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

I've shredded a folder of paperwork - I had to empty the shredding bin three times! I've also got rid of 2020 and 2021 calendars. I've brought in some stuff from the garage that I do need to keep and that was getting damp, but we do have space for it in a new filing drawer so that's not a problem.

Not a bad start to the year, need to do more though (as does DH).

Make that 4 jars of jam, a jar or relish, and various opened packets of mash potato etc.

I've also identified the bits that need using up soon.

There was room in the wheely bin so I've got rid of an ancient picnic blanket that was lurking in the porch. I already replaced it ages ago.

I lost a thread I was writing.

i can’t be bothered to list them again but 7 items have been put in the charity shop bag. With all the clothes and items I have about 7 carrier bags of stuff ready to go to the charity shop.

I don’t usually advertise clothes but I had something with tags so have tried it on Facebook.

Right! New year. New me. 😄 or still the same old delusional me. I'm going to do the 31 day challenge but backwards so starting at 31.

Ds has another two day taster at yet another SEN secondary this week so I will just start as and when this week when I can.

incessant good luck to your ds, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that it all goes well. I hope this school can meet his needs.

im on a roll. I just spent two hours tidying and found another 14 items to go. It included toys, a mobile that dd2 has had since a baby but no longer wants, a bag, old school uniform and some library books from dd2s previous school. The library books have been sitting on the post table since she left six months ago so I put them on my car passenger seat so when I go past the school I’ll drop them off. I now have piles of crap everywhere. Will deal with that later in the week.

21 items ‘gone’ so far. (Well in a big heap)

Just checking in to say Happy New Year declutterers old and new.
Still just ticking over here with seemingly endless amounts of worn through socks and outgrown pants into recycling.
I’ve lost my mojo again keep opening and then closing one of the storage cupboards as I just feel overwhelmed looking at it.
Over the last two years I have decluttered a couple of stone and really need a pod wardrobe sort out as there are definitely things that are way too big. But I don’t like clothes shopping and it will feel weird to get rid of things that are too big rather than my usual too small!!

Happy new year all! Well done on the weight loss @Gassylady I need to decluttering a few stone this year.

Have started to take the Christmas decorations down. Ds loves Christmas
so there are a lot of decorations and we have to take them down gradually.
today it was the stairs and landing all Christmas stuff cleared and gave it all a good clean. I can’t wait for it all to be gone as I hate having all the boxes hanging around. When I went in to the loft I did get 3 (mainly empty) bags of stuff down most of which has been binned so that’s a good start. Oh and DH got a box of old
magazines down that went straight in to recycling.
the loft really needs a sort out so this year I am going to try and get something from there every week to sort/bin/sell.

Not the most productive few days but I did get rid of the following:

Blind (we’ve replaced it with curtains)
Books x2
Bra I never wear as it’s uncomfortable
Trousers that are too small for DS2
Hot water bottle (unwanted Xmas gift)
Milk powder that hadn’t been used but was past it’s use-by date
An old blanket that I found in the loft

I’ve got a stinking cold which is hindering my motivation. Hopefully I’ll be more ‘on it’ once I’m feeling better!

Total so far: 46/2023

Persuaded DH to part with a tatty old shirt so that’s 4/2023.

work today and tomorrow, then time to crack on with
first - Christmas decs & fallout
second - everything else

while I have 5 weeks off before new job!

Christmas decorations have gone down. That always makes me sad. We have some we don’t use that I might put on freecycle tomorrow.

