Decluttering Thread 3 - Decluttering on bit at a time

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Just realised we filled up Thread 2 without a way to link to this one, can’t see that anyone else has started one?

I did drop back the borrowed boots, go me!

didn’t tackle the umbrella pot/dumping ground though

A little bit of decluttering done earlier in the week - went through the Box of Paperwork and filed a couple of bank statements plus got rid of some of paperwork I didn’t need to keep. It’s still overflowing, though! I also got rid of one book (How to talk so little kids will listen) but may replace it with the follow up book for age 7+, as it was useful.

Been thinking about a decluttering strategy for the new year and will post about it later.

I’ve just discovered a laundry chute in the air bnb we’re staying in. Love it.

when I packed to come away I purposely packed things that maybe I wasn’t that keen on or that I hadn’t worn for a while. In the thought that I’d have to wear them. And see what they were like. This contributed to the clothing bag.

for the dc I packed their “old” summer clothes. And we’ve also ditched some of these in favour of new stuff.

I have used up a bunch of my travel minis too - so The bags are getting lighter. I didn’t pack shampoo or shower gel or a big toothpaste. Bought that here so will use up as we go. Same with sunscreen. Bought a huge bottle of factor 50 for all of us to use. Almost half gone now.

decluttered the dcs slime today too. It has gone all wierd. And I hate it

Took the kids out yesterday for some family activities and a meal so nothing extra done then except a bit of housework . Todays been weekly cleaning , exam prep and one big puzzle finished by DS , books by me and DH ( DH will want to read my one though I gave it to DS who read it already so it’s not going ) , driving test practise and Lego building etc before we go away to see MIL and DH other relatives for the weekend since she was away abroad for Christmas. There’ll be some ins but also a bunch of outs . As I said I don’t mind presents 2 times a year it’s all the old crap that no one uses that i want gone . My years worth of efforts are paying off and this house is so much better than the previous ones . Soon we’ll have the sheds too so gardening stuff and bikes can be put in them from the garage where DH is building his car . Not much mess so far he’s storing the parts on big rack he emptied and engine and gearbox under tables . Everything was bagged up and labeled so neatly for him by the factory so it’s easy for him to maintain order .
I need to work more on the attic and empty the dining room in the new year . January etc will be busy though and I should start all my doctors appointments. Little by little then and maintaining the cleaning and looking after our new house and the areas I’ve organised . It’s daily work but has to be or it gets worse quickly . One household job done ; the replacement kitchen bin arrived , waiting for the fridge fruit drawer that was shattered and DH still needs to find and order the replacement toilet seat .
A few more outs :
-3 new Christmas ornaments that didn’t look as nice in real life to charity
-1 ill fitting but brand new trench coat to sell , I just found a good one finally
-1 DD used up engineering kit
-a pile of paper from my drawers to recycling -1 sheet mask used up didn’t like it so
-4 more sheet masks to charity
-1 DS finished puzzle to charity
-1 unlabelled random T- shirt from school trip
-4 pairs of DD old pants
-3 pairs DD old socks
-1 pair of discoloured T-shirt
-1 stained pyjama top
-3 more pants
-1 old DS sweatpants
-1 old DS T-shirt
-5 pairs of random socks from clean laundry all to rag bank ( I’ve posted about a few other bits of unlabelled ski trip clothing and no one cared so this Tshirt is just going )
-1 kids old shower gel
-1 bath bomb used up
-1 DH finished book
-1 old moon ball
-1 garment bag and 2 hangers
-1 shattered kitchen bin ( not sure if I listed this already although tried to check where I’d gotten to on my list )

More next week now need to do my bed and pack for tomorrow !

This thread has been really helpful to keep me focused this year, I have managed 2,084 outs, lots of outgrown kids clothes but lots of general clutter too including 120 old takeaway boxes. I have managed fine with just 30 this year!

The house is still full but the piles of things in corners of rooms are largely gone.

I will be here still next year and aiming for 1,000 outs since a lot of the easy stuff has now gone.

