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!!

Really frustrated with my declutter. He has cancelled / rearranged again. Which is two times out of three. Still not sure exactly what his remit is, but I'm cracking on without him mostly.

Sold a few more bits on Vinted but I probably have about three of those massive IKEA bags worth of stuff listed. That's not sustainable.

I have lots of school trousers I have kept of the boys, but they are gray and ds needs needs balck. They are a viscous polyester blend so I can't die them. I need to just get rid as I don't think second hand school trousers sell well?

Anyway I'm cheesed off with the declutterer. Feel like I have reached out for help for nothing now.

i stopped with the Bag of Crap because all the crap was homed in the right place and I wasn’t actively decluttering. I started again yesterday as I started on the playroom again and found some photos that need to go in the photo drawer. So they’re now in the Bag of Crap.

I have put some things from the playroom for sale but not got any interest yet so I’ll take them to the charity shop in a week if they’re not sold.

@IncessantNameChanger do any local schools have grey trousers still? If so, could you donate them there? Our local schools often have secondhand uniform sales to raise funds.

Yes, definitely check with local schools if they have a clothes bank. Many do.

Tidying, sorting, doing jobs.

Taking stuff to the baby bank and the electrical recycling today. Doing a lot of clearing and sorting too.

Found some packaging & old notes I no longer need while looking for my calculator so 5 out so far today.

I've also added a few things to my charity shop bag which is bulging, but I'm not counting it til I actually take it there!

I sorted through a bag of clothes a friend kindly gave us for DS & have added a few bits we wouldn't use to the charity bag, & I sorted the rest by age & put the bits that are too big into a labelled bag in the drawer underneath the cotbed so I can easily locate them when he sizes up.

130 (+ the charity bag!)

At the kids schools they only take branded things so not the plain trousers. Nearest senior school is black too. I will definitely find a good home for them via the clothes bank. I just give everything to the clothes bank ( which is run by a few volunteers) and they list them on Facebook. People then go and pick them up from the volunteers house. It was a life saver during covid as I couldn't buy clothes easily and the kids was all at school still as ds is a child in need due to his SEN.

Just a out to buy dd his £25 school jumpers!

Woohooo! That was 83 things to the baby bank and then a big declutter in the hallway (prepping for painting) has given me another 41 things (lots of masks and old keys, as well as general accumulated crap).

Big numbers day 🎉🎉

353 total for July
791 total

I like your idea for clothes decluttering questions realfastfoodie, I might steal those for my next go through. I know I'm still going to have too much left after I've weeded out the ones that don't fit and I've already found some things that I'll probably let go of at some point because they belong to the person I used to be, not who I am now.

Today I donated one baby vest because it's Mickey Mouse and I don't like that and a sandwich cooler bag that I never use. Total is 895

I'm off this week and had no excuses for NOT tackling my old storage boxes. So far there's actually v little I want to keep. Out went 83 items; 3 sets of big photo book labels, a necklace, 4 books, old banking details, notebook, a broken ornament, 14 postcards, 3 cables which I have no gadgets anymore and 54 photographs

Also posted an item on Vinted: at £2.50 it was almost not worth it

Total is 1219.

Yesterday: 9 more books to the charity bag.

Today: 1 pair of DD’s leggings to the fabric recycling bag as they have a hole in the knee.

PIL have arrived for a visit, so there probably won’t be much decluttering over the next week (except wine, and possibly my sanity - I’m fond of them, but they can be hard work!).

Two pairs of too small jeans, one too small shirt and a leaflet have gone today. Total is 899

I was all smugly decluttered 2 years ago but jumping back on here now.
I'll work on at least 1 item a day and this morning I'll take an existing pile of books to the charity bookshop

Ok, guys I have a recommendation for an unexpected declutter method… it’s not cheap but might be cheaper than some!

I recommend getting decorators in to decorate you most cluttered rooms and spaces… you have to clear everything out which means you look at it all on the way out (lots of things for the bin and charity bag!). And then you have to look at it all on the way back in!

