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

470-3: twin pair of shoes posted, set of vests posted, skirt posted, bundle of twin things to a regular buyer posted.

464: walker passed to best friend
465: mil took a big bag or household rubbish for us as our bins are full

Unmotivated here too, got stuff to upload and sell and tons to take to the charity shop but just a bit meh. Started antidepressants yesterday so maybe they'll help long term with motivation etc if I feel less meh

Sorry you're struggling @ellieQ I think you're right that it'll be easier once the house clearance etc is done and then it's just the boxes you have to sort out as and when you're ready rather than that plus a house

sleepingstandingup i'm sorry you're on antidepressants but it's probably for the best. I hope they kick in soon.

ellieq well done on the A level notes. It might seem a slow approach but if it works then it's a brilliant effort. I think I got rid of all of my degree notes and A level notes but it took time. Maybe I kept the essays but if I did they'd be in one ring binder.

I've done nothing yet but I have had a nice walk with a friend who joined this thread a couple of years ago. I needed it. I am now going to set a timer for 30 minutes and look at more photos. Then I'm going to set a timer for 30 minutes and do the Room of Doom.

@AlexTheLittleCat I'm doing okay physically thanks. Doctor is very happy with the healing. Unfortunately, my results have been delayed due to the bank holiday so back again to next week and the waiting.....
I can't do anything strenuous for a while yet so I've not been keeping up with the decluttering thread. We had a crazy amount of cardboard from deliveries last week which DP put out and it all went with the recycling earlier in the week.
I sorted through my numerous hospital appointment letters and got rid of those which I no longer need. That's about as strenuous as it gets!

@Vinorosso74 glad to hear that you’re recovering well and taking it easy. Hope you don’t have to wait too much longer

vinorosso74 it sounds like things are going well, I hope the results come back favourably.

I ended up spending an hour sorting through photos. Will do more tonight.

A second out to report today! I had the day off work and spent some time tidying/ sorting DD’s bedroom. I found a pack of muslin cloths where I’d used one, but the rest were still in the pack. Put it on a local freecycle-type FB group, and it was picked up this evening.

I didn’t get rid of anything else, but made more space for her books on the bookshelf and did a bit of dusting and cleaning. It felt very productive

Productive evening thwarted with out of hours appointment for twin 2 and his sore throat. I need to get this stuff listed online and put into the garage.

Pleased to hear that you are recovering well vinorosso. I imagine getting rid of hospital letters is quite cathartic.

Sorry that things are not great Sleeping hope that the meds turn out to be helpful.

Lovely to hear you have a real life friendship from the thread Stealth!

Woken up today to pouring rain so am hopeful that I can get DD to do one of her numerous craft sets and get that box out.

Fallen off thread.

A few things which have gone in the last few days:

Phone charger cable
8 Kilner jars in charity pile
2 pairs of ds’ shoes in the bin
3 pairs of dds to charity
Two laundry baskets out

Day 238 and 239

Just deleted photos and emails. Need to up the effort here.

Just an out of date spice chucked today.

Ds smashed my (supposedly) toughened glass water bottle. This thing was I though unbreakable. It’s fallen downstairs, out of the car abd been dropped numerous times. But a toddler killed it.

One less think to wash up though I suppose!

Well I've bagged up 10k of stuff for iSecondThat. No idea if I'll get any money fr it but we'll see. Put some stuff for sale too and sold a jacket immediately so that's good!! And sorted out some bits for chairty. Def have to do a charity run next week!! Will count them once posted etc

467: Also went to use a fancy pen I was given by the Mayor about 15 years ago and it doesn't work so that's in the bin

raspberryblonde it’s a friend I ‘met’ on the education and Christmas boards who I persuaded to join this thread. For a while our dc were in the same class at school. I do like Mumsnet for meeting people, I’ve also been friends with a lovely lady I met on the diet board for about eight years and I’m in regular contact with two men I met in the ‘relationship’ board.

I am maybe 80% through the photos in my bedroom but I’m whizzing through them quickly now. Most of the negatives have been filed chronologically as have most of the photos in neat boxes. I think I have possibly thrown out a couple of hundred photos. I’m aware that I have another photo stash in the Room of Doom and I might look at that next week.

Just back from taking two large bags of the last of his clothes to DS, along with some hangers and two hard-drives. He is leaving his business suits with me for just now. He hasn't needed them for years, and doesn't have the space in his flat.

Now moving on to his left-behind tech. This will require a lot of photos, as I don't have a clue what much of it is. I have a target of the end of this month for everything to fit into his allocated cupboard space, which I think is feasible.

Thought I would put off the tech declutter, but made a bit of a start.

Detangled and wiped down huge box of cables and related wires.

Binned - three broken pairs of earbuds.

Filthy old cardboard box and binbag.

