Decluttering Thread 5 - Slowly Does It

[Pigtailsandall]

We filled the previous thread quickly! I'm still in the middle of my annual leave and working through my old sentimental items so I need to keep the momentum going! It's taking ages.

@incessantnamechanger
@EllieQ
@nordicmum
@IndianSummer78
@Realfastfoodie
@nordicmom
@CornedBeef451
@thingshavegottogo

@stealthninjamum
@pissedoffneighbour22

Sorry for anyone I missed! Hope you find us!

i've called a rubbish removals person this morning. and have arranged for our "spare" washing machine (long story...) to be collected and dumped. i'll be down £40. but more space in the garage. hoorah.

Hi. Can I join you all? We thought we were at the maintenance stage but we are moving this week and while I'm boxing stuff up I've been decluttering. So many things have gone these past few weeks it makes me realise I'm not doing as well as I thought! For us decluttering was a process that we started in 2020 but I think we got complacent! It's like an addiction that if we don't keep working at it it spirals out of control...again. So far this morning I've sorted through paperwork. Recycled the stuff that can be and have a pile to shred. Next on the list is a box of stuff we were going to car boot/sell but we ran out of time so I'm going to sort it for the charity shop instead. We have been ruthless in the past few years. I struggled with emotional attachment to things. It has gotten easier and I have allowed myself to keep some things in a big plastic tub that lives in the loft. It's like my own personal keepsake box. We've been through everything at least once. I had a massive box of Christmas and birthday cards from forever! We kept the birthday cards only and just a few of the sentimental Christmas cards. Maybe when we look again we'll reduce them further. I'm just panicking as I look at all the moving boxes that we are going to move into our new house that we won't fit and it will feel overwhelmingly cluttered and the feelings that come with that will return.

3/3 on collections now!

Can’t remember the last time I posted here! Very little decluttering done in August - two baby sleeping bags passed to a neighbour, and two pairs of welly socks to the charity bag.

Slightly better so far in September - a school cardigan, two pairs of joggers, a hoodie, and a dance class leotard to the charity bag. I might offer the leotard on the dance classes FB page for second hand uniform. All the other things have been replaced, so it’s been one in and one out.

DD has agreed her box of Megablox can go, so I’m going to offer it to the school nursery. Thinking of suggesting getting rid of her Brio-type trains next as we’ve got a large box of trains and tracks, and she doesn’t play with them. This would free up storage space for toys that don’t have a home and are in a bag for life cluttering up the living room.

binned an old very worn pair of espadrilles today. these had been my shoe faves for three summers (and a winter summer in Aussie this year) so had a good life. finally gave up with them today and they went in the bin this morning right before bin collection.

the washing machine has been collected. hoorah.

i have also listed the kids Vtech toot toot toys on fb for sale. they have so much of it - so it makes sense to get it the hell out the house! especially as they're not playing with it at the moment.

a package from next just arrived with some halloween house decor. i was v confused as i didnt order this - but it's a thank you gift from sis for being her and her boys midnight taxi on saturday when he got so drunk he went walkies.

@Movinginamonth it is tough when you’re forced to see how much stuff you have in moving boxes rather than it all be hidden away. We haven’t moved in 20 years after moving loads before that. Moving was always a good Decluttering opportunity, I dread to think about ever moving now!

blazer collected ✅

skort person no sign yet, she said after 3, that could be anytime!

Have got the PlayStation downstairs, not set up yet (ds would be best to do that anyway). Also emptied his bin! And hoovered up there - within reason, don’t want a fight that I’ve moved everything so sort of ‘nudged’ things around a bit 😄
I’m sure he has loads of bits that could go, dvds, nerf guns, books, endless wires. But may have to wait until he goes to uni, 🤞 next year.

thinking of ditching the bread bin, think we’ve had it for decades and it’s all bent and bashed about. Who has a bread bin vs something else?

Oh and I filed all of my old orchestra music (I’m the librarian so have all the music) - I keep at DH’s office around the corner so wait until it’s all ready to file then do a load at once.
But I always have the current music in a box at home to take to orchestra each week so it’s not really ever an ‘out’

I have a bread bin, but it's never shut and the cookery books live on it.

Had a very stressful SEN related morning as I had a stage 2 complaint zoom in the morning but in a rush as got my dates mixed up! My la is being assessed by Ofsted and the CQC so my swimming rage at sen education exploded thus morning.

