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

indiansummer I have a memory box to keep valued items and it includes some cards. Cards from dp (and dc)are dotted around in drawers in my bedroom so I should probably put them in the memory box as he writes very thoughtful messages. I think my memory box is a bit bigger than a box file.

if I were you I’d keep them for the moment. You might return to them later and find you don’t need them. I have shredded 30 year old letters from friends because I don’t need them in my house - but they’re not the same as cards from a loved one.

yesterday I got rid of 14 bits of crap in a toy box - so bits of string, a skirt from a doll who went years ago, ribbon, unidentifiable plastic bits.

I filled a box for the charity shop from a kitchen cupboard yesterday. I then managed to refill the cupboard with bottles of booze that has been sitting on the counter top since Christmas - it feels good to have a clear surface.

Also posted a big eBay item in an equally big box today so counting that as a double win

Omg the 'UPT's' Unidentified plastic things! We have so many bits of things its insane.

I got a large carrier bag of clothes and bits to the Charity shop as well as selling 3 items on Vinted so not a bad day here.

I'm pretty ruthless with sentimental stuff. I keep my collection of stuff to just a few of the nicest/most meaningful things

Weekend declutter wasn't as much as I'd hoped:
2 pairs of trampoline socks
3 face masks
2 kids sippy cups
Old credit card
2 coffee loyalty cards
A greetings cards
Kids expired ibuprofen
Ibuprofen gel
A user manual
Magazine
A dark chocolate bar we got about 3 years ago for Christmas

I'm trying hard to use up things like beauty products, candles and food we don't normally eat

Forgot a bamboo bowl I gave to a neighbour - also unsubscribed from tons of emails so defo counting that as one. It took ages!

233 items now!

Tackled the tupperware cupboard today. Why do you always end up with mismatched lots and lids?

Thanks all, I think I will keep the cards for now. I keep very little sentimental stuff.

Ellie start with the hoovering this weekend. That's what I do if I missed something, then nothing gets left too long.

You're doing well at letting things go Nordic.

Today I got rid of:

• some paperwork I don't need
• packaging from a pen set (pens went in the pot with the rest)
• two tatty plastic sleeves

Total is 183

This thread is really inspiring me to actively look for things to declutter.

My 10yr old childminded child just walked into the kitchen and gushed at the empty worktop

@LivingDeadGirlUK UPTs, love it! I think half the Kallax boxes in our living room are full of these. I did a bit of a toy sweep last week after going through the boxes to find a set of plastic dinosaurs for DS' World Book Day costume (easiest one ever, a bucket and a set of toy dinos = Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs - job done).

6 toys which have been outgrown
4 pairs of outgrown shoes
6 bits of outgrown clothing
A charity shop book which I've read and am now returning

205 + 17 = 222/2023

I have a netbag of cloth face masks.

A big part of me just wants to chuck them in the bin while doing the cancan.

But I keep thinking... what if it all comes back? Or the next flu?
They are definitely not staying hanging in the kitchen though. Back of the coat cupboard maybe....

I’ve just spent about an hour going through papers again. I shredded some old insurance documents and threw out the glossy brochures that came with pension letters and I now have two piles related to my pensions that I’ll file.

annoyingly I found the paperwork for a third pension, it was a quote from a financial advisor. I have a feeling I almost had a workplace pension and didn’t get round to filling the forms in which is really annoying. I called the pension company and they couldn’t find my details over the phone but said if I wrote with the information on the company and my address at the time they would go through archives. So that’s another job to do, but I doubt will achieve anything.

I have been saying this for years but I think Im close to finishing paperwork. At one point I had boxes and boxes of papers from the 1980s onwards so I’m chuffed. This morning I even shredded some old share certificates from the 90s, and information on a company I worked for that got liquidated in 1995, there really is no need for that stuff.

Take photos of cards and art work, keep in a digital folder backed up of course. Then if anything physically happens to original or you do really need the space you have a copy and can declutter the originals.

Saying that I need to go through precious art work of kids. I have done loads. I ditch cards, only keep mother's day ones from kids they hand made (even those days are over).

Does finally, after 2 years, sticking all recipes torn out of weekend newspapers into the recipe collection book count? It has decluttered one pile of kitchen shelf papers, with some part going into recycling.

Today it was some rubbish from my sons room, mostly bits from old magazines. Do need to have a more proper sort out of his toys before his birthday though.

daisy yes to the recipe book because it existed whether you stuck the recipe's in or not, you've genuinely decluttered some to recycling and gained space. It's a win for sure. I'm going to remember that about photos of the cards, even a physical photo would take less space then a huge card.

Roots same with the masks. I got sick of blue ones and bought some pretty ones. Now they are just languishing around without purpose but if masks come back I'll be glad of them. Trouble is I don't think masks will come back because I think the government knows most people won't comply. I've shelved the decision for now. I'm going to use up the equally redundant latex gloves for cleaning the house. That'll take ages and perhaps by then I'll have come to a decision about the masks.

One spare phone charger given to a friend, one into technology recycling with a label on to say its brand new. Hopefully it'll find it's way into the re-use shop. I get a new one with every phone. Still got two in the sockets and two spare, that's enough. The cables box looks tidy now not bursting at the seams. Total is 185.

I’m sure we’ve got old face masks hanging around in bags and coat pockets. Very unhygienic.

last month I get rid of about 18 random plastic plates, bowls and mugs with the aim of getting rid of more of them and replacing with a matching set.

