Decluttering one item a day (and counting down til the opening of charity shops!) – thread number 17

[stealthninjamum]

This is an accountability and chat thread for mumsnetters who dream of living in an uncluttered haven of calm and tidiness.

Bit by bit we are slowly decluttering our houses and keeping our fingers crossed that charity shops will open on 12th April – although we’re also adding to the list of places in the second post that will also take our clutter.

The aim of this thread is to help us get rid of just one item a day or 365 a year. We just report back on our progress and then chat about anything and everything. The thread is for anyone so newbies are always welcome.

Previous thread here.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4144854-Decluttering-one-item-a-day-and-having-nowhere-to-put-it-thread-number-16?msgid=105205665

I dropped off for a bit!

Still here, been doing some house diy, so less decluttering at the mo. I have however shifted some house bits from boxes into use, like lightshades and decor. That feels nice and it feels less cluttered!

Downside, my father has asked to store some stuff in my spare room, for a few weeks which has hindered the decluttering a little as its a lot!!

Day194:

Balance pick picked up.
And three lots of nappies sold
Photos and emails.

Sorted through ds clothes today. Probably another 10 items in the outgrown box.

More things in today though:

New clothes for ds who is growing like a weed
Yoga towel
New undies for me - must get rid of some
New handbag - treat to myself. To me love from me you’ve worked hard this past 12 months have a new mulberry.

Another £10 has rolled in this time from WeBuyBooks! But I’m still looking at sooo many of them especially in the kids rooms. It’s something anyway and creates a small bit of space. Just ticking along sorting a bit more Lego, ensuring post is dealt with promptly. No big outs but definitely 7 at least already

God damn it.

My frigging scales are weighing DOUBLE so I've been overcharging for postage for Vinted. Happened to grab the other ones by chance noticed it was massively different (original weight was nearly 2kg, this was under 1) so weighed a box of chocolates and gah!!

392: So I'm decluttering a pair of God damn scales. Plus another empty cello tape

393: Also icollectclothes came today and took a Bin liner full

4 more parcels to go tomorrow, with another 20 items to go.

A sudden flurry yesterday and today :
1000 Amazon emails (thanks to pp who suggested this)
4 jeans, 2 pairs trousers on Facebook
1 baby coat on Vinted
Bundle request on Vinted - 8 posts (13 items total)
15 bulbs to a neighbour

I think I will choose a subject each day for a week and get rid of all those archived emails. Each subject will count as 1 item for my count as there are so many 😳

I've had another wizz through my bookshelves and have 7 books and a bookmark for the pile.

I am going to have a flick through a couple of them before they go, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to read any of them properly.

This feels like real progress for me - I love books. One of them is one of those beautiful cookery books. I must have had it about 10 years or more and have never used it. Not once! Some of the others I've had much longer and I've only read one of them.

I still have a few cookery books (I used to have loads), but they're all non-beautiful ones. Actually, there might be one more to go but I'll have to think about it. (What is it about cookery books that makes them so attractive?!)

sleepingtandingup hmmm wonder if my scales are weighing double too. Maybe I’m not as fat as they say I am

A bad out today. I caught my nightie on a door handle and tore it. It can’t be repaired which is a shame.

I will be sorting through more photos. I reckon I’ve gone through and labelled 5 or 6 hundred so far and chucked out 200 and about a dozen little envelopes. I’ve also organised films of about a dozen. It’s very time consuming and boring now but I want my bedroom back.

Decluttered only a bag of open (and therefore rock solid) wallpaper adhesive crystals thingies.

However, got three ginormous boxes taking up space with recycling today, plus wrapped a present thats leaving my house tonight.

Gathered a bag of some off cuts that my sister wants, so those are bagged to go. Also got one glass to go to recycling too.

Long time,no see but I’ve been ill ever since my first Covid jab weeks ago . Not a huge amount done due to feeling so crap but I’ve been reading the threads and steadily chucking stuff out , DH has been to dump twice and the charity pile is increasing . Trying to remember what’s gone / in the charity pile since last time ;

• 2 too small dog crates
• 2 crate mats
• 2 too small dog transport bags, he’s graduated into an open box thing to travel in while attached to seatbelt with a harness
• more manky dog toys
• 3 dog blankets
• 2 too small harnesses
• a few more books
• 4 puzzles that are now done to death and too easy for DD
• 2 more board games ,we have soooo many ( trying to play our way through these have 2 more earmarked to go after another play on each to pacify the kids they want to save different ones of course )
• 2 broken laundry baskets
• 1 pair of too small school shoes
• 1 pair of too small kids slippers
• more too small kids clothes to charity shop ( I’m looking through DS 16 whole wardrobe as they get washed atm and taking out all smallest sizes and anything worn out and replacing ,need to go through DD clothes too , soon putting aside all her winter uniform to donate to school second hand uniform sale or to rag bank if worn out since she’s moving schools in the fall )
• more worn out stuff like socks and pants to rag bank
• more kids clothes to clothing collection at dump
• a kids little purse
• a pencil case
• a moon ball ( I asked DD to find stuff she doesn’t need herself and she came up with a few random items I need to go through her whole room again before our move )
• a few bits of old stationary when making DD a new pencil case once school started
• 2 half finished sticker books

