The decluttering on thing a day thread - part 11

[StealthNinjaMum]

We’re still here.

After 10 threads my house still isn't tidy!

So join me and a lovely group of mumsnetters who simply get rid of one thing a day and report back. Gradually we’re developing good habits, reorganising ourselves, often improving our mental health and having friendly chatter along the way.

So newbies are welcome, just check in with your news and join in the general chat about recycling, organisation and housework.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3760076-Decluttering-one-thing-a-day-part-10-the-countdown-to-a-clutter-free-Christmas?pg=1

ALSO many of us have set a target to get rid of 2020 items this year and will report on that.

elloello firstly you’ve done fantastically well getting rid of two bags. This isn’t Kondo, if you can’t do the rest then return to them in a month, you might feel stronger. I can’t remember if i’ve been on this thread for two or three years but I can remember having endless conversations (probably with sandandsea) about how I couldn’t get rid of my cookery books. Bit by bit I got rid of two shelves of them.

Secondly I was in your position but I actually did lose the weight, about 5 stone, but when I tried on the old clothes I could see they were old fashioned - dodgy patterned dresses, weird shapeless stonewashed jeans. I don’t know how old they are but at some point you will probably look at them and realise you don’t like them as much as you thought you did and even if you were thinner you wouldn’t wear them.

Anyway back to my first point you have done amazingly.

@Elloello - I completely agree with Stealth. Two bin bags is great!! (And there was a time when I also had loads of unread cookery books.) I also want to lose weight but have actually got rid of most of my stash of 'one day they'll fit me again' clothes. Like Stealth, I suddenly realised that they were a bit crap and not worth the space they were taking up. Anyway, you'll get there. Just keep plugging away.

I've only recently discovered what suits me and I'm 35. I have a wide back, small waist, huge hips and good legs. It's made such a difference as I know I can't wear shapeless sacks as dresses, I need fit and flare short dresses with sleeves.

One dressing up outfit sold today.

elloello have you subscribed to styled by Susie on Facebook? You can get good advice on what fashions suit you. I found an online tool that said I was an hourglass (I popped in my measurements). The shape you are doesn’t change as you put on or lose weight the same styles will largely suit you no matter what. Once I found I was an hourglass I googled what jeans suit me, tops etc. I don’t follow it completely but I avoid things like high necks as they make me look matronly and I wear belts and fitted tops.

If you ever do successfully start to lose weight then you can always buy transition clothes from eBay. I bought a few jumper dresses that were bnwt when I lost weight. So I do understand perhaps the realisation that you might never lose the weight is hard, but never say never. You might one day find yourself in the right place to do it (and it took me years to get to that place).

Anyway we’ll done you on getting back to it.

I sold the item on FB! Was collected this morning. Got rid of five items from the study and have spent 2 hours cleaning. Downstairs is a lot easier to keep clean and tidy at the minute

I've ripped 30 CDs onto my computer. They're going to charity.

Also I forgot - a bag full of paperbacks! I've decided that unless I love them, pbs can go.

Elloello, I totally sympathise - getting rid of those frocks means putting down the person you thought you were then and accepting you'll be different in future. I got rid of some last year, when I realised I couldn't fit me into them, or them into my life anymore, and I wanted to charity shop them while someone else might still choose to wear them. It was still hard, though, they were beautiful and in my head I still wanted to be a small size 12 and need smart frocks most days.

Today, I have to admit to an in - we went to Lidl and seem to have come home with a Vileda knock-off Roomba. Oops.

On the plus side, it is my reward for clearing downstairs floors and hopefully will mean I continue to keep them clear. Also, it means we'll be cleaner, because the dog doesn't object to the noise so any hoovering actually gets done.

Today, I am mostly decluttering stress as all the DC are out this afternoon and I can choose to do absolutely anything of my own.

I expect to be paralysed by indecision for 4 hours, then go to pick DC4 up 😂.

Sliding back into the thread ... life and work have got in the way for me.
Good job I made a flying start at the beginning of the year!

To get back into the swing of things I've just cleared out some random items that had made it into my bedroom.

360/2020

Today I got rid of a hoover nozzle attachment for a hoover I haven’t owned for 3 years. It’s amazing how much stuff you can have in your house that you don’t need at all.

I tidied up the garden today and filled up my garden waste bin. I don’t think that will count as an out until bin day, but at least the garden is tidy.

