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.

Welcome Lane Boy and Confused. This is such a lovely corner of Mumsnet, I wish the rest of it was like this . It's a bit of a bunfight out there, especially at the moment, which is why this is pretty much the only place I ever post!

I have decluttered some chocolate and some wine due to the stress of home schooling. Moved some furniture around in our dining room and it looks a lot better.

One in: a mouse. Not a pet. I've been putting our raw vegetable/fruit scrap food waste in the neglected compost bin and it has attracted the little critter, it moved into the compost bin and has now decided to move into the house. It is evading the humane (catch and rehome) mouse traps so far.

alex so sorry to hear about the mouse. I never found humane traps worked but good luck.

One out today already. I don’t know how often I tell you I get rid of dd’s socks but somehow an Anna from frozen sock is still in the drawer. It has been declared too ‘babyish’ so has gone.

Thanks Stealth, the traps didn't work last night either. Time to try and find out where it is coming in, we saw it outside the house so don't think it actually lives inside all the time but comes and goes as it pleases.

A couple of tips about move - sorry if you already know them. Obviously put the traps around the edge of the room rather than the middle - find out where they’re coming in. Also wear gloves to assemble them so they don’t smell you.

I used traditional snappy traps and electronic rat traps and then fed the dead mice to local owls and foxes feeling good that I hadn’t put poison into the environment.

Thanks Stealth, I hadn't realised to use gloves to assemble the traps, I'll try it.

We solved our mouse problem 15 years ago by demolishing that bit of the house and rebuilding. Probably not practical on a day to day basis!

DH has been really busy and has now sold the bedframe (given away for free in exchange for a donation to Shelter), the subwoofer and 3 CD shelves. This is good as apparently we are spending our bank holiday tomorrow pulling the garage out onto the hardstanding and putting it back again as we want it.

This always seems like a really good idea until we're halfway through, tired and threatened by rain.

Then on Saturday, apparently I'm wallpapering one wall in our bedroom, to use up some paper in the loft. When that is done, we will begin papering the study, one wall at at time (because someone (I'm looking at you, DH) poked the bit of wall where the paint has gone bobbly)...

jigolo that's a good way of getting rid of a mouse, wonder if it would work with spiders? It sounds like you're whizzing through the jobs yet you've got four kids - that's such an achievement.

My council have announced the tip is opening next week but there'll be some kind of registration system. I'm sure there'll still be awful queues so I'm happy to wait. I also had an email from freecycle saying that while they're still closed they're opening the website to allow people to prepare their adverts for when they open. I have a few things I could advertise on freecycle so might do that this weekend.

No outs yet today but I'm going to tidy so will inevitably find stuff to go.

Hope your garage clearance is going well Jigolo. You sound be safe from rain today at least, its glorious here considering its a Bank Holiday.

Only a few bits out here. I've planted some salad and emptied one seed packet. I currently have 6 packs of rocket (buying every year without bothering to check stocks, I need to be less lazy!) but they are at least now all in one place.

How are the mouse traps going Alex? I've spotted them in the garden a couple of times but touch wood not inside...

Jigolo glad it got rid of the mouse, think it may be a bit drastic for us . Hope the garage clearance is going well, how are you doing?

Stealth glad your tips are reopening soon.

Raspberry still no luck catching the mouse, we are going to try chocolate in the trap as the peanut butter isn't working. Have also blocked off under the cupboard in the kitchen as they may get in there. Hoping it's worked as didn't see them last night. Good luck with the gardening!

Garage clearance has gone astoundingly well, thank you. We've been in this house 15 years and were mid-extension 13 years ago and during that time the garage has gradually silted up with crap.

Today we have decluttered (deep breath)
🗑️ 2 tennis rackets
🗑️ 1 gokart
🗑️ 1 electronics kit
🗑️ 2 remote control cars
🗑️ 3 bike hats
🗑️ a pair of speakers
🗑️ a hifi stand
🗑️ A bag of random electrical tat / batteries etc
🗑️ a broken turntable
🗑️ 19 shelves
🗑️ 24 bed slats
🗑️ 20 random bits of wood
🗑️ A drum stool
🗑️ 10 cleaning products and a mop bucket
🗑️ 3 laptops
🗑️ A ceiling fan (parts only)
🗑️ A comb binder
🗑️ a pedal bin
🗑️ A mangle table (with woodworm)
🗑️ A broken flat screen monitor
🗑️ A broken CRT monitor
🗑️ A bag full of decorating stuff and dust sheets that got moused, replete with dead mouse 🤢
🗑️ 2 bags of old cutlery
🗑️ An old drill box (we no longer have the drill)
🗑️ 4 number plates for cars we no longer own
🗑️ Two huge pieces of wood that had been screwed over the garage windows
🗑️ A walking stick chair
🗑️ 2 guitar stands (slightly moused)🗑️ 2 cymbal stands
🗑️ A blueray player
🗑️ Metal grill off one window
🗑️ Metal shelf brackets
🗑️ Peg board
🗑️ 9 stacking storage trugs and 3 lids
🗑️ A basket from Somerfields
🗑️ A floating shelf with no fixings
🗑️ A cutlery tray
🗑️ 6 tester paint pots
🗑️ 3 pots of gloss / undercoat
🗑️ Knot stain for wood
🗑️ A broken extension cord
🗑️ A defunct smoke alarm
🗑️ a pair of children's wellies with a snail colony inside them!

Some are aiming for the tip (paints and moused stuff, tomorrow, to keep them away from the dog) and some for other places. I cannot believe we've kept all this tat for more than a decade! 🙄

Going away to tot up what's gone and add it to the total!

165 things! That's a total of 1195/2020 this year.

