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

Yeah , DH managed to drop off the two big boxes of charity shop stuff earlier between kids activities and appointments. I called to make sure they were open and taking donations since last week I didn’t get through and the boys went there for nothing carrying the load when it was about to close if open and then it wasn’t. This one is hopefully a good one since so far they’re happy to take all our stuff not just some categories and always seem grateful for it and I’m happy with the good cause too . A digital detox here ,DD had a riding lesson earlier so has been out but I’ve taken her off the electronics downstairs now and told her to finish a sticker book from her collection while listening music in her room for a change . We went through a little basket in her shelf . Rehomed colouring books to art drawer downstairs and she found two others that can go as well . Later I’ll get DH to look through and declutter hopefully at least most of the contents of the motorcycle box now that the bike is gone . Put away some of my own laundry and found a few things with holes to go to the ragbank . Did all my deliveries except a huge box of storage boxes yesterday so a lot of packaging going and we’ll check those boxes today and will get rid of the big cardboard box they came in . Now sure if DH will do dump this weekend . Maybe since next two weekends we’ll hopefully be away . I managed to progress with the packing a bit last night so I should be able to pack nearly all of DD clothes .they’re all out ready to go now and DH clothes are nearly all already packed . Trying to be positive about the whole thing but worried since the pain in my right hip is bad so I can’t see how I’ll do a 11 h night flight …
out today so far :
-1 of my holey pyjama tops
-2 broken pants both to rags
-3 DD sticker and activity books
-lots of cardboard and some magazines and newspapers to recycling

Welcome @EducatingArti !
Did you shave your own head for the charity @LivingInaBuildingSite ? That’s amazing , you are much braver than me doing it if so !
We have donated / tossed our huge cd and dvd collections years ago already . I think I have the kids school Christmas and concert ones and a few Finnish cds like Christmas ones but I checked everything I might ever want to watch / listen to or the kids would was available elsewhere and they were never used anymore so pointless clutter for us at this point . I do like books and magazines / newspapers still and do buy some . I get about half of my books on kindle i’d say abd we all have them. I like holding a physical book /newspaper and not just doing everything on a devise . Im not attached to my books through , once I’ve read them they go to charity unless someone else here wants to read them and we cull kids collections regularly too but we still have quite a lot that we haven’t read or kids wanted to keep . I’m not forcing them to throw out everything if they think they will read it again or something is otherwise special . As I keep on telling them I’m just getting rid of what nobody is using / needs from taking up space pointlessly and maybe someone else can use it instead / it can made into something else .

DH sorted out stuff in the garage to get his dump load ready for tomorrow .in order to do that he put all the bikes outside and now without the motorcycle there it looked so nice and empty except for the cardboard boxes that are going tomorrow . We really need to get sheds up for the bikes and mowers etc but can’t until the landscaper is in action . Hoping that’ll happen in September . When we moved in we put in nice looking matching cabinets and sets of drawers for tools etc plus big shelves in between all DH machinery . He’s put up some shelves on walls in a few places and now he’s planning to put up hooks over the garage door for long items like roof racks so we’ll get them off from top of a cupboard so it has all the potential to be tidy just needs more work and those sheds grrrr.
He is getting rid of nearly all remaining motorcycle gear as well so another roughly 20 items like boots and bags , gloves etc out of there . DD gave me 3 cds ; 2 musical and 1 story cd set that she doesn’t listen anymore but they’re scratched so will have to go to the dump rather than charity . I think she’s also using up another engineering craft box with DH as we speak . All progress so happy about that although with the heat and aching everywhere I feel useless not getting anything done myself really so it’s lucky DH is !

-20 items of motorcycle gear ; boots , bags , gloves etc
-3 kids cds
-1 kids engineering box used up

I've had a very slow day but with some sorting and tidying. Managed to throw away 6 tiny tubes of dried up super glue!
Oh and also some packaging and a clothes catalogue.
Doe anyone else find keeping up with the flow of paper and packaging coming into the home really tedious and annoying?

Feeling super nauseous tonight like last night so don’t dare to move from my bed hence nothing much getting done by me but I’m happy about the decluttered items and what went to charity shop today and will go to dump tomorrow . We found a few more items, one quite large ; our previous car’s roof racks. I don’t know why DH had kept them but tomorrow they’re going to dump reuse area or if there isn’t one atm then to the metal collection . So to add to my list today :
-1 old car roof rack to metal collection or reuse
-1 small kids rash vest to rags
-1 pair of DS worn out basketball shoes
-1 DD old swimming costume
-1 more face sheet mask used up from my stash
-1 faded dog bed cover
-1 pair of DS broken sunglasses

Today’s decluttering: One pair of DD’s leggings moved to the too-small clothes bag, and one unused bubble mixture bottle given to a friend’s toddler when we met in the park today.

