Decluttering thread 4 - progress rather than perfection

[Pigtailsandall]

Thread 3 got filled up so decided to start a new one - hope everyone can find it!!

I went through two piles of clothes today trying everything on and got rid of one pair of leggings that gave me builders bum when I sat down and one pair of jeans that wouldn't even do up! Total is 462

Nice one. I have found clothes decluttering isn’t the most visually improving thing in the house but it’s the one that improves my mental health and time the most. Not fighting through things I wish still fitted, or that I love but now have holes in really helps me!

I'm down to 967 now - sold a toy on Vinted. I've had a busy week at work, and need to list more Vinted stuff; however, feeling a bit unmotivated this week

Four ebay items out and only one in! A bag ready to take to charity shop with three pairs linen shorts, one pair linen trousers, several kids t shirts and hoodies as well as DVDs and books. I do need to have another look through my wardrobe and drawers as there are more bits I’ve been uncertain about but am now ready to let go

Clothes is a funny one realfastfoodie. I'll try in an armful and only end up getting rid of one or two things, but if I keep doing it it soon adds up to a bag for the charity shop. Than as I'm putting away I'm organising and tidying. For the first time in a long time, my most recent purchase of new clothes angst (OMG where am I going to put these!) was quickly quashed by the discovery of a half empty drawer.

I have a quick question for you all. I want to buy some new bedding (because it's gorgeous and will fit my room style perfectly). My bedding box is full. So something else has to go. As usual, I like it all. There's some that's lower quality and 20yrs old, isn't perfect for my room style now and might not last many more years, but I like it best and I have happy memories of the house it was bought for and that time in my life. There's some others that's better quality and newer too, so will last longer and I do like it, it suits my room etc, but it was bought during difficult times in my life and although I'm not deeply affected by the memories, it does remind me. Which would you get rid of?

@IndianSummer78 - I’m the same. I’ve found generally a charity shop bag on the go keeps me ticking over, but I really need to take a bit more drastic action now.

So, if the old ones are in good condition without holes or really bobbly, and you still use them, not just like them for keeping, then I would keep the ones you like the most.

Yes definitely no holes or bobbles in the bedding, they don't seem to do that, seems to get threadbare instead. Had to get rid of some earlier this year because it was too threadbare to be doing its job of protecting mattress and duvet.

Suppose it does make sense to have bedding that makes me smile although a bit mismatched rather than an insta-worthy bedroom (especially considering I don't post on there anyway)

Life’s too short to not have the things you enjoy. I think decluttering is about enjoying the things you love as much as getting rid of the things you don’t want, even if those things you love aren’t even remotely insta-worthy.

Yes, I'd keep the ones you like the most, assuming they're still in useable condition.
No point keeping something with unhappy memories just because it's a more recent purchase.

I'm struggling. I've overwhelmed myself like I don't want to part with things but then again I do because I have to. I've got dd6 and dd2 who don't leave me alone and currently 8 months pregnant. Baby due first week July. I'm finding it hard to declutter. Kind of hard to do it with and infront of my partner as he doesn't really get rid of anything and thinks it's wasting money. So I do it when he's not in the house. But because I'm pregnant I'm feeling so tired that I give up. Hopefully just posting this will give me a kick up the backside!

Ok then, today's out is a duvet cover, thanks for the help 🙂. Total at 463

Sorry to hear about your mum @IncessantNameChanger

I haven’t been on here for a while, and very little decluttering has taken place in the past few weeks - I’ve been struggling with my mental health recently and everything is more of an effort than it should be.

However, last weekend DD and I cleared out her toy basket in the living room and she decided to get rid of some toys/ dolls that she doesn’t play with, so I have a bag to donate. I also went through a bag of fabric that I discovered while getting the sleeping bags out (I’d completely forgotten it was there) and put about half a bag of fabric scraps in my bag of textile recycling.

Not strictly decluttering, but I put my winter dresses and PJs in bags and stored them at the top of the wardrobe, so my wardrobe and drawers are not so overflowing. I don’t actually have that many clothes, just not that much storage for them, so this has made day to day life easier.

@EllieQ - I think organising things and coming up with systems that work better for you is just as important as getting rid of things in decluttering. A lot of us have so much stuff/crap that it’s impossible to organise, but it sounds like your wardrobe is already at a good level, so organising is a great thing.

Well done on finding things you can do even when your mental health has been difficult, that’s really impressive.

Trip to tip today.
X2 old car batteries
Bag of broken small electrical
Rubble rubbish from garden so not much help with house as such but garden been largely neglected for X2 years needs attention whether we have time or not!

Attempting a ‘quick’ blitz of the bedrooms today. Despite a long walk in the woods, going out for cake and the excitement of the car wash DC are being particularly lacking in independent play skills for the past half hour 😁

I’ll total up in a bit, but piles are slowly building in the hall.

