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!

Knicker drawer sorted, the rag bag is rather full and is in my car for dropping off at the tip next weekend. 3 tops and 2 pairs of trousers went into the charity bag too, so I feel as if I'm doing well this weekend. Charity bag is also in my car to be dropped into the charity bin at the supermarket.

My day 20 update:

I had one big out today - a box of books I’d brought back from mum’s house. It was full of books from a SF series, and I’d planned to give them to a charity shop, but I posted about them on FB asking if any of my friends wanted them. I didn’t think anyone would be interested, but got a yes, and they collected the books earlier today.

I had a few hours this afternoon for sorting and decluttering, and it was hard. I was going through more photos, and things my mum had kept like Mother’s Day cards I’d made, and got quite sad. I have emptied another box, but most of it has been squashed in the last bag with all the photos, including a folder of ‘emotional stuff’ like those cards. Found a couple more newsletters from school that have gone in my school folder, to be reassessed later.

So, a mixed day. I am down to one bag and one small box from mum’s since I started on 1 September, but I know I have left the harder things until last

I've got some more out of date food for today: some baking powder which was somehow over 3 years out of date! (I don't know how this keeps happening!)

I also found a jar of unopened lime pickle which is almost 2 years ood!! But, DP decided to keep it in the hope of using it soon.

What age pants and socks? Nursery school might take them as spares or women's refuge?

Lots of messages about the Home Edit Show. I’m torn about whether to watch it. It might be a way to procrastinate and not do housework.

Welcome footprintintheslow. We literally put aside one thing a day to go. It isn’t realistic to always get rid of something (especially with covid) but it’s really that straightforward. That’s 365 items a year so over time this approach works as long as you don’t then buy 366 items.

em8725 that sounds lovely to stick your photos up, it isn’t vain at all. Do it one at a time because if you turn it into a Big Job you’ll never get around to it. I have found two photos of our holiday from last year that I liked and I’m wondering whether to get someone to print them. I know it won’t be cost effective to do just two but otherwise I’ll never do it. I hope you got the Sharpie off the wall.

glumygloomer another post about photos (I know sandandsea is also thinking about organising them). Are you just using a normal scanner. The perfectionist part of me has started researching scanners to do photo negatives and photos rather than my normal flat bed scanner. I think I’m just procrastinating again – this is why I never finish anything.

hamsterfan welcome. I am can totally relate to how hard it can be to get rid of those ‘just in case’ items. I think it’s one of those things cured by time and a constant chipping away at your possessions. Get rid of things slowly and you’ll realise in six months that you don’t actually miss anything and you’ll enjoy having a clearer house which will spur you on.

RIP msawesomedragon’s guinea pig. I’m so sorry to hear about that.

sandandsea I’d eat the lime pickle even if it was five years out of date

I’ve not really done much. Yesterday I did more shredding and post sorting but I don’t really count that as decluttering any more it’s just ‘keeping on top of admin’. I’ve been looking at photos and deleting them, as mentioned above I’d like to print a couple just to get rid of wedding photos around the house. While looking at some old ones of dc I was pleased at how much clearer my house is these days, it really shows how much I’ve come on in the last few years. My focus this week is my bedroom – I’m still trying to do Flylady – and the utility room.

@stealthninjamum sharpie is still on the wall, but hopefully we’ll get around to painting in the near future so I’m trying to ignore it for now. All sharpies have been put into a high box.

I’m slowly getting there. I’ve signed up for a garage sale so hopefully lots of outs soon!

I'm having a motivational crash today, as the number of jobs vs time I get to spend on them is just feeling impossible right now

I've not achieved much over the weekend. We were out for the day yesterday and I couldn't be bothered to do anything when we got home!
I've sorted through some things in a kitchen drawer and put all the notebooks in one drawer rather than being in two places. No outs yet.

I'm struggling with an out today and at this rate it'll be my toddler and/or husband as I'm a woman on the edge.

Well I managed to throw away some dried up playdough, so that's something at least. I can't decide whether I'm up to dealing with photos yet or not. I might try scanning a few each day, then when I've got a digital back up it should be easier. Then again I also feel like there's much bigger areas which would give a big improvement, and save photos for later. It's a tough one.

glumygloomer are you ok? Is it just you've got too much to do? Come here and moan away if you want.

Having a goodish day, I went to a builder's merchant and got four new shelves made to fit in the utility room cupboard. I have one big cupboard which had quite shallow shelves so this should double what I can store. Having said that I'm intending to get rid of a load anyway but I think the cupboard will look better organised.

My outs will be the existing shallow shelves. Other than that I'm just doing tidying / washing / hoovering after the weekend.

glumy I cross posted and didn't see your new message. I have always chosen to clear bigger areas where you can see a difference which is why a lot of my decluttering now is things like photos/ some paperwork / cupboards.

Where can I get rid of a box of vinyl LPs?

Before anyone gets too excited, they're brass band music! 😂 And many before the days of barcodes, let alone QR codes!

Am feeling lighter today - kids and I went through the games cupboard so 2 big sacks of games and jigsaws went to the charity shop today. Plus a purge on my youngest's wardrobe this morning and filled a couple of bags of outgrown clothes. Getting closer to my goal of emptier cupboards so I can try to have nothing out on surfaces!

