Decluttering Thread 3 - Decluttering on bit at a time

[LivingInaBuildingSite]

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

Dropped bag of clothes in the textile recycling bin yesterday. Not much else other than some more papers in the recycling.

Hello can I join in?
I have a house that is full of STUFF. There’s me, my partner and our two boys.

Between work and the boys activities at the weekend I don’t really have much time to sort things out.
I have two trains of thought when it comes to getting rid of the things. 1. Just get it out the house and gone. 2. Try and sell it to make some extra cash. There isn’t anything to sell of high value so it would probably be a few pounds for each item.

Also I have a thing about making sure stuff is decluttered to a “good place”. Like I wouldn’t take everything to the same charity shop for example. This means it takes a lot longer to do but it’s more satisfying.

I have had quite a good week so far. I have taken 5 eBay sales to the Post Office, and the grown-up child has taken more of their stuff back to their own place.

For this new month I have decided to concentrate my efforts on two rooms. (If I write it here I know I am more likely to do it!)

The first room is our dining room - which doesn’t see much dining these days. It is really a multi-purpose room housing the computer, laundry drying racks, the ironing board, sewing machine, the eBay stuff I have listed… and a multitude of random bits and pieces on every available surface.There is also a large basket full of washed laundry that contains some ironing at the top, and below that a pile of things that I need to make decisions on.

The second room I want to concentrate on is our bedroom. It is a tip, and has been for a number of years. I am fed up moving boxes and bags of stuff to access the wardrobes. My plan is to move anything that doesn’t belong there out into the other bedrooms, organising and decluttering as I go.

@Alloftheboys I am the same with regards to making sure stuff is decluttered to a "good place", and it does take a lot longer. I have a lot of stuff lying around that I have already earmarked to go, but haven’t yet decided what to do with!

I am currently in the middle of putting together a bag for the Salvation Army collection bin at Tesco, that I hope to drop off tomorrow. That will contain any stuff that is perfectly wearable, but not in pristine condition for selling in a charity shop, and also things like good-condition underwear which other places don’t take.

@PurpleFrog

I’ve also taken some stuff from my mum and distributed it to different places.
Our old toys went to the Reception at school, some books went to a friends daughter.
I recently gave a large bag of boys school trousers and tops to a lady who works in another school. She said they had children coming into school in all sorts of clothes as the parents couldn’t afford the uniform. (These we’re only relatively cheap supermarket items).

Anyway 5 items to charity shop today but 5 items in from the shop.

If we got lucky DH might have just managed to order us a garden waste bin ( the council hasn’t been giving any new ones out in this area in the past year after we moved here ) . He said he ordered one and payed for it although didn’t see a clear confirmation page after that where as before the website was just saying they’re not available atm but we’ll see . Would be great . He’ll do a dump run tomorrow and will hopefully also take a load to a charity shop I’ll sort out from the boxes in the attic . I’m asking him to list a lamp on Olio and we’ll put the cupboard on eBay once he’ll be home for a pick-up the weekend after so not yet . Can’t wait for the dining room to get emptier once those things are gone . He still needs to order the sheds for the garden and then garage will be emptier too . Decorators will be here for 3-4 d next week , i’ll somehow have to get through it while still sick with a cold that’s never going apparently. I’m sending the dog to his doggy day care on a few days at least so that should help and DH will be home on the first day . Im asking for them to do one floor at a time so we can be in the other areas in peace while they get on with their work elsewhere . Feeling better from the uti / kidney infection with the antibiotics thankfully so praying it’s gone . I’ve had awful trouble before so worrying about it returning . We’ve had lots of people in the house fixing / servicing stuff recently and the landscaping going on for a few weeks and now will have all the painting of cracks while I’ve been ill with 3 different things in a row after the last trip and lots going on with kids and absolutely endless admin etc so no more new decluttering happening atm really except an item here or there . I’m trying to take one thing at a time but it’s hard when I feel just so sick a lot of the time !

My house currently looks like one of those TV shows, Extreme Hoarders or whatever, at the before stage.

I had fitted wardrobes in 10 days ago and had to take everything out. I haven't had time to put everything back, because of a stressful work schedule (lecturer, university started back teaching this week and the wardrobes fitted in freshers week), a part time small business, back at the gym, society membership and a busy social life. I know I could maybe have said no to everything, but it's important to me to keep up with things on a work and social basis.

I have a massive pile of stuff to put on vinted as a result of the new wardrobe clear out, too. Where will I find the time?!

I'm currently feeling overwhelmed with it and I think the cats aren't happy because their routine is a bit different.

