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.

Sorry to hear you are having a hard time MrsTidy. This is such a strange time and I know the uncertainty is making it hard for me to be decisive. If your clutter is tidy that is a great achievement!

You should do that blog entry LaneBoy. I find writing really cathartic and have kept a diary for years. I rarely manage to find the time these days though.

Can hangers go in plastic recycling gassylady? I have loads to get rid of so that would be great! I’m guessing just the ones that are totally plastic.

Yesterday we decluttered so odd bits and bobs of dried fruit into biscuits. I think kitchen cupboards might need to be my next decluttering target. I’m bad for buying stuff to try a recipe but not using it!

Hi Raspberry yes there is a hard plastic skip at our recycling centre but not in use at the moment so I may stick some bundles on eBay or even better stick a message on the board in work to see if anyone would like them.
Another one saying yes to decision fatigue this is often why I flit from area to area - and why I never feel anywhere is finished.
MrsTidyHouse please don’t feel despondent, tidy is something I aspire too instead every flat surface in my house magnetically attracts stuff that isn’t even magnetic! I remember someone maybe SandAndSea causing much amusement when she declared her downstairs area tidy!

Decision Fatigue describes it perfectly!

This morning I felt refreshed, and pulled down half-a-dozen shoeboxes that have various bits and pieces in them, and found that most of the contents had already been sorted into categories like "unbroken small toys - whose?" And "broken toys to sort or discard". "Bits of toys to sort". Not to mention "bits of toys and transformers to sort".

And, sadly, a little pile of Well Done toys and trinkets that LG chose from the Head's box at school if she had done well, then smashed them up after showing them to me at home. I keep them to remind me to tell the Nurture teacher, but there might not be an opportunity in future.

Anyway, I'm going through the boxes with a jug of tea and Monty Don on the iPlayer. Deep blue sky and white fluffy clouds out the window. It could be a very nice day.

MrsTidyHouse I feel a bit like you in terms of being a bit unmotivated. I’m finding homeschooling really difficult and the thought that they might not go back to school til November is really stressful and I'm unlikely to have a holiday the way things are going. Anyway I’m glad you were refreshed today.

LaneBoy my decisions are about meal planning, cooking and shopping. 21 bloody meals a week. Exhausting! I hope you are feeling better today.

In terms of decluttering I am still getting rid of one item a day but they rarely leave the house and seem to be so small as to make no difference anyway. So since I last posted I have finished using a couple of posh soaps and shower gels, added lentils to dc’s dinner, chucked out a few biros, put some trousers in the charity shop pile but the house is just a mess. I keep saying I’m going to advertise a few things from the garage on freecycle so will try to do that next week.

Please can I join you? I feel like I’m drowning in ‘stuff’ and I hate it. We want to move house, but first we need to decorate. It’s impossible to decorate right now as I have so much stuff.

I’m starting by sorting my 5x5 kallax which mostly holds my craft stuff. I’ve found 20 rolls if ribbon I’m never going to use, and I’m going to put it on eBay tomorrow. Can that count for my today’s thing? If not, I finished up a shower gel and body lotion this morning.

It can be hard to find motivation in such uncertain times. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks to try to drown out my thoughts.

Today was nice in the end. The contents of the shoeboxes are spread across two card tables. There is a small pile of unbroken toy cars for keeping. Some stuff had been dumped in the boxes instead of put away properly, so that was easy to do. The rest can wait until tomorrow, when I can look at it all again with fresh eyes.

MrsTidy I'm glad you're finding small wins to keep you going. It's hard when your decluttering mojo deserts you, and worse right now when the world is so very strange and up in the air. And I definitely reach a point where I simply can't make any more decisions. That is usually the the time for me to stop!

UnitedRoad, welcome! Always good to have someone else along with us.

I've achieved no decluttering today except sneakily finishing the mini Cadbury's bars with DH. Next week is exam week for 3 of the 4 DC, so absolutely nothing will get done while I invigilate three different rooms simultaneously!

Just found this thread and would love to join!

We managed to book a tip slot yesterday so had a shed and garden clear out... Very satisfying!

