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

Donated 7 baby sleeping bags (from age 6 months to 2-3 years) to a church charity collection earlier this week (I kept my two favourites as I couldn’t quite bear to part with them all), so there’s a bit more space at the bottom of the wardrobe now. I've been trying to get rid of these for a couple of years now, but had zero interest on FB when I’ve advertised them, so I was glad to find a charity to take them.

Welcome back @IncessantNameChanger - hope you are able to get more done this weekend.

Oh can I join?

Having a 6 month career break from social work (after 22 years) and one of my things is to really de clutter the house. So far have managed...

• all the kitchen cupboards and threw away spices older than my nearly teen daughter
• cupboard under the stairs (you can now get the hoover in and out without it feeling like a game of tetris)

This week I have really started to crack on.

• small toy unit in the back room has been cleared out and is now the shoe/hats/glove storage in our very small victorian hall way. It's so nice not to have shoes everywhere
• sold all the pawpatrol cars, pups and tower and a few other bits
• bagged up loads of stuff for charity
• given various shoes, puddle suits to neighbours

Next week is building new toy storage and clearing out the old desk in the front room

Any suggestions for good paperwork storage? Off to IKEA tomorrow

Thanks

I might have said on the previous thread but my non hoarder mum still has most of our bath toys in perfect condition despite living in a damp country in various rented houses she must be so particular with stuff? I'm a jinx tho; I once said "do you and dad never break anything?" then their wedding present hand mixer broke in my dads hand! 😱

Oops @seperatedmum !!

and welcome @Deedippy you’re doing well already!

Welcome back @IncessantNameChanger , chin up, we all have down times.

I haven’t been doing well at all, but in big news, DS2 (14 with Sen) has agreed to part with all of his Thomas collection 😱
he wants to give it all to my nephew who is nearly 3, but I’m sure my DBro will not want it all, it’s excessive.

so I’m taking photos, finding missing parts, etc. and letting him choose what he might like to have in his house. The rest I’m hoping to donate to the Christmas toy drive - although not new so will have to check.

will free up a big space in the loft cupboard.

have also taken out all of the Christmas stuff, we have too much. I want to cull it and maybe give away some bits next week (without the DC knowing hopefully as have an extra day off next week).

Reading this thread for inspiration and encouragement. We are a multigenerational family with three adults and two children in the house. All of us have hoarding tendencies, though me to a lesser extent. We are not like the ones you see on tele but it is making me feel very unhappy and uncomfortable. I cannot sleep because of it. It annoys me that the other two adults in the household are not bothered by it. I have decided that it can’t go on so today have grabbed some of the surface rubbish from the dumping ground bedroom and just left it on the landing floor to see what reaction that has.
for my part, I have taken four pairs of decent but outgrown kids shoes to the clothes recycle bank today. A small step but more to come. I hope.

unicorn34 it may feel overwhelming at first and you may do a lot of tidy up Tetris where you’re constantly moving things around but it will get better. I have been logging what I’ve been throwing away this year and so far it’s about 2500.

I also found that setting an example to the family was the best thing so after I had decluttered a lot of the surfaces and communal areas stbexh started to declutter his stuff and now dd2 regularly decluttered her bedroom. Dd1 has adhd so doesn’t instinctively declutter so I spend about an hour a month in her room with her decluttering and last week she decluttered her sock drawer on her own.

Thats not to say I don’t live in a mess but I have significantly less stuff than I did.

Anyway this week I took about four bags of stuff to the charity shop, I also sold some toys and threw away pans that were so scruffy I couldn’t even give them away! I now have a bag of socks that dd1 gave me. I have bought her 5 new ones to replace about 20.

incessant ignore anyone who criticises your house, don’t invite them over again. It sounds like you’ve done a good job with your daughters clothes.

Welcome back @IncessantNameChanger and welcome to new declutterers too! Went through two desk drawers from home study yesterday - amazingly DH suggested them. Brought them downstairs and did in front of the fire! Tons of bits weeded out: perished elastic bands, really bent paper clips, two old leads for a long gone laptop, pens that have dried up etc. Didn’t create much space but less frustrating to find what you are looking for anyway.
Today we are having family around for dinner but may tackle a couple of the small sideboard drawers.

Thanks for welcoming me back everyone.

I hot in touch with a FB hoarder group a member of our group therapy set up. They do a monthly zoom so I will try to join them.

Vinted is helping me. I list about five items a day. I was telling a friend its not really about the money, its the process of mentally moving items along their path.

Not being mindful in the oast about how many of item a child needs, and how much they have got has been my number one pitfall.

The two oldest boys aren't majorly into clothes now. I think they have also stopped growing.

Ds3 has tons of hand me downs.

Dd is 8 but in age 7-8 and I'm finding lots of the 8+ girls clothes are horrible so I'm less tempted. For example Primark didn't have a single Christmas dress over age 8. I tend to do a click and collect in Asda for clothes the kids really need. Buying dd Christmas snd Halloween dresses in age 10 so they last multiple years.

I do feel so disappointed with myself. Its such a horrible situation. But after lots of therapy buying things no longer cheers me up. So that's good!

I was doing so well before. Then covid.......

It worked. When I went up last night the room was magically cleared. Adult DD had gone in there during yesterday afternoon. I asked her where the stuff had gone, she said in the rubbish, recycling bin and put away. ( I hate to imagine what her cupboards are like now). I think she realised how it was getting to me.
I am really pleased and shall set myself some small decluttering tasks for tomorrow.
Incessantnamechanger, Covid has a lot to answer for but it sounds as though you are on the right track and getting some support. Five items a day on Vinted is pretty good going.
Gassylady, yes those little bits are so annoying but satisfying to get rid.
stealthninjamum, love the name and, if your post is anything to go by, you are living up to it. Well done.

