The countdown to Christmas - but still decluttering one item a day. Thread number 15

[stealthninjamum]

Thread number 15 of the ‘declutter one item a day thread’ and this bunch of mumsnetters are still decluttering our houses slowly by getting rid of one item a day.

It’s always challenging at Christmas for declutterers, as we fill our house with more presents, food and children’s toys. This thread should give us a bit more accountability as we keep plugging away slowly while we making our homes more organised and decluttered.

Obviously Christmas won’t be the same this year and the stealthninjahousehold won’t be having any visitors but I’m still keen to spend the last couple of weeks making my house a nicer space to spend time in.

Newbies are always welcome. We just get rid of one item each day and report back on the thread.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4053749-Getting-rid-of-one-item-a-day-thread-number-14-where-we-extract-precious-autumn-leaves-rocks-and-twigs-from-our-children?pg=1

Our bin went out this morning - because I knew we’d forget it later this evening.

Dh has just broken a pasta bowl. It was my fave one too...!!! But at least we don’t have to wash it...!

Today’s decluttering is courtesy of the girls, who completely off their own bat went through their bookcase and got rid of about 8-10 books they say they don’t want anymore.

Some are old black and white picture books for small babies and some are “what’s in mummy’s tummy?” things we bought when I was pregnant with DS, so I’m happy to chuck them. They have included We’re Going On A Bear Hunt though, which they might regret so I’ll hang onto it for a bit. God knows how I’m actually going to get the books out of the house now all charity shops are closed, might have to try Olio.

Also some hideously mixed grey-green playdoh and empty tubs and lids,

Sorry to hear about your DH pollyannaperspective. Sounds painful.
I sorted and tidied the living room cupboard (it's under stairs so can fit quite a bit in). Outs:- an old bag of DP's,several carrier bags for recycling (some were more holes than bag), bubble wrap (I did keep a small amount), some paperwork for car we don't need. Cupboard is now neat so hopefully it stays that way.
Our recycling and rubbish goes tomorrow. The recycling won't all fit.

Everyone is doing so well.

Went to the loo earlier and ended up tidying the crafts cupboard in DSs room. Half a small bin of rubbish bit it's all tidier.
Also went through his shelves as he of course had to follow. Some committing in stuff, dinosaur folders, all his Paw Patrol books and a couple of others so all in all a big shopper full. No idea when we'll get it to the charity shop but it's made a bit of space

Not much achieved here today, though we did remember to put the bins out for collection this morning, thankfully!

I made a start on emptying box 3 of 5 from my mum’s house - found a place for two ornaments, some books went on the bookshelf (though the bookshelves themselves need organising), and the silver spoons that belonged to my grandmother have been washed and are now in the cutlery drawer. Also put away the cosy socks I got for Christmas.

No outs, and I forgot to say yesterday that there were some ins (new vests for DD, and some new PJs for me).

I can see that this week I’m going to have very little time to myself to get anything done. Had to point out to DH that we need to get DD out of the house every day, even if it’s just a quick trip to the playground, as she gets grumpy and won’t sleep well if she isn’t exercised. He was complaining that his family had lazy days at home during the holidays. Resisted the urge to point out he had a bigger house, a large garden, and two siblings to play with - none of which DD has I suspect it will be me who organises things and takes her out.

Plus I’m worried about another lockdown and want to make the most of being able to get out.

2 pillows out, and a clean pillowcase and towel for the rag bag that are now in the boot of the car.

Have wrapped 5 parcels for eBay so will hopefully get them out tomorrow

@EllieQ what tier are you currently in? We are in Wales so lockdown here but parks are open although they are all flooded here.

Day 111:
🎄 H's old boots out and new crocs in. But at least these can be hung up by back door instead of slung on the floor in the way.

🎄tissue, ribbons and present decorating paraphernalia all put into their rightful homes.

🎄slowly putting Christmas stuff into a pile in my bedroom for when it goes away on New Years Day. Hopefully trying to not forget anything as usually there's a rogue plate or teddy that gets left out as it's become invisible.

Hi! Can i please join? I've already decluttered most of the chaos but really want to keep myself accountable and not bring in new stuff. Decluttering one item a day seems doable and a good strategy now that i'm close to "maintenance mode".

Got the recycling trolley out last night. Paper section full, with ancient newspaper cuttings and children's scribbles. Also very large coffee jar in bottle bin. Decanted dregs into small jam jar, and resolved to buy smaller jars in future. Usually I keep jars just in case, but no more storage space left, so out it went.

@Inthetropics welcome and good luck.

@MrsTidyHouse jars are a real issue for me. I want to keep them as they are useful but I just don't have the space. I allow about 8 but that's it.

I forgot to add to my list yesterday that I threw out loads of jars. H and I cooked a meal that is described as 'a bit of a labour of love'. Understatement of the year, it took both of us 3h 50mins. I was so exhausted from standing up I thought my varicose veins would give in!
Anyway it'll provide meals for at least 6 days (half in the freezer) and it's a real treat that only happens once a year at most.

The good thing is it used up so many jars and bits and pieces. I have a cupboard that doesn't throw jars at me when opened.