Found this out by accident as the people we have decorating have a slot so we’ve had to make stuff happen!

Wow that's amazing!

I'm very jealous as not much is getting done here. EBay sales are due to finish though so that should be some items out by the weekend. Other than that I'm trying to persuade DP to finally do a tip run. I don't count things that are effectively rubbish though so it won't make a difference to my totals, but I'm fed up of seeing crap left in piles and soggy cardboard out in the garden 😑

DH had a wardrobe sort-out and filled another charity bag; there was a doorstop collection yesterday so that one and the one I'd already filled both went. I also passed on a few unopened toiletries that DH was given but can't use (very sensitive skin) via our local eco community Facebook group.

I didn't count DHs items but judging by the size of the bag there was at least as much as in my one so I'm going to just double it & call it 70, give or take a few!

I still haven't tackled the stuff from under the bed...

Total 200

Thank you 😊

Yeah I struggle with counting rubbish… but I did count some of the rubbish bits because things like masks and old/spare keys were massive long-standing clutter rather than this week’s rubbish, if you see what I mean? I think you should give yourself at least one or two points for a whole trip to the tip!

Well done everyone. Lots of good stuff happening. @IndianSummer78 - a few items every day is really adding up!

Nice one @AwkwardPaws27, that’s a good effort!

Sounds like we will be able to get some tips from you @WithIcePlease?!

@Realfastfoodie The problem is my entire house contents are long standing clutter 😄.

Most of what we have to take to the tip is boxes and stuff only fit for the bin. The council have halved our bin collections but won't provide extra recycling collections or green waste bins so we now have to do more tip runs 😑.

Maybe I'll start counting each trip to the tip as 1 out!

@PissedOffNeighbour22 - I think you are being pretty harsh in your counting! At least per bag or something!!

14 sewing items gone today and one magazine read and recycled. Total is 914

I spent hours shifting through photos yesterday and sort them. It was quite emotional and very tedious, and I'm not yet quite done. I counted each photo as an item, which my husband said was cheating, but the amount of time and effort I put in I felt its justified. I got rid of a 100 and called it a day. Almost done now anyway and 2 empty albums. Just need to compress them more.

Total is 1319

Hi I joined a few weeks ago and then life got in the way. Good to see that people are keeping up with it all and still chipping away. I've been carrying on with 30 minutes a day when I can, focusing on clothes and have now taken over 300 things to the charity shop including 17 pairs of shoes, some still in their boxes. It was quite depressing to see how much money I've wasted but the thought of it all sitting there waiting to be sold and all the faffing around was too much and things had to just go. How much money have I wasted on black t shirts? There were dozens and I didn't really like any of them. It would have been better to save my money for one expensive tshirt that I really liked rather than loads of cheap ones. Decided to see the money not as a loss but as a donation to charity so picked PDSA and Barnardos and signed up for their gift aid schemes. There's a Barnados warehouse about 20 minute drive away and they take anything including textiles/rags. I don't know how they track it but they've already made £84 from my stuff. Don't feel so bad about the money side of it now and although there's still more clothes to go there's already more space.
Another interesting thing is I'm finding things I'd forgotten about and realised that once upon a time I appear to have been much more stylish than I am now. Who knew and, more importantly, what happened? I've kept the Vivienne Westwood and Red or Dead shoes and decided to wear them to work!
@IndianSummer78 Please stop the tempting sewing offers I have far too much of my own already 😀
Total for July including binned items 436

Wow @Thingshavegottogo - that’s so cool. I wish I lived near you, as being able to drop everything in one place and then see the donations making money for charity would be very inspiring! I agree with you, I find it easier to get rid of things and not regret them if I can feel it’s a donation to charity! Although like @PissedOffNeighbour22 i do have some things that just have to go! Although I’m always trying to find recycling options!

Another big bag of handmedowns now sorted today. Mostly fabric recycling and a bit of charity shop.

23 sewing items gone today. Total is 937