Decluttering

[singalongforever]

I'm sure there are many threads about this but I'm starting this one to hopefully keep me on track!

I will be DC free for seven days over half term and will be making a start on the huge job of decluttering in preparation for hopefully putting the house on the market.

Any tips or things I should prepare ready to hit the ground running next Saturday?
I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with all the stuff I want to get rid of yet!

@Wickstead

Hi *@LunaHeather* - not at all.

It was 21 books (1 box)

Some were specialist yes. The most I got for one book was £6.58.

Not all the ones I tried were acceptable, i.e. they won’t take them, but most were.

When I get another box, I will do the kids books next. I fully expect most of them will be 15-25p. But it’s so convenient it’s worth it. I’d normally give the kids books to charity, but the shops around here are all closed....

Oh that's interesting

I probably should have used them instead of charity last year, oh well, lesson learned.

We buy books simply don't take common books that they have hundreds of, they also buy dvds and cds they don't take book club books most I got was £5 for a history of church near loch Ness the least was 15p for a few paperbacks

Zapper will recycle books they can’t sell. I’ve used them and WeBuyBooks before with no problems.

I always think doing the master bedroom first is a good plan, emptied wardrobes onto the bed then be ruthless, I found that buying a load of hangers that were all the same meant I could get much more stuff in. Don’t forget to clean as you go!,! Then do draws and put like with like ,

Once you have got your clothes and bedroom cleared sorted and cleaned then start on the kids bedrooms, I would say two days to do your bedroom and cloths a day each for the kids rooms cloths and toys, one day for bathroom and hall cupboards and day for kitchen and one for living room. Do paper work sorting sitting in front of tv at night, with the shredded if you have one.

Today is the day! Managed to get 5 items out of the house during the week. Treated myself to a lie in because I deserve it! Going to begin with our room as suggested but need to wait until DP is up (night shift worker)

Quick update. I'm feeling very overwhelmed and think it's all too much. So far I've 3 bags for life full of books and a mountain of camping gear. No charities appear to be collecting at the moment.

I'm thinking my best course of action is to get up the loft, quickly tidy it and add trmhe donation bags to the pile that's already there until I can find a way to dispose of it all.

Any tips or advice anyone?

some charities might collect if there is enough they are not going to come for a carrier bag but they might for 6 bags and the camping gear shelter and British heart foundation definitely collect round here

British Heart Foundation and Thrift Bags both via Collect plus shops are good ways of getting stuff out of the house now whilst charity shops are closed. www.givebackbox.org.uk are a charity initiative which will pick up goods too using old boxes. I haven't used them yet so can't say much about the service. Ziffit, We Buy Books and Music Magpie all seem genuine and pay quickly. I had to quickly get over how little they paid for some things though.
All the very best, it's relentless. I'm entering the mindset that I can't possibly leave all this clutter for somebody else to deal with when I die ( hopefully not for a long time).

Finished our bedroom today and the bathroom. Sold the bags of books and a pair of DMs on Facebook!
Will try Thrift for the clothes but according to the BHF website they are not collecting at the moment.

A few of our charity shops are now open a few hours each day for dropping off items...Also I like those metal bin things...you just pop items in and they are gone...!!...Keep going...I found it so hard to start on my aunts house..just looked around for weeks and walked out..!!...initially just moved stuff to the garage but the real push was when i let out the house and tenants wanted use of garage so then i got ruthless...!!...Still have a few clothes here to sort out...its harder at present as we in a world without deadlines and time just drifts !

Realised my old username was on a few posts - never mind.

It's been a busy few days but I'm getting there slowly. Finished the youngest DC's bedroom today and it looks amazing! Can't wait for her to see it when she come back.
Been busy ebaying stuff I found in the loft and made a fairly hefty sum
Tip slot booked for Friday and bags full ready to go.
I've realised the whole house won't be done by Friday but I've made an excellent start and I'm absolutely knackered. Going to leave eldest DC's bedroom until his new bookcase arrives and blitz it with him one weekend. Will spend the next couple of days doing errands and sorting the odd kitchen cupboard ready to blitz as soon as I have the proper time.
I really have looked everywhere locally for places to donate things but everywhere is shut. Even the clothing bins are taped off. I have given away loads on facebook free to collector and the rest will have to wait in the loft until things reopen again.

I recently sold a load of children's books on Ziffit, got £53 plus change for 5 boxes (could have got away with 4 boxes maybe but didn't want to overfill them). I might use Webuybooks next time, they seem to pay a bit more. Those I couldn't sell I have put on Freecycle today (kind of surprised our local group is still running, but hey ho, if someone is ok with collecting from cupboard outside I don't see the harm). If no-one bites in a week I will box them up and pay for a courier to take them to the Better World Books depot.

Off now to drop a huge bagful of old clothes and curtains into local textile recycling bin. Exciting stuff

Thought I'd come back and update on my webuybooks experience

They rejected two books. 1 for spine damage and the most expensive one (6.58) for 'heavy staining'.

Now - I'm 99.9% certain that it wasn't stained, but I could be wrong. I request that the book is sent back to me.

A week later, it's not here. I contact them, and to be fair to them, they quickly refund the return fee as well as pay the agreed price for the book. Net result = I can't check if their idea of 'heavy staining' is aligned with mine.

If it had been a 15p book, I wouldn't give it so much as a second thought, but call me a cynic... (especially since I sent one trilogy back that I would say was pretty dogeared/very well used, and they accepted that without a murmur).

That, along with some other things (10% welcome offer that I could have SWORN I applied but which wasn't added onto my revised offer) and lack of being able to go back and see details of original offers (only discovered when I had problems and wanted to double check) means I'd be a bit cautious about using the service again - especially if they offer apparently high prices for books. Maybe better to send lots of cheaper ones, that way, if they refuse it's not such a big deal to get them to just recycle.

That said - it's convenient and saved me having to dispose of a load of books/netted me £35 (eventually!!)

Anyway - hope that review helps someone.