@footprintsintheslow I’m in Tier 2 (Yorkshire), so some attractions are open, but cases are rising locally so I’m worried we’ll be moved into Tier 3. There’s a lot of talk about another lockdown being announced, so that’s making me feel anxious. DD is an only child and found the isolation during lockdown very hard.

Just checking in as very quiet on the decluttering front here. Have had to work extra days over the holiday so been to tired to get going. Two gift sets I received I know I won’t use so one will list on eBay and one for the charity bag. It’s already looking full so need them to reopen soon.
Husband has managed to sort three Lego sets so those can also be listed on eBay. Two new gifted games have been opened and are a success so will need a sort through the shelves they are on to make space and hopefully find more outs

Welcome inthetropics

We’re tier four and I just discovered my main Facebook sales page has been archived so I can’t advertise stuff on it. It’s to stop the spread of covid. I understand but it seems to me that so many people re breaking the rules that surely private buying and selling is safer than shopping? The list of allowed shops in my area is huge - hardware stores, off licenses, big Boots, Poundland, supermarkets that sell clothes etc. Anyway that’s my planned morning activity stopped.

So instead I’m going to put batteries in a couple of presents, finish clearing out the sitting room of presents, and do lots of hoovering.

While making my tea last night I decided to get rid of one mug, a coffee maker and a reusable plastic coffee cup. I have nowhere to get rid of them.....

dh is decluttering the kitchen. he's moving all my treats out. because we don't need them...

he's off this week so apparently is going to "get the house into shape"

this so far has consisted of two cups of tea, and emptying of cupboards. there is some serious reorganisation planned. whether it will happen though....

Been to the tip this morning so three bags of rubbish, old router and batteries disposed of/ recycled. Two bags of cardboard, a box of glassware, bag of plastic and loads of soft drinks cans into our communal recycling (which has been miraculously emptied despite no one hearing it and the Christmas weekend...).

For today, task is to tackle the remaining corner cupboard of doom in the kitchen and try empty all my posh afternoon tea bits out of the Welsh dresser to make that a children’s toy cupboard. I’m hanging onto my posh cake stand and tea service as I live in hope I might one day be allowed guests in my house again...

i take everything i said about dh back. he's just brought me a mince pie.

so that's the box done. yay.

also the bins have been collected today. thank god. we were running out of room!

@stealthninjamum our freecycle group closed down temporarily and the reopened to help people out who were in need. I put everything out on the doorstep and never directly interact with a soul.

Hopefully the admin of your group will have a rethink.

Hi everyone,

Day 2 (yesterday)
Put an old epilator and electric razor into our glass/can recycling box - our council will take small electrical items to recycle.

Day 3 (today)
Thorough sort out of freezer - lots of old frozen veg and packs of months old meat put into kitchen scraps recycling bin.
Chucked out the collection of individual portions of ketchup etc that are who-knows-how-old from the fridge door.
All recycling receptacles taken out of kitchen and put into outside store.

emptied my purse today and have ditched the membership card from my old gym. no point keeping it if i cancelled the membership.

also did a bit of a digital declutter and deleted direct debits from my accounts (which were no longer needed), deleted payees to make things more streamlined, and have started the unenviable task of unsubscribing from emails. yawn.

The meal sounds amazing footprints! And at least the effort got you some meals for later on.

Leaky bathroom must be trying Wooly. Hope it didn't make too much mess. We also have an ongoing conversation here about replacing bathrooms. We got as far as contacting people for quotes a couple of years ago but only got 2 through the door and only one of them gave us a price which was astronomical! Needless to say bathrooms are as they were.

Hope you manage to do some fun things with DD Ellie. We're Tier 4 here too so it's walks only. Turns out the more mud the further the DC will go. It's not done my laundry pile any favours!

I have cleaned downstairs today so some dust out! I'm going to go and remove all of DS old socks from his drawer in a minute as he got about 10 new pairs for Christmas.

Another slow day today. Last night I chucked a few of those spice lids from a gimmicky two part curry jar. I obviously used the main sauce and kept the spices to use for something else but they’ve been lurking in the cupboard ever since. I also threw away a small pack of cashew nuts (very OOD - how did I miss them before?). I did keep some other OOD stuff, including several packets of chocolate chips so perhaps I’ll make some cookies this week.

Today I’ve thrown away three very manky, freezer burned pitta breads. I also used two old toothbrushes to scrub my kitchen grout. I’ll hopefully find something more substantial later.

Day 1 - One of my best friends gave me a decorative piece that i really dislike; I've tried placing it on a shelf with my books but it's still ugly. I'm donating it. Picture of the decor attached.

In portuguese it means "happiness".

I sorted the kitchen cupboard of doom! Welsh dresser is now a toy cupboard. DH started going through his wardrobe and we have picked through the toys for any that can go. Outs are:
5 shirts, 2 dressing gowns, 1 suit, 3 pj sets.
5 toys
1 child’s book
2 broken bowls, 2 plates and a small tea press.
1 plastic bottle
More Cardboard boxes
26 items in total on top of this morning’s outs. Most donated, a few listed for sale and the broken bits binned.
Lounge looks good (well until DC gets back from nursery...)

Oh, I also have a list on the back of the cupboard of doom telling me what is lurking in there!