Decluttering Club thread 2 2022 - trying to reduce stuff a little at a time.

[londonmummy1966]

New thread for those wanting to declutter

Old thread here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/4441273-decluttering-club-thread-20-22?pg=1

I am inspired by you all to try selling stuff. I never have really. Just concerned that it could make more mess. Has anyone found that?

Not much more mess, but quite a lot more stress. There's a constant pile of stuff waiting to be photographed, listed, collected or packaged and posted and a whole heap of time taken to do it all. Donation or recycling is much better in terms of stress levels. It's surprising how the money stacks up though if you've a lot to sell.

Each to their own, but my selling tips would be: if you're taking PayPal then send tracked and insured (for your benefit, PayPal is the buyers insurance against non arrival) and pass on that cost in your sale price; arrange collection for times you'd be home anyway, don't put yourself out for people then it's less stressful if they don't show up; be selective which messages you reply to, the ones making stupidly low offers aren't going to buy, the ones too lazy to look up your area on a map and see how far away it is are likely also too lazy to show up to collect; ignore anyone asking if you can deliver (they don't want to pay for postage or hire a van to collect, they usually want you to drive miles away for free so they can take a look and decide if they want your item); people who don't bother to read the ad and ask questions you've already answered in it are just a nightmare to deal with in general, their sense of entitlement pervades their entire life and dealings with people; people who want more pics decide if they're being reasonable, there's a lot of browsers about who have zero interest in buying; same with dreamers who "want" it but have no means to buy/fetch it, don't hold anything for anyone unless they've already bank transferred the money, sell it to the first person who actually pays you, it's not your problem if they want to collect in 10 days time when they get paid, they'll have to take their chances on it still being available. Selling can feel just as addictive as buying if you manage to dodge the troublesome types and things run smoothly.

Have started a new round of tidying and sorting.

Bin - two manky bath toys.

Recycling - seven empty plastic bottles that were used for bath toys.

Recycling - four holey socks beyond repair.

DH ended up not going to the dump on Monday since there wasn’t a full car load yet without me having done more decluttering of the dining room which has the remaining storage locker content in it . Instead he went to get the 2 buggies and their accessories plus a few more boxes of baby stuff from the locker so he can list the buggies . Now there’s only a changing table and two boxes of Lego in the locker he’ll remove next weekend then it’s empty and we’re giving notice on it . I’ll be glad to cross it off my list even if we are still having to get rid of a few more items from there now in our house. Yesterday night he spent cleaning and putting them together and figuring what we had for both . Partly brand new bugaboo donkey is looking good so hopefully we’ll get something for it . Made me sad to look at it as did a baby carrier what was in a box full of similar stuff I have to go through and part with . I got a couple of sacks for the rag bank and clothes collection from the clean laundry ( folded 6 baskets after travelling ) and to charity box I put so far a portable wooden high chair , 6 DD books , wooden baby hangers , 2 kids rash vests , unused baby cup , new Alessi baby cutlery packet , kids sun hat . I will add DD ski coat and trousers once they’re dry I washed them all . boots will go to shoe bank and fleeces went to clothes bank . There’ll be more once we decide what is worth the hassle to sell the rest we’ll donate . Some stuff went to recycling like old sticker books and magazine we went through DD stash . DH is preparing to list an old Herman Miller office chair ,practically new motorcycle panniers for a bike that got stolen , the two bugaboos , a once used baby carrier , a brand new handbag of mine , brand new slippers still in a box etc more valuable items . So far he’s done well with his selling so hoping these will go without problems as well . At the moment im in the worst pain ever with my back so more disabled than usual even ( had to wave DD over at school today and not get out of the car ,and am trying to figure out how in the world I could manage a senior school open day we’re meant to go to on Friday and DD charity school Triathlon on Sunday ) so I can’t do much on top of housework but im planning on attacking a few more boxes from the dining room although now there’s two buggies etc in the way . Been looking at the camping stuff and I think we’ll keep the little used 2 sleeping bags and the tent ,I need to decide about a rucksack then the new clean box can be labelled and put in the attic , atleast one more box out of that dining room !

Out to lunch with a client today so last night had a wardrobe rummage. Found two identical white shirts kicking about. So one is for charity. Also popped a few other tops in there.

I have a drawer full of camis and vest tops which I need to go through. I have big boobs. So find if I wear a cami under a button up shirt it saves me if there’s gaping. Or I can go one more button undone and not look like I’m deliberately flashing my bras.

