Still throwing an item away a day – part 13

[StealthNinjaMum]

One of mumsnet's friendliest corners this is the 13th 'one item a day' thread to inspire and motivate a group of mumsnetters to declutter their houses, gardens and lives bit by bit, one step at a time.

Each day we get rid of just one item and report back. We’ve all got different challenges and problems and it keeps us going to discuss them and work through them together.

Newbies are welcome. It’s not just decluttering, join us in the chat about recycling, organisation, grumbles about hoarding family members and obviously our many successes.

Previous thread here.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3913755-The-decluttering-one-thing-a-day-thread-part-12?msgid=99387987

And for 2020 some of us are also aiming to get rid of 2020 items!

Not much done yesterday, as to my horror dd2 can now climb onto the dining table (via the chairs), so I can't take my eyes off her when we're in the kitchen. More tetris required to find a non mealtime storage spot for the chairs, sigh. House sorting with a toddler is the worst, as the goal posts keep shifting.

I agree it is a case of keeping on top of things so the clutter doesn't build up again. I'm good at keeping on top of mine and DD's clothes; paperwork so anything to keep gets filed every couple of weeks and I clear files out every year.
I had loads of socks when I started decluttering 2 or 3 years ago. I thought about binning some but kept them so didn't have to buy any new ones for a while. I have enough without the drawer being too full now.
Got rid of empty cat food bags and a few pouches yesterday as I've been able to go back to my volunteering this week.
Got most of my admin done last week, just to book hair appointment and sort out secondary school application.
Not sure what to tackle today. Going to finish my coffee then decide.

The radiator is gone! Builder wanted to take it to the tip but the guy who took it away is going to use it in his house. Win-win!

A lava lamp and adult colouring book (remember that craze?) went out this morning.

Builders going to knock down old garden cupboard AKA spider farm which meant we had to clear everything out, and I'm sure half of it will either go into the skip or I'll give it away on FB. will try to sell old bike as we now have electrics.

Cat still hasn't returned. Went out on bike last night at dusk calling but there were groups of people out everywhere and she'd have been afraid to show herself. Have they not heard of COVID? Speaking of which DH has just gone out to the shops without a mask... should be back empty-handed any minute now! 😀

sandandsea I started decluttering January 2017 and I think I joined this thread about 3 years ago, it was the first one. In those days I used to aim to get rid of a carrier bag a day and I managed to achieve that for two years. I aim for one thing now because I spend more on tidying things nicely and setting up new systems rather than just chucking things out.

miaowse I’m not sure how cluttered you are but I could bore you with the benefits. Most things I do are quicker - getting dressed, leaving the house, paperwork, schoolwork, buying / wrapping presents. I still have far too much clutter but I’m getting there. On the subject of decision fatigue I used to have that but I so rarely regret throwing anything away that it is relatively’ easy’ to get rid of things.

tastybites some charity shops accept ‘rags’ so I donate socks as rags.

Yesterday I sold a nice storage box on Facebook. Today I have carried on decluttering the dress up box. I have thrown out some plastic things that were parts of old toys.

Stealth - I remember you talking about your carrier bags. That really is a huge amount.

I've remembered that I've got a big storage box full of empty ring binders, which I really need to clear. I think that might be a good goal for this weekend. The box might be perfect for my old photos too, which are currently in old cardboard boxes. I will get back to you...

TheyAreMinerals I hope your cat comes home soon.

Stealth That's a lot of decluttering, you've done so much. It's a long process, I've also been doing it for years. But it is worth it, I'm gradually getting there and everything is easier to do.

Clearing out paperwork and found an article on life hacks that I'd saved. Not sure why I kept it as it was all about how to hack lunches by adding chilli sauce and making cocktails with bitters. Here are the gems:

Peace lilies in your bedroom increase oxygen

Conquer cravings by putting your hand on your heart, closing your eyes, inhaling then thinking of something wonderful that will change your feelings. Maybe this will stop me decluttering chocolate?

Use power poses every day for five minutes to lower your stress hormones and increase testosterone.

I think the last one was aimed at men

Hi everyone, I joined a few threads back and then went quiet. I’ve been busy over the last few weeks. I ordered a huge skip as we were doing some building work, and took advantage of it to declutter.

Lots of broken kids toys gone, lots of big toys gone, either sold or skipped depending on the condition. Today I’ve done paperwork, ready to hold a huge bonfire to dispose of literally years worth of bills!

