Decluttering Club thread 20(22)!

[Mommabear20]

Let's go!

Thanks for the pointers!

I'll start with one thing a day.

I am a little overwhelmed by my house. I know it will be easier to clean and organise if I get rid of about half the rubbish in it.

Baby steps....

Kind of wish I had a tip run to do today just to join in!

Have put all Christmas stuff away in loft. No one has objected to the pile of rejects so they will all go out (bin/recycling/charity box as appropriate).

I don’t count weekly rubbish as part if Decluttering but if I tackle an Area of Doom and there’s rubbish in it, I would count that.

I try for an item a day but also let myself off some days if I’ve done particularly well on one day.

I really enjoyed the Decluttering at the speed of life book. Same author as Slob blog I think. Have it on my kindle so may look through it again soon.

I fell off the thread and missed 50 posts. Will catch up on the thread and come back later.

Happy new year!

De Christmas see the house today. So much space!

@Ilikecheeseontoast I love Dilly! I'll need to look uk this book.

I've got rid of lots more paperwork and shredding today, feeling pleased!

Where I fail is after I've bagged things for charity or say I'll sell things I never find the motivation to do it even if I'm selling something as feel like the hassle of posting things is a faff for me 🤦🏻‍♀️ I need to get my head around it this year especially s I've got lots of baby things and I'm not having any more!!

I have finished my bedroom drawers. Went through my jumpers and cardigans and sorted into the boring coloured v necks I wear all the time which went into one drawer and the brightly coloured ones that are only fit for reading in bed plus a couple of cardigans in the other. As I decided a few years ago to buy fewer jumpers and cardigans but make them all cashmere the rejects can go to Thrift+. I also sorted through all my running kit as my plan is to get back to that (would have been yesterday but I'm too sore at the moment so have decided to do so from 6th onwards instead.) I've kept three sets of kit in my drawers, put together a couple of bundles for ebay and one in the charity shop bag. I've also got a pile that I don't really wear unless on an adventure type holiday so I've bagged those up to go in the bottom of the wardrobe once I've sorted that out. Also one item sold on ebay so I will get Royal Mail pick that up tomorrow.

The clothes are still overwhelming though. Hopefully a little a day means they will be done by the end of the month at the latest. That feels like a doable target rather than trying to get everything out, half blitzing it and then feeling like giving up as there is a worse mess than before.

@TruffleNoir - on charity shop bags that need to leave the house would it help to chuck them in the car and then just drop off when you drive past a charity shop? I've managed to tackle this problem by having one packed in the hall as I walk past one most days so I can just take it with me and drop off when I'm out. Has made my life a lot easier as I don't drive and DH isn't always reliable for being prepared to do car boot runs.

I have managed to give away a few things on Facebook. Next job is to sort out the books I seem to collect and I know I will never read.

Another positive day - another bedroom cleared of rubbish and outgrown clothes. Going to make this hard for me and say I have to get rid of a sentimental item each day as that is a stumbling block for me. Today the glass pot a candle was in that I was gifted!

Hello all, joining if that's ok.
I started pre Christmas, by default, when the dc both had a clearout of their rooms, inc a full move around by DD1 (20 and back from uni for the hols).

It made me clear out the airing cupboard to make room for her bedding.

Then a fair bit of Christmas entropy occurred.

NYE I sorted out my 3 bedside cupboard drawers and binned a load of rubbish.

NYD I cleared through all my jewellery, and cleaned it, getting rid of anything I didn't like and haven't used in 3 years.

I also sorted through the little table by the end of the sofa I usually sit at, binning and charity shopping some notepads and reading books.

Yesterday I cleared out under the sink and got rid of old party food platters etc to make room for the nice (Christmas) china set.

Today I sorted my PJ drawer and got rid of a couple of old pairs.

And sorted one of the kitchen cupboards, throwing away anything out of date and unwanted.

I don't tend to do too much while DH is around, and prefer to do my sorting out when he's out of the way (to rescue things that 'might come in useful'.

He managed to give away a pair of unused steel toecap shoes to my sister who is the same size as me and who is renovating her new house. I never wanted them, she was happy to have them instead.