On the plus side it seems that DH is managing to remove at least most of the rust stains on the patio with a remover and little brushes he bought so hopefully that’ll soon be a problem fixed . Also our excellent window cleaner is coming next week so they’ll be all nice and clean from some residue / water spots left from landscaping and patio jetwashing .
DH and DD crossed off the last prospective secondary school visit of the list today so those are now done with ( unless I want to go see some since I missed all but one while unwell ) and her optician visit went well too so next in 2 y . I’m so overwhelmed and tired I have to count every little job successfully executed as a win atm to keep going ! I’m decluttering my to-do list …

So many, many cardboard boxes from the cellar are now strewn across my living room .... will breakdown and get out for recycling tomorrow

No progress on stuff to the attic, but will unless the kid later to help with that. They're also keen to help with the cellar again, so might get that done.

Spotted a lot of Christmas stuff, so contemplating that as a declutter task

One bag of clothes from cellar that has now been split into rags and donations. Box ready to go to the charity shop.

There's stuff in the clothes that could be money on eBay, but I don't want to start a whole new reason to hold onto things. Choosing the vibe of feeling good for raising money for a local charity.

-1 cracked dog bowl to bin
-a small pile of school brochures to recycling
-1 book DS finished to charity
-1 puzzle to charity

So far going today but hopefully I’ll find more as I sort stuff out for dump and charity shop !

Thanks @stealthninjamum , I do struggle to declutter some things, mainly DD’s old clothes, so it feels good when I do.

Your comment prompted me look back over my decluttering list. I started going through DD’s clothes in August 2021, and at that point I still had almost all of the clothes she’d had since she was born, bar a few things that had gone to textile recycling. She’s 7 now! Everything was boxed or bagged up by age. Over the past year I’ve gone through each age group, starting at age 4-5 and working backwards, and chosen a few items to keep, with the rest going to charity shops. I’ve now almost finished age 6-9 months. It’s felt like a slog but looking back makes me realise how much I have done 😊

As DD is small for her age, I cleared a lot of age 5-6 clothes this summer, which is in a box waiting to be sorted, but I’m hoping I can keep up with it now rather than leaving it for a few years!

Got some decluttering done this weekend - a pair of DH’s old sandals to Schuh to be recycled, and six of DD’s vests into the ‘too small’ bag.

Not a great week here as we've all been ill with various things but yesterday I threw out a broken etcher sketcher and today a big bag of clothes DC has grown out of. I think I am going to move on to the book shelves next week!

(I didn't throw our the clothes - they were passed to a friend!)

Went through the bedding today and got rid of 4 pillow cases which don't match any of the duvets

NC from promotion

Stuff into attic done
Two boxes ready for charity shop
Old boxes flattened and ready for recycling

It really does help writing down what you have got done, when all you can see is everything left to do!

@ImJustMadAboutSaffron list one thing a day on vinted - you can do it! I have my pile of stuff to list in the hall and photo/list while the kettle boils for tea. One box to be listed and one box of listed not yet sold. Then you don't sell 25 things to 25 different people and have to print and pack them all at once - I prefer the trickle sale approach!

Our tea towels are suddenly full of holes so I need to move them to the rag box and get rid of the previous rag batch which are now beyond any feasible use (although dh seems v attached to them)

Not much going on here. 5 items gone on vinted. To reach my 2,022 items for the year goal I need to have an average of three outs a day between now and Christmas . . .

Checking in. Not very much out at the weekend but did find a box DP was keeping "just in case", I put it in the recycling. Dropped a small bag of clothes off at the charity shop today.

Thanks! Two brand new sports bras on there as I write!

I didn’t have an exact goal for this year but I did keep a running total and it seems I’m around 2060 now so I have already gotten past the 2022 for this year !
Decorators are here and I’m loosing my mind already despite DH being working from home and our dog having gone to doggy daycare this morning . I don’t understand how I’ll bloody deal with them for the new two days while feeling unwell still ( and it better not be three) since they are just everywhere at the same time and I need a room I can be left alone in completely with the dog while they work . Today I’ve been holed up in my bedroom . Also don’t know how the kids remember all the areas they can’t touch never mind the dog who often rubs his face on doorframes etc .
Managed to book the new gardener for next week so that’s one thing done . I also enquired about cleaning the skylights and the solar panel from our window cleaner but unfortunately he can’t do them however I might have found another company nearby so FX I’ll soon have a date in the diary for that . Tonight DH is going to meet our newest dog carer while we will travel, and tomorrow’s DDs parents evening so it’s one thing thing here after another and I’m so exhausted despite delegating to DH what I can . Just have to get through to thu/ fri until decorators are done and then we don’t have any more people in here until after halfterm just the window cleaner and the gardener outside which is fine . I feel like my life is just an endless to do list ticking exercise and nothing fun ever. It’s all just chores ,jobs and obligations while coughing my lungs out and trying to stay upright . I’ve had to cancel all my own appointments and plans due to being ill for the whole of September .

