Decluttering one item a day (and having nowhere to put it!) – thread number 16

[stealthninjamum]

Once again this tireless group of mumsnetters are decluttering our houses by getting rid of one item a day. Of course this year I’m just piling the stuff behind the settee because the charity shops are all closed but luckily noone’s allowed to visit me to see my clutter mountain.

This is an accountability and general chatter thread and newbies and old hands are always welcome to join in the conversation while we keep working on our houses making them clearer, organised, and clutter free.

This year some of us are trying to get rid of 2021 items and some of us are working through the Toss app that tells us what to get rid of each day. Then we report back on the thread with an update.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4105255-The-countdown-to-Christmas-but-still-decluttering-one-item-a-day-Thread-number-15?pg=1

[quote Miaowse]@forgetthehousework I hadn’t thought about squishing the tin. I am now resisting the urge to put the drainer back in the cupboard so I can try your clever solution. I used to spoon the tuna into the top of the drainer then push down with a spoon but it didn’t work that well.

@stealthninjamum sorry for leading you into temptation

@AlexTheLittleCat that’s a good tip about the parcel post boxes.[/quote]
We grew up poor.

Open the Tina lid all the way round so it falls inside and push 🤣

So more nappies in, I will find something that doesn't bloody leak or rub

sleeping these are for the occasional night accident. Ds is dry most of the time now at night. I wouldn’t use them straight off.

Out today:

Hair stuff went to dsis. This was to hell thicken hair and give it body. I do not need any help in that department. My hair is thick and Boluminous enough. What I need is frizz control...

SleepingStandingUp I use Pampers Baby Dry, they are the only ones that don't generally leak with toddler. Sainsburys are the cheapest for them, 60+ for £9.75. I only use them for nights and use cheapest supermarket own ones for waking times. What brands have you tried?

Stealth That's good progress with the schooling and decluttering. I've started saving some of each night's dinner to give DD a very early dinner the next dinner, it is stopping the constant snacking and she is less grumpy. She is eating more of the actual dinner too. Otherwise she is a constant snacker who refuses meals.

Day 156:
❄️Two reusable nappies cut up for rags as they are now more like a tuna drainer. They are very very old so I don't feel bad about it.
❄️I bib jacket sent to MIL to live

❄️photos and emails

❄️leaves and twigs cleared from kitchen table after craft has finished.

❄️one giant dot to dot book in a pile to give to a friend. Each picture has numbers in the thousands!!!

@EllieQ so glad I don't get student loan letters anymore as it's all online. I don't need reminding I owe £40,000 and rising!!!

@RaspberryBlonde why not do a long term loan of the baby item. But do stress you want it back when they have finished. I've done that with some big baby items and it's nice for the stuff to get more use.

@stealthninjamum what would we do without this thread. It's exciting getting to chat to grown ups!

They're in DryNites overnight!!
Amazon basics in the day are fine. Need size 7 or 8 ideally as eldest is 18.5kg, twins are 13kg. Oh crikey.

How's everyone feeling about Half Term?

Lots of ins. Stuffing for the dolls. A picture frame ordered in cm not inches etc. No outs but the Macdonald's box is now a rocket and I got learner of the week so I'm drinking my special bottle of wine tonight.

Couple of t-shirts too small for the kids are going into the wash then out but nothing for today

Out:

• old sunglasses
• two t-shirts
• random selection of receipts and postcards
• some costume jewelry

Now at 188 things out.

In:

• nothing.

I intended to do a lot more today, but somehow it didn't really happen. I have started a new task of trying to give everything a home and work hard to put them back where they're supposed to go. I'm sick of hunting for glasses, hats, gloves etc. and finding I put them down in the weirdest places.

Oh, I forgot an out. Bought a pair of jeans that didnt fit, didn't return them in time. So I'm donating them. 189.

I’ve only thrown one thing today, must find a couple more! And actually put the rug I chose to go yesterday (it was a handmedown we didn’t really like or use and was unravelling anyway) out somewhere as it’s still in the kitchen. Bit anxious today and finding it hard to make decisions, I’m glad I have set the target of 3 as it always feels achievable

Listed three bundles of dc clothes on marketplace along with a couple of individual items. Got rid of 11 pieces of ‘art’ and put up the ones we wanted to keep. Shredded some work paperwork. A good day. Trying to ignore all the other stuff both work and personal that didn’t get done and concentrate on the good feeling of some stuff having been sorted.

SleepingStandingUp I've just realised I've tried the nappies from every supermarket bar Waitrose. Pampers do size 7 and 8, not available in all shops. Sainsburys have Pampers 7 not sure about 8. Tesco have Pampers 8. They do work. Mine has a 16 oz bottle before bed , and they very rarely leak in size 6/7. I try feeding them food all day long, he just loves milk.

Sing You are doing well, it's hard to make decisions, especially at the moment.

Footprints You are doing so well with a little baby!

One old birthday card out. DH rescued the tea tin I was ready to bin, so it's the best I could do at the last minute.
(12-day streak...technically)

Just ended up with loads of easy outs - our flooring is now getting delivered tomorrow (actually quite inconvenient, we specifically selected Monday 22nd so we could get some space freed up) so we’ve had to move a load of stuff around to fit it into the cupboard off the hall. Found a load of clothes - some we’d decided to get rid of already but had no way of getting them anywhere, and some that DSD left when she moved out. So there weren’t really any decisions to make except DD1 chose a few bits to keep from her big sister. :)

We’ve messaged a local community drive to ask about some toddler sleeping bags and a snowsuit too.