@WildBlueAndDitzy Thanks, so informative. I now know I don’t have the head space for that right now, but once the house is organised, I will set it up for the future. I am really sickened by how much money and resources I have wasted in the past. I dont want to do that anymore.
I love how my kitchen functions better now. I made a cake the other day. It was so easy to get the ingredients and equipment together, and the worktop was already clear.
I have never liked minimalist houses, they make me feel tense, so that is certainly not my aim here, I just want less of everything. I collect china from the 1930s and I love it and both use it and display it, but I need to streamline it, get rid of the chipped stuff, the ones that are nearly right etc, curate my collection.
Of course, by the end of this process, I may become a minimalist, craving a silent white room and living on air!
could I ask about handbags? I think I have about 6. I don’t know where to keep them, or if that’s a normal amount. I have one I bought last year from John Lewis sale. It’s a brown leather messenger. I love the look of it but it’s stiff and unbalanced and unwieldy, keeps popping open. Hate using it. I really need to donate it don’t I?

zebracat welcome. It can make more mess selling stuff, but then putting stuff aside for the rubbish dump / charity does too. I have a load of mess at the moment but have a big enough house that I can close the door of the current messy room - or I hide it behind the settee or in my bath where no one sees it but me.

i started selling things to give dc money to incentivise them to declutter too. So every so often I used to give them £10 for a toy from the sales. They’re now really good at decluttering without the money.

When I do sell these days I set myself a deadline and if it’s not gone by then I get rid of it pretty quickly. I’m usually really pleased to just have someone take away some of my clutter. I’ve probably sold 200 books using webuybooks, ziffit and music magpie and maybe another 150 - 200 on Facebook (mainly early reading biff and kipper books and collections for children). The apps give very little money - music magpie are giving me about £7 for 60 books but they’re collecting from my house tomorrow so I don’t mind. You get about a dozen books in an empty wine box and tape them and they’re very secure.

My update is that I’ve filled a box with plastic toys for dc to go through - mainly things like McDonalds toys, party bag and magazine freebies. Dc used to want to keep them all but we go through them and every year they throw more stuff away.

Im busy lots this week so I can’t see me meeting my may decluttering target but I’ll do my best.

i've added a large (chipped) salad bowl we never use to the out pile today.

Going to the other tip tomorrow so need to boost the stuff we take to make it worth while.

I've also started using Olio to get rid of consumables for free - so far people collect pretty much immediately and I just leave outside. Feels less stressful than using FB groups.

ZebraCat I have a gazillion handbags and no regular storage place for them, they're scattered around the house. I'm going to eventually get down to one each of grey, pink and navy, plus a backpack and a small one.

I'm not planning on minimalism either, although I do love it. What I'm planning on doing is as you say getting rid of the not quite right, the tatty looking, the impractical, for every type of item I own. On that note, I think you should get rid of the unweildy bag you mentioned. Multiples I'll use up and not replace.

I've decided the best thing I can do to not waste money isn't selling things on, it's being more choosy what I buy in the first place. And making do with what I already have even if it's not ideal, so stuff actually gets used up/worn out.

I do still sell stuff occasionally, when I'm in the right frame of mind, but I keep it simple.

• I use sites where there's no cost to list the item, so if it doesn't sell I've lost nothing.
• If someone is collecting I always point them to the list of things I have for sale and often pick up a second sale that way.
• I pretty much only respond to messages asking if they can buy it/come look at it.
• Occasionally someone has a genuine question, but not often, because I put all the available information and pics on the ad. So the majority of questions are time wasters and I won't respond. You get a feel eventually for the types of people who are likely to waste your time, the language they use, the things they ask and the people asking questions where the answer means they won't want your item.
• I don't hold anything, I tell everyone yes you can have it, then I leave the ad up and if someone can collect or pay sooner I message the others and say sorry it's sold. They'd cancel the sale if they found something cheaper or closer location to buy, so I feel no guilt about doing the same from a seller perspective.
• I block instantly anyone abusive, or who messes me around with payment/collection, or who asks for a refund because it turns out they've bought the wrong thing/it doesn't fit or whatever, so they can't contact me about future items.
• In the past I mostly used eBay, now I mostly use Preloved and Facebook Marketplace.

Well @WildBlueAndDitzy , 6 is a lot less than a gazillion😆, altho if I got them all in one place I might find it is more than 6. I will get rid of that bag” but it cost £45.00” is a ridiculous reason to keep it, doesn’t make it nice to use.I’ve got a friend, who might like it, I’ll ask her if she wants it and if not it’s going in the charity shop pile.

@stealthninjamum why did Anna always lose her boots?? We had several Anna dolls at one point and never managed to match up boots to dolls!

work days over for the week so hope to get back to it tomorrow.
although in so far this week is a big of a saxophone for DS1 for his birthday. No idea if he’ll like it but he plays the oboe and it’s the same fingering but easier to play so we’ll see. Totally stuck on ideas otherwise.

Builders still building….

Dropped yesterdays bag of clothes in the charity bin at TK Maxx and then killed two birds with one stone by dropping off some books at the little library when going for my run.

Handbag storage is always a nightmare. I've culled a lot so I have 4 big ones on a shelf in my wardrobe - one is used for jewellery storage as I never use it but it sparks joy so I don't want to let it go. I have 4 small clutches in a plastic basket on the same shelf and 3 small cross bodies hanging from hooks inside the wardrobe door. If you have a lot of small handbags then putting them in drawstring bags and hanging them inside the wardrobe is a good way of storing them.

x12 pairs of shoes to the clothes bank.
x3 puppets? for nursery stories.
Another folder of bank statements shredded.

