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.

Jigolo - we have a bike to sell as well. This would be the perfect time to sell it as lots of people are looking for them on the local Facebook pages. But... I am a bit nervous about people coming to look at it and try it.

I see eBay have a £1 max selling fee on this weekend. I haven’t listed anything new since before the lockdown, but have unexpectedly sold 3 things in the past few weeks. Maybe I will list again. At least the local Post Office has increased its capacity now. For a while it only had one protected counter open and was only allowing one person at a time inside. Due to staff shortages it was only open for 5 hours a day, 3 days a week. It is now back to 6 days, with a second protected counter. I have also experimented with buying Royal Mail postage online now, for an item which went as Large letter, so I didn’t have to brave the queue again.

Thanks purplefrog for some reason I’m desperate to go to the tip but I can probably wait a few weeks, my local one isn’t open anyway.

jigolo that would really annoy me about the table. I hope you get rid of it soon.

Dd2!has chosen some jigsaw puzzles to go. So my afternoon will be spent making them to check the bits are still there before they go in the charity shop pile.

After Abbas couple of weeks I think I am on top of the housework.!things are tidier but I will probably be back tomorrow moaning that dc have destroyed the tidiness again.

Thought I'd have a look to see how everyone is doing. Looks like some progress. I have got rid of a few dried up pens and stumpy pencils this week-all part of my using things up mission-so small progress. DD gave some of her chalks to some kids around the corner who we found out wanted some and she has used up a few more art supplies.

Hello! I have been reliably informed this thread is a lovely part of MN and would love to join you all if I may? I’m currently sitting on my bed having sorted through some Bags of Random Crap. Slowly filling a bag of rubbish and another of recycling.

We are not organised people. But I’m gradually improving and trying to make the most of more time at home to really get a grip on the house.

By way of intro - 3 DCs 12 10 and 2, older two and myself diagnosed autistic, I have ADHD too and in fact credit my gradual improvement at housework entirely to an alternative brand of Ritalin which I started in November :o DH and I both now have various health issues so have to take it slowly though. DS is home educated and DD1 was until December when she decided to return to school after almost five years out, but we are of course back to having everyone home for now.

We are in a reasonable sized house now but the clutter has predictably expanded despite absolutely loads of decluttering when we moved in 2018. But we are getting sorted now - we had my lovely DSD living with us for about 9 months after graduating, but she secured a flat just before lockdown began, so we are using the regained space as a kickstart to get back on top of things!

We have actually managed to get some stuff out of the house despite the situation - DH does charity related work from home and we have had a pile of board games (they’re my thing, we have a terrifying amount!) collected by a homeless shelter, and I sorted some toddler clothes for someone who had none for their growing daughter and no way of buying any. So that’s been a win for all of us. :)

Right I need lunch and a break from decluttering so I shall stop my waffling there

Just about keeping up with one item out a day for now. Today's haul - parts of a game and some random lids. DS is sorting some large Lego models to pass on in due course.
Hope everyone is keeping well.

LaneBoy

Well done on starting to sort out you house!! Remember it did not take a week to get in a mess and it won’t take a week to get it sorted.

I personally like to do one room at a time spend one whole day decluttering then the next day giving it a deep clean.

Also if you can keep up with the washing and ironing that always helps, hopefully the weather stays good so you can get stuff dried outside.

If you have a garage it’s a good idea to do that first then once it’s all sorted then you can use it to store stuff to go to charity and stuff to go to the dump when they open.

Good luck having a clean tidy house is so good for your mental health, if mine is not sorted then I just get depressed.

A place for everything and everything in its place is my mantra!!

I hope you don’t mind me joining ladies?

I’ve started to declutter my house. I’m ashamed of how much crap we have. My husband just doesn’t seem to like space, and as soon as I’ve freed up some space some other bit of furniture comes in.

I think I’ve finally got him on board as I told him I can’t live like this anymore. Feel like I’m drowning in things. It’s impossible to clean with stuff everywhere as nothing has a home.

Today we’ve given away a crate of books, culled the towels, board games and my youngest child’s toys.

I’m exhausted. I also have Fibromialgia which means my energy is quite low anyway.

I just want to have a semi nice home that I’m not ashamed of :(

Welcome lane and confused this thread is definitely friendly, even though I don't post very often.

In the last week I have been able to clear off 3 shelves on my desk, most of it was DCs artwork, and most of that was able to be thrown away. I kept the best stuff. Some paperwork needed to be filed and a small amount went in the shred pile.

I have decluttered a big bag of blueberries into a lemon and blueberry bread and blueberry crumble, both keto friendly. We had no more room in the freezer. We are getting a freezer from ILs next weekend so that'll be nice to have more room available. That also means making room in the shed that the freezer will go in, which shouldn't take too much work or time.

Morning all and welcome Lane and confused. We are suddenly decluttering with vigour again - the bike sold in an day to someone local who walked over to collect it and we managed to stay 2m apart while we handed it over.

We've also sold 3 CD shelves (staying here til after lockddown) and the subwoofer and had interest in the bedframe. I may shortly be able to see the garage! I've also got another bag of little bits for the tip, when it reopens. I shall count that as 20 more things overall.

Confused, my DH is also prone to filling spaces (and spending money!) when sometimes I would just like to enjoy the space and the savings for a bit!

Decluttering 2020 things in 2020:
1010/2020! Half way! Woo hoo! 🎉🥇🏆

Welcome Laneboy and confusedandtired99. We certainly are a friendly bunch, I think I told the thread about my marriage breakup before I told my parents And they still don't know about my boyfriend of one year now

LaneBoy I'm not naturally organised either but as I declutter I have Ping moments where I spot a way to get better organised - which usually involves shopping. Not only do I have less clutter but lots of basic tasks are quicker now. I am envious that you have got stuff out of the house. I have tonnes of stuff to go at the moment.

confusedandtired it sounds like like you've made a good start. I promise you can go slowly and still get to the stage where you have a nice house. Before isolation I could invite someone back for a coffee on the school run and not worry about the house. You'll get there.