only one item added to the declutter pile today. It was a fidget toy

I've got rid of a shrunken top and trousers today, that makes 4 total this year

We got back from MIL on sun with only a few more items for the kids thankfully and some food . Yesterday more driving practise for DS test , exam practise for both , laundry and other housework then we went out for a nice dinner before DD has an entrance exam day tomorrow and then starts school the following day . Ds is still off for another week and is seeing a few friends but mostly revising for his a- level mocks. He finished school in dec a week later than DD who went skiing with school then . I feel like I’m loosing my mind while we wait to hear from 2 more unis for DS and have 3 schools exams within a week for poor DD then have to wait until early feb for those results . It’s just nerve racking !!! I had unpacked our weekend stuff on sun evening so didn’t need to deal with that yesterday and made DH and DS help me do the weekly cleaning before we went since I knew this week would be busy enough . It was nice to come back on sun to a tidy home . today DH was back to work while the trains strikes were on but he made it there and back ok thankfully . Back to routine here soon , window cleaner came and Ocado . Admin galore booking school clubs and other things and emailing everyone . More endless laundry squeezed in a movie in bed with DD and booked a selfcare app and looked at restaurants for wedding anniversary and with a friend not just boring other stuff and am still trying to book a ski trip for the boys who haven’t been since before the pandemic I know DS is desperate to go and it’d be nice in the middle of all the hard work he’s doing with school . Tried to tick off as much as I could of a dry long list and more tomorrow . I’m exhausted only now heading to shower haven’t even done my daily cleaning let alone decluttering . Very nervous for DD with these remaining exams now . Both kids do already have offers but still …A few items gathered since the last post :

-1 old toiletry bag of mine to charity
-1 unwanted present to charity
-4 toiletries to food bank
-5 packets of Christmas food to food bank
-1 half finished puzzle book I got a while ago I’ve had enough of
-1 old jute present sack to charity , we have new personal ones inc for our dog
-a stack of 11+ practise papers and books going to recycling
-a stack of Christmas cards to recycling
-1 broken fridge drawer front to dump
-1 board game to charity
-3 kids old toiletries from MIL emptied and bottles recycled
-several shoe boxes to recycling

I’ll have to check what else I’ve posted from my running list . Last year I got to well past the 2022 but haven’t checked my total so I should . Anything similar this year would be great . I will be cracking on until it’s much more minimal and organised in here although it’s pretty good already in most areas .

-1 half used foot cream
-1 DH old T-shirt
-a couple of broken wooden ornaments ,
I’m sure there’ll be a few more when I pack them away, I get rid of a few knackered/ unused always
-3 dog toys ,he got lots at Christmas now I’ll get rid of the worst condition old ones

Moving on from this air b n b tomorrow. Have somehow managed to pack mine and the kids stuff into two suitcases. Instead of the 3 we brought! Hooray!

I've gone around the house emptying bins and picking up rubbish from various corners, managed a bin bag full which is slightly shameful!

Listed a load of my sons clothes on Vinted hopefully they will sell quickly.

I have found two onesies, two broken sets fairy lights (that have been in a cupboard for years!), a pack of cards, and a craft set.

This brings me up to 28 items for 2023.

I also took two bags to a charity shop. I have loads more but was in a rush to leave the house.

More Xmas food/chocolate gone. Last year's calendars in the recycling. Bottle of body lotion finished this morning.
Failed on the no spend Jan by buying some body butters and hand creams in the Body Shop sale yesterday, I will use them up.

DD survived the first out of 3 exam days . We of course don’t exactly know how it went but she was ok afterwards and had a few people from her school there so had someone to talk to during breaks . Next one is on Sat and we are still trying to get more info about the timings we seemed to have misplaced the info in all the commotion but we’re all organised for the last one next week . I
feel like I’ve gotten nothing done today except getting DD school stuff ready for tomorrow and some of the Christmas clutter sorted . We put stuff away in her room and got rid of the Lego calendar box and another big box from a Lego although she wants to keep it for a craft but it’ll go to garage not stay in her room until then ,recycled her cards except 2 from good friends , a bunch of her old magazines are going to recycling, an cgi toy book that unused to charity,and gathered the 11+ books to recycling or charity,and bunch of other books that will go to downstairs big bookshelves . She’s finishing her giant Hogwarts Castle that will then be off the floor on her chest of drawers then will have to completely empty and dust and declutter her bookshelf full of little bits and keepsakes and too much small Lego etc so it can’t be cleaned . I’ve warned her I’ll be doing that with DH so she won’t be upset . I’ll then have to go through the 6 toy storage drawers although 2 are loose Lego and 1 large books I’ve looked at so it’s 3 drawers that need a look really , a large toy chest that probably won’t have anything to go either we just got rid of 3 bead sets from there , and her 3 desk drawers . I think if I tidy regularly but really declutter 2 times a year we can stay on top of her room .
In the weekend I’ll do decorations I think and next week will go through all Christmas food to see if there’s some to food bank . Then I’ll have the dining room and some attic stuff left and all the other jobs and admin . I guess it’ll distract me while we wait for all those results for both kids .
Just a few things today :
-a pile of DD Christmas cards to recycling
-a bunch of Christmas calendars to recycling -3 mini trees and 1 big one and a door wreath to collection at dump
-1 sticker activity book to charity
-a few unused 11+ books to charity
-4 pens , a rubber, a sharpener to bin
-10 DD magazines to recycling
-1 broken poster
-1 paper crown
-cardboard boxes from presents around the house to recycling

