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

Oh no stealth. Good luck.

I have got rid of three packs of out of date food
Used up two packs
Thrown away four socks
Put three items of clothing in a bag to recycle.
Not massive but everything helps.

@1990s

Nooo absolutely bastards stealing your phone!

tbf i figures no one had been close enough to steal it, but that i'd lost it somewhere where it wouldn't get picked up. My Mom, bless her, has called it all afternoon and it was in the shop that i checked in earlier! Grrrr. Now need to see if i can unblock the handset or nort

Oh good!

sleepingstandingup I’m glad you got it back, let’s hope you can unblock it. I shudder at the thought of losing my phone

Not got any mice yet. I really don’t want to pay for someone to put poison down. We’ve had the holes blocked so let’s just hope it’s a stray one that got in and it finds a trap. We’ve never had more than about three mice in but we seem to be get them about every two years. I’m actually obsessed with food storage and cleaning food areas anyway so other than call rentakill I don’t know what more I could do. Maybe buy a cat?

I have done a load of jobs, tidied the post pile, and taken four bags to the charity shop. Not as productive as I’d hoped but not a complete disaster either.

Day 247: yesterday
Gave away a bottle of Prosecco I'm never going to drink.

Day 248: today
Huge bag of clothes put aside for a friend.
Photos and emails

@SydneyCarton I was only thinking if your chipped casserole dish the other day so that'll put my mind to rest 🤪
Do you e joy the pyjamas? If not ditch them

@stealthninjamum I wouldn't bother with a cat. I had 4 cats and one of them brought a bloody rat in my house once. I locked the 4 cats in the room with it and none of them could muster themselves to be bothered with it. I had to pay my daughter to catch it.

@footprintsintheslow Glad to set your mind at rest 🤣. I’m not sure if I do enjoy wearing the PJs, to be honest; they’re comfortable but the sleeves have shrunk over the years so I’m always tugging at them, plus I have a feeling the bum is about three washes away from splitting. I think it’s time to say goodbye 👋

Oh dear, Stealth, I hope you can get rid of the mice!

Today was a bit busy (work, then early dinner to have time for Brownies via Zoom), but I had a quick sort through the top of the Box of Paperwork and shredded/ recycled a few things. I was tempted not to bother, but made myself do it, and getting it done really lifted my mood

Day 249:

Kids summer hats sorted and 3 too small.
I vest cut for rags
I garden pot recycled.

Hope everyone is well and motivated today.

ellieq thanks I put traps down and caught two mice but they were alive and clattering around the kitchen while struggling to get free. I felt sick and dc were shrieking so I had to call stbexh to remove them. He released them in the garden so let's hope they die quickly rather than come back in the house. The whole thing is a bit traumatising!

The main job of the day was putting traps in the loft because the Council's pest control dept said they often climb walls / trees and enter a house through the loft. Given that we've blocked all the holes lower down it does make sense.

Other than mice I've done no new decluttering today. I put some old school dresses in a bag for a charity shop but they don't count as I've bought new ones. And I put some books and CDs that I'd sorted out in lockdown into a charity shop bag too. Tomorrow should be a better day and I can do a bit more of the Room of Doom.

Poor you, Stealth, that sounds really distressing

Yesterday’s decluttering: Another book in the charity bag and a bit of bookshelf tidying, and I did some more paperwork sorting (filing/ shredding/ recycling). I’ve also got someone interested in DD’s old raincoat, but they won’t collect it until Thursday.

The double pram was picked up today! Wahoooo!

So that’s cleared a space.

Today’s decluttering: The recycling was collected today, so I put another stack of A Level/ GCSE notes in the newly empty recycling bin. Nearly got through the whole stack now.

Also did a little bit of paperwork (filed/ recycled) and receipt sorting.

Day 250:
More too small baby clothes in bag for friend.
1 car window sun visor broken and binned.
Emails deleted

stealth. Sorry to hear about the mice. There is a mesh you can buy and cut to fit over vents, airbricks, etc. and still lets the air in.

I bought some humane mouse traps when I had a problem with them years ago, and the buggers just stole the bait and legged it. I had a lot of success with the old fashioned wooden snap ones which were about 50p at the hardware shop, but it was a bit gruesome to find them in the morning.

