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!!

Wow @Jaberwockky - that’s amazing! 👏👏👏

pigtails I hope you’re feeling better. Your dinner sounds wonderful.

realfastfoodie that’s a good idea about socks. Me and dc all have similar sized feet so I find it impossible to judge who owns what socks.

Laat night I dealt with most things in the Bag of Crap but I suspect there might be items in there for weeks that I don’t know what to do with. I now need to declutter my medicine cupboard. Until this week it was really organised but as I’ve gone through other cupboards this week I’ve moved all the medicines into it via the Bag of Crap. I have also put a couple of playmobil sets for sale this morning but I’m thinking of giving them away as it doesn’t seem to be a very cool toy anymore.

Ps. Maybe Daim cake as a reward for not buying anything off-list 😉

@stealthninjamum I’ve literally just done the medicines, and put them in a big lidded box. I’ve not bothered to make them look tidy though. A couple of us in the house have a few regular prescriptions and it always seems impossible to actually keep sorted. But decluttered and not full of crap seems good enough for now… would be interested if you have a better system?

@Realfastfoodie I don’t really have a system. We used to have two smallish plastic boxes without lids and I usually write the useby date in sharpie on the top of product’s box and whenever I take a plastic box out I can see instantly that somethings gone off and take it to the chemist to dispose of. The contents of the boxes have changed as dc have grown up so there used to be a child’s one with calpol, eczema cream for dd1, Disney plasters, headlice combs but we don’t need the children’s stuff anymore so it’s random. It was on a high shelf so dc couldn’t reach so it would take seconds me to just lift the boxes onto the kitchen counter to look through.

what’s happened over the last couple of years is I’ll use something and keep it in the bedroom or a bathroom and buy more. So last week I chucked out gone off Vicks that was barely used and I’m sure we have 2 or 3 olbas oils. Thanks to the Bag of Crap I think everything is in the one place but later I’ll go through it.

I did a dash clean of the house this morning and found some random crap to declutter. Out went:

2 electric toothbrush heads for which we don't have a toothbrush for anymore - listed on freecycle
gift bag recycled
instruction manual recycled
fridge magnet I hated
novelty pen
storage box that stores nothing anymore!
Expired granola bar we all hated
hand cream that I hated
broken plastic tub
kids activity book
kids cardboard solar system hanging thingy, which was v raggedy
tub of hairmask
old pack of plasters
pair of kids socks
a paint sample

this is pretty much just maintanence decluttering - I have a few storage items left to go through, plus my own wardrobe which is a never-ending task. But just getting rid of that, plus some straightforward rubbish, feels good

Ooops forgot total - 1039.

With medicines, I keep a real minimum at hand now because we have a pharmacy 5 minutes away that's open until 10pm. I used to keep tons "just in case" and then it would all expire. Now I have paracetamol, ibuprofen, antihistamines for both kids and adults; plasters and blister plasters, Vicks, some antiseptic cream and any prescription meds. So very little - it all fits into a kitchen tupperware container that snaps shut, along with tweezers and tiny scissors. It is cheaper to keep it stored at the pharmacy, lol.

Interesting reading about all your methods.

Loving the BoC stealthninjamum seems to be working really well for you

Jabberwocky that's brilliant progress

"Store it in the pharmacy" - love this Pigtails it's what I need to do with clothes. Years ago when online shopping wasn't really a thing I'd sometimes struggle to find anything I liked and end up making do with so-so clothes. To prevent this, I started buying anything I liked whenever I happened to see it, whether I needed it or not. A change in society's shopping habits and one crammed house later, I've realised there'll always be something I like these days and I can't buy/store/wear it all

I'm in mess again. Funeral is Monday. Not ready and struggling with that. House is a bombsite now

Take care of yourself @IncessantNameChanger. Don’t worry about the house, plenty of time for that after the funeral.

incessant don’t worry about the house, please look after yourself. Sending hugs.

Feeling pleased. Having filled the Bag of Crap I’ve now almost emptied it. I have organised batteries, screwdrivers, medicines and lightbulbs as they seem to be have been left around the house after use.

I decluttered the medicine cupboard. I thought I regularly declutter it but despite that I had gone off paracetamol, lempsip, eczema cream, calpol syringes we don’t need any more, deep heat and freeze tubes, hydrocortisone - basically a bag of stuff to go to the chemist.

I have also found about five used lightbulbs that my cleaner put in a drawer, they’re in a bag now in the car, I will take them to Tesco to be recycled.

I have tied my eldest room as he is looking a unis up north today. Got the kids to clear a bit. Hoover some floors. Emptied the toilet of water and descaled it for the first time in my life! Feel a bit calmer for it. Going to get ds to try some clothes on in a bit

@IncessantNameChanger look after yourself this weekend. As we all know too well all the clutter will still be waiting after the funeral. If it’s a good distraction do a little if making stay or go decisions is too hard don’t even try.

