The decluttering one thing a day thread - part 12

[AlexTheLittleCat]

For StealthNinjaMum

We’re still here.

After 11 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/3799710-The-decluttering-on-thing-a-day-thread-part-11?pg=1

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

Also currently washing all my coats so that they’re nice and clean when I take them. Ex was moaning about his water bill yesterday

I'm a butterfly. That explains everything. I flit from one thing to another!

Definitely hitting the ‘random bag of shite’ stage of packing. I find every time I move house, no matter how meticulously I start m, labeling every box with a summary of what’s in it and what room it is going in, there comes a stage when you’re shoving an eclectic mix of crap into carrier bags. I just threw a bottle of Prosecco, a garden ornament and some kids swimming goggles in a box

Nothing achieved today, feeling a bit overwhelmed for various reasons! I did watch an episode of hoarders just now and it made me angry and sad 😳

Lane there is always tomorrow for one item out.
Pickled good luck with the move. Your random carrier bag mix made me smile.
Our outs seem mainly to be batteries at present, so I am glad I can just drop them in to the supermarket. Can't get a 'dump' slot at present.

Yes Pickled good luck with the move, you made me laugh with the “random bag of crap” trouble is I don’t just do that when moving house but also when I’m tidying and shoving into cupboards Prosecco for when you’ve made your move and goggles to protect your eyes when it gets opened maybe??

@PickledLilly good luck for the move. If it’s any consolation I once unpacked a box sometime (2years) after moving house to discover a carefully packed plastic bag of rubbish.
Actual rubbish from a waste paper basket (and fortunately it was just paper,) but I paid someone to move that for me!

Good luck with the move Pickled this reminds me of our last move, half the van ended up being odd bits and bobs! Since then we’ve got rid of quite a lot, so hopefully when we move next time it’ll be a lot more straight forward!

Out, lots of homework and bits of papers, and I tried to organise the cupboard under the stairs. I didn’t get it all done, but it’s a bit better.

Until then

Good luck with the move @PickledLilly!

I had to go into the neighbouring town today to collect some work-related stuff. After I had made the appointment yesterday, I phoned one of my 'usual' charity shops to see what their current donation rules were. They said they were accepting donations at that time so probably would be today! I said it was only one bag so they said that would probably be fine. I gathered about a dozen things together this morning. That included a kid's tennis set and badminton set, which were the main things I was keen to get rid of now, so they might get some use this summer. There were a couple of other things which had missed previous donations as parts had gone temporarily missing. I also took the chance to take the 4 ancient phones I had wiped just before lockdown into Oxfam for recycling.

Talking about phones, I wiped two old phones and one ancient iPad at the weekend, after getting people to check that there was nothing on them that they still wanted. (I learnt my lesson earlier in the year, trying to deal with phones that were so old that they had dodgy batteries that didn't hold charge for more than ten seconds and buttons that registered the clicks one time out of ten.) I still haven't decided what I am going to do with them. They are still new enough... just... to be worth selling. The iPad has an intermittent fault so I am probably going to sell it on eBay for "spares or repair". Has anyone sold/traded in any phones through GAME? They seemed to be offering a decent price for an old iPhone 5c, much better than either CEX or MusicMagpie. They don't have very much info on their site about whether chargers or boxes need to be included for that price. GAME seemed to be offering about the same as I might get on eBay and it would be far less hassle.

Good luck with the move PickledLilly. Cold I moved lots of random crap too on the last house move, I've been getting rid of it ever since...I can often be heard muttering "why on earth did I keep that?!" to myself.

I must do the quiz. Today has been more DIY, the decluttering didn't happen.

Good luck with the move pickled I too relate much too hard to the random bag of crap... and not just when moving!

Meg sorry you feel flat. I like your labels! Perhaps you could treat yourself to some fancy label stickers and write on them at some point? I’m imagining little blackboard style rectangles with naice borders and words written beautifully with chalk pen.

I like the idea of labelled trays. Now we have more of a stockpile (not a big one at all - just that before the panic buying phase of the pandemic happened we had virtually nothing and now I’m trying to build up a little stock of tinned stuff and pasta etc) it might be worth roughly dividing them up like that.

No decluttering today. I think there’s room for the bag of old toys to go in the bin for tomorrow’s collection though.

I'm a ladybird. Meg your kitchen has inspired me, need to tackle mine again.

All 3 of us are a bit cluttery at our house. DS likes sticks and pinecones, and me and DH tend towards papers and books.

Thus far have got rid of -

10 bags of books and games to schools/charity shops
Kitchen stuff - the mugs I never use etc. Kitchen looks great!

Chair sold - being collected tomorrow.

Still too much stuff but its a start.

Just done the quiz - I'm a Butterfly.

A butterfly with too much stuff.

Am Freegling some games DS sorted out - hopefully they will go tomorrow.

Its my boxes of random papers that are time consuming.

Any tips?

@JigoloHarMegiddo I don't know about having things on display though. I'd rather put them away but we're short on storage space.

Poor storage her too. Small flat so things can quickly get messy.

Covid has meant I have not been bringing things into house - only showing them the exit. Which is a silver lining.

Of course I have a backlog to deal with.

Pretty unsentimental on clothes and other objects but books....that's another story (ha ha)

I don't think DS2 would read them. He needs Bright, In Your Face and Totally Impossible To Ignore, preferably also refreshed at regular intervals so that he doesn't get bored

Oh boy meg I’m feeling some ADHD solidarity with your second born there :o

Everything becomes part of the furniture very quickly here.

I think I need to read and watch videos for the other bugs TBH, I am recognising some features!

I am having a day off decluttering as the overwhelm has set in and I know my brain won’t make good decisions. Might have some ins I’m afraid as I’m off to town - the next one over in fact, where I haven’t been since mid March! I am bearing my use stuff up box in mind though, so I don’t buy stuff mindlessly. And my boxing game on switch arrived this morning so trying that will give us some entertainment later!

KissTheTeapot I'd start off with one box of papers at a time, then work through them. You may need more than one go with most decluttering, once should hopefully be enough with papers.

Lane sorry you are feeling overwhelmed. It's hard to know where to start sometimes. Try and see any progress as progress and try not to worry about what you can't do. I don't think progress is always linear, I tend to have a good few days then it stops again. Kitchen is currently chaos again, there isn't enough storage.

I'm a cricket which was no surprise and especially the bit where a perfect system is required. I suspect based on what I said earlier about chucking things out of sight that DH may be a ladybird...

A few bits and pieces bagged up for charity shop but nothing significant. I'm off work until Monday so hopefully some progress will be made. Our local charity shop is open for donations so planning to take a couple of bags on Saturday when I can leave the DC at home.

Hope move goes/went smoothly Lilly. I know the random stage of packing well!

I need to do something like with my food storage Jigolo. I'm the only one who cooks so I know my way around the 'system' but it could be more efficient.