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!

KateF glad you've found a solution to the books and awesome find

O was going to add a large wine glass (one of those whole bottle ones) to the charity bag but DH was he'd it up and smashed it. Bit it's still out 🤣🤣

Keep bringing DSs old toys in for the babies to see what's good and what they like. Trying to thin them out for Xmas but babies are so fickle I know by know what to keep!!

I have organised the kids craft box and finished with some of the craft papers.

KateF Great about the books and the vouchers.

There's a make £10 a day thread somewhere on here (think it's on Credit Crunch or Money Matters) with lots of ideas about making extra cash. I do the academic survey sites, they pay pretty well (about £1 for ten mins) and it is interesting.

I saw those but anyways wondered if they were legit and what happens re tax etc?

I use Prolific.co, it's legitimate. I'm a SAHM at the moment (covid redundancy at the end of my mat leave) so it's ok re: tax. I think it was taxed if over £1000 a year? I'm only getting about £20 a month but it does help, it pays better than Amazon Turk. I haven't looked at the thread properly, they use home working sites like Appen. There's another one called Upworker, for freelance work.

Thanks Alex, I'll have a look.

I've thrown out a bottle of piriton liquid opened someone warmly summer when the babies were reacting to the garden, done Bovril in a jar that exp 2019 and some baby brufen that is out of date too, and were eating the kids chocolate mousse because it expires today 🤣🤣🤣

I do surveys with Qmee at the moment. You get paid cash into PayPal & can withdraw it at any time. Some days I earn nothing, some days £2-3 per day.

Outs today were mainly food- used up some jelly, the last of the homegrown tomatoes, some withering veg & some bruised bananas into 2 soups, flapjacks & muffins. It will last about 2 days in this house

An early start on the magazine and papers pile before work - 10 outs in the recycling bin straight away and pile reduced. Something to work on later.

I’ve realised that I think I only have 18 weekdays before dc break up from school and I’m thinking I might not be able to do both the Room of Doom and get everything organised for Xmas so I’m feeling a bit panicky. I found more papers to shred and a used notepad which can go straight in the bin. I also found some CDs that are probably more backups from my computer that died so will save them onto my new laptop. I also found a bank statement from 2005 which I must’ve missed when I filed them all a couple of years ago so that’s going to be shredded. I have also binned some incomplete toys. It’s fairly impressive considering I woke up with a terrible headache. I might pop out to buy a ready meal and then slob around today/ have a very long bath as I still feel a bit grotty.

An ongoing task just now is sorting DS's books then bagging into supermarket Bags for life. And having a wee read for a break. Decluttering without having to make decisions is so relaxing.

Gathered up all homeless paper from the kitchen - junk mail, letters, magazines, catalogues. Got it all where it belongs, including some to paper recycling bin. Small to-do pile on desk.

LG - we have too much stuff. (Pause). We have lots of rooms. (Not really, just some overspill into the front room for the darker winter days)
Me - do you think we could donate some things?
LG - no. It feels cosy.

Hmm... hoarder in the making?

Trying out a different board game or activity in the evening. If it's a success, it goes into "Keep" drawer. Little interest? goes into "Donate" pile

Checking in as I think I am about to fall off the thread. Work has suddenly got busy so very little time for other things. I had a half day today which I was hoping would be productive but ordering the last of DD's birthday presents took way longer than planned and I have to go out to collect her soon!

I sadly decluttered my sourdough starter this week. I only started it in lockdown one, but I only really have time to bake by hand once a week now and it wasn't really worth the flour to keep feeding it. Probably should have frozen a bit but our freezer is rammed as have been starting to get in a few bits for Xmas if I see offers. Other than that a few stray bits of rubbish and an empty envelope that has been sitting on the kitchen table for days!

Sounds a though decluttering is going well for everyone and to those who are having a tough time at the moment.

@stealthninjamummy it sounds like you're doing really well, but equally 18 days isn't long 😬 My plan is to carry on decluttering while it's still November & focus on Christmas once it's December. My DC break up on 18th, so it gives me a while.

I tidied the playroom today & in doing so threw out a few tiny creations by the Dses & couple of bits of plastic that didn't appear to belong anywhere. Also threw out 2 of DH's old books which he said he no longer wanted & an empty body lotion bottle. And 2 mice the cat brought in overnight

I have also listed for sale a few dressing up bits I came across in the playroom which are too small/babyish.