Got rid of an old vacuum, lots of part tins of old paint, a broken rotary clothes line, an old roll of leftover manky carpet and various other bits and pieces that I can't even describe!

My teenage daughter said she is going to have a wardrobe sort out after she's finished her school work today so there should be a clothing bank trip on the cards later..... If only she didn't offset it with more online shopping we'd be OK! 🙄🛍️

Welcome to howdidi and UnitedRoad and any other newbies I missed.

Glad that yesterday was a good day MrsTidy. I always like it when I go to sort something and find it's half done already!

That sounds like you've got an interesting week ahead Jigolo! Good luck to the DC (and you!)

This morning I've cleared the work top in the utility room - some things away in the cupboard and the rest in the recycling where they belong. We store drinks in there and DH has a bad habit of leaving empty containers in there. I've also decluttered some weeds from the garden so feel as though today is going fairly well. I really want to make the most of the next few weeks as I'll likely be back at work soon.

I think I'm getting my mojo back.

Success - The ancient broken transformers with missing bits are now in the bin. It was relatively easy, because we had inherited them somehow, and they had been in a cupboard for years.

Now for the cars. Not quite so easy.

Well done!

Transformers are a nightmare for little pieces. They are DS’ obsession since he got one in a charity shop almost 7 years ago! Thankfully he is sometimes happy to let some go but he has an epic collection. It always amazes me how I can hold up a random bit and he will instantly know which of the gazillions of transformers it belongs to 🤣

I’m not feeling very motivated today but we will have to do some decluttering later. I had a zoom meeting (which turned out was actually tomorrow but oh well) so I cleared the bedroom floor in a rush, and there’s now loads of random crap on our bed. I really don’t want to just shove it back on the floor again so we will sort it later but it can wait until after school hours as we still have a lot of home ed to get through

Binned - two little plastic cars with no wheels.

Some items from the box of "bits and pieces to sort" have been put in the correct place, and the shoeboxes are all a bit less full.

Took the bt box up to my bedroom which is light and sunny and reasonably tidy. Now I can enjoy tv without constant reminders of the clutter out the corner of my eye.

DH finally cleared the garden shed!!!! he would not let me do it (I would have thrown all the contents in the skip) but he let me decide on all the DC summer toys and old paint pots (one from our house from 12 years ago!!!!).

We also cleared out the garden cuttings which we had spent the past 3 weekends accumulating as we cut through the growth of shrubs and trees (we still have lots to do as our garden is huge but this is a start).

We cleared out the side passage of the house - this was prompted by us having to open the side gate to let everyone in to our garden, as with lockdown here in Ireland no one can go into the house.

It really is therapeutic to get a skip - we will have to do this annually!!!!

Good stuff. I need to sort through the cars, some of them are mine from childhood. I don’t feel like I used to about them. It’s weird - I felt for a long time that I should keep these things as I don’t have much from childhood. But actually I have plenty of reasons to not what anything from that time IYSWIM. They’ve fulfilled their purpose, the older DCs enjoyed them as I once had. Part of me feels the toddler should get them too but I don’t feel like I want to keep them anymore. They’re so beaten up and rusty anyway!

I’ve not even sorted the stuff on the bed. Tomorrow I have two zoom meetings in the morning 😱 so it needs to not go back on the floor!!! But I’m knackered at the moment.

I am digitally decluttering, and brain decluttering too, by planning some more home ed stuff for the rest of term (and then deleting downloaded files I don’t need)

I have a CS collection bag for this week ..........time to recycle all the things from DD room.

We'll need a skip too , load of stuff that won't fir in the car to go to the dump .

I sorted out my buttons, which doesn’t sound like much BUT, I’ve got rid of 12 boxes (about 5000 buttons). They’re going on eBay to hopefully bring in a few, much needed, pounds

Welcome to all the newer folk. United 5000 buttons! how many have you got left?! Speaking as a jealous hobby sewer. More paperwork sorted and shredded - finance stuff dating back to 2010 🙄 Sorting through youngests wardrobe continues in 15 minute bursts. Today we are checking clothes saved from older kids to see if any are suitable

Excellent work with the buttons! I know what you mean about some tasks like that seeming not a big deal to others but it all depends on individual situations doesn’t it.