DS’s room … sigh … to be honest I looked in his toy boxes and felt so overwhelmed I put them all back. His wardrobe which is a storage space is the same. We’re really lucky in that family adore buying things for him (eldest and was the only grandchild for a long time) but every corner is just overflowing with stuff. I actually really feel for him, it’s hardly a calm space which is what he seems to want and it’s not surprising he doesn’t want to play in there.

Has anyone successfully got on top of kids toys/bedroom space?

A really ungrateful sounding add on … but any tips for speaking to people being lovely and kind bringing MORE stuff into the house? DM has told me she’s got a black sack of toys for the kids and while it’s so kind, the kids don’t want or need more stuff. If I charity shop anything I’m ‘ungrateful’ so I can’t seem to win.

Jaberwocky I deal with unwanted gifts by saying thanks with a smile, then ditching at the charity shop at the earliest opportunity. I don't tell the giver I've done that. If I was faced with a bag load though, that's excessive. If I was happy having the current relationship with the giver I'd deal with it in my usual way, although it would be a mighty nuisence to basically be someone's middle man for disposal. If I wasn't happy with the way our relationship was then I'd have less worries about potentially losing it or pissing them off and I'd simply decline the bag load. It doesn't matter if they think you're ungrateful, it's true! You don't want the stuff. It's their issue for expecting you to be grateful. Who wants to be handed a bag load of clutter for their home that been chosen by someone else? Do the givers not enjoy choosing their own things to bring into their homes? Giving one gift at Christmas and birthday is all that's needed for even the closest relationship. Unless perhaps the person is in poverty and you purchase something you know they really need, to help them out. A need to give a bag load of gifts for no reason is an issue with the giver. If it's money, they could buy one really nice expensive gift. If it's love, they can show it in other ways. Giving a bag load of gifts means something to them, makes them feel good in some way. You don't need to feel grateful because they're not doing it for you, they're doing it for them. You have autonomy over your own life, you're in charge of your own home. It's not rude to say "actually we're going to declutter the DC toys because they have far too many already, they definitely don't need more, thanks anyway though I appreciate the thought". If they consider they've wasted money due to this, that's on them, they shouldn't have assumed you'd want all this stuff. As I've got older I've realised so much of what we're expected to put up with from family is toxic. Often these people aren't there for us in a crisis, we can't be open and honest with them about our lives and ourselves, don't feel particularly close to them, so what's with all the keeping them sweet? It's been liberating to stop and to disengage from the toxicity. If they kick off, you don't have to listen. If they think you're rude, so what? You know you haven't been and the world keeps turning regardless of what they think.

Today I went through an art cupboard and got rid of 9 bits of artwork that had been shoved in there and 1 completed colouring book. Total is 473

681 items down after cleaning today.
Out went a pair of broken flip flops, 5 pairs of outgrown kids summer bottoms, a dress I sold on vinted, a kids poster i never put up, a pack of surgical masks and an assortment of plastic tat from the toy box

@IndianSummer78 I totally agree with you. I think you need to be firm and polite and make sure that your other half agrees and supports you on this.

Nice @Pigtailsandall. I get inspired by everyone’s posts to go and dig into things to find a few things to go…

Posters/pictures/frames are my downfall. I find them hard to deal with and keep too many as I haven’t put them up on the wall since we moved. We have two big boxes of things for the wall, still not unpacked. I’m going to tackle it!

Fallen off here. But back.

since my last post I have sold a chair (or that might have been my last one!) two side tables a pizza oven and a balance bike.

I’ve binned some toys of the dc’s because they’d broken them.

I’ve sorted through books and taken them to charity shop.

I’ve cleared our wardrobes.

Currently attempting this box of frames/pictures/posters… hard going but a few outs managed as well as getting some into the right place:

• 1 broken clock
• some enormous pieces of cardboard that I was saving for some unspecified project

Yay, bag of TEN children's dressing up clothes sat by front door about to go - neighbour's kids can use them!

Footner and the like just never work for me. Id love it if they did 🙏🏽 I follow the instructions then get a bit of flaking on soft skin then nothing 🤔 think I'm going restart having pedicures
nothing in or or this week

Well done everyone.

I’ve done a big push on my boxes of pictures and stuff. A load on the wall, a few things for the bin. A bit of general junk cleared too from the boxes. Not sure which bits I’ve already said but with these I’m up to 241 total and another 30 odd for taking to charity/recycling etc tomorrow.

Has felt a bit brutal as chucking things with memories that are broken or just not needed. Not able to get rid of all the cards, though chucked some. Any tips or hints for special cards? Storing, displaying or something?

I was thinking about scanning some of my special cards? I don't really look at them TBH, but I know they're there?

I haven't actually done anything about scanning them though!

I guess it’s just a weird sentimental thing. I can’t chuck my away cards to/from my DH, my parents or my DC.

Should I keep my DC’s 1st birthday cards so he knows how loved he is? Attachment to stuff runs very, very deep my family. Not pathological hoarding because it’s not acquiring stuff, but it’s holding onto things that have an emotional connection.