Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Any (aspiring) minimalists about?

339 replies

HereticFanjo · 25/06/2021 14:33

I am a natural clutterbug but aspiring minimalist! I'm about to have a couple of months off work between jobs and with no holidays planned this feels like the time to really go for it on the minimalism front! My income will be dropping substantially so I may need to sell some stuff rather than just donate.

How did you get there if you made the leap to minimalism? I find books and household stuff especially difficult to part with.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
InvincibleInvisibility · 12/09/2021 13:21

Maybe I could but Ive found a buyer nearby and it's got his son interested in lego so it makes me feel good for someone else to enjoy it. But most of the sets are small - ive done the 2 big ones already

MMMarmite · 13/09/2021 13:06

Items out: some old cut offs of foam that "might be useful someday". Not as useful as having the space right now Grin

FlipFlops4Me · 13/09/2021 14:54

Two binbags full of shredded filing (only three more bags to go...), four old knives, two mugs, one griddle pan.

And I phoned the local authority - they are coming on Monday to collect two sets of bookshelves, one bedside cabinet and 36 bin bags of clutter to take to the recycling centre. Much cheaper than man with van!

The stuff fit to go to a charity shop is upstairs, and will go on Friday when my kind neighbour takes what he can fit in his large estate car. That'll be about 8 boxes and a few binbags. If I have more than will fit in his car (and I'm pretty sure I do), I'll book the Council again. I don't want to take advantage of my neighbour's kindness.

InvincibleInvisibility · 13/09/2021 16:09

That is amazing. The only thing that DH has been impressed with is the fact I can sell things. Ive been asking him occasionally to look through his books and see if we can sell any. He did it yesterday and we ve packed up 55 euros worth of books to sell! We got extra €€ cos we asked for store credit. We re all bookworms so it will always be used! And the shop sells second hand books in perfect condition so we're on to that now.

FlipFlops4Me · 13/09/2021 16:16

Oh wow @InvincibleInvisibility - that's worth having! Do you guys kindle or are you paper readers? I was paper but forced myself to make the switch and now I just have three sets of books. I'm dithering about those - do I keep them, or do I let them go? I kept them just in case one day I don't have an Amazon account but those books - they will still be in print and I could re-buy. Do I own them, or do they own me? Dilemma.

InvincibleInvisibility · 13/09/2021 18:40

Ive got a kindle except for non fiction.

DH had a kindle but prefers paper books. The DSes (7 and 10) are still on paper.

We've still got several hundred books though as we re a bilingual family so have books for all ages in both languages

FlipFlops4Me · 14/09/2021 17:38

Three more bin bags full of shredded filing! And just one box of papers to re-file - birth certificates etc, and P60's.

I'm going to have to phone the Council and pay for another 10 bin bags of stuff to be taken away with the collection next Monday. That'll be 46 bags!

I'd be embarrassed that we had so much damn crap but I'm past that now. SuperDIL comes tomorrow and we have a bunch of work to get through. Where I'd be without her I do not know. And bless her, she's offered to host us and my sister for Christmas. SuperDIL is a fantastic cook and I'm a competent cook for two. I was never, ever the house cook - DH was because he loved it. I've never done Christmas and I was worrying a little about how I'd cope - two vegans, one veggie, two meat eaters! SuperDIL will cope without turning a hair.

FlipFlops4Me · 14/09/2021 18:42

That's to say that we always hosted CHristmas and DH did the cooking. I did running, fetching, carrying and anything he wanted. There's just the two of us here, but then my DS lives up the road and is alone, and then DS and SuperDIL - we're always together at Christmas.

InvincibleInvisibility · 15/09/2021 05:29

Your DIL sounds wonderful and you sound wonderful as well, otherwise she wouldn't want to help you so much!

Glad you ve still got the energy going through this stuff. Have you thought about what you ll do with all this spare time afterwards? Make sure you do something for you that you enjoy.

FlipFlops4Me · 15/09/2021 07:15

I shall stitch again. Before DH had his stroke I spent a lot of my spare time cross-stitching and I think I'd like to do it again. DS and I took my frame down, and the magnifying light so I'd have to set them up again but it's no trouble.

It'll have to wait though - once the Mahoosive Declutter is over I will have to tackle the carpets, curtains and nets etc.

FlipFlops4Me · 15/09/2021 13:24

My bin bags! All 58 of the so-and-so's. That's clothes, bedding, towels, DVD's, shredded files and a ton of what on earth is that.

Tomorrow the recumbent bike leaves home (can't find anyone who wants it so my neighbours scrap metal son is taking it). On Friday a large estate car of boxes all go to be donated. Then Monday - the bags, bookshelves and cabinet all go.

