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 faux leather armchair out of the house and in the garage ready for when the dump opens.

Just got home from a week away so nothing out but possibly a few in's.

Also dd turned 7 so even more stuff in!

Quite a few of the kids clothes have definitely been outgrown but I can realistically getting much down over the summer holidays

Just checking back in. House move that was due in January fell through, now looking to move again but a much further distance so back to decluttering in earnest. So far in the last two weeks I have cleared out:
2 pink sacks of recycling
2 Black sacks of rubbish
3 pink sacks of clothes awaiting collection
2 ikea bags of electricals
And I've sold a few biggish items.

What I'm really stuck on though, is that I just have too much stuff. It's all in storage boxes, and I clear out a few items but not enough to make a difference in terms of overall space used. Ideally I'd like to halve the amount of storage containers, but I don't know how. It all seems either useful or sentimental. Any tips or advise?

I’ve been sorting through my pile of receipts over the past week, and today I shredded all the old receipts (including a few dated 2005 ). It felt very satisfying. I still have a shoebox full of receipts, but these have been put in date order, and I can go through and check them, then shred them.

I hadn’t realised how much I was struggling since DH was made redundant until he was offered his new job, and I felt like a huge weight had lifted from me. I feel so much better, and have the energy to get on with more decluttering.

DH’s plans for the next few weeks until he starts his new job include a tip run and getting various jobs done round the house We’ve also got an old car seat to get rid of - I did try selling it when DD grew out of it, but had no interest and I know it’s probably past it’s expiry date now.

Joining to try to gain some inspiration. I have so much crap to sort out and am at a loss how to even start.
We moved house at the beginning of the year and couldn't wait to get the clutter out of the old house. Now it's ten times worse here as we don't have a usable loft and the house needs complete renovation so we can't put things where we want them.

To make things worse, my DP keeps seeing things on freecycle that he thinks might be useful. We saw a small table and chairs for the kitchen and when he brought it back it's only fit for the tip - completely chewed by dogs. Why he didn't say no is beyond me. Yesterday he picked up a large knackered desk to replace our current small knackered desk. Why????

Just a quick post to mark my place. Two big bags of clothes and two bags of books into charity shop. Around half each ours and MILs. Oldest off to uni this year so lots of ins in the next few weeks 😱😂

I’m still reeling from Sunday cleaning everything hurts so DS cleaned first floor for me after doing the top floor except my bathroom I’ll have to do with DH help . I’ve been staring at furniture and storage baskets etc all night trying to find things so then slept in the day . Kids furniture sample of a night stand came and the colour is good so am relieved that we can then order the rest to be delivered in September to the new house but two shutter companies we contacted both said it’ll take about 12-16 w to get them fitted so we’ll have to put on something temporary on most of all those 23 windows aaarghhh and next get them to measure all windows and give us a quote to proceed with it . Not feeling up to anything much but am doing the rest of the name labels now to get the box of uniform into a wardrobe ready and out of the way . Need to just fill DD pencil case and make a mouth guard for the hockey camp soon . Found out insurance of course doesn’t cover the Alopecia expert so we’ll just get on with getting referral and pay for it ourselves she needs to be seeing now that she’s developing another bald spot on top of her head poor thing. She’s still got the original patch on the back of her head that’s enlarged a bit abs not regrown but the second patch on the nape of her neck has thankfully regrown pretty well now . It’s not yet obvious if I do her hair up but there’s swimming at school etc and I worry for her . It all started at the same time as the pandemic .

Pleased to hear that you're feeling better Ellie.

Welcome Pissedoff. The freecycle habit sounds very frustrating!

How are your boxes organised Keiki? Are there similar things together? Probably I would start with the 'useful' category and check for duplicates plus anything that hasn't been used in a while (a year?) that can be easily and cheaply replaced if it is needed. Anything sentimental that you could photograph like kids drawings?

Some old shoes have gone today, they had booked. Also composted the herb plant in the kitchen because it had died. I'd had it for two years so it'd had lots of use. I have a couple of bags to go to the charity shop, mostly old toys so need to get them out without DC spotting them!

since i last posted on Monday, i have managed to get rid of:

a shower gel;
a bottle of dd's that i found lurking under the couch;
four of ds' dummies that he didnt know i'd kept as spares;
three books from the living room bookshelf;

not much but its something.

today's mission - clean out fridge at lunchtime. I'm wfh so whilst making lunch i'm going to have a look and see what things are in there and then use up what i can for dinner tonight. i'm planning on a fried rice type dinner. so will use a lot of veggies.