I decluttered my daughters wardrobe, and am waiting for a friend to come and pick through the outcasts before donating the rest.

I’m now waiting for my mum to come and collect some of her furniture I’m storing, and then I can finally get my kitchen redone which will include lots more stuff going! I’m really getting into it now and I’m enjoying having less stuff, clearer surfaces etc.

I’ve been watching the home edit on Netflix which has inspired me to get organised, but of course the only way to do it properly is to have less stuff.

I’ve tidied and sorted the pile of paperwork in my home office, and also emptied the shredder afterwards.

Big bag of carrier bags in the garage for next dump run.

Four items listed on eBay.

Thanks. I realise I joined and then didn't have any outs.
One in today a needed piece of work top to fill a gap. Out tub of grout made in 2015 on grouting my tiles

Tossed out FOUR pairs of shoes (all with holes) that DS had outgrown.
Took big bag of miscellaneous to charity ship
Sold a set of 12 kid books DS lost interest in
Binned a worn out rug (did try to freecycle it first, could have been shed flooring/insulation, or pond liner, but no one wanted it)
Found some sport clothes DS has outgrown, will list on Ebay
Made into rags (for garage) an old sweatshirt
Slowly wearing thru my sock mountain (it's ridiculously tall). I will never need to buy socks again...
Finished off a conditioner bottle - DD is terrible for not finishing almost empties
Trying very hard to buy nothing, too :) Alas birthday season & Xmas are coming, though.

Sorry your cat has gone missing TheyAreMinerals hope he returns soon.
DD has decided on 5 books for charity shop and we got rid of several painful of her too small knickers which were lurking at the back of the drawer. I have also discovered the knickers I have on have a hole in so will bin those.

Pairs not painful (they weren't that small!)

I’m still getting the Decluttering Cure emails and the latest task is to remove everything from a room and then only put things back as and when you need them. I’m trying this in the bathroom (bathroom and toilet are the only two rooms where this is in any way doable for me).

I found a few outs in the process of boxing up the clutter - two snapped hair bobbles, some empty bottles and old floss picks. These are all things that should have gone in the bin ages ago, but they instead stayed on my shelves as clutter so I think they count.

I ended up sorting out my make-up bag today. I washed it and cleaned everything in it.

Outs: 4 rusty hair pins and 1 holey sock.

My day 12 update:

A better day today. I took an old camera from mum’s house to a camera shop to get the film processed (no idea what’s on there); listed three sets of child’s waterproofs for sale on a parenting FB group (one of them has sold pending collection); and got halfway through sorting a box of GCSE and A Level notes while DH took DD to the park. It was nice to look through them - most of them have gone into the recycling, but I’ve kept a few pages of notes, including one with a funny comment from one of my favourite teachers

sandandsea Alexthelittlecat thanks, it was 1,000 bags in the end - and God knows how much more I have donated since I stopped counting. But that includes lots of furniture and broken items (computers mainly) that stbexh didn’t want to get rid of.

sandandsea I had a look at old photos last week too. I have loads. Some are in albums, some are just in the envelopes when they came back from Boots (in the old days when you get films developed). I'll be interested to hear what you do with your photos in the end. I am wondering whether to scan them in or you can scan in the negatives but that will take ages.

alex I think my stbexh read that article – thank God the power poses have gone

lifelongfrugaleer well done, that tub of grout is a great start.

ellieq you’re doing so well.

So my update: flylady says do my bathroom but my bathrooms are all fairly decluttered. So I am going to do the cleaning bits she suggests on top of my usual cleaning but also slowly continue with toys and utility room stuff. Yesterday I showed dc a few dress up bits/ toys and they were happy for them to be thrown out / sold / donated. I put a few toys for sale on facebook. I’m going to spend another fifteen minutes on that today and then we’re going out, think it’s going to be a nice day today so the decluttering can wait.

Re: bathroom clutter. When I lived in a big house with ex, the bathroom cabinet always seemed to be full, I was constantly tidying it. Since I’ve moved into the caravan, I have one metal basket and a box that holds toilet rolls as the entirety of my bathroom storage. The basket isn’t even full and it holds enough spares that I’ll never run out of anything. My conclusion is that you just fill whatever space you’ve got and actually, you REALLY don’t need that much storage in a bathroom. It’s a revelation! Here’s a picture of my tiny bathroom storage for inspiration!

