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

One big thing decluttered here ! DH sold one of his dad’s old boats on eBay for 1000£ that was just gathering cobwebs in the boathouse so I’m happy with that . It’s meant to be collected tomorrow and at least with all the bike sales he did it always went fine so hopefully this will too . There’s a bunch of small motorboats , outboard motors and my DS two small sailing boats to go but we are keeping those 2 boats until next summer , not trying to sell them now . DH managed to get rid of all his dad’s bikes and one of his own earlier so hopefully these too .
Other than that I haven’t yet managed to look at kids clothes brought to me from storage but I will today / tomorrow since DH is meant to be going to charity shop this weekend . It’ll be hard for me to let go but hopefully I could give some away at least from the 5 boxes I now have in my living room . They’re next to the increasing box pile of stuff I’ve been buying for the new house like lamps etc . Feeling very stressed about the move . We don’t have a definitive finishing date yet so don’t know if it’ll just be delayed again . Have a feeling I should start ordering furniture that is not in stock atm because there’s a wait for it but trying to figure out practicalities and some sort of a budget since we need to get a lot of stuff and put in shutters , storage into the garage and landscape the garden so just getting what’s essential first.
I did get nearly all my DD new school uniform sorted and labeled . Need to order a couple of little things but then that’s off the list at least . Our puppy’s neutering got cancelled again due to the neck wound not healing because of all his scratching . He’s got a cone on his head now the poor thing . Our doggy daycare is book up for boarding in August so any vague thought of travelling this summer has gone out the window . Last summer we stayed in the UK too but went to Greece on October. I have asked about Oct half term for boarding and will ask about Christmas school holidays . Hopefully we’ll get to go somewhere I also haven’t seen my parents for 2 y and now the country’s borders have just opened after 17 m but my parents are hesitant to see anyone . My mum is at risk and seems pretty paranoid despite being double jabbed now . I was looking yesterday going without kids and the dog for a long weekend so I could see them briefly even but now probable won’t since they’re not enthusiastic, arranging child and dog care with the resistant MIL isn’t great and arranging the pre return tests for a few day trip is a pain ,also we’re trying to move soon so not a good time .I am still a bit sick with the cold for the third week now as well . Just don’t know when we could then go next and my mom’s Copd is getting worse she’s apparently now too tired to really do anything anymore I think she might need extra oxygen but she’s scared to go to her hospital app too . She also has a pacemaker and has been cancelling her checkup which I think is crazy if she’s not feeling well .
Our old house sale isn’t getting completed because the buyers are having trouble selling theirs . We are very lucky we can pay for our new house regardless and do our own move but in general I feel like on the verge of nervous breakdown I don’t even have time or energy to think about all the doctors I should be seeing trying to sort out my own health more . Today I’ve just stayed in bed all day feeling sick after being up half the night all depressed staying at the tv and haven’t even eaten my lunch . DH has been working , he tried to go do a water sport like yesterday for half a day but it was stormy when he got there so he returned back to work and kids have been entertaining themselves , just now my DS went to meet a friend for a bit . His GCSE result are going in 2 w so that’s another source of stress . He’s so ambitious in an academic school that I’m pretty sure he’ll be disappointed with what ever he gets . Right now I don’t mind if they’re on screens a bit too much they normally go out to play football , tennis , scootering , roller blading , cycling ,dog walking , skateboarding if they’re here and to grandma’s a lot where they’re sailing etc . Every other y during any school holidays I’d have it all planned for them with endless trips away , camps ,activities ,play dates and days out so it’s been very odd year + of not doing much . We all seem to be settled into this now and since they still go out to do sports daily and have a weekend place to go to regularly and occasional day out / meal out etc they don’t seem too bored . I do find not having any plans depressing but on the other hand when I’m down I’m just happy not have to be going somewhere all the time like before . Just having to do the school run again daily when DH will return to the office after 1,5 y in the fall will be shocking but to start with it’ll be just picking up in the aft from school bus DH should be able to do mornings .
We are planning to attack the topfloor storage cupboard this weekend or next week . I’m hoping to not only organise it better and store duvets in boxes etc but to find something to get rid off .
Besides 3 boxes worth of stuff to charity shop that I’ve counted before out going

• old oven trays ,I’ve replaced these
• a small sailing boat 😁

nordicmom I’m sorry to hear your mum’s poorly it must be hard to have not seen her for so long. It’s good news about the boat, let’s hope it gets collected ok.

