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

Did well here yesterday. A large slipper chair, a big box of duplo, huge bag of megabloks and an easel out. Acquired a mannequin but with the purpose of using it to sell clothes so hopefully more out in the long term.

Hi from a very occasional poster- think I last posted in 2021 possibly under another username. I read the thread whenever I reach a decluttering impasse and it helps.

Today-
112 old takeaway tubs. DH arguing that they are "useful". They are. But 20 is enough.
30 items in rag bag inc threadbare socks and holey pants.

I struggle with getting stuff out. I'll take it to the tip but will wait till I'm passing . . . I'll put it on free cycle on a weekend when I have no other plans and can be around to sort pickup . . . I'll take it to the charity shop when I have "enough".

Our house is tidy on the surface but all the cupboards are full of might be usefuls. Now we have two kids and WFH we have lost our dumping room. A slob comes clean is helping. I am aiming for 1,000 outs this year. 672 so far but that includes the takeaway containers and three sizes of baby clothes. Not sure whether I'll make the target!

Thank you for the welcome Wildblue and Zebracat! Today I have been trying to figure out some priorities. If I can declutter the garage then that gives me some room to move things around a bit. I've also been thinking of how to make some of my stuff more portable, storable. I have all these baby clothes which have survived multiple purges over the years. They are not anything anyone else could particularly use, or that you couldn't pick up for 50p from a charity shop, but they are the ones that whenever I was handing on a bag of clothes to a friend or a bin liner full to a charity shop, I always held back, perhaps because the pattern of the fabric reminded me of some moment in the kids lives. Of course just keeping them in a box, they are going musty and given my eldest is 12 I'm not hanging onto them for grandchildren or anything. I was thinking of trying to find someone, a quilter perhaps?, to make something from them that I could keep and use. I wish I had the skill myself, but I have to be realistic, I don't. Has anyone tried anything like this?

Last weeks decluttering:

• 1 bag of previously sorted closed to charity bank


• Made a start on the box of 6-9 months baby clothes and have half a bag of clothes to go.

Still plodding on… Hard to be motivated in this heat!

Oh bless with the baby clothes @Thewolvesarerunningagain . My best friend who died a few years ago, used to make memory quilts for people, from clothes. She swore they were straightforward, she used to cut strips about 3 inches wide and as long as the item, and machine sew together with plain sheets as backing. With baby clothes, it would probably be better to use squares. I have no sewing ability at all, but reckon even I could manage this with a machine.. Don’t throw them, keep them but vacuum pack, they obviously mean a lot to you. We are allowed to keep stuff for sentimental reasons !

Thanks Zebracat. Memory quilt! that's the very idea and I didn't know the name for it! :-) I've had a google but it looks like I'd need to get a large one made, and that would come in around £150-300. I think I may have to pop to the library for a book and see if I can 'upskill', or sell a lot more things on Facebook! I have so far only managed to do one listing.

another accidental declutter for me, having quite a bad week in the heat finally got eldest to help me get suitcases out for younger 2, told him to pass me the nearest boxes, 1 was a few badly stored why? non-sentimental baby items put in the clothes recycling 2 was empty why? so 2 boxes also recycled. slightly satisfying I suppose

I'm interested in a memory quilt and think I know of someone who makes them 👍🏽

Memory quilts would quite easy with a machine ( I quilt) iron on stabilise on the back of Jersey things and off you go!

I'm at another standstill as feeling stressed. But I'm really noticing that just by buying nothing new you can lightly declutter naturally as things fall apart or get out grown.

I have tried not to buy much for my dd this year and just doing that and ragging ruined things / getting rid of outgrown things and I have halved her clothes.

I have bought my eldest school child new shoes so I'm again only buying what they need, as its needed. Not doing big uniform shops this year

had a bit of a hairy moment where I had to race into work to check an essential item hadn't been decluttered I was foreseeing a hot afternoon going through clinical waste bags with PPE on thankfully it was there just a misunderstanding. going into shed soon so I'll do more there

More tired socks into ragbag along with a pair of my pyjamas and a very well worn hoodie of mine. Throw blanket and few kids t shirts to start the next rag bag. Too hot to do much more here

I nail polish, empty perfume bottles and a plastic toothbrush case. Swapped my nail polishes into a bigger box, which means the emery booards and remover don’t sit on top.

14 books to the charity shop
34 CDs
54 sundry items to the tip (fabric, metal, plastic)
9 books to Ziffit - need to take them to the drop off place
Cleared out my Christmas wrapping box and threw lots of bits of saved paper too small for anything away

All progress. Every time I think I've run out of areas to declutter I spot another corner and it's worse than I'd remembered.

