite a key point for me. Our things are not our loved ones. Neither are they our memories.