@ememem84 decluttering a whole suitcase’s worth is amazing - well done!

Impressive holiday Decluttering!

binned an old glue tube once Dd found it had set into some weird jelly state.

5/2023

tomorrow the real progress starts, hopefully.

im mostly Decluttering wine and snacks this eve as finished at the care home today 🥂

And
-8 11+ books to recycling ( maybe the other 3 will have to go there as well and not to charity realistically )
-1 half used body moisturiser from last Christmas so must be old
-1 dog sniff mat that wasn’t very good , he got a new one we’ll try out
-3 old bath towels , 2 bath mats , 2 hand towels
-1 colouring book to recycling
-2 more little sharpeners that are no good

To be honest I’m pretty impressed with myself!

more room for souvineers!

So operation tidy away Christmas is done!

5 x broken/old ornaments out
carpet cleaner Santa foot print thing used up
4 x too small T-shirts for DS into charity box (put them in the spare room ages ago)
1 x yoga mat bag to charity as I never carry a yoga mat anywhere! (Think it came free with something years ago)

16/2023

have generally tidied and hoovered and changed my bed, knackered now! Plenty more to do though…

I did DD desk today and from 3 drawers and two small storage baskets on top of it I got rid of a third/ half a black bin bag of crap inc a giant stack of paper in different forms , 40+ pieces of old stationary some rehomed others just tossed , endless little chocolate foil wrappers and other trash , broken bead necklaces , a million cheap little loose hair bands etc pointless stuff . Managed to talk her into giving up her old watch strap and 2/5 word search books . I think I’ll have to go through this area more than twice a year maybe 3 or 4 since it gets the messiest . She keeps every broken pen , little rock, dirty tennis ball , old blue tag , pointless scraps of loose papers , broken things and this is the top of the ice berg . She’d save everything she’s every acquired everything is sentimental and it mostly just sits in a drawer another year . I told her with activity books etc not sentimental objects I’ll give her 6-12m but if they’re still in the drawer then despite me reminding her to use them then they will be going . Same with books she doesn’t read / has read and won’t again etc . I told her we all are letting go of things that we don’t need anymore or we’ll simply drown in stuff since more will come in as the kids grow up . I don’t throw away her treasures I let her keep her rock collection within reason and her letters and cards , bracelets , pictures , little keepsakes from aunties , soft toys her brothers brought her from trips , her drawings and stories , school and other awards etc so I’m not trying to throw it all away just limit the pure trash collecting . I hope she won’t grow up to have problems with this issue . Hopefully I’m not making her have problems but if I don’t control her a bit it’d be chaos . So tired now and that was just one area of her room which does look pretty tidy but has a bookshelf and 3 toy storage drawers to go though still at least. Ds has promised do his own drawers and bookshelf before Uni . Understandably he has no time now . He’s not attached to stuff so much anymore , he says it can all practically go which isn’t what I’m trying to do I just want him to remove the trash and organise his few drawers I don’t touch for privacy since he’s 18 soon . I only declutter and organise his clothes regularly .
Now finally a shower and a late dinner then I’ll list roughly what I found …