I didn’t sort out any of the random crap in the bedroom last night. This morning it went back on the bed before my appointments, but I did pull out a few things to put away or throw away while I did that. So that’s something. I’m not too sure if we will manage to sort them today either - it’s mostly random stuff that we couldn’t figure out from previous attempts (stuff we need but isn’t in categories/doesn’t have a home) and my brain is frazzled from the appointments, home ed etc.

It was nice doing my zoom calls in front of a nicely organised Kallax though - both people commented on our board game collection 😇

I had a burst of energy this morning and cleaned the downstairs area. It is a lot easier to clean now than this time last year. I still have to sort the study of doom but I can see progress.
Dumped some random things like a baby vest, piece off a water gun, teething toy and a tshirt that were left around. I'm getting better at making faster decisions.

And they say clutter is the result of thousands of unmade decisions.

I had never heard this @LaneBoy, and it struck a chord. I am very indecisive, but had never connected that fact with the amount of clutter I have!

I have got back to gardening over the past couple of weeks as our brown bin is being emptied fortnightly once more. However, the damage had been done. Even though I bought garden bin bags to store waste, I had no incentive and let the garden go for 5-6 weeks so all the weeds have just taken off as normal. Sigh!

Anyway, on the plus side, our Council reopened some of its recycling sites last week. Not our two closest, as they are not suitable for accommodating queues of cars, but at least things are starting to go in the right direction. At the moment they are only taking the same things we can get rid of in our bins, so I haven't bothered booking a slot anywhere. And, since all the landfill waste has to be bagged at the moment, with no bulky items, I'm not going to think about cleaning out the shed and garage just yet.

One achievement I have to mention during lockdown is that DP and I have been valliantly working our way through the wine cupboard. It was mainly filled with bottles we had been given as presents and kept passing over, and, as I have been shopping between 8.00am and 9.00am once a week, I haven't been able to buy any at the supermarket. Having one, or sometimes two, bottles a week we managed to get down to 5 remaining bottles before I gave in and ordered a mixed box online from a wine seller last week.

I wasn't in the right frame of mind at the weekend to do much in the way of decluttering, but I have sold another eBay item, which has now been paid for, so I will package that up tonight and hopefully post tomorrow morning.

Completed a long overdue DIY project replacing feet protectors on the kitchen table and chairs yesterday and 32 used items now in the bin.
Backward step in hoping the attic floor would be done today as tradesman has delayed until July. Will use the time to go through the items that are now down from the attic to decide what will go back and what goes to the dump/charity shop.
733/2020

I cleaned the fridge before collecting this week's shopping. Can't remember the last time I did that!

Ha, Keiki, I did the same! At least I cleaned all the shelves, not the whole fridge. I'm afraid some of the shelves were a bit black at the back. I also took out about 6 jars of stuff which have all been there from before lockdown, and two onions that were looking a bit mouldy. That has left a bit more space in the fridge.

You are all doing really well. I can see that and such honest views. I recently moved my Father from his home he had lived in for over 50 years. it was soul destroying. He had completely lost track of what he had, where he put it. You literally could not get in the front door. It cost £££ to clear. It didnt happen over a few months. It took him years and honestly it was a death trap (he didnt actually think it was that bad - but it was).

What I am really saying not very well is that it might be worth thinking about what you could well be leaving for other family members to resolve. He said once he didnt care what other people thought...

Sunglasses - "What I am really saying not very well is that it might be worth thinking about what you could well be leaving for other family members to resolve. He said once he didnt care what other people thought..."

This is what's behind all my sorting and tidying. My main aim just now is to have stuff clean and tidy and in the correct place, so that if/when anyone has to deal with the house, they can see that all the spare towels are together in a cupboard. I'm hoping this makes future decluttering decisions easier, whether mine or someone else's.

It's also helping me be far more frugal, as only food is coming into the house just now, and I shop my cupboards for anything else I need.

Today -
Sorted out some odds and ends of pens, pencils.
Fixed three cars.
Binned two "bits".
Binned seven cars with missing wheels, one trailer.

Bashed cars, lorries, etc are now in a small tub for sandpit.