Decluttering one thing a day part 10 - the countdown to a clutter free Christmas

[StealthNinjaMum]

It’s the 10th thread and we’re still here!

We’re a group of mumsnetters who aim to get rid of one thing a day to develop good habits and gradually declutter our lives.

Newbies are welcome, those of us who’ve been here for some time have all seen dramatic improvements in our homes, the way we organise ourselves and even mental health. So if you’re new just check in and update with your progress and join in the general chat about recycling, housework and ways to be organised.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3711883-Decluttering-one-thing-a-day-Part-9?pg=1

Really want to keep up on a daily basis, even when I'm sidetracked like today when I had to take Mum to hospital.
I'm on 33/2020 tonight. I'll take that, but hoping to play a bit of catch up on Sunday (2 long days at work before that - but tonight is still not over)
I'm keeping 5 bar gates in my new diary under different categories. because I'm sad like that and pretend to be very organised as it makes me feel more on top of things!

I'm very inconsistent with my counting too but as long as I'm moving in the right direction I'm happy. I used to obsessively log the items that went but I haven't done that for a year. So after putting the DVDs in the car I had a look at our used bottles / jars and I had about 6 to go to the bottle bank but then found 3 gone off beers which I tipped away.

I am including the beers as decluttering as they'd probably been sitting around for at least a year whereas the others don't count

Finally total today 11/1095.

ruudgullit yes I never finish anything either. Or I make a big pile of things to go and never get round to selling them. I think I need to count items when they leave the house rather than when I find them as I will try to go to a charity shop with 5 or 6 bags when I should just do 1 or 2 a week.

Wondering777 thing about streaming films online if you dont ever own it. I believe that even if you pay for it online to watch you still don’t own it like you do with a dvd. It’s in the terms and conditions that they could withdraw it at any point in the future for you to stream even if you’ve paid for it. I assume if you actually download and save it you’re ok.

We have amazon music which I like as can listen to so many things but hate how I spend all this money on it and have nothing physical to have and keep from it.

Big bag taken to charity shop today. That’s 3 big bags in 3 days. A bag of dds old clothes ready to take to a friends house and hopefully someone coming tomorrow to collect a newborn seat we no longer need. Huge baby swing still not sold and could really do with the space back. I wanted to give it away to get rid of it but dh said to try to sell first.

Wow lots of new folk joining us -welcome. Off to a slow start in 2020 as we are still recovering from germs/flu. Post sorted today generating lots of paper recycling, packaging from Christmas bagged up ready to go out.

I've had a really productive day today. It's amazing what you can get done when you don't spend all day faffing around online so my New Years resolution has an added bonus! I've used up a cardboard box to box up things for the loft for when DD is bigger. I can now see a corner of our bedroom that's been hidden for a while now everything is boxed up.

Three large cardboard boxes are out. Christmas decorations have come down so when packing them up I sorted through the boxes and have found two sets of lights that haven't been used for years so they're out. Also out are 2 random keys that no one knows what they're for.

I've cleaned and tidied the porch because it was getting a bit tricky to get through the front door again. One pair of toddler summer shoes and a pair of toddler wellies are in the charity pile. I think that makes 9 things out today.

Total so far 18/2020.

Today's item:

A candlestick - I don't know what it is about it, but I don't really like it. It's been out and in use so I'm going to replace it with one I've got stored away, freeing up more cupboard space.

TIn of pencils (pencils have been put in ds’ pencil case - the bulky tin is in the bin)

Deodorant - used this up so one less on my toiletries stash

Pair of iPhone headphones - new iPhone for Christmas and it no longer has a headphone jack. So need to get rid of all the old pairs of headphones I have kicking around.

Stealth, yes to the empty bottles in the bathroom, so glad I don't have to deal with that anymore.

Had to take the cat to the vet for an op to have a skin tag removed, he is ok.
So most of my day has been taken up with travelling and looking after the wee thing!

Today I have replaced some baskets in the bathroom, I will take the old ones into work, we will make use of them there.
Have also upgraded my mop and bucket (living the high life!) the old one is sitting outside my front door, the bucket is split a bit and the mop keeps unthreading, I will take it down tomorrow to the bin, but will separate it into the recycling.
So they are not counted as outs.

Actual outs
Calendar
4 leaflets
Finished box of chocolates

173/2020

Tomorrow will be more productive as I'm spending the day at home.

