Decluttering one item a day thread number 18 – quickly stashing our clutter in charity shops now we can let people back inside our houses

[stealthninjamum]

Here we are again, still decluttering and still chatting and sometimes getting rid of some clutter.

This is a group of mumsnetters who aspire to live in a lovely clutterfree environment, usually scuppered by husbands, children, dogs and in my house ‘valuable’ bits of twig and stone or origami versions of aardvarks and komodo dragons.

We are slowly decluttering our houses, chatting and updating each other on our slow progress as we go. We only aim to get rid of one a day but often manage more. Newbies are welcome to join us.

Since the last thread charity shops reopened and things got closer to normal. I’ve now invited friends over for the end of June so have a month to get the house ‘guest ready’.

Previous thread here.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4183135-Decluttering-one-item-a-day-and-counting-down-til-the-opening-of-charity-shops-thread-number-17?pg=38

@stealthninjamum

thank you!

yes, last days are very stressful - both before Christmas and end of year.
I kinda hate December & July now - of course those are the two months we have dozens of birthdays to remember as well & parties to organise.
I try to pacify myself that it's a good thing to we have 2 very busy months but relatively easy for the rest. but it's still difficult every year as my washing machine head has to be in spin mode!🤣

I'm so gonna celebrate tomorrow!

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba hang on - have i read that correctly that you have 6 kids?

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba yup December is stressful too. The PTA always have a Xmas fair (and sometimes a summer event too) so there’s a whole load of extra crap to remember too like baking cakes, donating crap, buying school branded stuff, raffles etc.

In some respects covid has made things easier. Dds never lost pe kits because they went in wearing them and I didn’t get presents because parents weren’t allowed to, we didn’t have a Christmas fair etc.

It annoys me my stbexh felt I did nothing yet I frequently had to go to Tesco after dc were in bed because a child had suddenly announced she had cooking tomorrow and I need to provide chocolate sprinkles or I had to buy a specific coloured hair clip for one of the many charity days they do and make sure I have a pound coin for it too.

I now have a word document that I update every week with this sort of stuff which tends to work and a notepad in my handbag because sometimes my brain can’t cope with these seemingly small tasks that can be so important to dc.

@ememem84

6 boys & 1 girl!

no wonder our house is full of stuff!🤣

@stealthninjamum

I was so happy about them going in wearing PE kits. and thee junior school made it a permanent fixture going forward. result!

[quote ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba]@ememem84

6 boys & 1 girl!

no wonder our house is full of stuff!🤣[/quote]
HOLY MOLY! That's a lot!

no wonder you need the lists. i keep lists. in y work to do list book on the back of one of the pages i have my "home" to do's so if i have time of a lunch break i can get these sorted.

today's job was anniversary gift for dh (on Friday) and bottle of bubbly for mum and dads anniversary (today)

dh and i have been married for 10 years so the theme is tin. i had no idea what to get him, so went to wine shop and bought him a load of craft beers in cans (or tins if you will) and have ordered him a tin bath wine bucket/cooler thing for the garden. whilst at the shop i also bought a big ass tin of olives (like 5kg's) becuase he loves olives. and might head to iceland tomorrow to see what other big tins of things i can find.

he won't be expecting big tins of things, but he knows i have form for sticking right to the theme. i think our second one was fruit and flowers. he got a fruit basket. delivered to his work. all the fruits. it was hilarious.

@ememem84

get a few tins of chopped tomatoes, baked beans & tuna and give those to him first.
then come back and describe his face🤣🤣

Zing I salute you. I have 4 kids. I tried for a fifth but lost it I'm sure due to my age. I have four and life gets just above feral some days.

I dont think im neurotypical. I am sure I could get a ASD diagnosis. But meh, too late for me.

Happy anniversary ememem.

I might redo the fancy dress and uniform bag at some point this week. But in the meantime just easy outs.

My dd had a hissy fit at her last Rainbows ever. She had to be physically restrained. I hope its end of term anxiety as is escalating alarmingly

One most welcome in today. the kids new passing pool has arrived. hoorah. so i'm going to blow it up this afternoon and fill it so its ready for them to dive into when they get back from nursery. hoorah. the waterslide i ordered is on its way from china. so when that arrives we're going to have so much fun!

