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!

My DP started painting the library shelves today so I made a start on going through the books.
I've started piles for

• selling
• giving to my mum
• giving away/bin/car boot

I've started using the Libib app to catalogue my book collection as it will tell me when I find a duplicated book that I can get rid of.
The selling pile is growing which I'm really happy about.

Other than that I binned

• a nightlight
• a guidebook

Total 1056

Had quite a few outs since I last posted. Sold another coat on Vinted. DP finally got rid of our old Virgin Tivo box yesterday. Also gone on his trip to the dump: a bin bag of textile recycling, 3 pairs of shoes/boots, 3 bags of school work, various batteries and knackered cables.
I was checking our wrapping paper and won't need to buy any for Christmas. We have so many gift bags, DD has taken the smallest for a friend's birthday present.

I'm debating taking all my vinted listings off now and giving them away. However I still have some childrens Christmas clothes so I'm not sure to wait until after Halloween for a week or so, or just put them back with the other Christmas clothes and try to sell them again next year? So many desisions!

I went through some photos again but tbh I'm feeling a bit exhausted from them, so I might give it a break and revisit in a year or two. There's some more but they are not huge piles, and I have bigger decluttering to think of, like the pram and changing table which are STILL in my house.

Out today
15 photos
3 sets of photo inset cards
set of bank letters from 2020
2 sauce packets
jar of acorns (yes, I am counting this because DC FINALLY agreed to let the bloody acorns go!)

Total is 1780.

Sold a chair on FB market place, my first sale on there!

Two sales on Vinted, packed and ready to be posted tomorrow.

5 items listed on Vinted and lots have favourited them already.

For the charity shop, collated today:
6 bibs
3 pairs of toddler leggings
2 pairs of toddler trousers
2 toddler sweatshirts

In the fabric bin:
1 retired bra
1 pair holey socks

I'm definitely motivated at the moment, it feels very refreshing. But it also feels even more cluttered because I've got so much to sort through that has to come out of the cupboards into piles when it has been tucked away tidily (ish) for so long. I've made my peace now that it's going to get worse before it gets better but I just need to keep at it.

Good luck @Toddler101 - maybe try to focus on some quick wins as well as big sort outs to give yourself a boost?

Well done @Pigtailsandall - sounds like you have a plan of attack on the bigger items?

One thing only out of the door today, but it went to someone who will use it!

@IncessantNameChanger you do quite well with Vinted so I'd say leave them on if they're not a hassle!

I've got a mental not of taking these 10 things out to declutter hopefully tomorrow

1)sleeping blanket not been touched since we moved into this house 5 years ago
2) white dotted baby blanket.
3) baby sleepsuit 0-3 months
4) toddler dress that got torn in the washing machine. Wish I had made her wear it out earlier. She only wore it a few times and it was expensive.
5) a silky curtain

Will find 5 more items to add to this tomorrow . House feels like it's overflowing and stale. I feel like I'm drowning so hopefully getting 10 things out tomorrow will be helpful. Always love a quick declutter.

If you’re going to take them off I’d wait til after payday this week. It’s noticed people will buy anything at the end of the month but as the weeks go on it dwindles til pay day again

I have a massive pile accumulating for trying on vinted then putting them in the charity bin in a month if not. I have had some stuff on there months that’s just randomly sold but it’s taking up so much space now. It’s just finding the motivation to actually uploading the rest that’s the problem 🙈 I told myself the other night if I just did 15 minutes every night of adding stuff it would save it being a big job but of course I’ve just never gone back to it

