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!

stealthninjamummy I'm also prone to the 'someone could make use of it' procrastination as well. I can't bear the idea of adding to landfill. Progress this morning has been decluttering a random porridge pot into me for breakfast and bagging up four large bags of books for dd2s old school. I'm dropping them off tomorrow and feel less upset about them going since the school were wonderful with her (autistic and dyslexic) and I feel like I'm giving something back.

Not quite sure what to focus on next. There's still so much stuff!!

Thanks katef I think I’m probably the greenest person I know, so many of my friends just put any old crap in landfill - lightbulbs, batteries when those sort of things can just go to the supermarket and can be toxic.

I’m glad your books went to a good home.

@stealthninjamummy yeah, I can and do trip over things but I am rather clumsy at the best of times! my home isn't anything like you'd see on Hoarders but it's just stuff that hasn't been put away because, despite walking round the house when I'm/we're home nobody seems to see the clutter and just walk straight past it! For example, I'm sitting on the settee (having 5 mins from the D.I.Y we've got going on) and I can see a can of deodorant lying in the floor, a bag containing the birthday decorations, a box with diy bits in it, various bits of mdf, the dc's Christmas stockings from when I wrapped a few bits I'd bought, a roll of wrapping paper and a pile of ds2's school shirts that he brought back down for some reason (self isolation over!! It's just general havoc rather than hoarding. I also need better storage for the things that don't have a home.

I've had to rearrange and have a quick declutter of dm's spare room (she is disabled and I care/support her) as the housing association are planning new windows so she needed the room to be accessible.

So my outs for today from dm's house:
Ripley Believe it or not annuals x4 - charity bag
A large glass fruit bowl - charity bag
2x jeans - charity bag
The simpsons book - charity bag
Dh's old art book - recycling
Letter - recycling
A tv - I've taken for ds1 as his broken one went to the tip.
A small fibre optic tree for Ds2 who has been asking for a Christmas tree for his desk in his room.

My own outs so far:
A broken coat hanger

I haven't been home long to be fair so will have a few more things to add as I've got a bag of "things" from the car when I emptied it before we sold it but I know it's mostly outs in the bag.

@StrangeAddiction my equivalent to those things that haven’t been put away is plastic bags. I used to quickly fill a carrier bag and hang it on a door handle and if the door is open in the room - as most are - you just don’t notice it. There have been a couple of times where I looked in a bag and the contents had been there for two years!

After a while you do get better at noticing the clutter. I have less stuff lying around but it’s taken me years to improve my habits and my dcs habits.

My house sounds like yours @StrangeAddiction. Stuff always being put down and then moved, feels like perpetual circles

How's this for just not seeing clutter, after I posted what I could see from the settee I didn't even notice the 3 massive rolls of underlay (35sqm worth!) that I've got waiting to be laid next week 🤦‍♀️

@stealthninjamummy that used to be dh's method of tidying up and I think in one way that's what years later we are still left with, junk in bags still trying to find a home.

@SleepingStandingUp I try to remember "don't put it down, put it away" but I've got a memory like a sieve so I always forget. My dc always think "that's not mine so why should I move it" rather than if they see a cup has been left on the table and they're going to the kitchen to pick it up and move it. I think it's my own fault really as I used to do everything for them but no more! We should be a team.

Anyway, I sorted the bag from the car and this is what I got:
Unused but tatty nappy sacks
Serviettes
A letter
Dried out 1/4 pack of car interior wipes
General rubbish
2 straws
Car service papers
Air freshener
3 old toothbrushes
Bits of paper/receipts
Umpteen McDonald's sauce tubs
Chewing gum pot holder
A conker

The rest of the stuff was car related like de-icer, scraper etc so they'll go in the new car.

From the house:
Ds1 opened a lynx gift set as we've ran out of shower gel so the box is now in the recycling.

Day 70:
Emails and photos and some toddler clothes that are too small in the attic pile.

Yes Def make them pull their weight. Were currently they Ng to house train the PFB as he's terrible for just putting it down whatever he's using where he is then walking off

You lot are inspiring!

But I’m worried I should be taking lightbulbs somewhere for recycling? Where do they go?

Today I cleared out the piano stool - small win!

calledyoulastnightfromglasgow sorry I didn’t want to make you feel bad. My exh was obsessed with lightbulbs and disposing of them correctly because I think the mercury inside can be toxic and if I broke one he would open all the windows and doors for half a day to clear the air. Anyway in my area most supermarkets have an area for them, tips do and Robert dyas, maybe other hardware stores?

Dd1 couldn’t find her socks today and in the time it took to remove them from her drawer we had decluttered 15 pairs of socks.

More Room of Doom today. I realised I can’t live like this anymore so the exam question papers are going from the Room of Doom to be recycled.

Thanks *Stealth, that would be great! I do need nagging about flylady.

Only one out yesterday- a jumper that I sold on Facebook sales. But I now have a clear 3 days during the schoolday, so hope to get a lot cleared out.

Our mortgage break is coming to an end after 6 months & neither of us has been able to get work or indeed any government money (apart from Univeral Credit), so I am desperately trying to sell stuff rather than give it away. Quite worried about finances tbh, especially with Christmas coming up Thankfully we saved enough to cover one month, but will be tight beyond that, I think

Sorry things are hard @confusedofengland.

If you're selling clothes, Vinted is good and there's no fees.