Having seen some sets I liked on Amazon that were just too expensive, I spotted Tesco’s new plastic range - about £2 for 4 plates. So I bought 8 plates, 4 cups, 4 bowls and a big bowl. I then got dc to go through the plastic plate / cup / flask drawer and we got rid of another 14. Dc were allowed to keep things that were really special and I’m so chuffed to have a drawer with generally matching items that neatly stack on each other.

I have no idea where my total is, I might add the ins.

Tomorrow dd2s been invited out after school so I get about 9 hours to myself. I’m thinking of running around filing every bit of paperwork in the house.

Today I cleared out a set of plastic drawers. Which basically came with us when we last moved house 2 ears ago and has barely been touched since.

Lots of out of date medicine gone. Including the bottle of cough medication prescribed to DH when he had this strange virus in November 2019...
Everything else relocated to its proper home.

Now I need to decide what to do with the drawers!!

Hi!
I'd love to join this thread and get involved. I'm feeling very overwhelmed at the moment.
I have a 7 month old who arrived early so I had a rather disorganised start. I live on a small farm so housework doesn't tend to be a priority with animals. Also have 4 dogs in the house. I've started up a business from home which has taken over every room. DH works 7 days a week. I do not know how to deal with the clutter.
Thank you x

Huge decluttered pile today. I must be getting better at it because I mostly ended up thinking why did I ever keep this stuff?

• Old battered purse binned, still functional but I have two others and don't need it, too tatty to donate. Found it in a box from last time I moved which was several years ago! Never got round to unpacking it. There was a little money left in it so that was a bonus.
• Some pages ripped out from a notebook, recycled. I'll use the rest of the notebook for shopping lists.
• Old journal from 5yrs ago, discovered under a pile of papers. Had to bin that because Google said you can't recycle hard backed books.
• Pile of paperwork from ages ago that I no longer need.
• 7 birthday and Christmas cards from various people.
• 7 magazine articles I thought I wanted to keep but have never looked at since.
• Packaging from an old jewellery box.
• A bent up piece of craft card.
• Old to-do list.
• Wall poster not needed, given to a friend.
• One of those wires that holds up net curtains. I don't use net curtains and have no plans to move house so what was I keeping it for?
• The folder that used to hold a car manual, for a car long gone.

Total is 209

Hi EllieM I know that feeling. The solution is to just start somewhere, anywhere. Congratulations on your new baby

Stealthninjamum my paperwork isn't as bad as yours but it's long overdue going through to weed out the unnecessary. It's a daunting task and one I keep ignoring because it's all tidy and contained. You've done so well getting through your stash

indiansummer I get really angry with myself because I am naturally a tidy person and having having challenging kids and a messy boyfriend / husband meant there was an eight year period of my life where things got stuck in a pile or bag. Before 2005 I had my life’s papers all neatly filed from my first Mickey Mouse club Abbey National account when I was about six. I also had an incident an university where the water board accused me of not paying - in 1996 - and it was the old days when I’d paid in a post office and they had stamped my little slip. So I only had a small rectangle of paper with a blurry stamp to prove I’d paid. So I think that was the cause of my hoarding utility bills.

Anyway if I put my mind to it, I could probably get it finished in an hour but my 9 hours also includes bringing together my car stuff, working out what stuff from the old car to chuck out and I’d like to print out copies of car insurance, home insurance, RAC membership and / or put the details on a document that’s easily accessible.

im listening to a lot of podcasts at the moment and a few months ago Martin Lewis did one on creating a one page document on your finances in case you die. I’d like to do that and given that at some point I should get a divorce this’ll be beneficial. While I type this I’m thinking I could do a section with names of utility providers and renewal dates.

That was a long post! Sorry.

elliem welcome. I think decluttering with a baby or toddler is really difficult so well done for even thinking about it.

kondo talks about bringing all types of things together in one place so the first thing that struck me was could you put your work stuff together? When you have it in one place it’s much easier to realise you don’t need 14 pritt sticks for example or 9 rolls of wrapping paper (examples from when I did this)

I used to set a timer for 15 minutes and do an area. And when I got stuck at one point I used the Toss app. It just told me what to do every day.

Well done @IndianSummer78 and @stealthninjamum I also struggle with a hoarding husband and paperwork. I started doing paperwork in 10-15min bursts when it was DH turn to do bedtime for DC. I think the key is just to find pockets of time @EllieM103 and not to feel like you need to do it all in one go. Sometimes I took before and after pics of a drawer or cupboard or just the pile of stuff leaving and it made it feel very concrete seeing the difference

4 joggers
2,leggings
1 dress ruined in wash
2 polos
2 long sleeve T-shirts
1 skirt
1 short sleeve T-shirt
3 socks

That's from dd5 clothes. Not sure why I'm feeling guilty. I buy less, wash alot and dry a lot so it's normal for me I guess. I just need to get a head start and not feel so guilty or like a money waster before baby comes. I know other people don't let clothes with holes bother them in the house but I've got a pair of pyjama bottoms with a hole on the thigh that I always get distracted by. Time to get rid maybe!

Will read back later but out of date medicines finally dropped off at pharmacy. Home this afternoon so hoping to find something to declutter, though with my toddler so we will see!

EllieM life sounds full on for you. I follow Dana k white as I like a podcast. She says start in most visible area so you are encouraged to see progress,.and start with rubbish (like literal rubbish, packets, stuff for the bin) then easy stuff. But surviving this stage is enough!