Another house maintenance job ticket off for the year here ; the ventilation . DH took my parcel of new surplus dog toys I wanted to send to a dog charity for Christmas to the post office so that’s out of here .
He also listed the extra mailing envelopes I once ordered accidentally too many of on Olio finally . We ended up removing 2 out of three boxes of them from the attic and listed about 70/80 of them in two sizes after taking a few big ones to add to the box full of different sizes we saved . Those boxes are big storage boxes so a lot of space made in the attic by removing 2 ! I need to definitely go up there again to continue my last bit of organising and to do the few boxes I still need to look through of kids school stuff etc but am always so busy with the rest of the house and just the basics plus extra jobs and emergencies are popping up constantly ,or I’m just feeling too unwell .
We quickly looked at DS T-shirts remaining in his wardrobe but he wanted to keep them all to be honest they were all quite new looking ones so I understand . I had put away all his clean washed folded laundry after emptying his laundry bin but I think there’s some more in topfloor I’ll need to fold and he can have a look at them next time . Will need to decide if a few jackets can go as well. A bunch of DD sweatpants are getting short so I’ll get the next size up but I suspect they might be too loose from the waist still to switch over yet .
The understairs cupboard has gotten messy with shoes and sports equipment again so I’ll need to pull it all out and to organise it soon , there’s always old grubby shoes to go at least .
A few other bits going too :
-1-2 pairs of kids small old golf shoes
-DS new pair of too big trousers he doesn’t like the style of
-1DD stained pyjama top
-1 DD stained pyjama shorts
-a pile of destroyed summer uniform socks
-1DS old rucksack
-1 broken pair of DS old school chemistry protective glasses
-DD pencil case full of manky stationary
-earmarking DD summer uniform shirts I’ll have check the size again and consider putting them into the uniform second hand sale bag since she’ll next wear them after Easter holidays and I’m pretty sure she’ll be bigger by then …

Oh and I did just declutter a bunch snacks etc food, a clothing lint roller and bag clips to DS new Uni halls with him . He also took more clothes ,new rollerblade wheels and cones and new pads etc random small items . His room is in good nick since he deluttered and cleaned it all before leaving which I’m happy about . He went through , wiped clean and organised every drawer and shelf . Granted we had stayed on top of it since moving in 2 years ago and he had sorted out and reduced his possessions in two back to back moves which made it easier.
We’ve changed the mattress and pillow protectors and sheets into his bed but forgot to change into winter duvet so we’ll do that and send the remaining ones to be washed . I’ve changed DD and mine cushion covers and bedspread into winter ones and am washing the boys ones at home , mine went to the laundry with the collection services I love .
Lots of household jobs , admin and halfterm plans plus a weekend away for me this week and then a short foreign trip for us all except DS and I’m so tired so I’ll go have a nap while DH heads out to do some sport after a day of working from home . DD did a sports camp and injured her hand a bit so I do hope that won’t affect our sporty plans with DS tomorrow ….

Been on night shifts so just sleeping all day.

Off on family trip to Ireland tomorrow, not at all ready yet.

Am taking some forgotten things back to siblings from their previous visits so that’s minor decluttering.

Need to crack on when we get back, the decorators are in DS2’s old room getting it ready for DD to move into when we get back, hope to go through all her junk as she moves and get rid of bits.

Had to decant three rooms for some work being done. Filled a rubbish bag again. Finding it easier and crazier to let go of the little bits of nothing that clog things up - old hairbands, empty containers, paper that should’ve been binned or filled a long time ago.

4 Vinted sales today, packed posted and out the door.

@Realfastfoodie I'm definitely taking small wins where I can! Like you, I've been decanting rooms ahead of work being done. But I've also had to empty the loft storage/eaves as well because of unexpected roof issues so I'm sorting through all our old tut up there too 🙈

Found a few more items to go today :
-1 pair of DD new small winter boots
-1 metal dry cleaner’s hanger
-1 unwanted kids costume ordered in error
-2/3 board games earmarked to go
-1 broken ceramic toilet brush
-4 expired medication and plaster packets
-1 old extension cord
-a couple of DD story CDs
-1 DS old hat
After trying on the new bigger winter shirts we decided to put the smaller ones (maybe 5 of them ) to the second hand uniform collection at school but I will keep the summer ones instead they are still quite loose so might fit in the spring .
DD will also take some Halloween candy to her friend tomorrow and I’ll take some in the weekend to another friend . Rest are waiting for trick or treaters although DD will now be at her friends not here .
I have the weekly clean laundry piles waiting for me so maybe there’ll be some more out from on there . Definitely more uniform socks going to rag bank !

