Getting rid of one item a day thread number 14 – where we extract precious autumn leaves, rocks and twigs from our children

[stealthninjamummy]

Well I never thought I’d still be here, on the 14th thread where a bunch of mumsnetters get rid of one item a day while we slowly declutter and reorganise our houses.

It’s autumn and some of us have commented on our children’s beloved treasures that are coming in like conkers and precious twigs that have been named. This is the thread where we focus on sneaking these things out and getting the house ready for Christmas even if we don’t know what Christmas will be like this year.

New joiners are always welcome, just get rid of one item and let us know. We’ve all different issues and challenges and it’s nice to have a friendly chat with a fellow mumsnetter.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4003927-Still-throwing-an-item-away-a-day-part-13?pg=1

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

Enjoying the space that has opened up in the living-room and the storage shed, now that DS has taken the big table and all but one of the heavy wooden kitchen chairs. I needed to keep one chair as it stops the fridge door swinging right back on its hinges.

LG was brilliant yesterday. We went through her entire wardrobe, she tried on everything except pants, and there is now a big tub of outgrown clothes waitingfor donation. She is growing so fast that I'm not replacing anything more than the minimum for now. We've just finished our half-term week, and I swear she grew out of her uniform in those ten days.

LG on the other hand caught wind of the wardrobe tidy, put his iron man costume on over his pyjamas and dug his heels in, lol! Otoh, he co-operates with hair and toothbrushing now. Tthe clothes can wait.

The recycling trolley went out today. The only wasted food was six mouldy cherry tomatoes, and about a quarter of a can of soup from the darkest recesses of the fridge. I'm very happy with this. It's such an improvement.

Managed to fall off the old thread just after starting to post on it - must do better.

I managed to dispatch 8 items yesterday (mostly eBay sales) and have another 20 listed this week with more identified to go up on the next £1 offer I get.

Other than that I feel like things are stagnating and not seeming any better, even though I am still getting rid of 1 thing a day (over and above generally tidying and recycling). It doesn't help that I was determined that our conservatory would be set up as an area I could sit and knit, etc by now, and was making great progress. Then our Summer House collapsed a month ago and had to be removed, so everything that was in there (mostly overflow loft items) is now in the conservatory. I hate looking at it and can't see where to start clearing it again.

Small out today. Broke a hairband so that’s gone in the bin.

Not being very successful so far.the OST office queue was out the door so left there as didn't want to be with all those people.

The chemist wouldn't take my old meds as I need to go to my 'normal' chemist for disposal. Sigh. What difference does it make?

The battery recycling box has been removed because of covid rules.

*the post office queue I meant.

Plus my final moan, my normal chemist was closed for lunch. So I'm carrying round a bag full of stuff I can't get rid of.

I’ve been decluttering this week and have got rid of 60 things - mostly clothes. I need to tackle under the stairs this weekend.

One giveaway site that I’ve had luck with is Olio. It maybe works best in London and the big cities, but the premise is anti food waste & I’ve given away a fair bit of stuff that we’ve bought and just not used (tahini anyone?). They also have a non food section where I’ve given away a lot of random house stuff (this week: paint tester pots).

I don’t know how/why but there are hardly any time wasters relative to Facebook giveaway groups, everyone so far (touch wood) has turned up promptly.

Hello everyone, and thanks for the new thread Stealth.
Out today, some expired herbal teas, along with loads of recycling. I have bought replacement herbal teas though, one of which thanks to a delivery sub is exactly the same flavour as I've just thrown out, so not a vast amount of progress. Oh well, I'm off to make some tea...

Hello everyone. Sounds like lots of progress. footprints that sounds very frustrating. TBH sounds like the day I’ve got planned tomorrow tip run, charity shop run before the lock down starts on Friday. Several ins today some boxes for Lego (this will be go 5 million or so at organising it 🙄) and some baking goods. Another few eBay items have bids on so I may count them in advance.

@gassylady good luck with the lockdown! I'm in South East Wales so lots of nice walks and as long as I can be outdoors I'm happy.

