I’m doing the 31 Day declutter challenge

[Sallygoroundtheroses]

I’ve done it before but not for a while. Despite a huge effort to declutter last year, the house is looking a bit chaotic again. So 1 item on day 1, 2 on day 2 etc.

I’m off to find an item…

Another 6 parcels for Vinted, including big box of baby socks and about 20 babygrows.

We’ve had a second Christmas so have been given a lot of extra stuff that is going to be regifted, charity shopped or sold.

Still going through my clothes and need to be ruthless. I was ruthless last year with toiletries, the kitchen and my office, this year is going to be clothes and toys.

Ive got half a bin bag of clothes bank clothes, so going to try and fill that and drop it off this week. Luckily the parcel shop has a bank in the car park so that can be a double whammy.

Loads listed and gone on olio. DD2 has been on a roll sorting her bedroom out! Still got lots of clutter but she's made a decent dent in it!

I still feel surrounded by clutter and crap but we are slowly chipping away! We will keep this up for at least another month to really clear all the rubbish.

One positive is that I feel more mindful about what I'm spending and what comes into the house. I have avoided random purchases when food shopping and havent gone crazy in the sales like i usually would!

Yes @BadgerLovesMash it helps me to do this periodically so I shop more mindfully and I also find things that mean I don’t need to shop at all.

Very satisfying pen amnesty today. Gathered together all of the pen pots from across the house and emptied the random pen/kitchen crap drawer.

Got rid of anything that didn't work, markers that had dried out, anything missing lids, pencils less than 3" long, random freebie pens, anything scratchy, old crayons etc.

Total haul = 83 items. Feel quite embarrassed that it's so high 😳.

@SwordBilledHummingbird - I am also planning to do February. So many drawers and cupboards yet to be cleared. And the garage/loft which will be a nightmare.

I'm on 238/ 231 now! Did the bathroom (which is tiny but the two drawers yielded quite a lot of crap) and another charity shop run. The shop still has a fair few of the toys I decluttered earlier in the month on the shelf, which makes me feel really sad and I'm not sure why...

Anyway! DH is getting on board a bit too and sorted through the big kitchen utensils drawer today (the kitchen is his domain). I've done my first Olio listing and also listed some outgrown sleeping bags on FB marketplace.

I feel like I am starting to be able to tell the difference now, the house seems less messy and a bit easier to tidy (since having kids I've never quite managed to get it to the point of "a place for everything and everything in its place). It really was quite bad before, with stuff just being dumped in corners - not how I want my DC to be growing up!

3 worn out towels
2 worn out teatowels
2 manky bathroom cleaning cloths
Cushion

20 photos deleted

Decayed leaky onion and the cardboard box it was found in.

113/496

Glad it's not just me! I'm not even thinking about the loft and shed yet... but they're going to need tackling at some point.

4 books for the nursery book swap. Bag for the bin & bag of clothes to be collected this week. Also got a few extra things to list on Vinted & two things to go onto FB Marketplace.

I've had a few days off, seems like I can only focus on 1 thing at a time.

So far today 11 (2 x dummy, perfume, face cream, kids toys)

226/496

Really busy with friends over today. The time it took to tidy up and put away was far reduced compared to a
month ago. So I can see a real difference now.

I’ve no energy to fetch items so I deleted 555 photos from my phone.

A few bits and pieces and a tidy of the garden (a lot of rubbish gets blown over from the main road) got yesterday's total, but I have a pile of "important" docs to sort through today so hopefully some of that can go, and it'll look much tidier afterwards.

I've lost my mojo, I haven't done any today and I was away over the weekend. It now feels like there's too many to catch up 😞

Don't give up Sam Vimes! Just jump back in wherever you're at. Once youve got a few things out you'll feel much better.

I'm slowing up but today has yielded 5 posters, a poster tube, and an empty shoe box, plus an utterly horrid bar of chocolate.

121/496

I thought I wouldn’t have time today but I have young children so there’s quite a lot to pick from.
I got 23 items from 2 drawers.

@SirSamVimesCityWatch don’t give up if it’s only due to missing days and catching up, everyone is doing it their own way. I’ve done a few days of digital deletions/unsubscribing when I’ve not had much time.

I’m just decluttering what I can when I can, rather than doing specific numbers.

The end result is the same, it’s just in a different timeframe!

Out today:

socks (new ones but didn't fit DS)
couple of tops

Not done as much actual decluttering as I would have liked as have had a busy few days with barely enough time to do the basics but I have managed to send off all of my sold stuff. So still created space, plus I’ve got rid of seven of my “too good to throw away” boxes in the process. Also while I was sat waiting for dc at an activity I managed to delete over 5000 emails which helps make life feel more streamlined and organised.

Another win is that dp went into the basement and saw what I’d done down there and tidied some of his own stuff. He also said “we need to get rid of more stuff” but I’m not holding my breath! At least his tools etc are put away now and not scattered and piled up everywhere.

Think the next job for me is kids artwork, should be fairly easy.

I’d fallen off the decluttering wagon over the last week or so. However today I actually got round to taking everything to various charity shops which has cleared the car boot, I also tipped all the 1p & 2p coins into the machine at Asda and used that plus the 5ps still in my purse to get the veg I need to last me until next proper shop plus a bar of chocolate that I don’t need. It was only a few pounds worth but I feel virtuous !

Don't give up! I havent been counting and I don't declutter every single day. But slowly I'm managing areas. Sunday I sorted next to my bread bin where I chuck letters and reciepts while I was boiling the kettle for a cuppa. Then I did my spices as I was cooking already.

Right now I'm in the worse before it gets better stage! My girls have sorted their rooms so have the stuff in the lounge ready to either list on vinted or stick on olio.

Sadly I've dropped out of this challenge because of the problems with McAfee pop-ups / scareware etc and have just logged in again to report it on the thread on Site Stuff. For what is worth, one cat bowl has gone and another item, forgotten what it was, logging off again now anyway. :(

Another digital day, but that’s fine. I have some time tomorrow morning and so I’m just grabbing a non liner and going for the obvious.

@CherrySocks i haven’t experienced that? Is it a site wide issue?

25 items from the wardrobe and boxes of cards.

Having almost given up, I have started again!
I had done day 14.
today I have cleaned 2 kitchen drawers and looked at things that otherwise would have just sat there for ages, oops!

1 cake box
1 cardboard tube
1 pair of fluffy socks
1 McD toy
1 colouring book
2 items of out of date food
1 mini grater
1 tea strainer
1 toffee hammer
1 pair of nutcrackers
1 honey drizzler
2 pastry brushes ( do not need 4!)
1 ancient pair of kitchen tongs

129/496