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 been adding bits to the charity bags and baby bank every day, but not got them out of the door yet. I think I need some more big items, as currently not seeing much difference except where I’ve been more ruthless.

Bits and pieces out:

5 puzzles
4 Dino candles
1 helium balloon
6 pieces wood /picture rail

25 total for November
1448 total

I think @Jellycatrabbit wins today! 😊

Haha thank you

It was 3 big bundles, each weighed to hit the 2kg maximum for a large parcel and listed cheaply! Included some tshirts socks etc that doesn't take up much space but gives me lots of nice big numbers.

Now have a few random heavy things left over which can go to the baby clothing bank on Monday.

One pair uncomfortable knickers and one large falling apart cardboard box. I can't even remember the reason I was keeping it. Total is 1569

A few bits going :
-1 book DD finished ,she’s now been reading through a bunch finally of quick ones we don’t need to keep ,normally just starts one new after another grrrr
-2 pairs of DD small nearly new shorts after a growth spurt
-2 old toiletries
-1 travel sized one used up ( face cream )
-DD small Heely’s earmarked to go ,might get a Christmas replacement though
-Dog’s sniff mat also earmarked that he’s had for a while and is a bit boring

And i’ve read through a stack of magazines and newspapers again and there are no piles left . Maybe I’ll manage to add something more later .

I have finished a perfume that exmil bought me about six years ago. I now have 5 perfumes - at one point I had about 8 or 9 that were mostly presents. My aim is to go down to 3. I also finished an expensive hand cream. I probably have about 6 more to get rid of.

i have been selling some playmobil sets, and have a few that no one wants. Coincidence a friend revealed that her son’s preschool was collecting playmobil so I might say that if my sets haven’t gone by the end of November I’ll give them to her. That would be weird to have no playmobil in the house after about twelve years of it.

Hope there was no more damage @ememem84 the winds here were far less dramatic than predicted luckily. Half term has been a washout in terms of weather and decluttering sadly. My usual seasonal mood slump has started to hit and there has been revision for a maths GCSE to support. I have prioritised trying to meet friends and exercising rather than sorting out cupboards. Stilllooking in some areas and very quickly looking away again. 🤷‍♀️😳

Well done @Jellycatrabbit I need to do bundles like that, but they are just soooo time-consuming to photograph and weigh.... sigh.

Few outs from cleaning and tidying over the weekend. I'm starting to realise that I don't think I'll get to my 2023 goal but that's ok. I'll get very close.

Out this weekend;
a very old lipbalm
2 magazines
necklace sold and posted on vinted
dead plant (last one!! I was a terrible plant parent this summer)
6 empty, nice glass jars I was keeping cause I thought I would use them for something. I won't.
broken bit of jewellery
Small plastic toy
expired rehydration salts

Also, I got rid of a pile of clothing receipts and tags. I buy much less than before so I tend to keep the tags and receipts for ages. These were from 2022. Counting the small pile as one.

Total is at 1831. Next step is the last bits of baby clothes for a friend which I need to look through and see what she wants, plus I desperately need to clear our underwear/sleepwear/active wear drawers. Most of those will go to textile recycling as I feel I have literally no decent socks left!!

Used up a travel sized moisturiser today. And binned a pair of pants and a bra yesterday.

I made an enormous pile of winter clothes that nobody wants or wears any more. We have hundreds of thousands of South and Central American migrants currently sleeping on floors of police stations and outside in tents right now where I live, and my parish has set up a clothing donation point, so I'm currently washing everything and preparing to schlep it to the donation center.

DH has gone back to the pile of screwdrivers and only left 2 to go 🙄
He wants to check with DS1 who is 17 and hoping to go to uni next year if he would like to take a pile of screwdrivers with him.
Anyone else think he’s nuts?!

Like, maybe one of each type but not a variety of sizes for every eventuality!

OUT:
an old top I never wear
the holey cardigan from the other day
a pile of papers into recycling

• a lot of energy yesterday running a marathon, foolish really.

Haven’t made much progress today but still have 2 days off before work again. Need to get into DDs room and see what’s happening in there. I have found a bigger wardrobe and matching drawer unit on FB marketplace that might be better for all her clothes, need her to look at it and see if can pickup this week.

mathanxiety that’s such a lovely thing to do.

I took four charity shop bags to a charity shop but it had closed a few minutes early so they’re in my car. That’s a job for tomorrow.

@mathanxiety i also saw an add for winter coat collection but unfortunately we don’t have any spare / old ones I don’t think , I’ve taken stuff to charity shops so often that it’s all gone . Will keep in mind for future though .
Garden got done so quite a bit of greenery leaves and grass mainly declutterred to the garden waste bin .