I'm amazed we are not also in the sharpie on the wall club @Em8725 as DD is always leaving her pens lying about for DS to pick up. Fortunately his attentions so far have focussed on the floor which is laminate and cleanable!

Had a good weekend for using up the last bits of things so quite a few bottles and jars into recycling. Plus carrier bags from the supermarket are also making their way out finally albeit in fairly small numbers.

@Miljea Ebay might work if collectable? We have a local independent record shop that takes vinyl, they sell some and also have a box of free ones for people to pick up outside. Appreciate that is quite a specific solution though!

All of you dealing with photos are making me feel bad! We have massive digital clutter when it comes to photos and I keep putting off printing as like Stealth I keep thinking it would be more cost effective to do a big batch and then never finding time to sort out the ones to print!

Thanks Stealth, I was having a bad morning. Dd2 has not slept well for a while (teething), the house looks like total shit and I can't get anything done without one or both kids screaming at me. I think I'll have to leave the photos for now, and just focus on the bigger chores. I feel like my room will never be done, because more urgent jobs just keep coming up, and after all, my stuff isn't important is it? just part of having young kids I guess.

raspberryblonde I think you mean 'all of you NOT dealing with photos....' I keep talking about doing it but don't get round to it. I have thousands. I put two on a usb stick today so might go to a photo processing place this week. I really love people's houses when they have artistic clusters of photos dotted around or blown up canvases of places they've been to. I don't have the creative gene (or time) to do that stuff.

I dropped two bags of stuff from last week to a charity shop. It was books, toys, about 20 child's coathangers. The charity shop didn't take rags so I'll go back to my regular one.

miljea I came on to suggest ebay too. Or if you don't mind not making money facebook / freecycle. Or you might have a local brass band. I just found one in my area that has a facebook page so you could offer them for free.

Very little out since my last post a fortnight ago. Keeping on top of recycling trolley and food caddy. Clearing kitchen every morning and evening. I'm finding it hard to make any kind of decluttering just now, maybe because of the increasing uncertainty nationally.

I think I've realised that the LOs have very little interest in quite a lot of the old books here. I could pack some books away, and see whether they even notice. Somehow, I doubt it!

Oh glumy I could’ve written your post a few years ago. They do get more independent and less clingy - as I type this I have two preteens who are completely ignoring me so I have a quick twenty minutes to tidy the utility room before I go round confiscating phones and gadgets! I wasn’t good enough at asserting my needs so try to make sure your partner’s able to look after them so you get some time to yourself.

Ah photos, yes, before I had actually had my first baby I said I was going to make a beautiful photo book every year with photos and notes on the funny things they had said and done. Oldest ‘baby’: 7 years. Number of photo books produced: 0.

One coat sold on eBay and posted - finally one bulky item out! Clothes sales seem really hit and miss.

Thanks for tips pants are too old for nursery (age 9-10) and I don’t have Facebook but I could try freecycle. He really has just grown like a weed throughout lockdown

My day 21 update:

No sorting or decluttering today, which is not a surprise as I was working, then did the school run, and did bedtime, so I knew there wouldn’t be a ‘slot’ to do anything.

But today was difficult - it started well (sunny day, productive at work), and after school I took DD (age 5) to the nearby playground with a couple of her friends. It was lovely, with the girls playing and us mums having a socially distanced chat, until it was time to leave and DD kicked off because she wanted to go home with her BFF. I had to physically restrain her as she ran after them, and she was hitting and kicking and screaming. It was awful. Then she refused to move for about 15-20 minutes. I know she’s tired from school, but it was really shocking how she went from playing happily to slightly whinging about having to leave to screaming and shouting.

I’m also annoyed with DH, who is still on furlough and spends his day doing very little. I asked him to iron the school shirts today, and he was going to do it after his cycle ride, then after lunch, then while I was doing the school run, then while I was putting DD to bed. Of course I got downstairs at 9 when she was finally asleep, and not only had he not done the ironing, he hadn’t even got round to putting the dishwasher on! Wasting time on his phone, as usual

@EllieQ men and phones are a constant battle in my opinion.

I didn't think I was going to get rid of anything today and then I cleared the fridge of any out of date leaflets, shopping lists and random receipts...a nice little job done whilst the kettle boiled.

hamsterfan I would give pants to a charity shop as 'rags' rather than advertise on freecycle. Or I'd even see if someone like a refuge would want them. I'd feel a bit uneasy about just giving child's pants to a stranger! (But I speak as someone who had their knickers stolen off a washing line when I was a child!)

In the olden days (ie 1970s!) people used to clean with pants. I can remember my nan cleaning the windows with my grandads y-fronts!

ellieq my stbexh used to spend hours on the toilet with his phone. So infuriating.

I have emptied the drawers of the utility room. There is mess everywhere. I had a big pile of tools owned by exh before we moved in together that will eventually go into the garage. I have found about 20 alum keys - one from every piece of IKEA and argos furniture we have ever bought! I'll probably keep a couple. We also have about 30 door hinges which are going. There's a massive tub of white paint that I can't easily dispose of. It has separated so I'm not sure it can be used now. Anyway it's good to bring it all together and work out what's going. Just putting stbexh's stuff in the garage will give an enormous amout of space.