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

Happy Birthday, Purple! Hope you have a fab day too!

King size mattress gone from spare room to dump (sold king size bed 2 weeks ago - now I need to pain the room and make it into a room for DS2!!!! (with a Hemnes day bed).

2 old Ikea kids chairs (beyond repair) gone to dump and lots of old electrics gone this morning. Looked through the whole house and that was all we had left to dump!!! (except large garden items which are being skipped later this month).

Now if only I could sort my wardrobe - but after all of my room by room efforts over the past 3 months I have lost interest.

Finished off the milk with the last of the hot chocolate I got for Christmas. Have also finished a chocolate bar, a pack of biscuits and the terrys chocolate orange... insee a theme here aha

Will be donating some books to charity this week.

Also got rid of some broken toys yesterday

Happy birthday Willow

@Momniscient, yes, one of my new years resolutions is to find homes for them all.

Today I have put one toddler duvet set into the out bag. Tidied away my presents. Thrown out a handful of tiny things, an old deodrant and some dry wet wipes. Also have about 15 essential oils that I haven't used for 10 years that are nearer the bin.

Happy birthday willow!

And mom I have a box that is stuff I shove in when I get bored of tidying.. so it might have a home but I’ve had enough and in it goes.. next time some things may go out other things may go in...

Had a really really long day at work yesterday so nothing out and ave work to do this evening so going to go and put the charity bag into the charity bag that’s come through for tomorrow and find a few easy wins in the playroom and then get on with my work..

A candle into the charity bag. Two more candles I can't decide, sometimes I like the smell, sometimes I don't. I have plenty of candles that I like 100% of the time, that have many burn hours, so I should get rid of the maybes really shouldn't I? Sigh. A box of chocolates decluttered. And I have wonderful nails with extensions!

Happy birthday to Purple as well. I have reorganised the shelves in the living room and rehomed some other things onto them so there is now more on the shelves but they look less cluttered somehow. I did get rid of a few things as I went along. A cook book has gone into the charity bag. Into the bin went a party popper, a pot of bubbles, last year's diary (I'm counting this because I'm not getting a new one because I never use them), a box for a phone, a child's craft project and some sort of pen set belonging to DH where nothing worked.

I have noticed DH sorting through some paperwork this evening and DD has put her toys away without complaining today so maybe all this hard work decluttering is rubbing off on the rest of the family!

The running total is now 123/2020.

Thank you for birthday good wishes and happy birthday to my twin, @PurpleFrog! I am 46 today, I suspect you are much younger.

Despite birthday ins (more socks, more knitting patterns, a lovely new handbag that matches my boots ) after DM visited for coffee, I've made more outs! To whit, 2 pairs of shoes past repair and the box my dancing shoes arrived in 20 years ago. I still wear them to go out (mostly at Chrismas) so I shall hold on for now.

374/2020

Happy Birthday Willow and Purple.

Nothing out for me today - but I have used the new handbag I was given for Christmas and some lovely bath oil that has been sat in a drawer for at least a year. I'm determined not to hoard lovely things for best but to enjoy them every day.

Turned out I was more productive with clearing and less with my work

Pile of 2018 magazines into recycling, Toy, book and clothes into charity bag, old work tops into rag bag and some really old socks went into the bin (before I remembered mum had left rag bags as their council collects)..

Got a bit of steam on at the moment but will have to get back on with coursework on an evening soon so best I do..

Thank you for the birthday wishes, I have only decluttered some wine and chocolates today.

@IWillWearTheGreenWillow - you are wrong! I am precIsely 10 years older than you.

Happy Birthday Purple and Willow!
I've not been around much today but got rid of my Freecycle items tonight.
Decluttered a bottle of fizz we acquired from ILs over Christmas. Sadly it was disappointing as it was a bit sweet.

Morning all! Purple, that's funny - I know you have grown up / late teen DC, but in my head you're definitely younger than me! Good luck with the carpets.

Back to it today, but loads of outside the house appointments to run people to, so not sure how much will get done.

Mom, those things you can't throw out sound like mostly prime candidates for a Childhood Box. It's ok to retain things you love but can't display, in my book, as long as you're aware they're there. Can you find a pretty box for a bookshelf somewhere, rather than under your desk? The odd photo frame should probably go, though.

wondering7777 that’s a good idea with the veg. I might copy you . I have been getting better at this myself as we throw away loads of fruit and veg. Yesterday I made a soup with leftover veg and for breakfast I had porridge with leftover berries.

Happy birthday for yesterday greenwillow I’m glad you didn’t have much clutter in. And happy birthday purplefrog too!

momniscient if you just have one Box of Crap I think you’re doing well. I have lots of boxes and drawers of random stuff. On the landfill point I would say that at some point it is going to landfill unless you can alter it in some way or find someone who wants it. I hate sending stuff to landfill but sometimes you just have to and it makes you be more careful when you’re buying stuff. I would say give the frame away while it would still be nice for someone else. Personally I hate ornaments and things on display - I am currently looking at a clear window ledge in my sitting room - but I have a snow globe that comes out at Christmas and lives with the Christmas decorations (along with some porcelain / china xmas ornaments) and a couple of bits on my dining room window sill. So personally I would get rid of the items - even the notebooks - they’re of no use now! - apart from the snow globe which can go with xmas decs and be special once a year and put the hedgehog on a cat proof shelf (if such a thing exists).

