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.

Tricky week due to work but have managed a few outs. 5 tops of mine in the charity bag and more will probably go when I get more time to sort, a school dress of DDs that I put on her and realised it was too small, looked in the label and it was 3-4 years. Admittedly she’s very tiny for her age but she’s still 6 and a half! I’ve put that to one side to pass to a friend (but did have to replace it with a bigger one) and about 5 things in a bag for fabric recycling that weren’t fit for charity. Hopefully will get a couple of hours spare tomorrow to sort more clothes.

Now up to 227/2020 after charity shopping some more bits of DD2s clothing, anything aged 3 or below as she’s 4 in a couple of months. There’s scope for chucking some of DS’s 12-18 months things, but he’s only just 18 months and a lot of the next size up things are too big. He has short-ish legs so maybe I’ll keep the smaller bottoms and get rid of the tops.

GlassOfPort and RoseReally, I know how you feel, mine is very much a “just in case” person when it comes to getting rid of things. We have a lot of charging cables, screws, odd fittings etc that he won’t throw away “in case”, but we have no idea what they are for or where they fit, and nothing is falling apart or uncharged, so...... I’m also pretty sure he kept the keys from our old flat when we moved here “just in case”

I've been sorting out my computers, deleting files and software.

Over 100 personal files deleted, plus a browser, plus an old (no longer supported) MSOffice etc etc. I'm still building up to getting rid of my old laptop.

It's really s-l-o-w going.

Not been very productive the last couple of days. Someone is collecting 3 items I put on Freecycle at the weekend; if they don't show up I have some other interested parties.
Must drop rest of the books off at a charity shop tomorrow.

I don't know if this will help anyone with younger children but I was chatting to my step daughter today, she has just moved into her first house and on leaving home her mother presented her with a massive memory box full of paintings from playgroup, drawings from school, school books, school reports, first shoes, first school uniform, old passports, baby record book, clip from her umbilical cord etc etc.
She doesn't want any of it with the exception of two items the rest of it went in the bin.

I guess the thing I took away from that is that memories are something we hold inside us they neither belong in a box or have any meaning when they are there.
I will remind myself of this when I get to the really difficult sentimental stuff that I've been hanging on to for far too long.

Out- carrier bag of outgrown boys clothes, in- carrier bag of new clothes. I'm just constantly breaking even here haha. Have streamlined my daughters drawers and wardrobe though and she only has clothes left which she loves and will wear. Just need to learn to apply that idea to the rest of the house Also threw out some old artwork which I found in a drawer and couldn't work out what it was supposed to be

It's the same here with DC clothing, I have a huge bag to go out, but also had to replace some.

I've folded the baby's clothes kondo dtyle do they are much easier to choose from.

I've chucked out s dressing gown. It was replaced 6 months ago but kept just in case. Well if just in case hasn't happened in 6months hopefully it's safe to go out!

I've also finally found a cleaning spray that gets rid of the mould from the bathroom , though it does smell like a swimming pool despite a thorough airing.

I've also decluttered the bank account to get a new car, so I need to Declutter all the stuff I never use from the old one rather than just transferring it.

The baby stuff was picked up!! Yay!!

In - an insulated pot for on the go porridge. Back to work on Monday and am thinking eating breakfast may have to be done at work. The pot claims to keep food hot for 6 hours. So I can in theory make porridge in microwave then pot it. Then eat an hour later once I get to work. Saves me money too.

@Bunkerlife thanks that is good to hear! I keep coming across tonnes of drawings/ paintings etc from nursery and feel guilty about chucking them. I have kept a few things.

@SydneyCarton haha! I have found keys that I have no idea what they're for!

I need to tackle our medicine stash.. I have tried before and put everything in a box with a lid, but now it's spreading all over the shelf a and the box never seems to be opened! Maybe need an open box/ basket. Any tips welcome!

@Bunkerlife I have had the same issue last year when my mum gave me a bag of “congratulations on your new baby” cards she and my dad were sent when I was born. At least 80% of the names mean nothing to me, I’ve got no memory of these people but I feel guilty at the thought of getting rid of them. Your stepdaughter is made of sterner stuff than I am!

I’ve been powering through a box of old-ish paperwork and binned another 60 things, mostly old payslips and bank statements which I’ll take to work next week and chuck in the confidential waste bin. Also two credit cards for DP, which he never opened and which expired in 2017

287/2020

@SydneyCarton now that you've looked through those congratulations cards what purpose do they serve? If you really can't throw them away why not photograph them and then get rid of them or put them into a scrap book and give them back to your mum as they mean more to her than you.

Bunker, I've been thinking about that, and you're right - a lot of baby mementos are far more about the parents' memories than the child's. I've tried to separate the two, but could probably do with another pass through, so I'm not gifting DC boxes of tat!

(Adds "go through baby boxes" to endless to do list)

The baby and naming cards from all of our 4 are in photo albums that I'll keep. I fully expect them to be the first thing in the bin when the DC are clearing the house after I've gone; I keep them for me. I have some of my own early birthday cards etc too, but I keep those from a design point of view: cards from the early 70s have a very specific style you don't see anymore!

I'm doing well using up toiletries and not buying more. Bathroom is looking clearer without wasting anything that's useful.

I have ditched a too-short denim skirt that was too young for me even with leggings under 🙄 but did end up buying another to replace it.

Interview next week but I'm hoping to shop my wardrobe and not bring any more clothes into the house.

House is looking much tidier since I joined the thread, thanks everyone 😘

Bunker - It's true, they're not my memories, and they can't mean that much to my mum or she wouldn't have passed them onto me! She's not overtly sentimental about "stuff" - she and my dad will probably downsize in the next year or two and I expect they will declutter a lot before then.