Stealth, I do have 4 DC but they are aged 18-9 and so can be safely left to do their own thing, or help, for relatively long periods of time. The reason we're doing this now, not 10 years ago, is keeping the kids out of it!

Wait, I missed the fireguard off the list! 1196/ 2020!

D'oh! And the highchair. 1197!

Wow, that’s quite a haul!

Omg! That’s loads! I’m slightly disturbed by the dead mice and snails.

Just out of interest, does your dh know about this thread? Or does he see you furtively scribble into a notepad and think its normal behaviour to log decluttering efforts?

Well I am minus three. In the last few weeks dd2 has allowed me to get rid of loads of stuff which I shoved into a bag quickly before she changed her mind. Today I sorted the items out ready for when charity shops open and stupidly left out three Dolls of Death. You know the type - manky, well loved, dirty, missing clothes, horrible haircut given by toddler dd2, eyes that follow you around the room? She saw them and decided she doesn’t want to get rid of them at all. They looked at me with a mixture of smugness and menace as she lovingly lay them on her pillow at bedtime. I am not happy.

Yes, Stealth DH knows about the thread. He saw me noting down what was going today and told me if I didn't "win the decluttering today" I should get off the thread altogether as I had no chance! 😂 I think he's slightly afraid if he stands still too long I'll declutter the clothes he stands up in.

My sister used to have Dolls of Death too, although they were often also missing a limb and had had scary make up applied with a felt tip! Luckily DD was never a dolly sort of person, so it's not been an issue here.

Until I can get them to a charity shop - I have a bag of clothes from a wardrobe cull .

Also some that can go in a clothing bank (still wearble but not sellable)

Threw out a pillow ( not washable , non sanitary )

Ha ha I think you won the thread today! Think I can find an old sports day medal 🥈 to send you! (And declutter a bit more of dd2s room - win win!)

Very inspiring progress!

I need to get myself in gear again. It was Sunday that I did some of the Bags of Random Crap and I’m ashamed to say I’ve done nowt since.

The weekend’s aim is to rebuild the Kallax in our room and start filling it properly (NOT dumping stuff randomly as usual) but it all feels a bit tricky like one of those sliding blocks/Rush Hour traffic puzzles!

Thanks Stealth, the offer of the medal is kind but I think I've just proven I have enough tat ephemera already! Put it straight in the bin and count it a win .

Good luck with the Kallax, Lane. Filling the Trofasts in the garage proved surprisingly easy in the end, despite having to chase the space.

What do you do with odd or outgrown socks? Bin or rag bag?
And children’s and adults knickers with holes in?

Scary how quickly the space fills up isn’t it 😳

Paper if you can hold on to them I’d put them in a rag bag usually - but always label them as rags/explain as you drop them off so they don’t waste time looking through pants :o I don’t know about other charities but when I used to volunteer for BHF they accepted rags as they got a decent amount per kilo for recycling. When they knew the whole bag was rags they’d just put them straight out so easy money.

That said under present conditions I’m chucking some rags as we’ve no way of getting them anywhere else anyway. We did try putting them out for normal recycling a few times (in a separate bag as on the council leaflet) but they were ignored so not sure what else we can do, and we need the space.

I’ve managed a lot of decluttering today so I’m feeling a lot better, and I’ve been more sensible and got DH on board with the “quitting while ahead” idea - I get overwhelmed super fast when having to make all these decisions and I do better with regular breaks.

We’ve shoved some stuff in the cupboard on the landing but we are getting rid of a decent amount and tidying other stuff, and rearranging our room. Afraid I’ve joined the thread far too late to be in any habit of counting things I’m decluttering though! It’s mostly been tiny things, like pens that don’t work and broken toys.

Thanks, Lane, I mean clean knickers obviously. Although I did read a tip the other day from someone who saves her holey knickers up for holidays and throws them away after she’s worn them.
I’m also making progress but slowly - a broken pen here, a couple of bottles of out of date sauce there.
Loads of pencils and crayons as my dds are coming 16 and 19 that I think I’ll save and take to the local school when coronavirus is over.

Oh don’t worry I wasn’t suspecting you of donating dirty undies 😅
That said you’d be amazed at what gets donated sometimes 🤢

I’ve done similar with using last-legs type clothing/toiletries on holiday.

I bet the school will really appreciate the colouring stuff! I need to sort ours - I’ve separated my stuff out a while back (I draw to relax) and DD1 has her manga pens in her room, but we still have too many random pens and pencils and we need some for home ed, stored safely enough that the toddler can’t trash the place.

Fair bit of progress today. Still got stuff all over the bed but not too much!

Hi everyone! I'm behind on the thread - hope you're all doing well.

I've got 11 items on my out pile today.

It’s been so long since I’ve posted here! Decluttering is taking a bit of a back seat for now for obvious reasons but I am still trying to plug away at it. Currently at 593/2020, including;

25 things from the cupboard of crap under the microwave; mostly bits of old Tupperware and takeaway plastic boxes, plus a steriliser and some old baby bottles
An embarrassingly old jar of bovril,
Crappy make up brush from a Claire’s gift set
3 packets of OOD cooking chocolate
OOD pot noodle
2 charity wristbands
Empty Pot of body cream
2 jars of OOD spices
Old knickers
6 bits of old paperwork
Crappy Claire’s lipgloss
Kids bracelet
4 mini soy sauce bottles from sushi packets
7 sachets of takeaway sauce
2 pieces of outgrown children’s clothing

Lots of ins as both DDs have had birthdays last month but trying not to think about that right now . We still have some limited recycling collections but no textile recycling and tip trips are by appointment only so bags of clothing and rags are building up a bit