I have chucked out a couple of more biros that don't work. It's annoying the amount of plastic I'm getting rid of. I'm also collecting a stash of batteries. I haven't been in a supermarket to get rid of them for ages but I think I can take them to the tip when it next opens.

Thanks so much for the lovely welcomes!

I’m having a bit of a down day today but I did manage to sort a reasonable amount yesterday. I’ll try and do a little more later but won’t be so ambitious this time (don’t you just hate that bit where you realise you’ve got too much out and then you struggle to actually tackle it all and it’s all over the floor/bed/table and aaaaargh!!!)

We are in the process of moving some furniture around and it’s a bit Rubik’s cubey IYSWIM - Sorting one thing messes up another!

laneboy you have described my bathroom floor! I have got loads of makeup out about a week ago and it is all over the floor. I’m intending to tidy it tonight if I have the energy. I have spare drawer in my bedroom for it.

I'm about to meet up with someone who is buying DSs dirt bike riding boots. We will need to replace them with a bigger pair as he's outgrown all his gear. I just washed his jersey and pants and they will be put up for sale as well. His helmet will be next! We have been getting everything 2nd hand though as they usually outgrow the gear before it wears out, unlike his normal clothes 🤬

Got a bit excited about decluttering yesterday and finally cleared the music shelf where I've been stacking paper belonging to DS3 for about 3 years. We've finished putting certificates and things he values into his boasting book and put out 20 or so (most pointless participation ones schools so love to hand out). It's quite exciting to have a bit of shelf back.

1030/ 2020

Welcome LaneBoy and Confused!

Hazel I love the sound of your blueberry cake.

I've relocated three bulky baby toys into the garage. For some reason ILs bought two varieties of the same thing on different occasions so one will be definitely leaving, the other will join the giant pile of baby things I'm dithering about!

Long term followers of the thread will not be excited to hear that I have finally tracked down my degree certificate in a box in the garage. I'll be transferring it somewhere more logical plus ditching all the uni work that was also in the box.

Where are people putting things?
Our local recycling is closed so can't clear there. Charity shops ditto but that's bagged up and in the boot of the car.
Garden waste bin is full and tiny garden so no room for compost heap.
No garage.
Not even a shed.
Would love to shred all old paper work but back to no recycling centre!
Not much is total rubbish but that's bagged up and going out in the weekly bin pick up.

Everyone home so no where to store anything.

And just realised - I really need to change my name.......

Help. Some parts of my house are a mess...

@RaspberryBlonde - would love to find my degree cert , suspect mine will be in a box full of notes too. From so many decades and moves ago - likely illegible and definitely to be binned.
Ooh. Wouldn't need to shred though so could go straight into recycling pick up!

I didn’t do anything yesterday, I did exercise and a bit of home ed but no decluttering, I was in such a mood and then DH went to bed sick so I couldn’t hide and sort stuff! I will try today.

Apparently our local tip opens next week, we don’t have a car anyway (DSS has taken things in the car before though) so not in a massive hurry. The main thing we need to keep doing is sorting through the games we want to get rid of as we put the important ones upstairs (moving the kallax from the living room) but this is a drop in the ocean really!

raspberryblonde that’s good news about the degree certificate. I found mine a couple of years ago and it’s filed with all my important life documents - GCSE and a level certificates as well as passports,!birth certificates etc. It’s abgood feeling to be able to get these things immediately if you need them (not that I have ever needed my GCSE certificates).

thisyear my crap is in the garage and spare room and car boot and it is really bothering me. But I suppose my house is clearer and if I hadn’t decluttered I would only have to do it after lockdown anyway.

pamdenick what’s the problem? Parts of my house are a mess too but as long as I know I’m doing something every day I know it’ll get better. And when dc go back to school it will be easier.

Last night I ‘finished’ my bathroom in the sense that I have now emptied every drawer and found homes for everything. There are items that I have multiple copies of but I won’t buy more and I am using up things like hand creams and shower gels. What surprised me was how things like scissors and pens and 3D cinema glasses were in there. All items have been rehomed. Obviously I am using stuff up but it is possibly the first room I feel I have ‘finished’ and I think i’ve been on this thread for three years!

Thisyear it's a bit time consuming but I just tear up the address bits/other personal data and put the rest in the recycling (spread across collections and/or boxes). Obviously depends how sensitive the papers are.

Well done on the bathroom Stealth! I'm almost there with ours I think although the kids attachment to random bath toys is slowing progress.

Have decluttered some forgotten leftovers from the fridge this morning, but annoyed about not eating them in time.

Nothing else out today but @RaspberryBlonde have you seen some tips in our area are reopening tomorrow? Only one person per car, you need to prove you live in our county and only "essential rubbish disposal that cannot safely be stored at home", but it's a start!

On that last basis, of course, I can't use the tip because I don't consider untidy to equal unsafe, but I'm slightly concerned by how excited I am about this. should get out m no, wait...

After yesterday’s post I sat down with dds and sorted through a jewellery drawer. It was full of cheap plastic tat they’d made or got free with a magazine. About 90% has gone but there’s still a lot of tat left.

Thanks @JigoloHarMegiddo. Think we will be giving the tip a miss for a bit longer as like you it’s mainly untidy, but we’re lucky to have space in the garage. We do have loads of small electrical bits to go at some point though...

Tat from magazines is the bane of my life here too!

Finally managed to declutter the ironing last night (except DH’s work shirts but he doesn’t need them at the moment so they don’t count!). Of course he picked this morning to sort through his floordrobe...