The dreaded day is here and the GCSE results are in ! We are very happy and proud ; my DS got 10 9s (A*) and 1 8(A) !!!!!! He was surprised ,he knew they seemed to have gone well and that he should get lots of 9s but you never know . For once he was happy and that’s all I wanted for him . This should give him some confidence going forward to the A- levels ! Going out to lunch tomorrow and tonight we’ll celebrate at home .

@Nordicmom

fantastic news!

mine did very well too, 3x 7 the rest is 8 &9, so essentially 3× As and 6x A*.
he is annoyed as he expected an 8 instead of 7 in Biology and 9 instead of 8 in Chemistry.
his ego wants to appeal the Chemistry.

He's pleased otherwise & we are so proud of him. He's picking dinner tonight, it's a toss up between BK & Chinese.

Congrats to yours Zing ! All my friends kids did well too . So happy for them all after this terrible year to be doing these exams . Now hoping my DS will feel more confident going forward he’s always been shy and insecure both my kids are . I was insecure growing up too and my husband is more quiet than me . I have tried my best to boost their confidence all their lives but they’re still unconfident to a degree and don’t give them selves enough credit no matter what results and wins they have in life . My son has always been competing with his dad who went to a very academic boarding school and then got two degrees from a top university . DH has always been very clever in many ways , musically talented , good in sports an all rounder really. DS has not recognised the same talents in himself . Now I think he has finally done slightly better than daddy who’s only weakness is languages but DS gets that from me so did well in French and Italian as well .

@RasberryBlonde. Umm, mostly just boxes and boxes of assorted stuff. Stationary, cassettes, candles, cards from family, vases. I've had a go at reorganising them into boxes of all the same stuff and thrown out many tipex rollers and pens.

Lovely news Nordic and Zing, you must be very proud

The big news here is that DH is doing a tip run this afternoon I will report back later with the list of what went out of the house!

Welcome @Keiki. I agree that sorting by type of object is a good way to start. I’m currently working through a large pile of receipts for checking and shredding after collecting them from several piles. It can be a bit startling to see how much of one thing you have!

Fell off this thread again (and name changed!!) But still making slow progress here. Put loads of clothes on vinted and sold quite a few. The rest have been bagged up for a local charity jumble sale in September.

Got a shredder for free on the local giving page and have delighted in shredding all my old paperwork. I get paid weekly so i just had a crazy abundance of payslips. Luckily they've gone online now!

We also got a puppy which was lots of stuff in 🙈🙈🙈 but worth it!!

Still here, accumulating stuff. Put my paperwork into three boxes to file from one massive pile. Its possibly 2 foot tall if I stacked it!

Ds3 is practically shredding his clothes like the hulk this summer again. I swear 50% of his shorts wouldnt pull up either!

Problem is that I'm keeping them for dd but I shouldn't keep all of his clothes. I honestly cant deal with the clothes right now. Summer holidays are the worst time for decluttering

Fantastic results Zing and Nordic. Hope they are both very proud.

Can you still play the cassettes Keiki?

It was recycling collection this week so I did a last minute cull of boxes in the garage. Otherwise not much gone!

Lots of stuff gone to the tip this afternoon:

• car seat
• lamp
• High chair
• Old saucepan
• Old shower head
• kettle
• two broken terracotta plant pots

I am very pleased

Also sorted through school uniform and put outgrown stuff in a bag to be donated to the school.

Miraculously I do have several music things that play tapes, so I can't use that as an excuse. Not that I have in at least 6 years, but some don't come in CD format and have good memories from my childhood. I'm really not good at this decluttering malarkey!

Found it hard to keep on top of the house today but it is looking slightly better than this morning! A few bits of clothes out, in a bag for the charity shop

I have found three pieces of important paper work. I have the organising from the inside out book which seems less preachy than Marie Condo so far.

I'm being to realise I am generally disorganised in all aspects of my life. I'm quite a high achiever ( winsome ways) and like to do lots of things but I dont like to finish anything

Cardboard recycling to the dump along with random pipes and stuff.

Also taken two bags to charity shop. Yay.

Anyone else struggle with poor purchases? Eh I replaced my bath mat, but it's rubbish, doesn't stick. Too late to return (Amazon). I can't get money back so I should bin and buy another. I have enough money. Instead I look at it every time I go in the bathroom.

@Pineappleapple

occasionally, it's the curse of not being able to see stuff in person
I've just bought some dryer balls, but they are soft & squidgy like a baby's squeeze toy.🤬 so annoying
I'm gonna ask for a refund.

I need someone to kick me up the bum. I have a pile of planners and handbags that I know I could sell on eBay, they’d likely sell but I just cannot be bothered with the photos, listing, postage. I have debt so the money would help towards that so i’m just being lazy.

I much prefer to stick in a bag and charity shop/recycle/gift but I need to get my bum into gear.