That titchy little basket contains three deodorants, three conditioners, two shower gels, one shampoo, two soaps, two moisturisers, perfume, toilet cleaner, hair oil, two combs, a brush, new toothbrush, toilet gel cleaner thing, toothpaste and a little bottle I use as air freshener and new razor blades. I also have actually in the shower a razor, shampoo, conditioner, soap, shower gel and shaving gel. Now fair enough, my makeup is in my bedroom but I can’t see that you really need any more than that I’ve got in a bathroom cupboard And I could have even less given that there are TWO spares of most things rather than Just one in use and one new. I have NO idea what all the crap was in my previous bathroom cupboard, but I clearly didn’t need any of it.

Pickled I agree we fill whatever space we have. It's why I now try to take the approach of decide how much space I want to give over to any particular thing, then get rid of stuff until it fits.

Paperwork is still draining out my will to live. I did house documents this morning. I kept all the exchange/completion type letters, but ditched most of the rest. Banking is left, and it's the biggest and baddest of the lot...
To my annoyance it doesn't all fit neatly in one box, so will have to be two. I don't quite have the guts to apply the above principle to this job.

So today was a very busy day!! My dh and I decided that the garage and garden shed had to be sorted !! What a mess!! got rid of tons of stuff to much to count !! Old paint, old tools , broken sledges , broken buckets and spades , broken tennis rackets, old suitcases . I’m so pleased because if we did not do it , I knew the weather would turn Soon and that it would not be looked to over the winter. Even got the Christmas decorations crates to the front of the shed so will be easy to get out in December.
Took us a good six hours to sort it and give them both a good clean.
Luckily dh has a van which was full, so he is off to the tip to get rid of all the rubbish .

I've done my one item today and am hoping to do some more later, depending how things go. Stealth, I haven't done my photos yet but will let you know when I do.

Out: 1 stone, returned to the beach.

Outs for me are a freecycled waterproof sheet and a Christmas pudding bowl (the kind you get when you buy one - I kept it thinking it would come in handy and haven't used it since!). I thought I was quite good at decluttering but turns out there is all sorts of random crap around the house!

Quite a few ins with a skincare splurge but everything else had run out, so I feel quite smug about that!

So thrilled to find this thread, I'm trying to slowly conquer our collective hoarding tendencies in my family! Currently waiting to move house (to a larger one) but really hoping to keep the 'stuff' levels down.

Today out: a broken laundry basket, various plants pots

My daftest but effective recycling has been with old feather pillows. I wash and dry them, then use them to re-stuff our Ektorp sofa pillows. Really helps perk the sofa up (quite a messy process though!).

My day 13 update:

An awful day today. No decluttering/ sorting/ throwing out. DD (who is 5) had a huge tantrum over breakfast and getting dressed. I wanted us to go out to a nearby scarecrow trail this morning, but it took so long that we’d missed the (hourly) bus and getting the next one would mean getting there at lunchtime, with all the complaining/ tantrum potential. I was so frustrated that I ended up going upstairs and crying. All I wanted was for us to do something fun and enjoy the lovely weather.

Things calmed down by lunch, and she and I went to the scarecrow trail in the afternoon, but after seeing a few of them she declared she was tired and wanted to go home. At least she didn’t have a tantrum again.

DH has been annoying me as well. His knee started hurting after a cycle ride last week, so I’ve been listening to him complain all week, but today he says he thinks he might be developing arthritis as it’s not going away. I have arthritis, and this comment really annoyed me, especially as he hasn’t been to the GP or anything.

So right now I could just walk out of the house and leave everything behind!

A sort of out today, a car DVD player into the car which has been sat in my kitchen cupboard for a year!

Tomorrow I’ve got to sort out my kitchen kallax unit that houses all sorts of rubbish. I think it’s time to get rid of some of the alcohol we are storing away for no good reason. I’m sure I’ve got an apple sours bottle from 2012 🤢.

I’m finding the organising process a lot easier. I managed to do under the bed, and my sons toys today. No outs, but that made me feel happy as there’s nothing useless in there.

I’ve got a random box of empty photo magnets that I’m not sure what to do with though. I’m thinking possibly Christmas presents to send in cards this year for relatives we don’t see often. They may go to a charity shop, unless I can think of something better. Any ideas?

Reading everyone else’s outs is inspiring me to do more. Thankyou!