The old PJs have been consigned to the textile bag, along with some old knicker and socks - I'll sort through the girls' drawers later today and that should fill it up for a trip into town tomorrow.

Hope the mouse situation is sorted stealth.

Lots of steady progress being shared which I find encouraging.

This week, as well as the daily bits and pieces, I have put out a large cardboard box with the recycling bin and taken the hard foam packaging from the same furniture delivery to the dump with accumulated light bulbs. Just the cabinet I bought to construct!
One DC returns from university in 2 weeks so will be pressed in to service for the various 2 person tasks in the room of doom - moving a 6 ft cabinet out of the house and shifting beds around.

Day 251: today
One pair of tights in baby too small bag.

I'm away on holiday for a week now so I'll be back in a week and I'll make sure I'll delete emails and photos each evening. 'See' you all soon.

Enjoy your holiday Footprints!

Today’s decluttering: Sold DD’s summer coat from last year on FB, and it was collected today. Obviously it’s been replaced with a new summer coat, but I’m pleased that I was able to ‘let go’ of it - one in, one out! I have also put her summer coats from previous years up for sale, but haven’t had any interest yet.

Thanks everyone for the mouse support. I have found another one, fortunately dead, but I feel constantly anxious that I’m going to find an alive one.

sydney I bought some humane traps once too but the mice also ate the bait. I got them with electric traps in the end, I really rate those. This time I’m using like snappy traps but easier to load and they seem to be doing the job.

I sorted out some books and clothes from the Room of Doom and put some sets to sell on Facebook and tomorrow will see if I can sell others in ziffit or we buy books. I feel like I need to set a target for finishing the Room of Doom even though I have set targets many times before. I think mid July should be doable before the school holidays.

footprints have a lovely holiday.

Has anyone been brave enough to invite anyone to their house? For a long time I had a relatively tidy house but I’m in the middle of so many jobs I’m too embarrassed to invite anybody in.

I ordered a shredder yesterday that can do 30 mins of non-stop shredding I’ve got at least two possibly 3 large boxes of paperwork to shred. Unfortunately today it arrived at 7:30pm so I haven’t had time to test it out today.

Signing back in, hoping that I can come back! I had a long time without decluttering but I seem to be doing better at the moment. Recently sorted DS’ clothes with him - 2 bags of stuff to go to friend’s smaller DS, some rags and some for an icollectclothes pickup which I’ll arrange once I’ve sorted DD2’s stuff in half term. She’s moving up to the next size so there will be stuff to give to nursery for spares too.

Stealth we had a friend in yesterday and she commented how different it was! I know she never judged before though as she also struggles with clutter, we discuss it a lot.

My parents are coming on Sunday for the first time in over a year and I’m excited for them to see how different it is! They don’t judge either (my childhood home was hideous and although my mum’s flat is fairly tidy my dad’s is hoarded) but I want to surprise them and, rightly or wrongly, make them proud. I did the hallway and landing yesterday and they look great, I moved some plants upstairs and it makes me happy to walk past them.

I do want to tackle the bathroom, kitchen and living room a bit more, but I’m laid up from my second jab today and I’m not sure if I’ll manage anything. But I know even if I don’t it’s still much tidier than the last time they visited.

Happy holidays footprints.

Nice to have you back Sing.

We have visitors coming on Sunday Stealth, I shall be frantically blitzing the house tomorrow!

Have fun with the shredder slayduggee, ours is beyond temperamental!

Since my charity shop success on Monday I don't think anything else has actually gone! About to tidy the playroom desk though so that will definitely be a load of paper!

slayduggee I'm very jealous of your shredder. I never finish my shredding pile because mine needs a break after a few minutes.

Sing thats great to see there's a difference. raspberry maybe I should invite someone over as an incentive to tidy up.

I've had an OK morning. I carried out sorting books, finding a few more to sell on ziffit, and putting some on facebook sales. I started a 'rags' bag and put a few socks and ruined clothes in it (thanks dd1) and I found a few gymnastics outfits to go. The rags and books were in the Room of Doom so I'm just going to do another half an hour in there.

I also finished the first coat of gloss on my landing. I've nearly finished all of it, there's only a tiny stretch that needs a second coat and two door frames. It's not helped by the weather. There've been such big dark, storm clouds this week I don't paint so well without much natural light. I just know that when I've 'finished' I'll see bits that need an extra coat.