Look after yourself @IncessantNameChanger , the clutter can wait for a better headspace. There's no hurry

Our neighbours did a trip to the dump and took our old radio which was great- 1040 down

@IncessantNameChanger I agree, the house can wait. Though I know sometimes it can feel good in a way to take control of something. I think what I’m trying to say is you need to do whatever works for you, and I hope the funeral is a wonderful celebration of her life.

Aced the IKEA trip. One non list item - plastic bowls for the DC. Completely forgot we needed some. DH has sunstroke, so no decluttering or cleaning today. I have however ‘decluttered’ my uni assignment this evening. Felt very much fuck it, it’s not going to improve in the next two weeks and have submitted early and I’m now coursework free till the end of July 😁

Plan tomorrow is to build the Kallax, then sort the toys on Monday while DS is at school. His clothing needs a sort through, though a lot will probably go into storage for DN and DS2.

Seems like everyone is doing brilliantly!

You guys have all been brilliant, well done. I’m just slowly filling up charity bags and rubbish/recycling bags one item at a time. Literally as I find the odd thing. Will do a big update when they are out of the door, but there must be 30 or so items in there.

I did a bit. Not much but feel less overwhelmed now.

@IncessantNameChanger sending love and good wishes. Well done

Been just hanging on here .I’ve felt horrible today but we got DD off to her sleepover and a party tomorrow . Trying to get DS out the door too onto his post exams trip on Mon and with me being this unwell it’s hard since I can’t do much . Have had to cancel more plans .

DH did a dump trip , some gardening and took some parcels which there’s a few more of . I’ve folded the clean laundry and there were a few outs from that . The dining table finally arrived so that room is coming together.
A couple of things are going out :

-1 broken camping chair
-1 new unwanted camping chair on olio
-1 pair of men’s waterproof trousers
-1 DD small gymnastics leotard
-1 old hand cream
-1 spatula
-6 pairs of unwanted new socks
-6 pairs of old pants
-10 pairs of old socks
-1 finished book
-3 parcels of clothing being returned

Upwards and onwards somehow …

Well done @Nordicmom, that’s a lot of progress for someone who isn’t feeling well!

Hello. Can I join?
We have too much stuff! It's mainly me. He tried to instigate a one in one out policy for the books so I took to hiding them in my car. Sometimes he will wave things in my face and sigh when I tell him they can't go. I know it's a problem and I know why it's a problem so I'm starting small. The books will be the last thing to get sorted. There are thousands.
I've started cleaning/decluttering for 30 minutes a day on top of the usual cooking and washing related stuff. I've decided it doesn't matter what I do as long as I do something every day.
Monday - Took everything out of the cupboard under the sink, wiped the cupboard and doors. Put everything back in various baskets collected from other rooms (gift baskets from presents). Threw away empty packaging, rusty can of polish, and a few other things (7)
Tuesday - Rounded up multi buys of toiletries and cleaning stuff from around the house and relocated them to their new home under the sink.Threw away packaging (9)
Wednesday - Sorted out tights drawer. Got rid of those with holes or too small (17)
Thursday - Dealt with my junk mail on sideboard (30)
Friday - Cleared out basket of empty perfume bottle, old make-up, dried out packet of wipes, empty face cream jar, out of date medication. Wiped down things that I'm keeping and put them back into basket (37)
Yesterday - Knickers! Sorted drawer and threw some away (43)
Today - haven't decided yet but will definitely do something. Wish me luck. I hope I can keep this up.

Welcome and good luck @Thingshavegottogo. Books are controversial I think. For me they are comforting, decorative, useful, insulate the walls and not really clutter (if they are in a bookshelf). It is possible to have so many you don’t have space for them, but if you have piles of books but want to keep them, maybe start by investing in a bunch of billy bookcases, and focus on things which will help you get sorted in other ways?

My declutter success today is resisting the urge to buy a “beauty box” bargain from M&S when I need to buy a few other bits…. It’s just clutter, right? Writing it here for accountability.

I'm tempted by the M&S beauty box tbh :/

In terms of the cause at hand, I've cleared a lot of rubbish out the kitchen where it had collected on the table and sides. There is a bin bag full of stuff for the charity shop but I need my partner to give me a lift with it as its quite big, hopefully it will be gone soon.

welldonethingshavegottogo it sounds like you’ve made a fantastic start. If books are hard for you just do them last.

I did a bit more gardening today. Mainly watering plants but I have also been getting stuff ready for my next trip to the dump. I don’t have a boot full yet but it’s just old tiles really, bits of wood. Dd1 is taking plant pots to school. I have already killed one of the herbs I bought a few weeks ago so sadly that has to be decluttered next.

Im delighted with the house. I can’t remember the last time it was this tidy - apart from the playroom but the door on that is permanently closed. The Bag of Crap is still following me.