Out went a handful of broken pegs

Out today a big bin bag full of old stale kibble in various open bags our dog won’t touch . We are trying a different brand next so I emptied the giant dog food bin . I spotted in the middle of the boxes DH brought back from our locker a baby hammock so that’s going out too . Also DH old raincoat that’s not waterproof anymore . We’ve done a bunch of admin today ; talked to a new gardener , talked to the therapist practice for DS , found a landscaper so we emailed them , emailed school about DS missing a day of school for a long waited for trip with his grandma , emailed a physio for him too , payed for an activity for DD , rescheduled another appointment for DS , ordered a bunch of things and finally something for myself; booked a breakfast out with a friend . Am still up thinking I need to make one more order I keep on forgetting about . It’s never ending and we never sleep enough even though there’s no more babies keeping us up .especially bad for DH who can’t go back to sleep in the morning unlike me but then he isn’t ill like me . Better go to bed now more in the morning as always …

Filled a bag last night with things from my wardrobe and dds. So that’s going to charity hop today.

Another question - how to recycle confidential paper without a shredder? Will a recycling centre have somewhere for this?

Usually I just take bits to work and put in the confidential waste paper bins there or rip it up myself but I now have absolutely tons. We've got rid of about 5 or 6 folders worth!

Also out some old paint and a couple of pots.

leakycauldron have you tried putting your papers in water? Sometimes that makes the ink run. It takes ages to dry but other than that is an easy way of getting rid of papers.

Have you got a safe way to burn it?

out today:

moisturiser I’ve used up
holey pair of socks

106+2=108

I wouldnt be taking them to recyling personally. They are confidential for a reason.
Last time I looked, shredders were £20, but that was a few years ago.
Gave my kids shredders as christmas presents when they were nearing uni.

Just realised that I didn’t update on Sunday to say that DH did some decluttering, which is a rare event 😀He weeded the garden, took garden waste to the tip, then tackled the corner where he’d dumped things ‘that might be useful’ like old pipes, bits of wood, and other random things. Despite it being under a tarpaulin, stuff had been rain-damaged, so there’s a pile of stuff to go to to the tip this weekend too.

There are a few things left in that corner, but much less than before, so that’s an achievement!

Re confidential stuff - I called up the company we use at work and they sent a confidential waste bin to me. Helped my mum get rid of like thousands of statements.

then we realised they have an open fire in their house. So could have just burned them.

ffs.

took a bag to the charity shop today.

Sorted a pile of paperwork today and got rid of most of it. Binned a handbag which is ancient and knackered.
Had a look at my summer clothes but couldn't face trying anything on so didn't get far there!

My back and hip are so bad today that I had to ask DH to work from home since I can hardly move and have had to stay in bed all day so far with a heat pad and max painkillers . Am worried about next week school pickups etc . For now luckily he’ll be home tomorrow as well so will do both school runs , take the dog to daycare ,and will have to do the senior school open day by himself which is really annoying since I wanted to of course see it to be able to make decisions in the future . I will have to miss DD charity triathlon on sun too I’m sad about and there’s another school open morning next week etc so this is really bad timing . Only getting some online shopping done so far ,and DH has done a few loads of laundry . He is planning to list stuff tonight though . Might be able to look at a box of kids things or something later we’ll see . Not even up to taking phone calls today feeling tired on painkillers . Praying I’ll improve soon but I’ve looked up the private rheumatologist I’ll need to see in any case . I guess I’ll have to get on with it finally with the increasing pain . I feel like this is my hip but also sciatica . I’ve had arthritis issues for a While so I know I will need to go see one .

Nordic - I hope you can get some improvement soon and the specialist can help.

Threw away 7 bits of DD craft.

108+7=115

later hopefully:
have a car boot full of toys I Had listed to sell but they haven’t. A neighbour has links to lots of local charities and has agreed to find worthy homes for them. Plus a pile of about 15 hangers she wants for a charity shop.

Please can I join you. I’ve got a 4 bed house to declutter. We’ve been here 17 years, and our kids have left home (1 has left an entire over stuffed bedroom behind as she’s working abroad and will possibly/probably be coming back) and we hadn’t to downsize. I’ve got so so so much work to do.

small steps

yesterday I spent the entire day going through photos. I threw away one of the half size fruit boxes full, plus all the paper envelopes and negatives. I will go through them again as there are millions of my eldest when she was a baby, and I don’t need them all

today I’ve gone through a big chest of drawers drawer, and filled up a whole full size fruit crate of rubbish/recycling (letters, journals, notebooks, theatre programmes, football programmes, just loads of stuff that I’m never going to look at again) and a big pile of stuff for the charity shop. It hasn’t really made a dent 😢