Also, I have a laundry sink and it is very handy!

jellycat that’s amazing! It must be good to actually see progress.

I got rid of 2494 things but as I was counting that included small things like papers. The house looks a mess because dd2s had really poor mental health this year so I haven’t really focused much on housework. I feel so knackered from everything but need to focus on the house. I have promised myself new carpets but only if I finish decluttering the playroom as I see no point moving stuff into another room that we no longer use anyway, just to move it back.

Happy New Year everyone, and congratulations to all of us for getting decluttering done! My total for the year is 421 items, which is a lot less than some of you, but I keep telling myself that it’s better than nothing!

I've been planning to have a low/ no-spend January to reduce the amount of stuff coming into the house, but keeping finding myself coming up with exceptions 🙄 These are my resolutions so far:

• No new clothes for me unless I am replacing something, in which case the old item needs to go. So I need new jeans, but when I get them, my worn-out pair has to go out.
• No new clothes for DD unless it replaces something she has grown out of/ is worn out. She needs a new swimsuit as the elastics are going, but the old one must go out.
• No new books, apart from my monthly book subscription. I have many unread books on the shelves and got several new books for Xmas.
• No new make-up - I hardly wear it, and have enough to cover the basics.
• No new toiletries unless replacing something I have used up.
• No household stuff unless replacing something. We need some new pans, and are planning to splash out and get some good quality ones that should last for years.

I will also continue decluttering. I feel I’m very much the tortoise in this race, but I’m getting there.

Happy new year to you all.
I didn't count my outs. We're currently doing well on the food decluttering. Unfortunately, I now have some excess weight to declutter!
I am on board for a low spend January but we do have DD's birthday later in the month.
I have a few appointments this week but want to go through the food cupboards and freezer so we can keep food spending low at least for a few weeks. Also, want to sort out the paperwork which has built up in the letter rack.

Happy New Year all.

I haven’t got much out in the last few weeks but I’m happy that not too much tat came in, really stuck to my guns on cutting back on presents for the DC this year, combined with PIL not being here & giving the DC money, I don’t feel as overwhelmed with crap as I usually do post Christmas.

I have a few weeks off work coming up as I change jobs so I’m hoping to make a difference around the house.
once I start my new full time job I think everything will end up in chaos so I need to reduce the crap beforehand.

ellieq you may feel like a tortoise but the tortoise won the race! I can remember years ago you couldn’t get rid of baby clothes, well now you have. You have decluttered so much stuff that you thought you wouldn’t and I think, like many of us, homeschooling was so traumatic it set us all back a bit. I think your resolutions all sound very sensible and I think I’ll borrow them.

Anyway I went through dd1s wardrobe yesterday and decluttered another ten items of clothing so I’ve decluttered 2500 items. But I still have lots to go.

The priority for 2023 is to finish the playroom and the Room of Doom. Given where I started with a Room of Doom with no visible carpet (on the very first thread) I’m maybe 90% of the way through it. I want the playroom to be finished by mid February in time for my new carpet.

Happy New Year!

Everybody has been making so much progress.

I need to get back to posting at least weekly on here, as it really helps keep me on track. I seem to find it difficult to make progress on more than one front at a time. In 2022 my main decluttering successes were that I sold a lot of stuff on eBay, lost 3 stones in weight and did a lot of tidying up in the garden. However, the house doesn’t look much better.

At the beginning of October I decided to concentrate my efforts on the dining room and our bedroom, trying to get rid of the piles of stuff that are everywhere. I have just started on this in earnest in the past few days, and have made some visible progress already. Some things have been boxed up and moved to the spare room. I have also identified stuff that DP needs to go through.

@stealthninjamum Good luck with clearing stuff for the new carpet. I am still traumatised from getting new carpets in 2020 and some of the piles of stuff, especially in the dining room, date back to this time. It got moved out temporarily and was not sorted out and put away when it was moved back afterwards.