Tomorrow will be spent out of the house, taking DD back to uni but I'm casting my eye around to see what I can find that can go....

[quote londonmummy1966]@TruffleNoir - on charity shop bags that need to leave the house would it help to chuck them in the car and then just drop off when you drive past a charity shop? I've managed to tackle this problem by having one packed in the hall as I walk past one most days so I can just take it with me and drop off when I'm out. Has made my life a lot easier as I don't drive and DH isn't always reliable for being prepared to do car boot runs.[/quote]
@londonmummy1966 that's such a good idea thank you! I think that will help me x

This thread motivated me to do another bit of decluttering. I did a drawer of stationery. Reckon I was able to throw away or pass on about a third of it. I also found a few USB sticks that I emptied for future use. I guess they're becoming obsolete with things becoming more and more cloud-based.

Oh! I also ate about 6 biscuits in order to declutter a box of biscuits that we got for Christmas

mommabear20 thanks for the new thread!

Welcome newbies

lemonviolet DooDahDah the threads were originally about getting rid of one thing a day but we all have different ways of doing it and get ideas off each other. We chat about loads of stuff – relatives who hoard, housework tips, storage solutions and websites / apps that help. Last year loads of us followed an app called Toss that made us clear an area a day. This year I’m sort of doing ‘challenges’ from the Unfuck your habitat app.

lemonviolet I used to count one thing a day as leaving the house but that’s just too hard. So now I have bags / piles of things to donate, rags to go, things to sell or put on freecycle. My aim is to just find one thing a day. I tend not to count ‘rubbish’ that’s just day to day stuff so if it’s papers from this week I don’t really see that as clutter but I do count old paperwork that’s been sitting around for years.

trufflenoir I used to find it hard to throw out cards and when I started this I had little stacks of cards with a band round them in drawers in multiple rooms. I have gradually got rid of them apart from a few special ones now in the memory boxes I created last year. When I say special they have to be really special, for example both dc wrote me lovely xmas cards so I’ll keep those in my memory box and maybe the card from my boyfriend so I think three a year is manageable.

I find that the more you declutter the easier it gets, I have found that because I rarely miss anything it’s easy. So I have sorted out my Christmas cards today. I find it really easy to shred them these days whereas I used to be unable to get rid of them.

ellieq I hope you’re feeling better soon.

pollyannaperspective I think we both said we were going to finish our Rooms of Doom last year. I’m thinking of getting a new floor in mine just so that I have to empty it and declutter everything before it goes back in!

Today’s out is a mouse mat that isn’t very good. I am also going around the house picking up coasters. I am going to throw out all the scruffy ones that match the placemats I decluttered last January when I did the dining room. I thought I’d got rid of them but have spotted two today so maybe I didn’t.

So good to hear about lots of people being productive.

Decluttering the living room and subsequent tip run was a great success. Whilst the living room still needs decor and most furniture, I can now really see the room it’s going to be which is so exciting. I also decluttered the top of a dresser in the bedroom so another unit could stack on top of it, which meant that unit has decluttered from the hallway. It’s like clutter dominoes :-)

@LemonViolet - I love the phrase clutter dominos! I've been busy on life stuff today so haven't done much, but did watch an episode of MarieKondo on my break for inspiration and get rid of every single Christmas card apart from one.

Well done everyone!!

Successfully made my tip run today and feel lighter! Strong man coming tomorrow to put xmas decs in attic - I will feel positively minimalist after that!

I havent done a huge declutter today, but did do some nagging kitchen tasks so feel good.

Tomorrow is my last day off work so it will be another round of listing on Vinted and I want to finish rounding up the decluttered items in my dressing room.

I also want to spend some time setting some intentions for this year. I am on a mission to try and organise my life better. I’m tired if feeling like I am flailing around with no plan.

I may start a thread as I want to think about meal planning - so I stop eating cereal and toast for every meal as I have totally slipped in this area.

I also want to be organised with birthdays and gifts etc, appts and cleaning routines. I’ve truly neglected my self.