Hoping to declutter a really big thing this spring ;our old house ! We’ve excepted an offer but they need to sell their old property first so not holding my breath . Luckily we are able to complete on our new house being built now in any case . Just would love to close the book on the old house and of course have the £££££ in my account . New house meant to be ready in July latest October so I feel pressure to finish decluttering here . I’m not in good health and the last year has been worse so everything feels so hard to accomplish often . We only have some messy cupboards really here . I did our old house before last moving and have labeled boxes in storage I do need to reduce at some point as well . I guess when we’ve moved if we’ll put them into our attic room where we are planning to have a storage room put in instead of keeping the rental storage locker is when I can look through them . Somehow in a year we’ve managed to end up with lots that can go out again . I’m 100% set on not moving with any boxes of clutter there’ll be so much work there as is with getting the house organised . I’ll add what I’ve forgotten later . I’ve been planning on attacking kitchen cupboards or DD room next but maybe I’ll have to do that when she’s back at school ...

@Vinorosso74 You are in my thoughts ❤️!

2 pens, 1 pr of knickers in recycling/bin.

I just found unopened of dessicated coconut in cupboard with BBF date on it of... 2017.

I've decided to mix the dried coconut into just about everything for next few weeks.

I’ve added a pair of socks, a pair of holey leggings and an old mop to the declutter pile today. Also got three food cupboard items ready for the food bank.

Got some more work to do with my DIY, but on the hunt for some masking tape, discovered my ‘screw box’. When I bought my home - I did not have furniture, so bought a lot! Every single spare screw, allen key and extra ‘bit’ is in here, and I have NEVER USED THEM
AGAIN.

I want to declutter 99% of it this weekend.

Handsoff - Definitely 2 things! Well done!

Stealth - I misread your post and thought you'd caught your nipple! Ouch!! Glad it was only your nightie.

I've got 2 more books going out here. One is the cookery book I mentioned previously. I realised I was keeping it for my fantasy self. Again, I've had it years, over 20, and have never used it.

Day 195:
H went to tip and got rid of a load of garden waste, wood and glass panels.

I've been slacking a bit on decluttering... But I've sorted a tonne of Lego. Not for selling, just to organise it for DDs.

394-7: 4 parcels posted.

Isorry to hear you've been feeling so poorly Nord, apparently the 2nd dose isn't as bad. Well done of what you got cleared!

DS decluttered two books from his pile because he remembered they contain dogs and he doesn't like them, but they'll just go in the baby's pile! Aagghhh i don't have room for more kids books!!! I will try and put one of them in the charity bag tomorrow. I promise.

So far this week outs have included

A pen
A notebook which I finally used up
A deodourant
An eye mask
And some coffee - tin of Nescafé azeera decaf. Don’t like it much. But it’s gone.

A productive morning as I have the house to myself. Three Vinted parcels with eight items dropped off. Five items into the food bank collection point. Aim to attack the toy mountain to add to the charity bag later.

I’ve done more painting and sorted out more photos so about four photos gone. I am so pleased with my painting. The doors need 4/5 coats and I have now finished 3 of them and half done the others. They’re so white that it gives me joy to look at them.

I might pop to Tesco later as I have some dead lightbulbs and glass to be recycled. I don’t count them as decluttering but it’s still satisfying as I have about eight glass jars to go.

nordicmom I’m sorry you’ve been poorly but it sounds like you’ve done loads. It sounds like you have a stressful few months coming with your house move but if you can do as much decluttering as you physically can the move should hopefully be easier.

Another two out today - a balance bike and a pair of DD's outgrown crocs (hopefully, if the marketplace buyer shows up). The bike has hung around way too long while I got messed around by marketplace buyers, but now one of DD's classmates parents is taking it.

DD#2 is due in July, and because there's going to be a five year gap it's making it easier to deal with the things you hang onto just in case. Now I'm asking do I want to keep this for five years until DD2 needs it? rather than just should I keep it for DD2?

I've finally sorted out some of my bedding (having said, a while back, that I was about to do it!). None of it was awful but a few bits are definitely joyless for me, so they're going. Apart from, I really dislike 1 set of new pillow cases but, I can't bring myself to donate them yet as they are literally brand new. They might be going out soon though; I'll see how they wear.

Outs:

1 duvet cover set (3 items).
1 top. (So annoying - another Boohoo duplicate which wasn't what it should have been.)
1 jumper. (Strangely shrunk by DP.)

Today's lesson is to properly check new purchases before washing them.