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

Books was easy, I found ten children’s books, some were horrid Henry I thought had gone and random early chapter books about ponies and puppies that dc had never read. I have so many books to go now that next weekend I might see if I can sell some of them using ziffit or magpie.

Righty ho, going to sneak back onto this thread just in time to move into the new one.

The last week or two have been a write off. I’ve spent so much time and energy trying to get minimal amounts of school work done that the decluttering has been sporadic at best. My kitchen is staying in fairly good shape though and here’s a list of the outs I can remember since I last posted...

Another mechanical pencil
Lots of cardboard packaging
2 gift bags in charity shop bag
Several singleton socks
Used up a nice clarins face cream (though did get a smaller pot of nivea cream to replace it)
Finished another hand cream
Chucked a huge messy ball of command strips, velcro strips and thick craft threads/ribbon type stuff that had become tangled up in the drawer
Sorted the jumble of batteries and tested all the loose ones, any with no charge have been put in the dead battery box until I can recycle them.
Made a new labelled box for all the working/new batteries.
Also put all the sewing bits I found into a box and chucked the singleton needles and pins that were loose as I have plenty.
And put the glue/tapes in another box
And all the random misc stuff that was left over went in another box, so my drawer is much neater.
Used up a bottle of dishwasher rinse aid (I have 5 more as I got a bulk subscribe and save offer so am counting this as an out!)
There may have been more, but that’s all I can think of at present.

@IWillWearThatGlitteryWoolly your Sunday lunch sounds delicious.

That's been a write off, was up all night with a runny nose, woke up with a sore throat and headache. Neither have gone. So I'm just decluttering chocolate

sleeping I hope that’s not covid, are you able to get a test? In our area we’re able to get one even if we’re asymptomatic.

I know it’s not easy with three dc but can you put your feet up?

sleeping hope you are feeling better.

Room of Doom progress on the metal cabinet sorting this afternoon. Two shelves now sorted and many card folders in recycling bin, variety of paper and card we have no use for so donating to school if they want it, and three posh document folders from long ago conferences now in the charity bag.

The need for a working black felt tip prompted a complete sort of one desk drawer. Pen found. Many dried up pens, paperclips, pencils, broken rulers and sundry detritus in the bin. Drawer and cutlery tray that all the pens etc fit in wiped clean and pens etc returned.

May tackle the other desk drawer later.

8 books off the shelf and into the charity box. Some of my books are on the living room shelf and I’m going to pack them away I think. The dc are not gentle with things. And I don’t want them ruined. Especially as some are rather old. Not valuable old. But sentimental value old.

Yesterday - a pair of DH's jeans with an unfashionable hole.

Our Quality Street tub says that the foil is "widely recycled" but the wrappers aren't. For the PP who found coal - we offered some on our local Facebook group and it went the same day.

I've started to read a book that I will then put in the charity bag - I might look at the apps mentioned above first though.

I have a stash of books which I need to read. Those have been put on my night stand. As much as I like real books it may have to be kindle from now on.

I suffer from dust allergies so think all of yesterday has just given me a major flare. Can feel like flu when it's bad. Took antihistamines at 4 am and today so hopefully will be better else I'll order a test. Were not really going anywhere except to the shop for milk so I think it's just allergies

One top of Twins filtered out cos it's tight on their big heads

I hope you’re able to sleep better tonight sleeping it makes the next day so much harder when you’re sleep deprived.

I found another two towels to add to fridays pile. I have been given permission to get rid of a Disney Princess towel and I also noticed a towel with clay like orange on it. This towel has gone through the washing machine a couple of times and i always think ‘ooh I wonder if I need to throw that away’ then somehow it gets washed and put back in the bathroom. I have ended that cycle, it’s going.

Likewise some of dd2s pyjama bottoms have holes and they keep getting washed / put away and worn. No more. They are also in the rag bag.

Decluttered over theweekend -

One Bailey's bottle
Five presentation whisky boxes. (Whisky drunk long ago)
Several irrelevant letters
Weight-loss diary, the sight of which was painful, due to recent gain.

Various items for shredding now in fireplace awaiting burning.

Went through my underwear drawer as requested by Toss, but was actually in pretty good order. There were things I could have replaced if I’d wanted to and probably would in normal times, but it seems pointless to get M&S to deliver or go out for click and collect just for some new knickers. I did bin five pairs of tights with holes in, so ticked that one off and edited the socks task with another couple of pairs.

Nice bit of snow here (Sarf London) so we rushed out to enjoy it while we could; it started melting before we’d got back from our walk . Might get some more tonight, but I doubt it.

Day 138: still not caught up with the thread but I've got rid of a shoe box and my emails today

Oh, and I found the remnants of a bottle of white vinegar under the sink, so have decluttered that into a hot wash to clean the machine

Concentrated on filling the recycling bin today as it's due for collection tomorrow. Cleared out a couple of boxes of rubbish dd left behind and one from the car boot. Currently desellotaping Christmas wrapping paper that got shoved in a bin bag and forgotten about.

While looking for a lightbulb in a kitchen cupboard I got sidetracked into clearing it out. The black bin is full so I'll have to sneak a bin bag into the skip at work under cover of darkness!

149: a "colours" baby book that was first horns. I love it. One of the pics for brown was an actual poo ,🤣. Babies have wrecked it. We used to "read" that book a lot so feel a bit sad but we have plenty of others so it will not be replaced. I made DH bin it as I couldn't 🤣

@SleepingStandingUp

149: a "colours" baby book that was first horns. I love it. One of the pics for brown was an actual poo ,🤣. Babies have wrecked it. We used to "read" that book a lot so feel a bit sad but we have plenty of others so it will not be replaced. I made DH bin it as I couldn't 🤣

I had to get dh to bin a book the other day. Dd threw my old from my childhood copy of the tiger who came to tea in the bath. Then all the pages went all wierd and manky because I forgot about it. 😭

Dh has bought me a new one. But it’s not the same.

Bagged up my eBay sales (5 of them) ready for posting at some point tomorrow. I am in bed currently. Resting in prep for a huge day.

2021 day 24 update:

1. General decluttering: finished shelving books that I’ve already read into the space I created by double-stacking books yesterday, which cleared space on the ‘new books’ shelf for books that I got for Xmas.
2. Toss app prompt: Skipped all the prompts today, again.
3. Mum’s stuff: Started going through some of her old bank statements, and found paperwork from when my grandmother (her mother) died, which made me feel sad.

In contrast to the nice day yesterday, today was miserable. Another unsettled night as DD had a bad dream, so we were all sleep-deprived and grumpy. She was difficult on our walk this afternoon, but DH made things worse by the way he was interacting with her, so she got more upset, then I ended up losing my temper and shouting at her, then she wanted cuddles with daddy while I get to be shouty and horrible mummy

I’m also annoyed with him for grumbling about something I suggested regarding decluttering and making space. I feel like all my work and effort is just taken for granted.

Sorry you've had a hard day @EllieQ 🍰🍷

It's funny (sad / odd not haha) isn't it about binning stuff we know is broken but can't bear to part with. Also have 🍰🍷 @ememem84

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4144854-Decluttering-one-item-a-day-and-having-nowhere-to-put-it-thread-number-16

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4144854-Decluttering-one-item-a-day-and-having-nowhere-to-put-it-thread-number-16

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4144854-Decluttering-one-item-a-day-and-having-nowhere-to-put-it-thread-number-16