@IncessantNameChanger

sorry about your loss. my 5th pg ended in MC. Apart from the grief I think I was so shocked because you kind of fear it a bit with first few but who wouldn't thought that after 4, eh?

*would've
not wouldn't. argh. I wish MN had a typo correct function!

on a happier note shiny new oven racks (already in oven) and fridge drawers have arrived!
I've been annoyed by that basket in the small fridge for at least 2 years now.
can't wait to get all the nail varnish nicely organised again and also to finally get that wasted space by basket back!

thanks to this thread I was prompted to get it all done!

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba that's such a good idea and they look awesome.
I'm going to do that too hopefully next year so I have some cards in advance instead of wasting money buying brand new ones.

We've just about cleared out front room. Next step is clothiers. But I find so hard to chuck!

I haven’t made any more progress, but DH did some more sorting and shredding/ recycling yesterday, so he is getting through the bag of paperwork.

I am feeling a bit annoyed with him as I asked him to get the name labels off some outgrown uniform weeks ago (they’re iron-on labels and I couldn’t get them off). Despite the task going on his To-Do List (a very important list - he often tells me when he’s tackling something from The List), he hasn’t done it.

It’s the last day of term tomorrow so I might try to get it done tonight, but I’m frustrated that he hasn’t done the one decluttering task I’ve asked him to do

I’m on leave next week, and PIL are visiting for part of it, so I don’t think I’ll get much decluttering done. We’ve got a few days out planned, and PIL are unlikely to offer to take DD out by themselves to give us a break

calendar out - we dont use it much and fills girlfriend only likes to snoop at it.

i cleared about 15 pairs of socks out yesterday too.

also out a baby gift for colleague and some books have been posted.

ins today - dds birthday presents

zingdrama incessant sorry for your losses too. I had a miscarriage between dd1 and dd2. It was awful and ruined my next pregnancy as I thought it would happen again.

zingdrama I love storage solutions, they make such a difference.

ellieq that’s annoying if he won’t do it, is there any way of just cutting them off? Is the end of term a deadline?

Things are ticking along here. I’ve done a teeny bit more painting, sold some books. Annoyingly I found a little fairy that goes with the set I gave to charity shop last week so she’ll have to go in the bin. I am also investigating some mustard best before 2009! I love mustard and this was one I bought ‘for best’ (why? Why?) so I’m going to see if it’s still edible. I can’t open the jar but I’ll ask the ninjaboyfriend who’s coming over on Sunday.

@stealthninjamum

thank you.
yes, with DS5 I was holding my breath the whole way through and it didn't help that
the date I got for his 12 week scan was the 1 year anniversary of losing baby.
(obv I had to reschedule that scan).
I mean it took me a while to even think about TTC, but when he was born totally healthy I told him I was glad I got brave.

You are brave with the 2009 mustard Stealth, I would have just thrown it in the bin!

The name labels were ironed onto the care labels so I’d rather not cut them off - was thinking of using permanent marker to cover them if they can’t be removed. The school will probably be open to take uniform donations later in the summer, but it would have been nice to get it out of the house before the end of term.

I am frustrated that DH said he’d do it, but clearly hasn’t thought ‘That should be done before the end of the school year’. He has always been a procrastinator, but I think it has got worse since he went on furlough at the start of lockdown 1, followed by being made redundant. He’s out of the habit of having deadlines to meet.

I am trying to be sympathetic as I know he is struggling (as am I, tbh), but it is very hard when I see him sitting around the house while I am working.

He actually commented that it was ‘really hard’ to get anything done between the school runs because it’s such a short day - I was speechless How does he think I manage when I’m working every day between school runs? He’s lucky he’s not under the patio for that comment!

EllieQ it's hard with dh too. He has put on top into thecwash that he tried on and doesnt fit. Why? It wont fit after its washed either! Then I found ds17 clothes in with ds9. They are almost ten years apart fgs! Why cant he see the 9 year old isnt 5,8?