If I sound unsentimental it’s because I had a moment about two Christmases ago when I gave away all unwanted gifts to charity and some were ten years old. It’s very freeing.

purplefrog good news about the carpet. Should be a great incentive to get those rooms perfect.

So yesterday I did lots of washing and cleaning. I also had a long bath and used up an expensive brand of face pack and bath oil. My main out is about 300 of the Sainsbury’s Disney Heroes cards. I started doing my bedroom and found the cards and an old fire extinguisher that we bought when we went to France a few years ago (it’s a legal requirement to have one in the car). I have no idea what to do with it. I don’t even know if it has an expiry date. Today I’m going to spend a bit more time in my bedroom and also dcs bedrooms to see if I can persuade them to get rid of some stuff.

Couple of days off the thread as busy life atm with dd at a new school.

a dozen CDs/dvds ready to go here and 2 big bags of school uniform for dds old school I need to take to their second hand uniform shop at some point. Managed to dust my bedroom yesterday which was pretty desperate to be done so decluttering some dust too . Dd has said she’s too old now for a couple of duvet sets so can decluttering those too (next on my list). Progress continues.

Happy belated birthday greenwillow And purple.

We have a keepsake box in the loft for each of the dc. I’m getting better about not keeping every one of dds school books/pictures but still have too many.

Btw it’s me, Yule but changed back to regular non Christmas nn (decluttering from Christmas )

Hi everyone! And a belated happy birthday to @IWillWearTheGreenWillow and @PurpleFrog!
I have done approximately zero decluttering since Monday. Mon-Thurs always seems to be a blur of school runs and activities here anyway, and this week between my children and my dad I am responsible for getting people to no less than 8 medical appointments between the usual madness. I’m looking forward to this baby being born so I can reduce my taxi duty rota for a couple of weeks!
Tomorrow I should be able to tackle a few more things - I think I might go through the toys again and charity shop some of the things I’d listed for sale that haven’t gone - I find if things haven’t sold in the first few days, then they don’t tend to sell at all!

Oops, I lie. It’s only 6. It just feels like 8.

Bag of clothes to textile recycling bin and 2019 calendar in recycling-DP had "tidied" it away rather than putting it out.
Really need to get rid of the toys DD has decided she's outgrown. Some are partly used craft or science sets which I night try and Freecycle as I can't really donate or sell them and it seems a shame to just bin them. I'll have a think....

4 outs from my make-up bag today. All items have been kept, unused for far too long. The lipstick was the wrong colour from the beginning. For some reason, I had to keep it for a while to justify buying it. It's now too dry to use.

This thread is so motivating. I spent about an hour in my bedroom and turned a superficially neat and tidy space into a tip

I have put into recycling another iPad box, a speaker box and got various papers ready for shredding and there are little piles of stuff to do with school, the odd bank statement, letters to tooth fairy, teeth, home made mothers day cards, lots of wires, bits of packaging.

Funnily enough my clothes and bedding - and the stuff you'd expect to find in a bedroom - are fairly decluttered and I do have empty drawers and space so I have decided to spend January decluttering my bedroom and finding homes for everything and not just putting them back in a drawer. That should take a long time but I keep decluttering my bedroom but never finish - until now!

18 items from the 'medicine drawer'. All out of date, useless or in some cases unidentifiable.

Running total 294/2020

Nothing out over the last few days, my mental state’s been a bit up and down and with it, my motivation. However today I got home early and I’ve managed to bin a few broken toys and sort a few outgrown ones to donate, and a few for deep storage. So that’s something. I’d really like DH to tackle his cupboard of doom, but it’s in DD’s room and there just never seems to be a good time...

Thanks all so much for your suggestions. Just saying some of the stuff that was in there helped with perspective.

Recruited DP to help me sort through The Box... generally speaking a success (though I now have a new box of "things that have a home to go to" that I'm going to gradually out away. The frame has gone to the eBay fairy, the notebooks are being recycled, the lavender thing is being fixed and refilled, and both snow globe and glitter hedgehog are going in a new box of "things to keep but don't know where".

54 things binned/recycled
4 to post/recycle
19 to go to the eBay fairy
1 broken hanger this morning

So that's now 228/2020 outs. Time for a sit down and a tea!

Loads out on this week-

Charity shop doorstep bag out ( I wasn't able to get the shop)

Loads of household rubbish, recycling and they were taking small appliances (possibly just a Christmas / New Year service ) so got the old toaster out .

Did a load of theraputic shredding today