@MrsTidyHouse we are doing a similar thing with games. Starting with Orchard Games as my DC have outgrown them all but I want to make sure all the pieces are there before selling them.

@confusedofengland I bought a under of 9 complete orchard games this week and guess what, not one was complete! The seller was mortified as they were selling on behalf of someone else and they refunded me immediately.
But actually the majority of games still work so we are going with it right now.

Did you know that orchard games normally do a free missing pieces service? It's currently suspended due to Covid but they will announce on their social medias when it starts again.

Day 72:
Emails and photos
Fridge decimated: a few use ups of leftovers and some mini butters and mills thrown out.
One out of date medical cream gone.

Back to work today but managed to out 20 Disney DVDs and some magic painting books to a colleague's little girl and a bag of craft stuff to the preschool room. Just got in and am shattered but want to keep the momentum going.

I also do Prolific and Neevo to earn a bit extra. Prolific is quite interesting, Neevo mind-numbingly boring but steady.

End of the working day and I have decluttered 30 e-mails for a project now established and a volunteer role that needed some focus.

I've got no room in the recycling so does anyone want some noisy moody twins?

Got DS to help clear half a bin of toys from the toy boxes, that's about it fore today

confusedofengland November decluttering and December preparing for Xmas sounds like a good plan. I really don’t have much to do for Xmas, it’ll be very small, but I think I’m feeling stressed because increasingly people I know are isolating because of their school bubble and I want to be able to buy Xmas and wrap presents and generally do stuff without dc around.

I love orchard games, we had loads of them, but we’ve sold most of them now. They always seem to be easy to sell.

@confusedofengland let me know what platform you're selling them on :D

@SleepingStandingUp they are just on my local Facebook selling pages, but no bites yet.

I have just sold 3 duvet covers & am delivering them tomorrow (I go past on school run), so that will be a good out

I sorted the bigger Lego tonight. Jeezo! It’s was jumbled with a gazillion kids toys. Glad to get rid!

Could you just sell as a a load of Lego and not bother?

Another two bags of clothes today and some toys. Need to find somewhere that takes the stuff as so many restrictions in place

Im not jealous of any of you with small kids and loads of toys! Thank god that stage has passed us by. When I watched videos on my phone I can feel myself tense up looking at all the toys strewn all over, there was just so many.

A teeny tiny out today, an old, dried out paint roller that had been hiding in the bag of rollers and brushes. I think that's all for today as I've had a head and neck ache so didn't do much decluttering (I painted all the paintwork and doors on the landing though).

Stealth - You make a good point (re the gadget). But, it's also part of a set which is quite pricey and like new. Whereas, most of the other bits are individual items and much cheaper. I've never really had sets but it would look nicer in the cupboard. That said, I spoke to DP (chief gadget fixer) and he still can't see how we could make it work properly, so I think that will be going out now. Thanks for the prod! Also, well done on decluttering your cc statements! I know how big that must have been for you. (I still have mine.) Not sure about the instruction leaflets though. I used to keep all that too but now bin most of them immediately. They're almost always available online if you need them. (This is with the exception of anything complicated where I need to learn how to use the thing.)

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with myself tonight as all my outs are things which have been hanging around for quite a while. They include:

1 pair of jeans. I have been hoarding these in case I can fit into them again soon as they did fit me quite recently and I was about to put them away under the bed but, when I had a good look under the light, I discovered that they have a few threadbare areas. Enough said about that.

1 top. I've been hoarding this under the bed. (You might sense a theme here.) It doesn't fit me any more and it has a few holes in it. But, it was my favourite top ever! I had this idea I might make something from it, but, having stored it for quite a while, I don't think that's going to happen.

1 box. It was actually DP who was keeping this and not me, for once! It's been a few months now so it's time it went.

5 ring binders. I had quite a large pile of these, left over from clearing out lots of paperwork. I thought I might need them as I've still got some more to sort out but these are the worst of them. (I'm still keeping quite a few.)

1 magazine. This came through the door and had a voucher in it (quite a nice reduction on some shoes) which I thought I might use. But, I don't need another pair of this type of shoes.

Dinner was frozen leftovers.

I've got a few more:

5 jars with lids. (They seem to multiply in the cupboard.)
1 big packet of out-of-date, ground ginger.
2 kitchen gadgets. Almost definitely.
1 jug which has never been used.