Happy new year. I'm going to carry on but I'm starting to think there's something wrong with the amount of migraines and fatigue I'm suffering so that's slowing me down until I get a GP appointment

@EllieQ funny you said

• No new books, apart from my monthly book subscription. I have many unread books on the shelves and got several new books for Xmas.

I normally just get library books but I'm getting a magazine on subscription and I'm sure I'm no longer paying for it and neither is STBXH they do build up so when they realise their mistake I won't renew, they're pretty hard to deal with, I've tried to "login to my subscription" which is impossible
anyway.......

I've sold 2 items on Vinted and chucked out a load of junk mail that had accumulated in the hall.

I was on the 2022 thread on and off early in the year. Unfortunately work became overwhelming and I had no energy in the evenings to do anything. We had a big clear out (mainly moving stuff into the garage) before decorating and I shredded masses of paperwork - but we still have a lot of stuff in the garage which needs to be gone through. We are hoping to only bring back indoors the stuff we really need.

Today I have done a bit of food decluttering but that is all. Tomorrow I will brave the garage and bring in some necessary items, and try to get rid of an equal amount of stuff.

Today I decluttered the Christmas cards. It's a start!

My decluttering goals:

• no new clothes unless needed (for me at least)
• use up all toiletries before buying new
• everything must have a purpose.

I’ve started a souvineer bag whilst we’ve been away. So far I’ve picked up some sparkly kiwi bird Christmas tree ornaments and a wooden kiwi for our cabinet. Clutter but memories. So it’s ok.

when we get home we will have to go into the loft to put suitecases away so will get DH to bring the Christmas things down so I can pack away the kiwis. But will have a rummage through and get rid of some things while I’m at it.

Finished a body moisturiser today. So that’s gone. Will buy new but small one for the remainder of the trip to stop my legs going scaly like a lizard.

I didn’t count items in 2022 but I’m aiming for 2023 in 2023. So far I’ve managed 35.

The house feels very cluttered after Christmas, and two of my DCs had birthdays in October so we’ve seen a lot of ins recently. I’d like to say that’ll be the end of it but the other DC has a birthday in 4 weeks 😬He’ll only be three so I’m hoping I can whisk some of his presents away to the present stash before he notices… Does that make me a terrible mum? Possibly. But they have way too many toys and books already…

Today is my last day before I go back to work, so I’m determined to find a few bits to go. We need to take down a blind that won’t be replaced, and I think the books (adult and kids) could do with another pass through.

I organised the food cupboards yesterday so I now know what we have. I need to get DP and DD on board with meal planning and not leave it all to me. Need to factor in healthy lunches for DP and myself so he doesn't eat crisps.
Finished two samples sizes of moisturiser and body lotion yesterday.

I will try and count items again this year, kept losing count last year.

item 1 is a cloth gift bag with stains that I never liked anyway and keeps being put away with Christmas stuff.

1 down, 2022 to go!

Thanks @stealthninjamum for your kind comments. Looking back, it has been a tough few years - my mum died in 2019, which was very difficult despite it being ‘expected’ as she’d been ill for some years, then in early 2020 there was another family bereavement, which was sudden and shocking. Then it was straight into lockdown and homeschooling and all that stress. Like many people, I think it affected me more then I realised, and is still lingering now.

I’m not back at work until Wednesday, so I’ve got a couple of days to make a start on decluttering in 2023!

Found an old fabric face mask in a jacket pocket so that’s into the recycling.
plus DH has binned an odd glove that he has been hanging onto for ages hoping to find the pair.

so that’s 3!

have sorted and recycled Christmas cards, and cut out some fronts for gift tags.

have also managed to break an old ornament taking down lights so now need a trip to b&q for superglue.

I’ve started my ‘Getting Things Done’ thread over in Chat, if anyone wants to join me:

EllieQ Getting Things Done

Apologies for the long OP - I was trying to summarise why I find things tough, and it turns out that there’s a lot!

3 jars of Jam dated 2020 thrown out, I knew this would happen when I was gifted them as I hardly ever eat jam. The gifter actually gave me 8 she picked up in the sales, utter madness. I did give some away at the time so it wasn't all wasted.