Got the Halloween boxes sorted . This year hardly used any decorations since neither kid was home on the day . Found a far too small costume though so that’s gone .
Summer duvets got returned by laundry service so they’ll go to the attic into storage until spring .

A couple of other items going today :
-a bar soap DD got in a present we won’t use
-1 DD too small Halloween costume
-1 manky 7 part big dog toy
-2-4 pairs of DD small sweatpants
-2 pairs of DD small shorts ,there might be more need to have another good look
-earmarking an old calendar ( always keep the previous year’s one but now that can soon go )
-1 pair of DD trashed trainers there’s an endless supply of these always
-1 sleeve of horrible tasting coffee capsules
I thought I had already gotten rid of all off

One window blind that's old and worn out to be binned and one baby pram suit that doesn't fit to be donated. Total is 1571

Some decluttering done over the weekend:

• three candle holders to charity bag (two were mine from my mum’s house when we cleared it a few years ago)
• Jenga game to charity bag (unwanted gift)
• DH took two bags of rags (old underwear/ socks) to a charity shop

DD had a friend round for a playdate on Saturday which prompted some tidying and hiding stuff upstairs 🙈 I dream of having a visitor-ready house!

Well done @EllieQ, @IndianSummer78 and also @Nordicmom - that’s a lot of outs! Also very impressive @LivingInaBuildingSite, was it the NYC marathon or just on the same weekend?

Well done @stealthninjamum, you are doing better than me by actually getting them to the charity shop. I have again this week managed to miss the baby bank drop off time (it’s only once a week) so I’m definitely failing a bit at this! I have however got the nursery back in order following the building work recently which has taken some doing!

Some bigger/bulkier stuff out the door:
4 bath feet
2 poles from bathroom Reno
2 shelf offcuts
1 expired medicine
1 blind
1 off cut of picture rail
1 box
1 very large cardboard tube
1 old packaging

@EllieQ - a “visitor ready house” - that really is the dream isn’t it?!

@Realfastfoodie no not NYC. A local trail marathon that’s described as self-navigation, no marshals out on course, just find your way with a set of instructions - although the techy runners have some gps thing on their watches which is kind of cheating lol!
had to wade through a lake that had flooded part of the course which was fun!

I have an ever growing pile for the tip, hoping DH will do a tip run at the weekend, he’s away for a few days, so can’t really count that stuff as out yet.

I’ve been mostly working on my work paperwork today - have a sort of book/portfolio thing to hand in in Dec. Not much left to do, but some I have to ask colleagues to do which always feels like a nuisance job.

Have at least cleared the front room of everything DD, so it’s looking tidy again, apart from the piles of framed artwork stacked against the walls, must put some pictures up one day ….

I made £156 selling online last month! So I'll take that as my count for October as I didn't start counting items.

So far for November, online sales currently £18 🙌 and an unexpected sale of my car for £4k too, I'm counting that as decluttering because it has been sat doing nothing not being used for 6months so I think that counts as clutter? Garage couldn't resolve its issues so...off it goes.

Decluttered:

• car
• 1 bottle of screenwash
• 1 car window scraper
• 5 baby vests
• 2 baby grows
• a handbag
• a black bin bag of paperwork shredded
• 3 hangers

November Total:
Sales: £4,018
Items: 15

I will always have a quick scurryfunge before any visitors, every time regardless!

Thanks @Realfastfoodie i got the bags to the charity shop, it is so wonderful to see it leave the house. There has become a mountain of stuff in the playroom and so some of that has now gone. There are also incomplete things there like toys that I should probably throw away. Even though I have gone through every drawer and box in my house I don’t understand how these incomplete things are still there. For example dc had projectors that projected stars on the ceiling. I can only find half of each. It kills me to throw them away/ recycle them but I have been looking for their other half’s for about two years!

I also put two bags of playmobil in the car. They’re advertised on marketplace but if they’re not gone by the weekend I’m taking them to my friend. I have also got some Duplo advertised on marketplace that no one’s interested in, so I might see if my friends preschool wants Duplo as well as playmobil.

Oh I hear you @stealthninjamum - the biggest favour we can do ourselves is to free ourselves from the obligation to keep things that are broken or incomplete but we feel we ought to fix or find the missing bit.

One too small beanie hat to the donations bag. Total is 1572

Haven't updated in a while as I've been working away. While I've been gone, my DP has finished the library so I really HAVE to crack on and sort out all the shelves and cupboards.

I want the whole of upstairs decluttered, tidy and clean by new year.

Out so far this month is 15 eBay sales and 6 items to the fabric recycling bag. Also 2 items for the tip.

Total 1134

A couple of weeks ago I counted out a box of books which still haven't been collected by DPD. I have 2 more boxes to go but I'm doubting I'll be able to get them collected. It's infuriating.

I got rid of another magazine tonight. Total is 1573