Welcome educatingarti. I’m sorry you E had such a bad few months with leaks and subsidence etc. Thanks for the link, I hadn’t heard of Prject 333 but I’m sure I put on so much weight during Covid that I only fit into 33 items of clothing and I refuse to buy more. Recently I had a date night in an expensive restaurant and I had to wear a shrug over my favourite dress because it had about 6 inches of zip that wouldn’t do up. I definitely need to declutter the weight.

Ive said before that I divide my mess into everyday clutter - stuff like post, recycling, old batteries that should be dealt with every week rather than allowed to pile up - and more long term clutter. This is the stuff I have forgotten I owned or the huge projects like photographs, electronics, school books.

Well I popped a few of dcs clothes into charity shop and rags bags this week and realised dcs clothes now just count as everyday clutter. Their wardrobes are minimal and we no longer have 30 pairs of socks for each child, it’s more like a dozen. The only real annoyance I have is school uniform as both schools have vast uniform lists of clothes, like a house t shirt and sports socks and they never wear either. And both uniforms are so similar (even though they’re at different schools) that I have been known to accidentally put dd2 in dd1s netball skirt and logod trousers and no one’s noticed! Anyway dd2 starts a new school in September and hopefully I won’t be mixing up their PE kits again and it’ll be easier to organise.

Anyway my decluttering has slowed down a bit as we’ve had a few days out but I think this week I’ll focus on the playroom. Dd2 wants it to be more of a grownup space where she can entertain her friends but first we have piles and piles of playmobil and Lego to tidy.

Today's out:
💖 two DVD's
💖 a pyjama top I don't like
💖 one pair of baby leggings and matching hat
💖 ancient motorbike gloves which are falling apart inside

Sorry I’m not very regular in all this. I am struggling with mobility at present, so some days I just can’t.
But todays big out was a sofa I bought 10 years ago in the 5 minutes when I thought I liked orange. I tried to clean it and actually brought all the inside dirt to the surface and there it was, fitting perfectly in the space it was bought for, a filthy orange oversized dog bed. So pleased to have it out of there. And with it to the dump went an old glass garden table. Never worked in the space.
I’ve just ordered some vacuum packs, but I’m in 2 minds. They are for spare bedding, but I don’t know if I will need that bedding again. Maybe I should return the vacuum packs and send it to the charity shop. It’s for single beds and I have only 1 , a day bed, so it has bedding on it but is not used often. So what should I do?

Managed some more decluttering today - sorted through DD’s underwear drawer and took everything that was too small out (but I’m not sure what to do with them - don’t think charity shops would accept underwear but it feels wasteful to just put them in the rag bag).

I also did some more of DD’s baby clothes and have a bag to go to the charity shop and a few items to keep.

@stealthninjamum I like your description of everyday clutter and long term clutter - that really resonates with me. I suppose today I have done a bit of both - the underwear being an everyday declutter (removing too small clothes) and the baby clothes being a long term declutter (as the baby is now 7 years old!).

Yesterday DH took a carload to the dump and also the remaining food bank items when he did a food shop . Together with the motorcycle sold on Friday , charity shop box loads taken on Saturday and the carload to dump plus the foodbank items we’ve gotten a whole lot out of here in the last few days so happy about that . Besides the usual cleaning I’ve been packing for our trip also folded the clean laundry mountain and we had a cull of some of DH T- shirts and lots of socks and some pants also found more too small kids clothes that will go to charity shop as I was packing .
We finally remembered to wash a stained arm chair cover and DH reports it’s now clean so I hope he’s correct . I do have a spare cover too…
-10 DH T-shirts
-1 DD stained t-shirt
-1 DD shirt with a hole
-1 DD old sweatshirt
-3 pairs of pants
-18 pairs of socks all to clothes and rag bank
-1 pair of DS small trousers
-1 pair of DD small trousers
-1 pair of DD small shorts
1 DD lovely small dress all to charity shop

Thanks ellieq it’s a great feeling to know that so much of what I do is every day decluttering. But it is making it hard to declutter the long term stuff as that’s really hidden in cupboards and I need to spend time going through it.

Anyway today I did a small bit of the playroom. I found bits of a game that I advertised on Facebook sales. I also readvertised a couple of toys that had a no show in lockdown so that’s at least a year and a half they’ve been on top of the furniture.

In the kitchen I threw out an old craft project, face mask, and a bottle of dried peas that were used as a behaviour jar about six years ago

Zebra the most you need for that daybed is two sets of bedding, one on and one in the wash/spare. You're never going to need more than that if it's not in regular use.