Just two old Gu pots going today.

Wine glass full of wine broken. So that’s gone

@Nordicmom

that's brilliant result!

@ememem84

bittersweet decluttering for sure.
I don't drink anything out of glass, not even champagne, only from a mug.
DS2 had a glass glass broke in his mouth when he was 3 then DD (aged 4) had to have surgery under GA after stepping on a shard from a pint glass so I'm done with it.

Thanks Stealth and Zing , I’ve now managed to book our puppy to the doggy daycare boarding for the first week of October halfterm so maybe we’ll get to go somewhere then …

today I suggested to DH that when he is on holiday we should invest a full day or 2 to walk around the house, look at every single room, note what the problems are and discuss how we can reorganise things to be more efficient & practical.
We'll write a mega list of everything that needs to be done and prioritise tasks.

He liked the idea and was fully on board before I could explain that I think it's worth dedicating some time to improve on how we do things, instead of just getting annoyed & frustrated with the mess!
I know that creating default systems work so I want to get to a point when everything is functioning well with minimum effort, by habit.

Also, I bumped into a friend whose little girl is 16m old.
She has the space and is happy to store everything my DD has grown out of (she's 9, but very tall so has clothes up to age 11-12!).
And she knows my other friend whose granddaughter is 6m and was happy to agree to pass on anything her DD has grown out of. I'm very happy about that on many levels.
Now I just need to find someone with a 2y boy who has space and wants everything up to age 7!😁

Zing I love that idea of walking through the house and making a list.

Been very busy with work and just low level decluttering done like emptying my handbags of tissues and receipts.

Plan for the weekend is to tackle the airing cupboard and the bathroom cupboard.

I’ve just lost my shit with the dc. Told them if they don’t tidy up the toys from the living room I’m binning them.

binning the toys or the children?
I'm behind you either way😉

keys.
we have so many.

one way we organise them is colour coding - I use nail varnish because they last for a while and I don't like plastic tabs.
I'm just re-doing them on everyone's key chains.

another way is to use lanyards. brightly coloured ones are good for instant visibility as I'm prone to drop things or having tosearch at the bottom of bags.
plus I can hang them around my neck if needed.
I find them so useful.

I know, technically not decluttering but hopefully useful tips to some!

The boat is gone !

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba

binning the toys or the children? I'm behind you either way😉

I meant the toys - but dd tipped her milk on the couch and ran out into the road (no cars thankfully) so might bin her.

nordicmom fantastic news about the boat.

zingdrama I love those keys. Is each colour for a different door or a different person? I wonder if I should give dd1 a set of keys but I don’t trust her not to lose them, she’s very disorganised.

A failed day so far today. I thought dd2 wouldn’t object to getting rid of some very short jumpers. She did and is wearing them! Yes I was the mother of a child in Sainsbury’s wearing two ill fitting jumpers.

EllieQ Hope you are ok. Like others on here, my house is never clean enough either. I'm trying to get to a place where there is no clutter and it is easier to clean. It's much better than it was, I'm still not there yet. Spiders seem to have come out early this year, there are cobwebs everywhere. Two have taken up residence in kitchen cupboard, they have babies and I'm too sentimental to rehome them! Kitchen always looks like a disaster area no matter how many times I declutter/clean it.

Decluttering is definitely a marathon, it's a mindset change. I've been doing it for years and I'm still not finished.

Stealth My oldest is hard to get out of the house. It's hard to do anything with them and frustrating.

Happy birthday to little emenem and welcome xsquared.

Good news about the boat!

Stealth
each colour is different door, we have multiples of everything as DH, oldest 4 & I need own set of keys, we also have 3 cars, a moped and a Halfords worth of bikes!🤣

So, success with the food store cupboard in identifying food that is short dated and needs eating soon. A few jars chucked from the fridge too.

Airing cupboard not such a success, I have 8 double duvet sets, 2 single and 4 king with a sheet and mattress topper at 3/4 size. The trouble is that DS2 is about to go to uni and I don’t really want to throw away too much yet. Have definitely thrown away 2 pillows with mildew stains from DS1 being at uni plus 2 pillow cases. Am wavering on a couple of double duvet sets.

Think I’ll give it a few days then give it a second pass.

Managed to clean whole of dining room though not a deep clean.

Thanks for the Vinted link xsquared. People seem to like it so I guess I've overpriced my items.

Great news on the boat nordic, that must be one of the largest items to go on the thread!