Well done timefornew and your dd I agree that a tidy house really improves my mental health.

I have been busy with school meetings etc for dc and not done a huge amount of decluttering so next week my aim is to clear out my bedroom and the utility room. I have done both of these in the last year so i don’t think there’s much to declutter but my surfaces aren’t great and drawers aren’t very organised.

Decluttering this weekend:

• Went through the two bags of maternity clothes at the bottom of my wardrobe, and now have a bag for life of stuff to donate and a small bag with a few things to keep.
• Also found a couple of craft kits in there that I’d bought before lockdown (the weekend before the last week of school, if I recall correctly) but didn’t use, which can be donated to the school Xmas fair.
• Went through the last of the age 3-6 month clothes box and have a bag full of stuff to donate. As usual, I kept a few items.

More productive than I thought! Feel a bit annoyed with DH as he was grumbling about the (dismantled) cot taking up space in the shed, but he hasn’t made any effort to find someone/ somewhere to take it - it’s all me! I can see they’re not selling on FB so I’ve been trying to find a charity to take it, but had no luck so far.

The one big item he was going to get rid of (an old rowing machine) is still in the shed as he contacted one recycling/ reuse group, they said no, and he’s done nothing else 🙄Very irritating!

Is there any chat or interest about doing one of those monthly decluttering challenges where you throw 1 thing away on day 1, 2 things on day 2 etc?

I think you ended up decluttering over 600 items by the end of the month

A bunch achieved this weekend ; DS haircut , my new glasses picked up , flu shots taken , DS uni mock interview and DD riding lesson today too . DH took a load to the dump so garage is looking tidier again . Found him some more things to take from the attic as I thought . Sorted out more ski trip stuff . Luckily all the new latest clothes fit but a couple of other things need to be returned . I finished all the Christmas cards I’ll write ,then DD ones for school came so we’ll do those in the week once I get more chocolate coins to put in them .the presents for the charity collection are going to school tomorrow . The last duvet we got washed was returned from the laundry service and went back in the attic but a bedspread was still stained so it’ll go to rag bank . Had to fix DS school trouser hem a bit . Realised he’ll need another coat despite me buying several last year but they’re either too thick or thin or not waterproof or have the hood he wants . Got DS to list his old gaming steering wheel on Olio and it should be picked up in this evening . Haven’t folded the clean laundry yet so there might be more outs there . Got more presents bought but now need another one for DD school friend apparently. Bought bit of uniform and more school shoes plus a few other things. DH painted a bit of doorway he damaged another weekend with the cupboard we sold , So tired now but I’ve been sleeping badly every night . DD’s first school offer might come this week if she’ll get one from the one she just did the first interview and exam for . Shower sealant should be done this week as well . DH got pictures of our solar panels for cleaners ,turns out we have more of them that we thought so maybe they’re making us some electricity in the summer at least.
Out recently:
-3 old duvets
-3 stained lampshades
-a couple of pair of old pants
-3 school skirts 2 to school uniform donation and one broken one to rag bank
-a bunch of old prescription meds and vitamins ( found more from another drawer )
-2 of my paperback books to charity
-3 rolls of ribbon to charity
-another sheet mask from my stash used up
-DD broken alarm clock to dump
-DS old gaming steering wheel on olio
-a stained bedspread to ragbank

I think it's easier working the other way around starting with 30. It gets really hard if you go thr other way! I'm up for trying this. Would clear some for Christmas

the car seat has gone. and £80 in my pocket. winner winner.

oh god dm is a hoarder. she has all of my old school exercise books in her loft. together with the boxes for absolutely everything she's ever owned. just in case.

agree with a previous poster - start the other way round - i did this last year with saving money - i saved £3.65 on 1 jan, £3.64 2 jan etc. otherwise it gets more difficult towards christmas.

i might start on 1 Feb. short month and see how i go!

yesterday i managed to pop 6 items from my wardrobe into the charity bag. dh needed hangers....

i need to go up in the loft this weekend and get the suitcases down for our trip, and then i can put the outdoor cushions and parasol up there to clear some space.

i currently have a bitch of a cold and sore throat so have made chicken wonton soup for lunch. used up the wontons and chopped ginger which were in lurking in the freezer.

I bet she could lay her hands on any of it if you asked her. I tried to keep the kids best shoes to hand down. I couldn't find complete pairs in the right size at the the right time!

oh absolutely. if i wanted my reception year news book (bearing in mind i'm 38...) she'd know exactly where it was.

to be far to her the loft is stupidly organised. and huge.

6 more hangers emptied from my wardrobe. i set a timer and had a rummage. i found i had 3 black cardigans. i dont need three black cardigans. especially 3 that are exactly the same. so i kept the newest. the other two are in the charity bag along with a pale cream shirt (not my style), a navy cardigan with a hole in it, and a couple of t-shirts.

redemptionornothing I thing that’s a great way of doing it because for some of us decluttering is really hard at first and it takes time to realise you don’t miss the things that have gone and be brave enough to get rid of even more stuff. if you do do it let us know how it’s going.

I spent a half an hour in the utility room, mainly tidying rather than decluttering. I found some old paint that I can take to the dump and some disco lights I thought I’d donate to the school’s PTA but dc decided they wanted to use them as Christmas decorations. I also have two swimming goggles that apparently ‘don’t work’ so I’m not sure what to do with them, I don’t think a charity shop would want them.

Check if the Goggle seals are ok? if they are you could put them on "outdoor swimming buy sell & give" on FB or any page saying they don't fit the intended heads big swimming household

I've had the arse all day because I'd arranged to go pool swimming and didn't get to go because of kids not going into school/college at the proper time which is obviously my responsibly. tidied my swimming bag. cleaned settees and under and all hard floors. got together some things for the next charity bag but nothing actually out