I’m going to attempt to sort and tidy a couple more drawers of clothes in my room today before work. I dread doing clothes so much but I’m hoping if I start with the really boring jobs, I’ll have more motivation to continue to do the less boring ones once this stream of “get up and go” fizzles out.

Ello fwiw I have boxes of clothes in the loft of clothes that don’t fit me between size 12 and 22! I’m currently a 14. After I had Ds last year I got so,e ‘fat’ clothes out of the loft that were prob 5-10 years old and most of them were so dated and I’d never wear them probably ever again. I really need to go through all those boxes as most of the stuff I don’t need to keep, it’s just part of me thinks I’ll jinx it if I get rid of them and put on lots of weight so I’d need them again! Two bin bags is great, plus never say never. I lost over 100lbs after dd. I now have about 10 lbs to go to be at my second prepreg weight (which was several stones less than pre preg 1 weight!) so my normal clothes still don’t fit but I haven’t given up...yet!

Got rid of 6 bottles of wine by donating to a friend who likes wine (we don’t drink) and she was v grateful! Got rid of more books today. £272 made from sellin stuff in jan!

Willow how is the Lidl roomba working? Is it good?

Can I ask for help with bits and pieces the children bring home from school?

What do we do with it all, I’ve got so many pictures and junk models I honestly don’t know what to do with them all.

I’ve got a wall in the kitchen where we stick the best bits, but the rest is filling drawers and I don’t know how to keep/store them/filter to get rid without it taking up huge amounts of space.

Kitchen replacement is still a nightmare but it's coming together. I can start to put stuff in the drawers and larder unit today so the boxes can go in the skip on the drive - although it's already very full. There is SO much dust downstairs.
The good news is though that my cleaner came yesterday and absolutely gutted upstairs. My bedroom has hard floors and it now echoes it's so empty !!! She's put all my clothes away and I've just emptied and sorted my tights drawer that wouldn't shut properly as it was so full. I do now have 2 drawers with socks, tights, pop socks and stockings in though !! I need to work my way through them. Wear them and throw them away when I put my toe through them 😂😂. One carrier bag full of odd pop socks, holey tights etc in the bin.
It's such a lovely feeling when the place is clean and tidy !!!

Not a very productive couple of days here because I've been test driving cars but have tried to play catch up this evening and have taken all of the stuff I sorted this week to the charity shop.
Out:

11 bras (going to smalls for all)
18 kitchen items
3 board games
6 jigsaw puzzles
Three more bags of miscellaneous "stuff" ready for the next charity shop run.

311/2020

Tackled the dumping ground in my bedroom today. So far... A large bag of outgrown children's clothes for charity, a bin bag, some empty cardboard boxes out. Plus a lot of stuff relocated to proper homes!

I've been really inspired by reading all of the posts here since Christmas and have made a start but have a long way to go. I can't believe the effect it has had on my spending too. Joining in rather than lurking to try and stay motivated.
Out today: bag of rubbish from the office, big bag of clothes to the charity shop and another filled ready to go. Some clothes stored for second child but only selected items rather than everything as I've done previously.
Bag of items to be returned to the shop.
And I discovered £50 vouchers I hadn't realised I'd lost!

I've advertised a big box of stuff for sale v cheaply today. If it doesn't go in a couple of days, it's all going for recycling.

I've also had to bin an eyeliner brush which didn't survive the dishwasher.

@Awesome2020 - Welcome! How good is it to find things like vouchers?! Well done on a great start. Please do keep posting.

Welcome awesome2020 well done on the vouchers.

I have been going through my loyalty cards and I had ten for one shop all with different numbers of stamps. So I went into the shop today and got them to consolidate all the loyalty card stamps into just two and even got a discount on my shopping! So that’s 8 loyalty cards gone!

That reminds me, Stealth, I've been thinking of getting rid of most of my loyalty cards. With a couple of exceptions, I find that they're more hassle than they're worth. I've got to try to remember to do this. Thanks for the reminder!

I've counted my 'outs' for January and it turns out I'm averaging over 8 items per day. My counting is a bit random - a leaflet and a cupboard both seem to count as 1 - but I'm not going to worry about it.

Just checking in as it’s been a while! I haven’t got much done recently but did manage to stick an old laptop and a few other things I no longer want on the local Facebook selling page on Friday. No offers yet but am keeping my fingers crossed! If I don’t have any luck with Facebook I will try eBay.

Does anyone have any tips for eBaying clothes, I need to tackle my wardrobes

One big out today - a jumperoo. Hurrah. And picking the new car up later so need to go through my stuff to put in, which will declutter the lounge.