One out here, DS onesie which has weird stains on it, although it’s actually clean, but I can’t get them out, so it’s been chucked. I think tomorrow I’ll have a look at my nail varnishes as most if not all of them are long past the use by mark and there’s only a couple of colours I really wear. Also some bottles and food cupboard bits that I know can be chucked.

Oh, running total is 36/2020

I would like to join you if I may, I'm on holiday at the moment and won't be home until the end of the month.
I have raised a large family and most have now flown the nest I remain in the family home and will do so for the next 5/10 years.
I have a double garage rammed full of stuff a lot of which belongs to the kids who seem to think we are a free storage facility but I would really like to park a car in it one day.
I've had a tendency to hold onto things for sentimental reasons and have come to realise that nobody will want any of it when I'm gone, I have 1000's of photos that need to be put in albums, decades worth of paperwork that I need to let go of, a lot of tat, craft supplies that will never be used, things that I was going to up-cycle, repurpose or just reuse, far too many clothes that I'm never going to be slim enough for ever again, I'm sure you get the picture.

I'm currently staying with a relative who lives in an uncluttered home with just one drawer dedicated to odds and ends and it's made me want to declutter my home too.

I love the idea of getting rid of 2020 items in 2020 and will start in earnest in February.

Welcome @Bunkerlife!

I’m amazed at how well everyone on here has been doing this past week! Well done!

I’ve had a couple of quiet days on the decluttering front, so am currently at 106/2020 but I’m determined to tackle more areas on my ‘to declutter’ list this morning, as well as cross off some of the non-decluttering ‘to dos’ that have been hanging around. Wish me luck!

Oh God, I have just decluttered some bottles of Chinese sauces from the food cupboard and the oyster sauce was so old it had formed into clumps 🤮🤮🤮🤮

41/2020

Another 4 things gone, old Christmas sacks, that are threadbare, so will go to the clothes/rags drop off point.

177/2020

Sydney, I need to go through the fridge and the cupboards to see what has to go!

Knackered old pair of kids wellies and a pair of my painting jeans with more hole than knees gone so far today.

Tackling the kitchen cupboards now. Already got a bag full of crap to go. Some of the herbed and spices went out of date the year my daughter was born. She’s SIX.

Welcome, @Bunkerlife and all other newbies!

I'm now ready to let that family heirloom go, so that's going out today (or at least on the out pile).

I've also got a kitchen gadget going out. It's quite big - takes up most of 2 shelves in a cupboard, so I'm really going to notice this one.

Another bag of clothes for charity shop. Am taking the stuff there today.

Well done on the kitchen gadget! We have a steamer and food processor which have been used maybe twice in the last ten years and certainly not since we moved to our current house three years ago but OH absolutely refuses to let me get rid of them

I'm sticking to the one item (or more) per day. Got rid of some plastic bags at the supermarket this morning.
Plan for this afternoon is to take Christmas tree and cards down. DP is going to do a dump run tomorrow so will sort stuff out for that.

Have spent 2 hours ankle deep in the filing cabinets. I have disposed of 24 hanging files that had fallen to bits, 4 inches of general paperwork and another 6 inch high stack of receipts, guarantees and instructions relating to items we no longer own . I've done 3 drawers out of 6 and I think that's enough for today!

We could actually go down to one cabinet now, but they're both being used to support other things. Need to work out how we might manage without the smaller one.

Counting an inch as an item, that's 34 things today.

Decluttrring 2020 items in 2020
257/2020

Thanks, Pickled. Moving out that one item has led to a significant domino effect, impacting at least 4 other cupboards!

I've been able to move my significant stash of laundry powder into one place. Ditto various crockery bits which were also more spread about.

I've brought out all my food storage jars etc and am going to sort them out next. I've definitely got too many now.

Other outs:

• A plant pot I've had for many years and haven't used for maybe 10.
• A loo brush. I'm counting it because I've had a replacement lined up for ages so have freed up some cupboard space. (I won't replace it this time until I need to.)

DP got home and decided he would go to the dump this afternoon so that's got rid of a few bags sooner than I expected.

• That didn't make sense but I'm sure you know what I mean.

Pickled - Would your OH be amenable if you could sell the items? (Just a thought.)

Vin - I was referring to my post not yours, in case that's not clear.