A note book and a makeup bag went to Dm and I also took a bowl of hers back. Phew.

@AlexTheLittleCat

SleepingStandingUp I've just realised I've tried the nappies from every supermarket bar Waitrose. Pampers do size 7 and 8, not available in all shops. Sainsburys have Pampers 7 not sure about 8. Tesco have Pampers 8. They do work. Mine has a 16 oz bottle before bed , and they very rarely leak in size 6/7. I try feeding them food all day long, he just loves milk.

Sing You are doing well, it's hard to make decisions, especially at the moment.

Footprints You are doing so well with a little baby!

Wow that's a big bottle 😂 how old is he? I worry they have too much milk do tried to cut down but they'd Def drink more.

Does anyone bullet journal as a way of keeping organised?

I tidied 9 of my 13 bedroom drawers and didn’t find anything significant to declutter which is great because i’ve already done loads of decluttering. I only got rid of a card that I had written and not sent, some headphone instructions and what looked like a loose paracetamol. I found homes for all sorts of crap - hairbands, clips, makeup in boxes, loose coins. I also have a camera that I’m not sure if works too.

The tuna drainer is still in the donate box thank you stealthninjamum and thank you for the encouraging words from unlimitedchipsandsalsa.

I sorted through a purse earlier and threw out all the old receipts, bus tickets and proof of posting slips. Everything was from before 2020! I also found a stray Christmas card on my desk so chucked that too, along with a few home learning print outs.

Downstairs I persuaded my child to throw away some toy packaging that’s been hanging around since Christmas and I also binned one of those scratch and reveal books that my in laws picked up in a charity shop ages ago. Someone had scratched something rude in it so I didn’t want to re-donate. I’m sure there were a few other bits and pieces, but my mind is drawing a blank.

sleepingstandingup I have thought about doing a bullet journal as a couple of years ago I watched some good YouTube videos. Typical me I procrastinated and didn’t get round to it. Then last year I spent a few weeks doing lists in a word document which I found helped but when dd1 was off school in December I gave up. I’d love to know if you start one.

Sounds like everyone is doing really well! We are celebrating the start of half term and a week off from homeschooling

2021 day 43 update: Another productive session with the Pile of Paperwork - pulled out all the health-related paperwork (I have regular appointments and blood tests for a chronic condition), and filed/ recycled/ shredded. Feeling pleased with myself!

SleepingStandingUp I have a half hearted bullet journal but use it more as a tracker/log of progress e.g. when I did C25k or when I was tracking my weight and financial goals. I don’t find it useful as a calendar as I tend to rely on my phone for that, but when I have a bullet journal tracker on the go I feel like I get more stuff done.

Someone else on the thread has shared some of their gorgeous bullet journal spreads.

@SleepingStandingUp I've seen some sort of loose shorts advertised somewhere that I think are designed to catch an accident when you ditch nappies, but combined with a pullup they might do the job for you (of course they may be hideously expensive or actually rubbish). I get pampers size 7 on Amazon as it seems to be the cheapest way to bulk buy.

I'm terrible at keeping up with threads so never really joined this one despite almost doing so several times (after all I needed to clear out way more than 1 things a day to get on top of this place, but obviously didn't!) I just wanted to thank you all for the inspiration provided in my last week of regular lurking, as I've managed to get loads of bulky baby/toddler stuff taken away and have sorted out loads of clothes and toys that I will send away with icollectclothes if the local baby bank won't accept them (which I have historically had poor luck arranging)

Out ... an old diary, finished a bottle of DD's potions, bag of stale peanuts -> for the birds

In: nothing today (but admittedly 1 book on order)

Some discussion with DC about getting rid of books they never read
Eyeing up a bag of bubblewrap I should give away
6 things to list on Ebay tomorrow

I have a load of things on verge of falling apart, kind of funny... If I were a normal person they'd be long gone

I’m using a bullet journal but atm it’s more about tracking progress than actually planning and organising with it if that makes sense. I’m just dipping my toe in, it’s the first one I’ve had other than briefly trying some trackers last year.

I have hidden the toys I’ve sorted this month, so they are in a cupboard that won’t be easily accessible for a while because we will need to store the flooring there until we’ve painted etc. It just means we can focus on sorting other stuff without these toys (all with lots of bits that seem to get left all over the place if I turn my back for a minute, I’m forever finding bricks on the bookshelf etc) getting mixed back in. I’ll put a tub in our room with a list of what’s in the cupboard though, so if I find more bricks etc I can put them in there until I can put them away.

More clothes to sort tomorrow too - already know they are ok as I did it a couple of months back but it’s too much of one size to be of use to the nursery so I’ll sort out the most useful bits.

All this shuffling around of stuff has really hammered home just how far we have to go though. I must say I’m finding this stage quite disheartening. In a way decluttering is much easier at the start as you can have a load of easy wins. Now I feel faced with a lot of stuff that is harder to make decisions about!

Haven't had any proper decluttering to report for three weeks now, but keeping my own stuff tidy and sorted while lockdown and home-learning take up more and more headspace and every flat surface downstairs.

Dismantled and binned bits of a rotten garden fence in the sun yesterday. That kickstarted some of my decluttering in the house. Recycled some ancient school jotters, reducing the five-inch pile by about half.

Also some cleaning rags that were too dirty to bother washing. Gradually using up a supply of stained but clean children's vests that can't be donated.