I’ve been on the minimalism challenge threads in the last few months and just started the new month from beginning again hoping I can finish on time this month after not being able to in nov so it went on and on until sometime in Dec . Now I’ve been putting things aside and jotting things down as I noticed them and am at about 113 ahead of the game so hopefully that’ll help . I didn’t go back up to the attic yet just did admin etc I’ve been feeling very down all weekend struggling to get anything done . Tomorrow hopefully finally getting the charity shop boxes out of here and some of the plastic storage boxes for attic / garage is arriving so I can unpack more cardboard ones and declutter some stuff and pack the rest in labelled boxes neatly . One big in coming soon though ; need to buy DS a smaller car to learn to drive in so going to see / buy one tomorrow . We have a double garage and space for two more in front of it so it’s not a problem although no cars fit inside of it atm until we get our bike/ garden storage shed built and DH motorcycle sold.
Also hoping to declutter the annoying temporary paper blinds soon since the shutters will hopefully arrive this month . That’s 25 or so windows , I do hope they will fit in neatly and be in good condition . Slightly stressed about that already!
Also we are aiming to empty and give up our storage locker we got about 2 y + ago when we moved from our own smaller house to a temp rental as we were doing it up and selling it. Now we have the attic room /7 th bedroom to store stuff in so need to declutter a few bits of baby furniture and buggies etc and look through the rest ( kids school books / art etc / memory boxes ) and store them here neatly . To reduce what we have here now and the locker contents I feel will be quite a job and take time but has to be done ! A lot of it is already in the same boxes I’m using here and weeded through so maybe it won’t be so bad .
No sign of our deposit yet though and they got the new tenants in nov and we read through and signed the inventory report already . Need to chase them about it again I guess …
Our DS needs to make his university choices this y and we need to find secondaries for DD although she won’t move from her new school until 13 I am feeling super stressed about the fact that she’s got her 11 + when he’s doing A- levels . I’ve been in incredibly pain with my arthritis all the time if I do anything and if I don’t this house turns into a pigsty in no time with the three others plus the dog making bloody mess I really need to start solving this arthritis issue and find a rheumatologist again but I feel like I have no time both kids have health issues being treated and few more problems I need to find more doctors for so I leave myself last of course . Only just managed my very late yearly blood tests . Hopefully no surprises .

Happy Minimalist New Year to you all!

Thanks for the new thread @Mommabear20

Two bottles of shampoo out today. They were gifts ages ago but I have never used them as tend to stick to certain brands to try to tame my frizzy mop.

I put them on our front wall and they were gone five minutes later. Result!

Please can I join?

Today I have 2 large bin bags of clothes to go to charity shop.

Morning everyone, I not only have my own place to declutter but also my DM's she will be moving to sheltered accommodation. I am off to Sainsbury's to put some jars of curry sauce and box of chocolate biscuits in the food bank box. Also about to tackle a cupboard in my kitchen, with breakfast cereals past their best! Never ending but someone said earlier baby steps....

I think I posted earlier that the charity shop near us stopped taking toys (sigh). But I managed to get the bag of toys to dparents so the dc can play with them when they’re there. Win.

just some lidless water bottles out yesterday

Everyone sounds very excited about going to the tip!
I always have a charity shop bag on the go. I am lucky that I can walk into town with the pram and a bag fits underneath the pram well. It's a steady way to get rid of things. I always have a bag of fabric recycling too, stuff that can't be used again. I used to really rarely go to the tip but now realised there is a tip on the way to my friends so if I have a few bits I will go on the way.
I did really well yesterdayday, had some time so did the drawer I mentioned. Threw out all sorts of bits. Gift bags which I never use, lots of bits of paper for craft, but too many meaning they never got used. Packaging in case I need to post a gift (rare so 2 used padded envelopes only kept, so many bits and bobs. It is so much better!

I joined last year but dropped out very quickly ☹️ would really like to make some progress this year

I have hoarding tendencies related to my upbringing. Really struggle to chuck anything away - it's ok if I can donate it or find it a home but binning is a real struggle. So my things to work on are

• finding more good ways to donate/gift stuff
• making my peace with binning things
• not buying tat in the first place!