Clutter Clearout - Countdown to Christmas

[chubbachub]

@MNHQ im unsure if there is a more appropriate topic for this, feel free to move if you wish.

There are 135 days until Christmas 2022. Christmas feels like a good goal as I know more things will come into the house so i want to use the time until then to have a good clearout.

My house (and mind) is cluttered with toys/mess. It's not unclean, it's just that 3 kids and summer holidays = mess and it's stressing me out. Luckily they are back to school next week but I'll still have a tornado of a toddler roaming about so there will still be plenty of mess.

Earlier today I was thinking about how the last few Christmases and birthdays we have been more minimal with what we bring in to the house but I know there is tons of stuff and toys the kids have outgrown/don't play with anymore that could be donated or sold or just chucked in the bin if it's broken etc.

Anyway I have decided I am going to go on a clearout journey and address different small areas of my house every day until a Christmas and try and get rid of at least 3-5 things per day. That could be literally putting it in the bin, in a donation bag or listing on Facebook etc.

Would anyone like to join me ?
We still plan on keeping it to a minimum regarding what we bring in to the house so I am just hoping to achieve a calmer space around me. I will be reporting back with what I have cleared out to keep me on track.

Areas that need immediate attention

Kids toys in their bedroom
Soft teddy toys
Big cupboard in kitchen which holds bakeware, pots and pans, blenders and such. Shit tip.
Two storage baskets in the bathroom that are full of products, some of which I know are empty.
Bath toys - some need a good clean or to be binned.
Garden/outdoor toys - we have too many scooters/bikes/skateboards due to outgrowing them
Toy box in garden is full of bits of things
Toddlers wardrobe, need to go through and see what she has grown out of that can be donated or sold on Vinted
Sort kids books and see what can be passed down to the younger ones and what can be donated

I'm sure there will be more things I find along the way.

Feel free to join or add your to do list even just to get it out of your mind and down in black and white.

Sorted out the present stash, there was a surprising amount in there for Christmas! And a pair of nice earrings for my Mum so I didn't have to buy anything new.

I've switched to Vinted for clothes, it's been great. Seems a bit cheaper but with more casual listings than eBay and the postage is much easier.

I keep meaning to look up vinted! 👍

@Justkoko
could you store the clothes that don’t fit you up in the loft or somewhere? Otherwise every time you open the wardrobe you are faced with guilt feelings, and feelings of inadequacy because you think you need to lose weight. Believe me, I have actually finally discarded stuff that is never going to fit again and it feels good!

Justkoko

I am the same about clothes but I was ruthless with tops the other day. Put a load on the bed ( re Marie Kondo) and chose half. Got rid of any I had for work as I left that job after a lot of years and new management. I found a YouTube MK t shirt folding technique about a year ago. Slightly longer than other methods but saves lots of drawer space and easy to see at a glance.
Purging underwear today then buying some new in September. I have summer / winter things in a box under the bed x 2. The trouble with the loft is whether you can get it down easily. Wore a dress I hadn’t seen for years last weekend. Just squeezed into it and looked nice with jacket over it. Two people commented on it.😁Decided to keep it. Gradually losing weight.

I was busy out of the house yesterday helping someone so not much done. Cleared a bag of stuff. Put random things into an old perfume box to be dealt with later when full. Put two bag contents into one and packaging can be used/ given to charity shop.
Decluttered fridge.Had random leftovers on Wednesday night for tea.

Morning, I'm working on the kitchen cupboards this morning. The bread maker is on and a batch of granola is in progress in an effort to use things up. I've still got a large stock of lentils to work out what to do with. My family don't really eat them so no idea why I bought so many.

Afternoon - just finished going through my clothes. Did this six months ago so not a huge reduction. I seem to have an awful lot of odd socks and gloves….. Next time I am going to be brave and start in the garage (our dumping ground of doom)!