And after that lot - I get to de-clutter my craft room/exercise room/spare room. That might need another booking with the Council.

Any (aspiring) minimalists about?
InvincibleInvisibility · 15/09/2021 15:36

That is totally amazing

AGreenerShadeofKale · 15/09/2021 15:54

Well done FitFlops.
That's quite the head of steam you built up there!

FlipFlops4Me · 16/09/2021 10:11

I found the carpet cleaner!

It was in the craft room which lately has been the de-cluttering box & bag stash. I was bringing the boxes downstairs so that they're easy to get into my neighbour's car tomorrow and there, at the back of the room and previously obscured by boxes, a few empty buckets, two broken hoovers (which would be easy to repair, I was told by DH) and a couple of bin bags - oh and a recumbent bike - is my carpet cleaner!

Before cleaning the carpets there'll just be the loft clearance but that's not something I can do - I'll need to hire people. I've had it priced and it's within reach in a couple of months. And I officially swear I will never again have so much stuff that anything needs to go up there.

FinallyHere · 16/09/2021 12:35

no duplicates. Except for bedding and blankets.

Tops, knickers and socks? I have multiples in the same (favourite) colour , which I wear every day. 😀. Minimises even the decision what colour T-shirt to wear each day.

FlipFlops4Me · 17/09/2021 15:25

Yayayaya! The boxes I had stashed indoors have all gone to the recycling, or to be donated. And the scrap metal man took the exercise bike, filing cabinet, dustbin and a bunch of old pans.

Now I've got one room left to go and I've started on it. There'll be furniture going from there as well as the bags. And my neighbour is taking two dollshouses to the charity shop for me.

Eventually I'd like to buy a bed for the room and turn it into a proper spare room. We all have dreams haha.

YupIHave · 17/09/2021 16:23

@FinallyHere I think multiples was about household items 🙂. I too wear the same clothes pretty much everyday - I have multiples of the same clothes but in different colours. 

@FlipFlops4Me You are doing great. Loved all the bin bags outside. Such a weight off your life. I bet you can finally breathe and relax. Just one more room and you'll be living your dream.

FinallyHere · 17/09/2021 16:45

😁

Re multiple clothes. I dyed all my T-shirt's in the first lockdown, thinking even if it all went wrong, no one would see me for a while. I have olive green T-shirt's to wear every day, which makes me happy.

Now I remember about the multiples of household things, too. I've decided we have a downstairs vacuum cleaner quite separate from an upstairs one. And kitchen scissors, quite separate from bathroom scissors. 😀

FlipFlops4Me · 17/09/2021 18:28

I am so pleased. The scrap man knows an elderly man who had bought a new exercise bike but it was faulty and the company were no help, and he didn't know what to do. Scrap man took my good quality recumbent bike (as new) up to him and swapped it for the faulty one. All three of us win - elderly man gets a comfy bike he can pedal while watching telly, scrap man gets a bike to scrap, I get rid of the bike from my home. Sometimes things are just meant to be.

AGreenerShadeofKale · 17/09/2021 18:30

That was a neat solution FlipFlops.

FlipFlops4Me · 17/09/2021 18:31

@FinallyHere - go for it! I like your t shirt idea! Very clever.

I am working on the principle that in addition to the room I am working on properly, I need to find 5 other items in the house to go. Amazingly even though I have emptied the house of soooo much crap, I can always find 5 to go....

FlowerArranger · 17/09/2021 19:58

Lots of great ideas here!

I haven't read the whole thread, though, so please forgive me if the 3 a day method hasn't been mentioned. As in get rid of (or bag up to be taken to charity, tip, etc...) 3 (THREE) things a day.

An unloved piece of clothing here, a tired ornament there, plus a book you'll never read again........ Do it every day and you'll never break a sweat - but give it a month or two and you'll see the difference Wink

FlipFlops4Me · 18/09/2021 07:16

@FlowerArranger - yep, 3 a day is a good idea but necessity forces me to bag up 5 a day. ANd that's after the various trips to recycling, charity shop and Council collection (58 bin bags).

Today is a house cleaning day but I'll still pick out 5 for the day. Then tomorrow I can get back to the spare room and hopefully finish in there. I'll need to call the Council again and book bulky collection because I'll have tall bookshelves and a merchants chest to go.

FlipFlops4Me · 19/09/2021 12:52

A neighbour wants my merchant's chest. I'm so pleased - saves another bulky collection by the Council. Have to get male neighbour to help me get it downstairs and into G's house.

Amazing how things work when you need them to!

Rummikub · 19/09/2021 16:57

58 bin bags is amazing!

Does it feel cathartic?

Swipe left for the next trending thread