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.

I’ve been going through our ikea units and they just seem to be a repository of plastic crap. I wonder if I ditch the storage boxes and keep the shelves if we won’t fill them with crap and we will just throw the crap away.

Exhibit a: hideous mermaid doll is going to be put deeply in the bin before dd2 announces ‘she’s my favourite toy, you can’t throw her away!’

Well, I've started going through one of my boxes of doom. This particular one involves about a dozen, very full, ring binders. I'm pleased to write that I've cleared about 3 inches of papers so far. I'm hoping to clear much more.

Good paperwork clearing there, Sand. I am ignoring ours but actually, could start shredding again now the tip is open / recycling is being collected again.

DH got to the tip with everything yesterday so we have the hardstanding bit of the outside back and look really tidy. We keep going to stand at the garage door and marvel at it, and today I propose to use the new potting bench to pot on the tomatoes!

Stealth, I feel your pain on everything suddenly being My Favourite Toy when threatened with eviction!

Today I am trying to use up some of my sewing stash, to finish a top I'm making and then cut the remnants of an old sheet into bias strips to make bunting (much cheaper than bias binding and counts as decluttering, I feel). I will also declutter a parcel to the Post Office so that's something else out.

Glad the tip run went well Jigolo, hope you're DH didn't have to queue too much. The fact he actually made it there suggests that thankfully our DH's must just have a shared fondness for polystyrene as mine is notorious for putting off trips to the tip!

Oh yes, the Favourite Toy Ever that has never previously been looked at. We have a lot of those in our house!

I found another stash of old payslips yesterday, they've obviously dodged a few previous culls as they were from 2006! Have put them aside for shredding.

Just spent an hour with dc and emptied out about 9 drawers / boxes of toys and arts and crafts and have probably been allowed to get rid of half of it! Including headless dolls, naked dolls, broken dolls. I’m really sad that loads will end up in landfill. I used to be so green and minimalist before I had dc so it’s a real shame.

I would estimate it’s two or three hundred items. It would certainly fill two or three binbags.

Wow brilliant!

I’ve not decluttered anything today, found a few more board books to look through though.

Discovered just how many home ed books I’d entirely forgotten about though when I was looking for something on the living room shelves 😳 thankfully I think we are in a good place to actually use them more now - lockdown has prompted some changes in how we do things and we are moving onto more project based stuff now. We need to finish sorting the games first though - I’m determined not to leave that project unfinished!

laneboy it’s always good to find things you’ll use. I found various reception / phonics type books i’d forgotten about when my youngest was year 2 and it had been a complete waste of money.

I have just finished sorting through all the stuff I have ‘decluttered’ since lockdown started and have about 7 big binbags. Two can go with the bins but the rest need to go to charity shops. I also put some stuff in the garage about a month ago, I can’t remember what. I will try not be annoyed that they have to sit around for a few weeks.

Wow Stealth, that's lots out, make sure you add them to your total! Lane, finding useful stuff in time to use it is a definitely decluttering win. Like Stealth I usually find things 6 months too late...

I have an announcement. The bed frame finally went! DH relisted it on ebay for a donation to Shelter and it was picked up yesterday evening (in a socially distancing manner, communicating out of the window!) by people who really want it and will use it. I am v. pleased.

We might also get the table to my DM's today for my DBro becuse we have some post for her that is urgent and she needs assistance setting up her new computer. We will shut her in the conservatory while DH sets up the machine in the spare bedroom!

No luck catching Mummy Mouse, think she has gone by herself as there is no evidence of mouse activity.

Stealth the doll is a little scary! Great progress with all the drawers of plastic stuff. I think it breeds.

Laneboy our kallax is also full of rubbish, have contemplated buying more and think it will also end up full of rubbish

Jigolo good luck with the sewing

It is bin day today, so last night I decided to do some sorting out to help fill up some of the remaining space in the landfill bin. I emptied 3 carrier bags of random crap on the bed, and sorted out a number of things to go out. I realise that I have lots of bags of bits just sitting around waiting for me to decide what to do with them. Sigh! I made the decision ages ago that a lot of the stuff in these bags were going, but they have been waiting for me to decide how to get rid of them. I was reasonably ruthless and probably got rid of one of the bags' worth of stuff. Of course, I found some bits that I had lost earlier in the year, including the 'large' O2 sim card that I had been looking for when I was wiping old phones.

I also got rid of 3-4 kitchen utensils that had come from my Mum's house and have been sitting on the kitchen work surfaces awaiting a decision. I have not felt the need to use them in the past two years, and they were odd bits that were not worth putting in the charity pile. Two old wooden tennis racquets sitting in the hall, that had been destined for the Charity shop, were also chucked.

I'm hoping that this period of ruthlessness may continue over the weekend.

I've had a doorstep charity bag through the door , first one in ages .
I've got clothes to go , so that'll get bagged up.
Still waiting for the laundrette to open, I have heavy bedding to wash.