Out today:
4 hangers
5 gaming guides
4 items for the fabric recycling
6 kitchen items

Total 1075

Also out is a huge box of books palmed off on me by family. I've bitten the bullet and said I can't keep them. They don't like my choice of charity so are going to re-collect them from me soon and donate them.
I haven't included them in my count though.

One top with a cracked faded print, shame because the fabric is still in excellent condition but it looks tatty because of the print. Total is 1554

I haven't sold much on vinted, but then I had two sales within a 5 minute period which was odd. Both items I had listed over a month ago. I also had an in and bought dc a pumpkin outfit for Halloween. I'm now wondering if one of you were the seller!

So out a pair of boots which was a big win as I made £40, and a pair of trousers. Also donated an unopened eyeshadow, and binned an expired sauce packet and a instruction manual. Total is 1785.

One bra with worn out elastic gone. Total is 1555

I haven’t been on in ages and have three pages to catch up on. It’s lovely to see you’re all busy.

My main out has been a chest of drawers I sold a week ago and one of dds rucksacks and a really scruffy coat of mine. It’s been a difficult time because dd2 has been poorly and we’ve got half term.

I found a10 year old pension statement in the chest of drawers that I hadn’t opened. I have been in denial about pensions but last year filed years of statements, contacted my pension companies, got updates on their value and I am now on top of them. I’m not divorced yet and stbexh is happy for me to add to my pension even though I’ll probably get half of his. I worry I sound smug with these updates but I suppose I’m always keen to tell people that I was a disorganised, cluttered mess and now I’m organised in so many aspects of my life and have slowly turned the situation around. Unfortunately dd2s needs are very high otherwise Im sure I’d have finished by now. Im sure I’ve been on these threads for six years now!

I'm still tempted to donate my vinted bag to charity but I just sold something else on there.

I lost and couldn't find my mums keys anywhere so I clearly have a long way to go still. I think I will be back on it after half term

You don't sound smug at all Stealthninjamum. It's interesting to see others process along the journey. I can imagine I'll still be decluttering in 6 years too although I hope not. I'm so slow with it, although faster than I expected to be. Maybe I'll speed up as time goes on?

The more I think about it the more I can imagine going minimalist. It's definitely got out of hand. I feel as though I serve the stuff instead of the stuff serving me. The place doesn't look bad but I always seem to be moving things. Like moving ironing off the chair so I can sit down, moving books off the table so I can write a letter or moving things off the side of the bath so I can clean. I'd like to have an amount of stuff so it's all either in a drawer, cupboard or cube unit. Perhaps shelves? I'm not sure, might be just as bad in terms of cleaning as having stuff displayed on windowsills. I'd just like to stop having to be moving things around all the time.

I haven't found anything to get rid of yet today so my total remains the same at 1555.

I can really identify with that @IndianSummer78. It’s really for me about getting to the point where it’s less effort to keep things nice than it is to make a mess!

welcome back @stealthninjamum

Another 26 items sent off to Ziffit. In the process of packing another box too. Am very happy with this as it's mainly very heavy books and my DP's physics textbooks. He's also given up all his acting and theatre stuff.

Also got rid of 3 old rolls of lining paper.

Total is 1104.

Into the bin:

• 3 half used rolls of old wallpaper
• a chunk of old leftover carpet

Sold:

• 20 reusable nappies and associated paraphernalia - pleased with this one as they were taking up a lot of room, and the person who bought them initially only asked about 5 of them I offered up more than I was.abkut to list 'just in case'.