Not sure of your family make up bit most of Ds5's Christmas presents have come courtesy of Sphock and FB Market. He likes expensive plastic PJ Masks tat and I don't like it's price / landfill potential. Lots of good quality / new to keep prices down

Thanks @SleepingStandingUp. I have 3 Dses age 6, 9 & 11. The 11 year old turns 12 a week before Christmas too They are all well used to secondhand presents, so should be ok there. I have no idea what to get them for main gifts yet! Sure we will be ok, but it all adds up, doesn't it?

Confused hope things improve for you and family in the weeks ahead.

My efforts to tackle the 'room of doom' have consisted of closing the door on it - not a successful tactic. However, have been in this morning and have a plan to set too once DC returns from university as I will need some help to shift furniture, freeing up storage which in turn will help with permanent decluttering. Rome, as they say, wasn't built in a day.
Procrastinating on the 'room of doom' has seen me sort out the larder cupboard - 15 items out, my 'awaiting responses' paperwork - 4 items now binned and completed work project - 22 e-mails deleted.
1861/2020 - need to get a wriggle on to make the 2020 target before the year ends.

@confusedofengland

Thanks *@SleepingStandingUp*. I have 3 Dses age 6, 9 & 11. The 11 year old turns 12 a week before Christmas too They are all well used to secondhand presents, so should be ok there. I have no idea what to get them for main gifts yet! Sure we will be ok, but it all adds up, doesn't it?

I feel ya with the pre as birthdays, mid December twins will be 1....

Thankfully I have a PJ Masks crazed child so he's "easy" although I did catch a train to the next town and get stuck ther for an hour as I couldn't cross the platform with a twin buggy to get his big Christmas gift.

4 packs of "top trumps" out,and all the 18-24 clothes IN, washed and folded ready for next month. Hoping by the time I swap them over the charity shops will be open.

Bag of presents wrapped and my generic box of presents upstairs allocated . I have a bag habit of buying stuff when I see it then I end up with too much and it gets put in the box... Same for books, I have so many he's not enough for but they were a bargain...

confusedofengland I’m sorry you’re having a hard time, I hope you get a job soon. I don’t know which part of the country you are in, in my area I’ve seen a few jobs and things seem to be picking up, so I hope you get that too.

Anyway I have probably tidied / put into recycling 40 or 50 things from the Room of Doom - old papers, a lightbulb that must have died and then moved house with us a decade ago, lots of old receipts, papers, a stick, theatre program, loyalty cards, floppy discs and I have found homes for lots of stationery and craft items. I have created a memory box for me because there were items that I suspect I keep returning to - estate agents details of the houses I’ve lived in, old photocards, my first provisional license that I thought was lost, my graduation ceremony leaflet, even my school presentation ceremony certificate. The carpet is still largely hidden but I feel pleased that I am finding homes for things and will never have to do this again.

@stealthninjamummy it might feel like slow progress but from reading your updates you are discarding/rehoming such a lot that I bet the room of doom will reach that tipping point before too long.

@confusedofengland it sounds very stressful - I’m very impressed you are continuing with the decluttering in spite of everything, as that can take up a lot of mental and emotional energy. Hope you get lots of sales & that the perfect job shows up very soon.

@pollyannaperspective I’m sure you can do it! And even if you don’t make your target you can play the glad game that your house is now nearly 1900 items lighter than it was

Thank you all. I do actually have a job, but as it was zero hours I couldn't be furloughed & it was customer-facing so my services haven't been needed (I'm a supply library assistant). I am in the process of being moved over to a proper contract- minimum 20 hours per year, paid monthly, sick pay, holiday pay etc, so that will be better. It fits in really well with school etc as I can choose my shifts & tend to go for school hours or weekends. There just hasn't been any since March

Thanks miaowse it sounds like a lot but I seem to get through a tiny amount of stuff - today’s stuff would maybe fit into a food bag so that tipping point feels like it is moving away from me. I suppose the thing is that this time I never ever want to do this bloody room again so I am determined to finish.

I forgot to mention I also found a bag of foreign coins. I know I have another bag of foreign coins in a drawer somewhere so I am wondering if a charity would take them. I’m not imagining going away soon.

Confused I hope things get better soon and your DH is able to find a job. It must be very stressful.

KateF Sorry you are having to move.

Tackling the Dining Room of Doom, where there is too much stuff and not enough storage.

confused sorry things are so stressful right now. Money worries are so draining and your boys are probably too young to really understand. Mind you, I'm having great difficulty convincing dd1 that she really does need to get rid of a lot of stuff and she's 21!

Out today went 6 bags of books (I found another box), a bin bag of my clothes and four handbags inherited from my late mum. Why I kept those I can't imagine as I'm not a handbag person. I think I just hung onto things because I couldn't bear to get rid of all her possessions in one go.

I've decided to keep two bookcases so I will transfer my favourite books until they're full and what's left will have to go.

Bonus today was finding a £20 Amazon voucher from my last birthday and £7 worth of Tesco vouchers.

@confusedofengland that sounds terrifying but it sounds like the contract will mean things are picking up for you.
Also I'm all for second hand presents!

@KateF good work on finding the vouchers. That's a really great find.

Day 71:
Broccoli and carrots over to neighbour's rabbit.
Parcel posted which allowed me get rid of a box and toddler art.
Old make up recycled.
Some old Meds out.
Photos and emails.

Part of me wanted to keep the make up and recycle it tomorrow so I had something to write on this thread tomorrow. And then I had a talk to myself and just got rid of it.

confused do you ever go on the bargain threads? In the past I’ve bought some good present bargains that I’ve seen on Mumsnet.

katef that’s a really good plan to keep books that fit the space, it really helps you focus on which ones you can’t live without.