Willow - I think the design aspect of the cards is what appeals to me too, some of the artwork is lovely and very different from the cards I got for my children thirty-plus years later. One of them even features the new mum with a cigarette (jokey cartoon card from my uncle, but even so!)

@Bunkerlife That's such a good reminder about baby stuff. I'm keeping a little box of things that are meaningful to me, including first shoes and hospital wristband, and making photo books. I don't tend to keep her arts and crafts, and I don't plan to hang on to school stuff when she starts school. I'm not planning to pass it all on to her unless she wants it - it's more my memento than hers, I guess.

One thing I would add, is it's actually really helpful to hang onto childhood health records! DH's mum passed away in his teens, and his dad doesn't remember much about DH's childhood health, so when it comes to things like working out if he had chickenpox, it's really difficult. It would actually be quite helpful to have his red book to refer to!

A load of packaging and coat hangers in the recycling and a kitchen cupboard decluttered and various items that were never going to be used in the bin/charity bag/recycling

15/2020

Few small bits today so far, a pair of shoes handed down to us for smallest pickle which I shoved in a cupboard and on closer inspection, they’re pretty past it already and I returned the library books which have been ha going around annoying me.

We’re starting redoing smallest pickle’s room this weekend so I’ve listed his bed and bed guard for sale for cheap to try to avoid sending them to the tip but we need them out of the way so I’m not sure if they will sell in time. Will have a thorough go through of all his things before they go back once his room is finished. Until then, he (and all of his stuff) is in with his sister so that could be...interesting at bed time. Couple more hours until school pick up so going prowl around the house to see what else I can get rid of.

Last Friday I brought some boxes down from the loft and started emptying the storage units in the living room. I threw out a large pile of magazines - probably about 2 feet in total. On Saturday I took some flattened cardboard to the recycling site, and decided just to ditch the bag of kids' plastic coathangers that has been sitting in our bedroom for over a year. I had been meaning to advertise them for free on Facebook or Freecycle but hadn't got round to it. Anyway, I can just forget about them now.

I said I wasn't listing anything new on eBay until after the carpets are done, but did put one thing on on Sunday to take advantage of the "Sell for £1 max" offer. And, I sold an older item on eBay yesterday, so posted that this morning.

I still can't decide whether or not I like the forced "Good 'Til Cancelled" time duration for Buy-it-now items. Both of my sales in 2020 so far were best offers on fixed price items which had been around for a number of months. They were both more niche/collectable items which required the right buyer to find them, but I'm not sure I like it for more mainstream things. I think I would like the option to go back to 7 or 10 day fixed price listings for certain things.

Pair of shoes returned to store, couple pairs of outgrown school trousers donated to my daughters reception class, 2 pairs outgrown school shoes Chucked and replaced with 1 new pair (no idea why he even had 2 pairs), 11 books sold for my son. He's much more open to the idea of decluttering when he gets spare cash to spend on pizza and Dr pepper at school

I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that I don’t have a ‘clutter’ problem as such, I have a man problem. OH had taken the kids bikes out of his car and lobbed them in the playroom at the weekend. Said to him on Tuesday I needed them moved before the morning as I had hordes of kids and needed the playroom. He threw them in the lounge instead. They’re still there.

New radiator and valves delivered for little pickles room, left in hallway, said you need to move them in case they fall on a child. Also dumped in lounge all week. His drills have been dumped on top of the fridge for at least two weeks. The new door handles are in a box on the kitchen floor.

This is what I’m up against. How Much longer does it take to put them in the shed? Or at least in the part of the house they’re for? It’s bad enough that the kids dump stuff all over the house but you’d think the other supposed adult in the house could tidy up after himself. It drives me INSANE! I feel like I run myself ragged trying to keep the house in some semblance of order and everyone else just wanders around behind me messing it up again!

My DP has form for leaving stuff too. He left his and DD's muddy footwear by the back door all week despite saying he would clean them on Sunday night. He only did them as DD wanted those boots for school today.
My outs today: few books to charity shop, broken pair of sandals and am baking so using up baking ingredients.

2 car loads of stuff to charity shop/tip today. More piling up.

I will get this playroom sorted this week!

I feel like I run myself ragged trying to keep the house in some semblance of order and everyone else just wanders around behind me messing it up again!

This is exactly how I feel too @PickledLilly. Come to think of it, I bet it's how my mum felt when I was growing up too. She was (is!) really soft and never asked us to do anything around the house . I'm hoping that once I sort the house out and ensure that there is a 'place for everything' that it might improve?! At least maybe I have time to train the 3 year old as she's still young, if not the DH!

I sorted out a drawer with baby vests and put them all into the recycling bag. Feels great to have an empty drawer 😂 the vests were in two small drawers and I reduced them down to one! There are only so many vests a baby needs.

RoseReally I loved the Titanic analogy. I promise it’ll get easier. The more stuff you get rid of the less time you’ll spend on boring tasks like putting clothes or towels away.

SandandSea I’ve also been going through emails and files. It’s good to do a digital declutter.

sydney carton rosereally several threads back I went around the house and collected all the keys and put them in one place. I get exdh to try every key in every lock and where we couldn’t work out what they were for we threw them away. I’m sure that was about 2 years ago and I’ve never once come across a door or an item that needs a key that we chucked out.

rose really I don’t know how to organise medicines but I do write the expiry date on with a big sharpie pen and every couple of months I go through them and chuck out (take to pharmacists) anything that’s past the expiry date. When I started I had things years out of date but now it takes about 90 seconds while the kettle is on to look at the dates and work out what needs to go.

I’m still tidying my bedroom but I don’t think I’ve found anything to get rid of today. I’ll do extra tomorrow.