Today's out:
💚 DVD
💚 Stained pair of white jeans that's too small in the ankle anyway
💚 Top made of scratchy fabric
💚 Dress that isn't the right colour for me

I’ve been packing tonight although nauseous again but atleast one bag now full and others on the go . I’ve cancelled my earlier plans for tomorrow so I’ll get things done here hopefully but will go to see a movie with DH in the evening instead nearby . I need to get out of here to do something else. We’ll have a day off builders too they’ll come to paint downstairs loo ceiling on Wed then FX that’s dealt with . There’s enough other issues to sort out when we get back . I’d love if one was done with . No plans for kids either since I thought I’d be out but they can go do a sport if not raining . I’m looking forward to cooler weather for sure ! DH has been doing admin tonight and made DD mouthguard so that’s off my list thankfully . He also managed to upgrade his and kids flights for much less than my tickets was earlier so now we can be all more comfortable on the long night flight and they’ll be happy to hear that in the morning !
While digging for stuff to pack I run into a bunch of now too small bearly used sports kit in DD wardrobe so they’ll mostly go to charity shop and one to clothes bank . Not much but better than nothing !
Out today :
-1 pair of DD small sweatpants
-1 DD sweatshirt
-2 DD leggings
-3 tops
-1 pair of shorts
-1 tennis skirt all to charity shop or clothes bank
Also trying on a pair of her shoes tomorrow that are probably too small and are unused so will then go to charity box as well .

Bag of pants of dds has been sent to nursery for spares. She’s outgrown them and they said they could use spares.

ds broke his Spider-Man noisy web blaster toy (thank god) so that’s been binned. Broken beyond repair.

a few bits of my clothing have gone in charity bag.

have ear marked beach mats to be binned at the end of the summer as they’re falling apart.

Remembered last night some old favourite clothes I’d stored “ just incase “ in the attic separately in a box so got DH to bring them down this morning and off they go to the dump clothes bank since they’re worn out . I couldn’t quite let go in our last move but I DON’T NEED THEM ! Feels good to be finally able to decide this . Also went through our travel medicine stash and found two old products after April when we last went somewhere. Hoping I’ll add to this as I pack but for now ;
-2 of my old well worn dresses
-2 of my old well worn wool ponchos all to clothes bank at the dump
-2 old medicines

@WildBlueAndDitzy you are right. The rest is going! Thanks.

Had a great morning with dc and we donated some my little ponies, happy land characters, books, chucked out papers and broken toys. I also donated a toothbrush holder / jar and we recycled a load of papers and over a hundred sainsburys lego cards! So my new total is 2271 items out this year.

I have already taken them to a charity shop. Some of them were in a cardboard box which I also took to be recycled so there’s a large new space on the playroom floor.

Struggling with motivation here. I do love the separation of stuff into every day clutter and other clutter. Will get on with taking rubbish and recycling out which deals with some every day stuff at least!

Back to this after about a two month break.
Life[well and death sadly] happened.
Never been to so many funerals in the summer ever.

Been tackling bed linen amongst other things.
I have many people come to stay, on and off, and it needed a complete sort through.
I have kept some just ok stuff, but there is a limit when most of the bedding is used for guests.

I have been decluttering slowly for more than 18 months.
Now beginning to see the wood for the trees.
Enough so that even a couple of old chests of drawers are likely to be, well i dont know what yet exactly, but removed from the house anyway.

@lightand sorry to hear that.
I've been absent for a while too-it's been too hot and have had some time away. Managed to get a couple of life admin things sorted and another underway.
Dropped off a big bag of toys at a charity toy shop today. Yesterday, I got rid of lots of blister packs from my tablets in the recycling at Superdrug.

@lightand I’m sorry about your losses over the summer .
I’ve been forging on with packing and dealing with deliveries etc while trying to maintain some order at the same time since chaos and mess gets to me . I haven’t done my daily cleaning or admin and we’re going out to movies tonight. I’ll deal with those later now I just need to feel more ready for the trip rest can wait . Kids went rollerblading so they’ve been out . Cooler weather is making me feel so much better and the garden getting some water is great. We’ve tried on a bunch clothes and shoes but other than a pair of unused DD trainers going to charity I am keeping these summer clothes to wear until we’ve done the Oct half term Mexico trip as well . After that might have a few more outs although lots of these might fit well into the next year. We are planning on Vietnam maybe next April so could wear them there too . Dumping some old dog towels though and possibly another dog bed cover. I’ll see if it’ll come out looking nicer after wash first . Kids old moisturiser is going too ,we use another one so no need for this one . Might have some old after sun cream etc in their toiletries box in linen cupboard so will need to check that later .
out :
-10 old different sized dog towels ( washed with Dettol so they can go to rag bank )
-1 pair of DD small unused trainers to charity shop
-1 old kids moisturiser

I’m planning a declutter day today. Well this afternoon.

im on a study day today as have online classes this morning. Then this afternoon is free. Ish. Might do more study but have set aside a couple of hours to do some weeding out of the kids toys and books.

have a few things of mine I can probably sell on eBay.