I would try sharpie over the name labels, that's what I plan to do.

No more outs today. I'm going through ds9 clothes and getting all the stuff he is about to outgrown on top ready to to be worn first over summer.

I am also sorting out his too small bits and a separate box for things that in honesty are too big. His clothes have got into a mess somehow too.

However much I chuck out I'm still in a mess!
Dd clothes to grow into are almost all in a xls now. I think after that I need to put their current things onto a xls so I know what I have.

Here are a few alarming facts from.writing down what she has so far.....

19 7-8 vests
17 8-9 t shirts
16 7-9 t shirts.

She is in 5-6 / 6-7 clothes ffs!

I need to go under my own patio! No wonder the cupboards are heaving in total chaos. I keep forgetting what I have and buying more.

ellieq that’s another one of those ‘end of term’ jobs that zingdrama and I were chatting about earlier. It reminds me that I’ve probably got outgrown uniform that I should’ve taken to the uniform shops. I probably need to do some uniform / shoe shopping too.

ellieq that must be really annoying, for some reason I thought he’d had a job interview and was back to work.

incessant you own a lot of stuff! But it’s good that you know what you own. I would bag and label the clothes that are too big and put them in a box somewhere or give half of them away. I think maybe half that number of vests would be enough and I’d be inclined to get rid of some of the smaller t shirts and put her in the biggest straight away. I am very, very lazy so will always buy things that are oversized so if a child was 6 would buy them 7-8 tops and generally they would look ok and wear them for twice as long. Dd1 wears hoodies that she has had for about 3 years now and they still look great because I bought them big Last week I bought her some new pyjamas. There was one set she really likes so I bought it in two sizes and she says the bigger size is comfy although obviously looser. Pyjamas were a problem area as I used to buy them all the time so I have cut down.

Dd2 is 3 years younger and goes straight into dd1s clothes. I don’t think either of my children look like they’re in oversized clothes, slightly loose T-shirt and baggy hoodies are ok.

Last night I found an old pillow case that is going in the rags bag. Today I’m decorating again and shredding papers.

ellieq you’d be surprised how long things like pickles and mustard last, anything with vinegar and salt. I think in about thread 3 or 4 I tried a load of pickles to see if they were edible and threw most away but I’m optimistic about my mustard. I can’t understand how this mustard didn’t get culled before as I have decluttered that cupboard three or four times in the last four years.

Stealth - your right I do need to cull some of these things. I still have a fair amount to go onto my xls. But once every thing is on there I can really see how much I have in each size. She is in 5-7 but 7 in a few weeks so maybe a growth spurt is due. I can easily put her in 7-8 shirts. That's true. Her and her youngest brother have about three weeks in a disability holiday club so she can wear the 5-6 there as I think they might get trashed. Anyone a goal could be all the 5-6 out by the start of next term.

I tried lots of ds9 clothes on. He is su chairman a chunk. So much no longer fits. I put his bits aside for dd so in reality she has even more to grow into. I need to recheck that as well.

I'm not buying him anymore as he is pretty close to the ideal 7-10 of each item rule. I will look at his again once he is back at school.

So all in all, this feels like a never ending task still. I think the next job is the xls then make sure I thin the list down to 10 each max per item type.

I think I was on one of these threads a while ago. Things have got a bit messy again, and I feel spurred on by reading of your successes.

Today I have sorted:
Cat drawer and listed some litter tray filters on Olio
Laundry drawer and binned 2 capsule dispensers
Plate/crockery cupboard - added a mini shelf so much tidier and binned a Gu dish.
Also out: a cardboard scratch tunnel which has been very “loved”, and this has now been replaced (but at least the new one won’t be shedding chewed cardboard for a while).

Welcome wilderness. Those GU pots are so tempting to keep. I normally do keep them then when the kids have to bring a savory snack to a group picnic like Beavers, I take them for salsa with tortilla chips and "forget" to take them home with me. So they possibly all live in the village hall now

6 body lotions binned - I never use them. Must remember to donate to charity as soon as I get given them rather than hanging on to them for years. I hate waste.

1 old mobile phone sold on eBay and packaged up ready for posting tomorrow.