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!

@IWillWearTallGhostlyWellies Oh my goodness, do it! Just so you can tell us what it was like

@IWillWearTallGhostlyWellies do you eat/make things like curries, spag bol and chillies? If yes you can just chop up the green tomatoes and freeze them all in batches to throw in when cooking, they just bulk it out.

Day 17 here. Monday is housework and ironing day so I'm free the rest of the week for work and play. So not too too much outage

1. Gro clock box recycled. I was keeping it to sell in the future but someone quoted Kondo on here yesterday about it not being worth it so it's gone. People are such good influences on here!

1. Transferred some bulky toddler jigsaws from boxes into zip up clear bags. I've cut the main picture out to keep in the bags too but the boxes have gone. Saves so much space.

1. Dead plants from window sills gone. I was hopping to overwinter the peppers but they look beyond help now.

1. All my freecycle things were picked up so that's fab.

1. Started to sort my beads and jewellery making things last night but it's a big job that will take forever.

Thanks again everyone for the ideas.

So busy working at the moment but trying to do small jobs when I get chance. Got rid of a bag of rubbish from the car (why are kids so MESSY?!) Cleared receipts from handbag and threw out the very dead lobelia from a pot. Need to get some pansies or something to replant it.

DS seems to be having a bit of a growth spurt so will need to go through his clothes soon. Not used to growth spurts, DD is a tiny miniature child who only seems to grow about an inch a year.

Oh and I saw this today and thought of you all!

That quote is very true @PickledLilly!

Forgot to mention one more thing yesterday - I went through DD’s long sleeved tops from last year and have put the ones that were too small in the bag of old clothes in her room.

No outs today, but I have continued going through the last bag of stuff from mum’s house. There were a few photos in there so I have stored them with the other sentimental items to be dealt with later when I feel up to it.

Trying to decide whether to post the toddler coats for sale on a local FB selling group. I normally use a FB parenting group that is quite strictly moderated, but the local group is a bit less controlled, and I don’t want to deal with time wasters!

🤣🤣 at that Pickled it is happening less as I get more sorted but I definitely recognise myself in there

Welcome back whendoistart

ghostly wellies tomato cake sounds interesting, I think you should try it.

pickledlily that’s me! I have been known to alphabeticise all sorts of things (CDs, books, herbs) rather than do washing.

I have removed two of dd1s favourite trousers from her wardrobe without her noticing. They’re far too short yet she insists on wearing them. I hope she doesn’t notice they’re gone.

Just a couple of things for me:

1 tube of dried out paint.
1 old, not-feather-duster-thing. (I've replaced it with something a fraction of the size with a removable, washable end bit.)

A lot of my house has been a right mess recently (decorating etc) but, on the plus side, I had someone coming round and was able to wizz round and make it look nice in about 30 minutes!

SandAndSea

Getting your house decorated is always like making a omelette you have to break a lot of eggs!!

It’s so nice when the rooms get done then can get a good clean and everything is put back in the correct place!!

It’s also makes you look at things with different eyes and say does this really make the room look nice and do I really need it!!

Looks like you will be Christmas ready soon!!

I cleared everything I don't want in my box room out today, and moved my coffee table in. There are still boxes, but the contents are organised and they don't stress me out. It actually feels nice to sit in. I have a few more bits to list, and then it's just pushing the tide of loose clutter around the house until everything falls into place. Next up is emptying the cupboard under the stairs and then putting everything which should be there away neatly. After that I'll tackle the play pen of doom (now used in reverse as an area dc can't get into), then all the random crap in the other rooms. There's still a huge amount to do but I feel like I've turned a corner.

sandandsea that’s fantastic that it only took 30 mins to get the house ready for a visitor. It’s sods law really that just as our houses are getting better we’re not allowed too many visitors!

I can’t claim credit for today’s out as i just found dd1 has chucked out some of her artwork from years ago. She made some kind of weird collage with sweet papers about 5 years ago and stuck it above her bed. She must’ve realised how ugly it is and chucked It away by herself.

I’ve been putting more of exdh’s stuff in the garage. While there I found an empty bottle which is going. My garage is fairly empty but it has heavy items like doors, car batteries and half a bed frame that I m not quite strong enough to move. I have put some things on freecycle but unsurprisingly no one was interested so I am going to try to hire somebody to get rid of them.

My plan today is to have a general tidy of the kitchen/ dining / utility rooms to see what can go. I suspect it will be papers and weird plastic bits.

glumy that’s awesome, is the box room like your own little den? Once you have a lovely area it is so much easier to keep on top of it.

Stealth yes the box room is my woman cave/hobby room/repository of Precious Things. It has finally become usable as such about a year after Dh's study (go figure).
I've used clearabee a few times for getting rid of bulky stuff and they're very efficient. I think the minimum charge is £75, although you might get a better price from an independent.

ghostofglumy thank you, I will look up clearabee.

I have had a good couple of hours chucking magazines and newspapers I bought and never read, shredding junk mail, meal planning and doing a food order. I threw away another random piece of plastic and just ran around tidying crap away like pencils/ pens / string (which for the first time has its own dedicated home). I have two pairs of scruffy boots for gardening and I have put one in the recycling pile. I have also put batteries, lightbulbs and bottles in the car for when I next go to the supermarket to recycle.

Uh, I wrote a really long post and just lost it. The short version is that I decided to give my sewing basket (cute kitten design, gift from parents when I was a teen) away on gumtree, and agreed to give it to a guy who kept asking for directions/nearest station/bus routes dispite having my address. He then wanted my make up brushes (also listed but spoken for) which all started to creep me out, and I wimped out and told him I'd changed my mind. It was probably very dumb, prejudiced and silly of me. The lady coming for the make up brushes also wants the basket, so I can give it to her, although I'm a bit tempted to really keep it now as giving it to that guy just made me feel so uncomfortable.

That wasn't even very short, oh well. My sewing stuff now fits into a smaller box, and I don't sew often. Talk some sense into me please

ghostofglumy it’s not silly at all, you can give your stuff to whoever you like and if you have a bad gut feeling about someone then listen to it. I’m very careful to never say I’m a single mum because when you give things away you are interacting with potential weirdos. Anyway give it to the lady with the makeup brushes, she’ll appreciate it.

@TheGhostofGlumy sod him, he sounded hard work at the very least.

I'm struggling for an out for Day 18 as I've worked till 1 and then been to a scan at the hospital.
But I did clear my email inbox whilst in the waiting room plus I'm going to continue with the giant bead sorting nightmare box whilst watching bake-off.

Thanks Stealth, hopefully this other lady shows up tomorrow. It's probably all rubbish but somehow he just set off my Spidey sense.

That’s a shame ghostlywellies I was very invested in your experiment, perhaps with your crop next year? I have a similar issue that I bought too many carrots so I’m wondering if I can do something with the old ones. Carrot cake’s the obvious thing to do but I don’t think it’ll use up many carrots. I’m off to google now.

@StealthNinjaMum you can blanch carrots then freeze them.

Sold some Lego yesterday and that’s gone. Unfortunately, some ins as I went to IKEA, but all stuff that is either being replaced or I’ve used up (or food, cos, you know Daim bars!!)

Glad you didn’t do the green tomato cake - sorry but it sounded really horrid.

Thanks, Nana. Just the thought of 'C' makes me feel anxious atm. It's always fine in the end though so silly really.

My item today is a spaghetti serving spoon which is old and rusty and won't be replaced. I've also made a point of using up a couple of jars of food from the fridge.

I'm massively behind with the laundry atm due to all the rain and I'm having car trouble and the decorating is still not done. But, I have cheesecake which will definitely be finished tonight.