I make the threat about the bin bag on a regular basis ememem. I feel a bit bad about it but DD in particular is so messy.

Love the key idea Zing. When we moved to this house we inherited a board of keys with labels that bore no relation to reality! We never did work out what half of them were for. I should just bin most of them as we've replaced most of the doors now anyway.

I have to sneak favourite clothes out when they are washed Stealth otherwise they'd be worn forever. There is one particular too small and badly stained t-shirt that has been rescued several times and that I have banned from being worn other than at home!

Nothing out here yesterday although I did use up some bits from the freezer for dinner. DC were in a squabbly mood and every time I left the room chaos broke out! Need do better today.

Sorted through some of dds clothes yesterday and also packed some toys away in the dcs rooms. Rubbish out and recycling done. Yay.

3 bleached stained towels out, but 2 new ones in.

DH has sold some hobby magazines on eBay so it will be nice to see the back of them.

Small outs today.

Two pairs of pants
A pen
Bra
A really stained T-shirt of ds’ which no matter how often I wash and leave out in the sun it’s still visible.

Also used up a bag of bread four making bagels and some pasta from the stockpile. Reorganised the fridge.

Good reading of everyone's progress. Plodding very slowly here. Yesterday's out was a skirt I always feel guilty about, it was an impulse purchase from a market, I never wore it but it was a bit of money really. Find Marie kondo's does it bring me joy helpful here. It's finally gone!

Hello can I join?

Trying to declutter our flat, ready for when we finally find somewhere to move to (hopefully soon!).

I've downloaded an app called the "minimalist challenge", where you declutter at least one thing a day for 30 days, currently on day 4. Taking photos of things that I've got rid of is weirdly motivating.

I started with asking myself "does this spark joy?" Marie Kondo style, but now my mantra is "is this thing annoying?" .

Today I've popped two books (that I got halfway through reading and gave up) in the communal book library in the next village.

The hardest thing is getting my boyfriend on board!! I'm tempted to just start getting rid of stuff behind his back! Just had an argument about whether he'll use the hair clay that's been sat in the bathroom unopened since Christmas . I suspect no, he says yes!

I have been staring at a giant cobweb on the living room window for about a month now, and still no desire or motivation to move it. I tell myself it's a conservation thing and I'm protecting the spiders

ememem84 My 3 yr old is a face kicker as well, lethal at nappy changing time. Yesterday he wanted to hold Mr Potato Head while I changed him, so I said yes and he promptly threw it in my face . I massively bollocked him, and felt so guilty, but it bloody hurt. Late nights on holiday weren't good for him, he was dropping asleep in the car at all hours and totally out of sync, but hopefully a few days at nursery this week will get him back into a routine before we go away again next week....

Some holiday outs last week as I took some pants and shorts which I binned once I'd worn them, though they have been replaced by new ones. Once the weather cools down (although it's hardly blazing hot right now) I'll get rid of the too-small summer things, and hopefully do an audit/cull of the school uniform before the DDs go back.

DS was 3 a couple of weeks ago but not too bad for ins - a load of plastic sea creatures and dinosaurs, but all small enough to stick in a shoebox and put up on a shelf. I also think he's on the verge of outgrowing the Scuttlebug and his little rocking horse, plus the highchair isn't used these days, so hopefully we can get rid of those at some point during the summer

Have spent several days sorting and tidying adult DS's shelves, and drove round this morning to give him his DVDs, CDs, gamer magazines, excess toiletries and a huge bag of pens and pencils.

This has given me three empty drawers and a couple of shelves. I'll use these for things that are collecting dust on top of cupboards.

Next it's the big box of computer-related cables and other bits and pieces. Then on to setting up ancient games consoles.

zing I’m tempted to do the key idea myself. We have loads, I half cluttered them about two years ago but maybe need to finish the job.

Welcome hobnobsandbroomstick. I love the sound of that app, I might download it myself. Does it tell you what to get rid of? At the start of the year many of us were using Toss which was great as it told us what to get rid of.

A slow few days for me. I have got rid of some pens also ketchup / mayo packets that we had for free with takeaways. I’ve noticed my fridge has a lot of half opened bottles at the moment so I’m sort of decluttering it.

I’ve also been buying stuff for our holiday, mainly clothes for dd1 as she doesn’t have enough and I’m wondering whether to buy a suitcase. I have stbexh’s here but it’s too big for me and I think maybe dds are big enough to have their own suitcases for the first time.