A pair of shoes (work ones) and work trousers to go ( bin only , they got bleach marked)

Lots of glass to go out (bottles/jars)

Our recycle waste goes out in orange bags (from the library) which obviously I've run out of . So I'm putting it in clear bags . Hopefully they're still doing the Waste/Recycle collections , otherwise I'd be just as well using binbags .

I've got an oilcloth cover to go out , lovely female cat is a tyrant and comes over just to tear it . . I have a new cover so I'll need Stern Words with madam/

Oooh 70 I would love one of those bags right now! I would instantly fill it with clothes - they’re in the airing cupboard now, taunting me for not having actually got them out the house before lockdown despite having been sorted out weeks previously 😳😂

My lovely tidy board game shelf got a compliment today on a Teams call so I’m chuffed 😅 need to sort out the next lot of games to go on it too and then start making some tough decisions about those that remain. TBH I probably could get rid of them as we really do have plenty, but that causes major FOMO and I don’t want to rush it! With DD1 now back at school though, we will have more time to play hopefully.

Hope to get some more decluttering done over the weekend - much easier without having too much school/home ed stuff to worry about like in the week. Tomorrow morning I want to watch Cats before it disappears from YouTube so I’ll sit upstairs and try and go through some bags of random crap

Just a small effort from me: a pile of papers, approx 1cm thick.

jigolo I stopped keeping track of my ‘outs’ when I hit 1,000 bags. I only aim for one item a day now although at the moment I am putting aside bags of stuff.

Having said I’m putting aside bags of stuff today I haven’t decluttered but I have hoovered and tidied everywhere and cleaned all my kitchen surfaces, floor, fridge etc.

70isalimit I could do with dozens of those bags, I’m surprised more charities aren’t distributing them, I bet they’d get a bumper crop of donations.

laneboy I didn’t know Cats was on YouTube,I’m guessing it was a theatre version? Dds enjoyed the film i’ll see if they’re interested in seeing it.

I forgot to say, my laptop’s playing up again, if I’m unable to do the op before Monday would someone else do it? Or it’ll be a two word op from my phone. Thank you.

Wow, you've all made loads of progress! I've pretty much dropped off as only having ins whilst trying to wfm and school. A couple of Guinea pigs in too so that's a load of stuff. I have given away 7 bags of children's clothes that have been outgrown, binned something I thought was shampoo but was actually some weird tonic, one orchid that hasn't looked well for a while, and 4 pairs of useless nail scissors (I had 7 pairs!). A few jobs have been done, many more to do but the house is in utter disarray and I've kind of given up for now and am happy if everyone has clean clothes and dishes!

I've kind of given up for now and am happy if everyone has clean clothes and dishes! Completely with you there, @Keiki!

🎵🎶 the table's gone... the table's gone... and we didn't bring anything back again either!! 🎶🎵

That'll do for today.

Fairly productive day yesterday, tested all the felt pens and binned the dried up ones. DH also sorted some old shirts to go out with this week's recycling collection. He also unhelpfully decluttered a wine glass by breaking it.

Hope every one is enjoying the sunshine today!

Small progress here.
DH sorted through his 'pile' in the kitchen and 4 sets of papers now binned/recycled/shredded.

Also managed to get rid of the last 4 used injections from after DH's operation to the visiting GP's sharps box.
689/2020

I got rid of a pile of books and paperwork from the study - my room of doom. It is a dumping ground for everything 🙈 tomorrow is recycling day so all will be taken away.
I have a lot of items under the stairs ready for the charity shops whenever they reopen. When they are all gone I will feel like I've cleared a large amount of items.

2 Charity shop bags ( decent stuff in the printed bag and the 'Hmm not sure' stuff in a plain bag with the wrapper taped on )

Mirror - the swivel thingy broke so it was never at the right angle

Shredded a load of receipts

Plastic heavy duty bag ( cube shaped , originally some bedding was in it ) DD kept her spare bedding in this but it split .

Yet more socks in the rag bag oldest son says he has enough so no replacements as yet. A little cull of post once I got in from work. OH has only three hobby magazines left to sort through from the three years worth when he started.

pollyannaperspective I had to have blood thinning injections after DS was born, textbook water birth but I am old and had had a previous csection, and have just realised the sharps box is still here, and he is 2 in July . That has to be a priority to get rid of once lockdown eases up.

Now up to 607/2020

4 battered cardboard play food boxes
A dried up pen (plenty more where that came from 🙄)
4 bits of paperwork
3 old birthday cards
One bit of kids artwork
One torn book

Stealth sorry if I'm confused but you wanted us to start the new thread?

It's here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3913755-The-decluttering-one-thing-a-day-thread-part-12

I would love one of those charity donation bags .

Moved lots of things around in the empty space on the bookshelves to make space for things from the Ikea storage. Done some gardening too. I'm motivated at the moment so trying to make the most of it.

No more mice in the mouse traps, instead we've caught a giant slug. Lovely!