Day 32:
Charity shop run ✔️ after two attempts as first one was full.
Out of date meds dropped off ✔️on second attempt at my normal chemist.
Batteries recycled in Lidls ✔️
Parcel posted ✔️

jcurve thank you for the olio recommendation, and 60 items is amazing.

whendoisleep one item is still good, especially if you had an unexpected setback with the summerhouse. Could you do something like set a timer for 15 minutes instead of have a cup of tea and see if you can make a tiny dent? Even a small bag of stuff would be an improvement.

It’s great hearing about dc getting involved.

My update: I’ve put a dress, jumper and scarf in the charity pile. When dc are in bed i’ll be tidying my surfaces.

Today I made a start on decluttering a handbag that I no longer use. It's been sitting in the hallway and I've been shoving all sorts of stuff in there (including random paperwork) that I don't know what else to do with. I've sorted a few bits out but there's lots still to do, so I'll be attempting to finish it tomorrow.

Not many outs today, but I have thrown out an old diary for 2020 that I abandoned in about February - and some old receipts!

Ohhhhh I have just came across this thread and love it..
I love a good clear and sort out this time every year. So far this week I have sorted oldest DS room and bought one nice ottoman style storage box for him and got rid of a giant bean bag, toy wrestling ring, old books.. For youngest room have got some under bed storage and cleared out too small baby clothes, a car seat, pram too and old towels.. From the kitchen three tins of paint and some out of date tins/packets as I was sorting cupboards after a leak...

Next week is half term so I plan on decluttering airing cupboard, mine and DH wardrobe of old shoes/clothes, beind the sofa and sorting toys/old games to charity shop

@AlexTheHalloweenCat wouldn’t it be great if he did an update 20 years on so we could see if he stayed minimalist after discarding all his possessions? I bet he has built them back up again.

Small amount of decluttering done today with DD1 helping put stuff away. Nothing significant out but a bit of rubbish/recycling.

Don't think I'll get much done today as having a day out with DH. It's my birthday tomorrow & I won a free haircut via a FB competition, in a different town, so we are going for that & then lunch. He starts his MA tomorrow (after being without work since March & becoming depressed), so had to do it today. Might do some decluttering after school though.

@confusedofengland - that sounds lovely. Have fun!

outs today -

pair of dd's socks which have holes in them
a box of tampons - there were only 4 left in the box and it was taking up space in the bathroom cabinet. so removed from box and ditched the packaging.

ive had loads of success with Olio here. most recently i scored three loaves of sliced bread which was on its use by date. we keep bread in the freezer so i grabbed three and have stocked up.

welcome bakewellgin

confusedofengland just think of it as decluttering your hair!

I won't be doing much decluttering here as I'm driving the dc to playdates. Last night I tidied my bedroom and started to organise my tops like Kondo in a drawer.I didn't get rid of anything but it's nice to be tidier.

I am getting nothing done today, but just checking in to say we decluttered our garage last January. The roof had fallen in, and the previous owners had built a side room and set it up for cultivating, erm, herbs. We now have a huge concrete slab at the end of the garden, but it's still an improvement.

Daily out, yet another not quite finished moisturiser, now empty and my legs smoother.
Also, longstanding 'to do' item 'ta done'! I wish I had got on with it weeks ago.

Well I managed to get my bags dropped off at the charity shop. Checked to see if tip opening hours had changed only to discover appointment is now needed. No slots before lockdown so it can stay stacked in garage, at least I checked before putting it into car I suppose. Few old magazines lying around are my out for the day

I managed to get three large bags of clothes, rags and toys to the charity shop. I also added another top.

@confusedofengland Hapoy Birthday for tomorrow!🎉

Day 33:
Cleaned the kitchen freezer out and used up a few items in a giant chilli and threw one item in the food waste.

Daily email clear out, suddenly getting lots of spam and fake amazon emails claiming to have frozen my account.

I think I'm going to give away all of my pre-pregnancy clothes that no longer fit. I'm almost back to my pre-DC weight, but my body seems to have changed shape and things that used to fit around my hips no longer do! I could keep them all packed away in the loft just in case I do fit back into them one day, but I'm not sure that will happen any time soon - especially as I'm kind of happy the way I am now.

My wardrobe is overflowing with stuff at the moment too, and I've always wanted a capsule wardrobe of just 20 or so carefully selected items that I wear all the time, rather than loads of clothes that don't get worn in years. Maybe now's the time to try and do it!

Still working on that handbag too...