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

Living , when he decided to do the EPQ and 4 A- levels I feared he might have taken on too much and it’s been quite a lot but he’s managing . He’s very ambitious in a high pressure environment so I just pray he gets through this process in one piece .

A few toiletries finished and another sheet mask tried , also using up a travel size hotel moisturiser so decluttering a bit in the bathroom tonight as well

My eldest ds told me the house is disgusting and he is fed up with living in pigsty which is a bit of a slap in the face.

Out one pair of socks and five packets of out of date food.

I'm going to get rid of one of the food cupboards and put the things left on the counter into it.

I'm going to spend all of Monday cleaning now 😫 I still spend lots of my time secondary school hunting and feeling exhausted/ in pain with my oedema but I can see I'm going to have refocus on the house now.

The baby toys were eventually picked up. I had a clear out of one kitchen cupboard and listed a few more bits on Vinted.

@IncessantNameChanger that seems unduly harsh, does he pull his own weight about the house? I’ve made my eldest deal with his own laundry after he told me it was a menial task…

one of Dana’s tips is to just look, even when you think you know what’s in there.
just realised a box in a bathroom cupboard has sat there empty for months! Thought it had nit stuff in but no, just the empty box! 🙄
gone now.

out today as well:
3 x Pez sweet holders, the DC never have pez sweets anymore, got them to distract on a road trip years ago.

207+4=211

17 items of dd clothes out today. Plus the 4 things from last week my new count is now 21. I could easily get rid of more of dd clothes but have boxed some things up for when I'm 100% convinced I'm not having more kids.

Not a bad day today, I had a sort out of hair products and sold a couple I got at Christmas but won't use on Vinted, they have been posted today. Also got rid of an old puzzle and about 8 toddler books.

Also gone around the house emptying the bins, I know it doesn't sound like decluttering but my other half seems to go to incredible lengths not to let rubbish leave the house so it was quite a big job!

@IncessantNameChanger I get that from my 15yo sometimes I'll be honest it destroys me for many reasons but no he doesn't consistently help me and neither do the others so I mustn't beat myself up too much. sympathy
got a load of garden waste into bin today which is something

nordicmom I’m sorry to hear you’re in pain, I hope your GP can help as it sounds awful. I’m always impressed with how much you get done, even in pain.

Welcome sheilaaroundthefountain you’ve made a great start, it’s impressive to start with photos, I struggled with mine.

Welcome palmplantcirca it sounds like you’ve made a good start

incessant that sounds hurtful, I hope you told him to pull his weight. Does anyone help you? You have so much on. I’d be inclined to hand your ds a cloth and bottle of flash.

I’ve not done much myself. Mainly sorting out toys and packing more of stbexh’s stuff. I’ve now run out of boxes so need to order more. I also chucked out some toiletries I just won’t use eg stretch mark cream from when I was pregnant 12 years ago, really old toothpaste for toddlers, I can’t remember what else. I also sprayed some weed killer on the patio outside the kitchen but worry I’ll have to do it on all the paths cos I’ll have one nice, clean spot.

@seperatedmum my 18 year old most definitely doesnt clean up after himself. After Easter I made his bed, hovered his floor, picked up his washing off the floor and washed about three loads of his washing. I wont be doing that again. He piles up washing in the sink and then complains I leave my tea bags in tea bag tidy by the kettle. I will spend the hour I use to do on his room loading the dishwasher with his plates. He finishes his a levels in June and then I think he can have some tough love. I have offered him driving lessons, a celebration city break. But hes not interested. I'm not happy with him.

I'm going to clear one of the kitchen counter tops tomorrow and tell him off if he puts anything on it 😂 he is a good kid but he has pissed me off.

@IncessantNameChanger - that is so teenage but also really not on. My stock response to any such remark is "feel free to ............. insert chore of choice" I'd call him into the kitchen every single time he leaves a plate in the sink and make him put it in the dishwasher as you're fed up that he is leaving stuff around contributing to the pigsty effect.

Outs for me - 2 books dropped off at the bookshelf in a local tube station on my way to a party last night (brought a hangover back with me - and a yellow sharps pot as a souvenir as it was a party to celebrate closing the local big vaccine centre - 220, 000 jabs later).

Today I dropped off a bag of presents as I went to see DD at school and swapped violin bows over as hers needs rehairing - another job on my list.

Wow, everyone has done so much! I haven't been posting much since the reboot makes it harder on the laptop to search and write proper posts. But I managed to offload a stack of books and I've got rid of a pair of trousers and a dress I don't want anymore.
@IncessantNameChanger My 17-year-old A-Level child leaves sticky bowls and spoons all over the house, and seems to be hoarding most of the water glasses-they don't make it down to the sink! I know what you mean about waiting until exams are done before laying down the law...

He is a good kid but so delusional! He said he can’t have his mates over but when the 14 year old has his mates over he cleans up the entire house first without being asked. I don’t want to upset him before his A levels but there’s reality slap waiting with his name on! He can’t imagine dealing with his disabled brothers secondary school is all consuming at times.