DP had just been to the dump as we had lots of cardboard from new garden furniture. He also took a bin bag of old clothes for textile recycling, the old garden chairs, a few batteries and a load of plastic bags/packaging. It's too hot to do much else

Not really keeping up with this thread, movers come 2 weeks tomorrow, freaking out…

Severall old venetian blinds dismantled and recyclable components put aside to take to centre when we next have enough to justify the fuel cost 😱😩
Another bag of books\DVDs ready for the charity shop. Lots of outgrown secondary uniform ready to be dropped in to school later in the week.

Feeling sad and depressed here 😢! Our Finland trip got cancelled for the 4 th time due to DH getting covid despite his 3 vaccinations . It was a week ago now. He’s feeling somewhat better and the tests are nearly clear but there’s still something there so keeping a distance . So far no one else has gotten it luckily .
3 times we’ve wasted money on this same villa and I feel cursed . Our flights are flexible and we’ve moved them to next feb halfterm for now and my parents will use the villa for a few days this time .It’s amazing we actually did make it there in April so I have seen my family not too long ago at least . We will try to book something else for august but I’m not feeling hopeful at all . I just feel like what ever we do it’ll be ruined .
Garden landscaping progressing ,we’ve gone through the plant lists etc . Garage is being organised bit by bit too , just need the shed and to sell the motorcycle I keep on nagging DH about so once he’s all better hopefully he can get on with it finally . Other active organising is halted we were super busy at the end of term 1/2 weeks ago with school stuff , appointments and getting ready for the trip we now missed plus I was still getting better from what ever illness I had in June . Have been getting some admin done .We’ve been sorting things out for the oct trip to Mexico and I’ve managed to book DD belated birthday party for the fall among other things so it’s all happening but I feel stuck mentally and physically now and we have to finish booking things for this summer before any other stuff can happen . We are keeping on top of the cleaning ,laundry etc and I’m always getting rid of stuff though .
Thankfully MIL has taken the kids for nearly a week and they’re having a great time at hers by the sea and there’s even a pool next door at aunties house so they’re having a holiday of sorts before DS course to do with the subject he wants to study starts .
Both kids got excellent reports ( DS 4 A in his predicted grades on top of his A in his EPQ earlier ) , he also passed his recent driving theory test on the first go ,and we just found out that DD won her division and will get a medal in the fall in her sports activity so there’s been good news too . DS has visited 4/6 of his possible universities . More in the fall.
Bits and pieces going out lately :
-6 books to charity ( a few were paperbacks with annoying small print i got on kindle now )
-DS second too small PE shirt ( he’s got one in the right size and will just have to go get another one from the school shop if he needs to
-DH charity running company T-shirt to rags ( -he kept the “ finisher “one hell use at the gym)
-5 pairs of old pants ,all to rags
-DD small raincoat
-2 pairs of my new terry legging both to charity shop
-old stationary
-pile of paper both from DD desk drawers I cleared out while she’s at MIL to bin and recycling
-broken storage box lid to dump
-too small Heelys shoes
-fishy dog treats to food bank
-peanut butter for dogs and a lick mat we’ll have no use for from our dogs monthly treat and toy subscription ( he destroys toys at a steady pace still)
-a pile of magazines and newspapers to recycling

once again I didn’t mean to highlight …

a few more I forgot :
-3 DD engineering boxes used up
-10 pairs of mostly old school socks
-1 DH holey long sleeved T- shirt
-1 pair of DS small PE shorts
-2 DS old T-shirts
-5 pairs of old pants all to rags bank
-DD small bathrobe to charity

ended up culling paperwork-shredded a whole bags worth- while collating my CPD yesterday, also made me realize that I had brownies/guides paperwork here which had gone walkies and been printed again 😳must store these kind of things better.

Bag dropped to charity shop this morning. DD paid some cash into her savings account so that's not lying around either. Binned a dried up pen.

Ziffit parcel sorted and I finally got a bag of old meds to the GP - stuff the pharmacy wouldn't take.

Broken bike pump gone. (Also some inner tubes, but those have been replaced so not counting!)

40 magazines put on freecycle but no interest so gone in the recycling.

had to throw the whole bathroom bin out coz it was rusting everywhere but I'll have to replace it. no takers for DS's great value uniform bundle yet 🥺 I couldn't even give a few pairs of trousers away just got time wasters so I've put them all together but nothing yet

That’s such a shame about your Finland trip @Nordicmom 😞

Last week’s decluttering: two previously sorted bags of clothes to the charity bank, a bag of old makeup (previously sorted) to recycling at Superdrug, and a pair of DD’s leggings to the textile recycling bag after a hole developed in one knee.

I also returned a dress I’d ordered online to Next as it didn’t fit properly, and tidied the top of the chest of drawers in DD’s room - various small toys put away, homes found for a few stones and other treasures, and made space to put her new jewellery box on there (she got it in April!).

Nothing done so far this week - it’s been too hot!

I also forgot about ;
-a bit stack of DH mail he finally opened and dealt with ,it mainly went into recycling
-1 manky dog toy