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

Welcome @TrueCrimeFan and congratulations on your DD!

I’m expecting DC3 in a month and feel so conflicted about getting rid of the baby stuff as he/she grows out of it - I’ve always wanted 4 children but DH has put his foot down and is insisting this is our last, so it’ll be an emotional process decluttering the baby gear!

Hello! I’ve been lurking.. I started with you last year - it was about thread 7 then did a 3 month sports charity challenge which took up my evenings So I stopped but I’ve been ticking away at it since And did quite a bit in the garage.. anyway I am now also studying a masters in the evenings so my clearing may be in fits and starts but the house is easier to keep clean now it’s a bit clearer - and I try to make sure I put things away as well...

Everyone sounds like they’ve had a great start to 2020!

Thank you for your welcomes! I can’t wait to get started today. I think I’ll start in the house, mainly because it’s so cold in our garage. Hoping the DD will ‘help’ me.

The urge to chuck everything in a huge box or bin liner is being weighed up with the fact that it’s a nightmare to sort mixed bags at the top. Also, lots could go to charity.

Wish we knew the baby’s sex, then I’d know if it’s worth hanging onto DD’s old clothes or not.

So my goal today is to sort out the airing cupboard and drawers under beds. All of these are chockablock full of old duvets, pillows and bedding which basically never gets used. It is taking up SO much room. Need to have a sort through, create a system for keeping it in order and then take the rest to charity/rescue centres etc.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Hello! I have 4DC and have started decluttering while they are distracted with their new gifts.

I have removed most of the playmobil (it was a great big box and they only played with a handful). Also removed all of them wooden train set and lots of little figures, happy meal toys etc. I would say about 600 pieces in total.

But then some friends came by with a big box of Lego for the kids, which they love.

So will remove that number to 250/2020.

My bedroom later on today.

We are still mid reorganising and everything is everywhere so it’s the ‘everything gets worse before better’ stage. Hopefully decorations down today. Dds room is done though.

Stealth at cluttering up someone else’s house with Hama stuff.

Desperately need to sort the kitchen. But never get the chance to so it properly.

Ditto under stairs cupboard and garage. Dh or ds are always around.

The big one for me will be getting rid of the bed in dds room. Once that’s gone we’ll have loads of space.

I’m the same with baby clothes. Dd (now 5 months) is definitely the last one. Am saving her clothes in bags in the loft as am going to do a car boot sale in the spring. I can’t be bothered with the faff of ebay for these. So will sell what I can at a car boot and the rest will go to charity. Ds (age 2) has loads of stuff too which needs to either be sold saved or charity shopped. This is all up in the loft too.

Willow She was up there for the funeral of Elderly Relative A, but Elderly Relative B died practically en route to the crematorium so she was back two weeks later! Bit of a dramatic way to stock up the biscuit tin . One relative was in a nursing home and the other had a partner so hopefully no associated clutter coming my mum’s way.

Tree has come down and is going to the tip later with a load of boxes and amazon packaging. We need to go through the decorations as well as we only used one box of baubles to do the tree and there are four or five bags in storage which are never used, some even unopened.

DD2 has a birthday party today and I can regift an unopened toy for a present, so that’s one more out

Yesterday I was out for most of the day so the only real outs were bits from the fridge that were past their best. They don't count in my total of outs.

I did find a book more for babies on DD's bookcase when she was refusing to go to sleep last night so that went into the charity shop pile. I remembered this morning that she also has a fabric book and one that attaches to a buggy that she doesn't really bother with so I've dug those out and added them to the pile. So that makes 21/2020 outs so far.

I really need to make an effort to actually get some of this stuff out of the house so I think a tip trip is needed today.

Argh! Just need to vent...

I’ve been decluttering for years, we’re pretty good at minimising what comes in and not buying too much, but I still feel like every surface in our house is littered with junk! Everywhere I look there are piles of laundry (clean and dirty), toys strewn around, things waiting to go to wherever they should go (garage, tip, charity shop, waiting to be sorted out once baby is here and we know if it’s a boy/girl...)

Any tips for managing piles of crap??

@cletter we usually store ours in the garage until we can make it to the tip/charity shop. Gets it out of the house at least. Can’t keep it there for long though due to the damp

Clettercletter No tips unfortunately but you’re not alone with the endless piles. We really have too much stuff - clothes and toys especially- and although DC3 is a boy after two girls, so once DD2 grows out of something girly it can be passed on, it still seems like stuff hangs around forever. Definitely no more babies though, and DS is nearly 18 months, so stuff like the Moses basket has gone, and hopefully the double buggy this year as DD2 starts school in September so really shouldn’t be riding in it anymore

3 old payslips, three letters, and another bloody packet of out of date hotel biscuits 73/2020

Oops! Sorry @PickledLily and @PickledLilly. Must check spellings in future!