My main issue is still the kids clothes. I’m not buying any still so that helps.

I only get people to do stuff here with endless monitoring and nagging I can’t leave them to it and expect stuff to get done at least not to my standards ! I have tried , it lead to awful mess in the top floor of my house it was unbelievable and I’ll never forgive DH for it ! My 17 y old has a bunch of chores and I make sure he does them . Some I don’t have to ask him to do as much anymore like he clears up dinner dishes and sticks the machine on then empties it in the morning , he vacuums first floor daily sometimes stairs and ground floor when we ask normally I’d do that in the day then DH again in the evening the dog just managed to make it dirty with bits from the garden on the light coloured tiles all the time even though we clean his feet every time he goes in and out . DS also washes laundry when asked and his job is to do all the dusting once a week but I have to make sure he does it and results are less than perfect but it helps me do I’ll take it . He’s also meant to be cleaning in the kids bathroom but I do it daily in all of them and then DH the shower once a week ( until we get a cleaner ) . He also walks and feeds the dog quite often etc . We are meant to have him cook once a week with my husband so he learns to do that more but some weeks we forget / are too busy . I still need to teach him ironing and sewing before he goes to uni . His room is generally tidy now that I go there daily and check it and get him to then empty his bin , pick up his stuff off the floor etc . He also changes his own bed sheets weekly but I have to give him the sheets and tell him to do it . I hate being the sergeant major but since others in this house care less how clean / tidy it is and I refuse to live in the mess they’d make and the dirt they’d leave and I refuse to be their full time maid that’s what it seems to take . I have started with DD years ago she’s 10 she’s still the worst mess maker leaving everything lying around .

I need to get my younger three doing more jobs so they don’t turn into the eldest

Feel like I’ve achieved a lot this weekend. Yesterday I filed two years worth of bank statements and finished going through the 12-18 months clothes - two more bags to go to the charity shop. Today was mostly spent doing various things round the house, but I made a start on the box of 9-12 months clothes and filled half a bag for the charity shop.

Think I might have to accept that I just can’t get stuff done during the week, and focus on making time at the weekend.

Two eyeshadow pallets gifted to dsis yesterday. I wasn’t going to use them so figured they’d be better going to a new home.

@IncessantNameChanger sympathies sounds like your eldest needs some tough love indeed. I suggest you rebrand it as life lessons 😁😉 I gave my eldest fair warning and said next time I asked him to put his clean washing away and found it still scrumpled in the basket the next day then he would be doing his own washing. After two weeks he was in charge of his own laundry! Valuable preparation for moving to university alongside learning to cook a range of meals and very importantly having to load and unload dishwasher and wash up at least once a week. Never managed to stop him leaving snacks etc under his bed though💁

I'm going to the tip today. We have building works going on next to our house so its impossible to park right outside to load up which has put me off. No excuses today. I will just crack on

My summerhouse needs a final push to be completely empty. Next step is a very thorough clean. It is ply lined, and some of the panels have begun to detach, so they need fixing and then I’m going to paint it. I have some primer and a large tin of Little Green eggshell in daylight for the ceiling, and then I’m planning to use the left over bits of emulsion in the garage to at least prime the walls, thus killing 2 birds with one stone. I don’t really know what paint I should use on ply. I should check, but I so want to use the stuff I have. This is decluttering because a lot of the clutter in the house came out of the summerhouse 2 years ago when it was repurposed as an office, and some of it can go back. Got a feeling that if it’s as lovely as it is in my head, it might get claimed by someone else again..But it was bought ,by me, as a space for me, and I need it!

incessant I hope you managed to get to the dump, 24 hours after reading about your eldest ‘d’s im still angry on your behalf.

I decided to get rid of two Horrible Histories and Shakespeare box sets, each only had nine books instead of ten, so I’ve had gone through every damn bookcase, even looking behind books looking for the missing ones. I find I make most money from collections on Facebook so they won’t be worth as much now. Apart from that I’m irrationally annoyed as I like sets to be complete. So I don’t know whether to take the separate books to a charity shop or whether to wait for the missing ones to turn up. I also found another four childrens books to go and more of stbexh’s to box up.

My main activity has been a bit of a digital declutter. My iPad is close to dying which prompted me to check what was backed up and to make sure I could access them on the I cloud. I ended up deleting several hundred photos, updating my storage settings, and deleting about a thousand emails from my phone.

I failed to keep a track of how many items I've managed to get rid of so I've looked back and counted everything I've sold on Vinted and Facebook then added the items I put to the dump last week and just going to start from there. Drum roll....

25 (that I know of 😂) but gonna start here.

have a similar annoying book story - bought a book 1 of a series I wanted to start with younger DC as couldn’t find it anywhere but had the rest of the series. Decided I must’ve borrowed it from the library the first time round.

now just found it, in a different box of books.

a mixture of disorganisation and living out of boxes because of builders. So I have excuses but it still has irrationally annoyed me that I wasted my money.

anyway, into the charity box with it now.

210+1= 211