I got rid of a chair

I haven’t done anything of significance but DH did go to the tip with a box of old cables, light bulbs, batteries etc for all the different section they have there.
And he took the charity box to a charity shop - wasn’t full but was bulky, included the curtain rail from the porch umbrella stand.
why did it ever go in there I wonder?! 😂

back into work routine for the week, plus family member staying, plus usual & extra kids clubs this week.

still have odds and sods left to finish in the building process, the main one from an organisation point of view is the hallway shelves for shoes & bags. Currently making a mess in the front room. When they’re sorted then I can get properly started in there.
for eg, there’s a temp, freebie table I set up for DS1 to revise in peace for his GCSEs - in April/May. Now just yet another horizontal surface to dump crap on!

How does everyone decide how many books they keep? I've just gotten rid of one from my English a level, didn't even like the book that much at the time so no idea why I've kept it for 20 years!

indiansummer78 our kerbside recycling is terrible, they basically collect some food packaging, papers and cardboard and that’s it. So I have to go to a bottle bank for glass, materials to a charity shop, the dump for electronics. I’m really conscientious about recycling as much as possible but lots of my friends don’t bother, they shove batteries and lightbulbs, for example, in their normal rubbish bag.

-alloftheboys welcome. I attempt to sell lots of stuff but have learnt to mentally put a date on stuff and if it doesn’t sell either take it to a charity shop or advertise it on freecycle. I have a favourite charity shop I donate to, it’s for a small local charity, it’s funny how we have different approaches.

ellieq that’s such good progress, I think I remember when you still had her baby clothes. I used to be attached to dds clothes but as I’ve got older I’ve found it easier to let go of them. I don’t think we have any old clothes now.

myleakycauldron my approach to everything has been to declutter bit by bit and as I have learnt that I rarely miss anything I have got quite ruthless. So I’ve been getting rid of books for 5 years and I’ve just checked and at about Easter I got rid of 240 books. About a third were rainbow fairy / child’s books and most of the rest were books I had for university nearly 30 years ago. There were also books people gave me that I never got round to reading. I don’t miss any of them. I think I probably thought I looked intelligent having lots of intellectual books and classics but actually I don’t care what people think of my book collection these days.

My target was 2022 items gone by the end of the year and I may have changed it to 3000 by the end of the summer. I missed that target and I’m up to about 2400 but in the last few days I’ve been getting rid of lots of lockdown learning stuff and not counting it. I’d like to clear my dining room of all the schoolwork. There was also some in the playroom and room of doom. Dds don’t want any of it but I am going through their work picking things like stories or artwork to keep.

We blitzed books a while back doing Marie Kondo.

although it felt messy getting them all off the shelves and onto the floor, once you got into the ‘sparks joy’ thing, it does really help to cut down.

I got down to about one shelf of fiction and just a couple of non fiction.

I also realised I was keeping books for different reasons, one of those was so that people who came round saw I had books and was a ‘reader’. I realised a) not that many people come round, b) none of those ever came to the spare bedroom where I was actually storing my books on loads of shelves! & c) people who actually know me, know I love reading, they don’t need to see rows of books on shelves to know that.

so I reduced it to only keeping books that sparked joy; either for the story, the style, the cover, the reason I had the books in the first place, etc. I don’t think it’s bad to have only a few books or to have hundreds, if you know why you are keeping them and it’s a valid reason.

MyLeskyCauldron I'm being limited by space with books. So I'm having to cull anything that isn't a firm favourite. Whether that's fiction or non fiction. If I don't find myself reading it over and over again, then it goes. If I've read it to death and it's falling apart then it goes. I don't replace worn out favourites, I see it as part of the natural evolution of my collection.

StealthNinjaMum that's a shame about the kerbside recycling. I must admit I was surprised what I could include when I moved here. I do find it annoying having to separate it out though. My old area had one recycling bin for all recyclables. I've noticed my local supermarkets getting in on the act too with carrier bag, battery and makeup recycling points.

LivingInABuildingSite your situation with the temporary table becoming a magnet for clutter sounds typical of my home.

Nothing gone today but I was out shopping and limited myself to only one unnecessary purchase, so I was pleased about that. I'm too easily tempted.

Outs so far this week:

huge cardboard boxes for recycling
stash of cardboard tubes to dds nursery for crafts
ds birthday balloons and cards
a book to colleague
binned a make up brush which was a bit scratchy
finished a moisturiser and a small perfume

have also brought a few things in.

bought a sealant for the bathroom and sealant gun to apply it with. To hopefully stop the shower leaking - water is coming through the shower screen so I think the sealant has given up. Figured it’s cheaper and quicker to try and resell it myself than leaving it and letting a drip/damp ruin the bathroom.

some clothes in but these are necessary. Properly fitting trousers for work.