Welcome to all the newbies! Cletter piles of clutter drive me mad too, but I find it helps to have them actually labelled. If they're just piled I have to check what they are each time. And sometimes I cut my losses and just chuck things because reducing my stress is more valuable than possibly selling / reusing / charity shopping things.

No outs yet today, but a new lightsaber in for DS3 bought with his Christmas money. DD and I are on the train to London to the theatre now, so probably not much decluttered today.

So ds1 came over and I got him to sort out his stuff from his old wobbly, broken chest of drawers, so that is all gone! We broke up the drawers and put them in the bins.
I live in an upstairs maisonette and as long as wood is broken up and in the massive bins, the council will take it.
So at least another 50 items gone.

327/2020.

Still sorting through stuff, but feeling good!

@Cletter I too have piles of stuff everywhere; but I tend to stick them in the spare room and often forget about them. leading me back to square 1.

today has been good as I have tackled small areas whilst doing other jobs, instead of a hug area and feeling lost in it.

9 gift bags all too battered to be used, all out instead of going back in the gift wrap drawer.

whilst getting ready to go out this afternoon I also threw 4 nail polishes and 5 lipsticks that were all past the best as well as other odd bits off the top of the drawers.

counted outs today 26.
decluttering total 62/2020

Sorted the bookcase in the office and took 14 large books to the second hand book shop. There's still 3 more places where books live in our house, but it's a start and the best thing is that stuff has actually left the house!

DH is due to be made redundant in April, so my plan is to declutter as much of my stuff by then so he can do his stuff in April - has has a habit of "clearing" stuff into boxes and then putting them into the loft or garage rather than them actually vacating the premises. Annoyingly, both were empty only 5 years ago so it's scary how crap accumulates!

29/2020

Not much time today as I’ve been outside varnishing the porch but I’ve just chucked well over half the bath toys in the bin, I’ve only kept the stuff that is solid, anything with a hole that fills up with manky mouldy water you can’t get rid of has gone. Also out, a pair of trousers we inherited for the smallest pickle, I put them on him this morning and they looked daft so they went straight in the charity bag. I’ve got one of those kids IKEA chairs earmarked for destruction as well but haven’t managed to do a tip run yet so it’s technically not out but it’s days are numbered.

Christmas decs in the loft. Also up there now are:

The carry cot bit of DD’s pram
Our picnic set
Door wreath
Gift bags.

I’ve also put laundry away.

Next week when dh is at work and ds is at nursery I’m going to break down the bed in dds room and am going to put this in the garage. Not sure how to get rid of matress. But will see what I can do.

Another “one out but one in” day for me - I used a voucher I had for Christmas to buy a new casserole dish, and threw out my ancient, very scratched and stained dish that it’s replacing.

StealthNinjaMum The plastic baskets I swear by, you can usually pick them up the the tat aisles at Aldi or lidl and they’re perfect for kitchen storage. I have one for crisps, one for breakfast cereals etc I find if you empty things out of their original packaging and into plastic baskets they take up much less space in the cupboard and you can see exactly what you’ve got.

Just messaged a rubbish collection Co and they’re coming to get the matress on Tuesday. Phew. Tht was easy.

Finished one of the many shampoos in the bathroom today. Some ins but ones to help with tidiness:- new hangers for DD's clothes and a new box file for her paperwork-the other is ripped.

@PickledLilly, if you have a glue gun, you can glue the hole on the bath toys, makes them last longer and no manky black stuff.

I've had an in today, but they will get used and have already been put away.
I got 4 rolls of Christmas wrapping paper and 36 tags for the very small sum of £1.50, so I'm sorted for Christmas this year!

So many new people, I think decluttering must be a new year’s resolution for lots of people!

Welcome TrueCrimeFan and elmosducks and welcome back vroc81

clettercletterthatsbetter that’s hard and something I’m working on. I keep my dirty laundry in baskets in my wardrobe and dc have their own. Clean laundry goes in stackable boxes where it looks tidier but I loathe putting it away. I am getting better at putting things in the car to actually leave the house otherwise I have a pile of rags / clothes and stuff for the charity shop and piles of things to be sold but I am intending to get rid of that stuff next week.

Thanks pickledlily I can’t think when I would use those baskets but I loved them. I love storage solutions but need to stop buying them. I’m now wondering if I should be organising my cleaning products that I never use.

Today I went through arts and craft things with dc and they have agreed 12 sets that can go to a charity shop. They’re now in the car (with the dvds from the other day).

Total 23/1095