Kids have got in the way of any decluttering today (they’re here, and they needed entertaining! We went out and now we’re back I’m 😴)

I’m staying here for accountability, though! 😁

I've got about 30 things out of the house using olio, vinted, the charity shop, and the bin. Want to get another 30 out by end of Sept - am tracking 'ins' too to get a true reduction in stuff. Was delighted when the MILs bought the kids a load of "little things"

Have been working at my voluntary job the last few days so not much done.

✅Yesterday decluttered a small piece of wrapping paper and a miniature bottle of gin for BF birthday as her real present is coming down from Scotland with my son next week.

✅Some clothing mended( buttons, new elastic) and ready to go to Ukraine.

✅Some dust bunnies- Cleaned under the wardrobe!

I've just sorted through the school uniform. I've ordered 6 new items but I got rid of about 30 items. Also tidied and reorganised their the wardrobe.

Joining in! I've been slowly decluttering over the last 5 years but this year have really upped my game!

We've got a few things to take to the charity shop this afternoon and a friend is having some kitchenware for her new home but I'm hanging on to it until she moves in.

I find myself spending 5 minutes or so a day just putting things back where they belong and seeing if I can find an item or two to go.

We used to sell things on Facebook marketplace, but to be honest I found it stressful when people didn't turn up when expected and prefer to donate because of this.

Everything leaving today! I already feel lighter

That's a brilliant pile Catlady

I've been making things to use up the fabric stash. A good bit of recycling!

Much to my surprise DH joined in today. He's wiped 3 old phones and one old tablet for disposal.

Oooo me, I so need this. I started with the garage this weekend and did two dump runs of cardboard, soil & random broken electronic crap, so need to keep the momentum going once school goes back on Sept 5th!

Excellent pile @torthecatlady

Well done to those clearing out! Keep going!

The weekend got the best of me and I haven't cleared out much but I did managed to list some things on vinted and have made around £20 in sales so that is a bonus.

I also managed to start an actual written down list of Christmas ideas for my kids. I feel like personally clutter of my mind is a big issue too. So writing down is like clearing it out of my mind and tidying up a bit.

Tomorrow I have school run then toddler group with dd, then whilst she naps in the afternoon I am going to town on the boys toys.

Wish me luck.

Started a new charity shop pile this morning...

A retractable washing line (one of my good ideas that never materialised) and a make up bag that I had free when I bought some cosmetics.

Well done to those that are achieving great things! I still keep looking at my charity shop donations a week later🙈 This week they will be gone.....

@Tilda77 sometimes I find it helpful to put them in the car, then I feel annoyed if I drive around with them in there for too long as it uses more fuel, thus encouraging me to drop them off sooner! Or are you call a local charity to pick them up?

I've driven round with them in the car in the past too! We've had house guests for 4 months and they fly home this week. The schools go back next week so my clutter countdown to Christmas...and beyond can officially start!

I've just bagged up all the school uniforms that my kids are out of and I'm taking them tomorrow to a school uniform bank event being hosted by a local charity so that's cleared 2 big drawer of un-used stuff and hopefully helping other people in the process

Really interesting thread. We live in a small overcrowded house so already have to be quite ruthless, although because of size the house is still extremely cluttered. However I really relate to the clothing situation. Over last 7 years I've been everything from a 10-20 and have a lot of clothes in various sizes. I've already got rid of all my size 10s and a fair amount of 12s but really need to do more. I'm currently hovering between a 16-18 and am slowly losing. I'm hesitant to get rid of more clothes

Urgh posted too soon...damn phone.

Hesitant because when I lose weight I won't be able to afford to replace them.

Also books, I know they should all go as I only really read on Kindle, but just don't want to

Yep I will join as actually feeling quite ill with the stress of our house right now.

Teens are clutter freaks.
OH is horrendous for it.
I've even taken it upon myself to sort his pension paper work, bank statements and general shite filing system out.

Been round DD's room and cleared a load of crap from there.

Tomorrow, I'm in the garage and clearing more crap.

OH is older than me and on the balance of probability, will die before me. So, I'm doing myself a favour now and minimising junk ( I think !)

I just cant deal with clutter !

I seem to clear out more than I bring in but can't get the house tidy. I don't have a loft space or garage which probably doesn't help.