Plus still in the middle of back to school madness. I want to declutter my 19 year old. He says the kids can't play in their bedroom. It's my / our house! Not his. P off to uni already 🤣

I don't have a bread bin LivingInABuildingSite my bread goes in the freezer or the loaf we're using is in the fridge

Moving you can declutter again as you unpack. I recommend unpacking slowly, just the bare essentials at first, to give you a chance to miss the non-essentials (or not). It also means you unpack a box, find a place for everything (or declutter it), then you can see if things are getting crowded. It helps with decluttering decisions. If you unpack everything and shove it somewhere, all at once, you just end up with a new version of the situation you just left. Then it feels overwhelming

I have FOMO about leaflets Gassy and have to read them before disposing, which means they tend to sit around for a while joining the clutter first

I just binned my belt. It came free with a coat and looked good. Today is the first time I wore it and the top surface has shredded itself just from being unbuckled the first time. It was a waste of materials to make it! Total is 1141

@LivingInaBuildingSite it's certainly is tough seeing all the boxes. We haven't moved in 12 years.I'm trying to convince myself that hopefully most of the boxes will be emptied and the contents will have a place in the new house.

@IndianSummer78 that sounds like a good plan for the unpacking. If the truth be told I could probably live without half of what I've packed😂

We haven't moved in over 25 years. I swear this is half our problem. When we moved in friends and family just grabbed the lot and shoved so there was no decluttering then ieither

Ok, 9 more books today and 4 plastic toys plus a dinky storage box that wasn't good for anything. All went to the charity shop. I have couple more books but the shop wasn't keen on taking many.

Total is 1534

This is your opportunity to experience that and realise you can let those things go

One blouse that's too small and a lovely jacket that's just way too small and I'll be sorry to see it go. Total is 1143

Two eBay parcels posted. Bag dropped into charity shop, clothes, books, DVDs and some hair rollers I’ve never used. The traditional pair of worn out socks plus a pair of pants from the wash into the rag bag. I did buy some DVDs in the charity shop 5 for £1 all sorts of stuff that will be watched once then recycled back to the charity shop. A friend suggested I might enjoy True Blood I could buy it on prime video at £22 but instead I’ve bought it for 20p - admittedly not in HD 🤷‍♀️

And almost forgot looked at the pile of leaflets -kept none of them. Most were advertising attractions/museums etc but luckily the internet has been invented so I have no idea why on earth Ive kept them

Well done everyone. You all seem to be on a roll with chucking things out.

22 more things sold and posted on eBay.
Total now 861.

By the weekend we should have my son's room decorated and new carpet down. Really looking forward to moving the furniture back in and only keeping what is necessary in the room.
He can't move in there until we've decorated and furnished the library as we'll need to use his new room for storage until then 😣. The amount of brand new 'bargain' toys currently piled up waiting for somewhere to live is embarrassing.

I was supposed to be buying a car but that all came to nothing so I can't do the car boot sale that I'd been hoping for. I have a huge list of stuff that can be taken but the last car boot of the year is next month :(

I managed to sort through my bedside cabinet and what was in 3 draws now fits into 2.
Shredded most of the paperwork. Will finish the rest today.
Still haven't bagged up the stuff for the charity shop. That's another job for today!

@PissedOffNeighbour22 instead of the car boot can you see if your local area does anything similar to a yard sale? Around here it’s not that often but every few months or so people sign up, someone makes a map with all those houses taking part and you only have to carry stuff to your driveway/pavement? Just a thought.
Or just let it all go, donate to charity and feel free of the stuff!

only Decluttering today has been the crumbs under the toaster!
have been out for brunch, then popped into the school where I’m a governor. I may declutter that job one day.

Actually remembered - a holey sock to ragbag.

• and 3 bits of scout uniform being passed along this eve, so not a total washout.

@LivingInaBuildingSite No there's nothing like that where we are. No one can ever find our house anyway on maps/sat nav so would probably be a bust even if there was one going off here 😄.
We don't have charity collections here either. I used to bag up loads of stuff at my old house and get rid that way.

Out-

Baby vest
Baby dress
Stained skirt

Total is 1144

My other two stain removals were successful

One old tshirt out but 2 new ones in so up 1.
Also in, a gin bottle gift set as a thank you for the Lego I gave away - I can cope with that lol.

Well I’ve only had a small number of outs for September so far, but lots of big wins in there. Things that have been cluttering everything up or unused for years. Quite a bit of sorting and organising too, so not just “outs”. I have a feeling that if I was counting my “ins” it would be a bad month, but I don’t feel like anything is piling up on me, everything has a purpose and a place. Some recent things.

Big wins in terms of areas - kid stuff, kitchen cupboards, loft, bedding

1 Olio - 1 mattress topper
1 FB - 1 duvet cover set
2 FB - 2 square pillowcases
2 olio - 1 duvet cover set, 1 fitted sheet
21junk/rubbish clearance

1x parcel posted
1 cassette to mp3 player unused
4 Kitchen cupboard clear
3 puzzles/games to nursery

66 total for sept
1189 total