A face scrub and a serum have been used up. Also got rid of a bowl that a friend of dms gave us for a wedding gift. We hate it. Dm liked it. So passed it off.

Ooh and gave Dm back a dish of hers.

:: quietly sneaks back onto thread after a few months away ::

It's wonderful to hear all of the progress, big and small. Sorry for those of you who are struggling. vinorosso74, I wish you a thorough and restful recovery.

I've caught up with the thread, and I'm re-motivated to start tackling the Upstairs of Doom. We have three rooms that are very full of stuff that hasn't been dealt with since we moved two years ago, as we were/are awaiting renovations that still haven't happened for a variety of reasons. So, we have only been using 50% of the house for two years! Of course, I feel fortunate to have so much space, but it's hard to enjoy at the moment because we have stuff everywhere, upstairs and down. I've decided to start chipping away at things, as I have no control over when we will get the builder around. I know there is plenty up there that does not need to be kept. More in the loft too. Oh my!

I'm bribing myself with a storage box for my paperwork (to match the one I have so I can stop using the accordian-style one, which annoys me.). So, I'm going to order it after I declutter 100 things and then pick a new organising "prize" for the next hundred.

Yesterday, got rid of an old bottle of brandy that was off and a sugar jar that was replaced long ago. Today, a t-shirt to the charity pile and some legwarmers to the sewing pile (hope to reuse some fabrics at some point but won't count them twice, I promise ). 4/100

unlimitedchips welcome back. It’s such a good approach to chip away at things rather than do nothing. It might take a few weeks to see a difference so you could take a photo now? I really regret not taking photos of my grot spots because I see mess everywhere yet it is considerably better.

I’m feeling more motivated this morning and I am shortly going to do my Big Weekly List. My boyfriend is coming over later so the focus will be on the areas he sees - my bedroom, landing and hallway have become real dumping grounds.

Welcome back @UnlimitedChipsAndSalsa. I love the idea of an organising present I hope it makes the target of 100 items whizz by. Much nicer to look at a thing you love rather than something that makes you cross. Work has been very busy so not much done this week. Will throw all the election flyers etc in recycling later.

Finally I feel like I've got my motivation back. I've organised for my ziffit book box to go that has been sitting around for a couple of weeks now, chucked out lots of paper, shredded old post, tidied the post area, gone to the bottle banks, thrown out horrible old nail varnish I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, chucked out some to do lists, cleared my car of car park tickets, made dinner already. My out is a cookbook that I looked at and it looked really dirty with stuck together pages so I wonder if something spilt on it. The areas mentioned above - bedroom, landing and hallway aren't completely clear but are much better than they were this morning.

I’ve put three baskets of laundry away. Am supposed to be working. But…

Had a couple of messages about my chipped casserole dish on Olio, but neither person seemed that bothered in the end, so I still have it.

New school shoes in for DD1 and DD2, with DD1's kept in storage and DD2's in the textile bank, as I can't see DS in patent leather Mary Janes next year . I think new sandals/summer shoes might be needed in a few weeks.

Not many outs here, apart from a handful of crappy hairbands and grips..

Going out ;
-2 bottle style vases from a florist to recycling

• another kids boardgame to charity bag .

Hoping to get more clothes out of the clean laundry pile I’ll fold this evening . Managed to clean all of downstairs and half of the stairs too ( DS doing the rest today ) on my way up afterwards last night after a dinner by DD (9) . she made us pizzas to order from her new nameday ( a Scandinavian thing ) present cookbook and 2 games of Pictionary Junior that was then added to charity bag . The puppy kept us awake half the night by barking which he never does . This better not be a new trend . We are both half dead today and I have slept in the morning / aft poor DH not . Our dog is now an adolescent so we knew things could go backwards . He went to the vet today and is all healthy though was good as gold all day abs at the vet of course . We are looking into neutering in the next few months before he’s a year old . There’s a temporary chemical option as well so we need to research it . On thu we will go to a taster session at a doggy daycare hoping it’ll go well and he can start a day or two there before DH will have to eventually go back to the office on some days at least . I watched DD assembly online which was really lovely . Haven’t seen the kids for a year I haven’t been doing the school run during the pandemic after years and years of it with two kids so they had all changed . DD is leaving her school as well now after 5 y in it and before that DS went there so we have been going there on and off over 10 y . It’ll be bittersweet for sure . We are exited to move to our new house and onwards in life but we will miss friends and these areas my kids spent their childhoods in my DS his whole childhood really . DS has only done a week of GCSE exams and is feeling it already . Luckily some days only one exam and some days he has a break like on this thu . Now feeling crippled after last nights efforts and no sleep at night my pain is worse atm anyway my wrist are hurting as well as everything else and and hands are all swollen . Settling my goals low today and just doing online shopping and laundry folding later . Utility will have to continue to wait . Had a look at my containers and the shelves there yesterday and it might well be a quicker than I thought job since they’re already in some order ...