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!

@IncessantNameChanger - personally I’d do a big list of it all, or as much as you can, one evening and then you can donate everything that hasn’t sold by the end of September?

Well done everyone I can see loads of progress! I’ve been away for a couple of days, but I did manage to declutter an old pair of knickers that has ripped by leaving them in the hotel bin. I would normally bring home, and then I’d have to remember to wash, dry, put aside and then recycle… definitely quicker this way. 1020 total.

Congratulations @Nordicmom’s DS.

Regarding old meds, I would definitely drop them off for safe disposal at the pharmacy. Honestly, pharmacists see it all and frankly don't care. I worked in one for years while I studied and people buy/drop off the weirdest stuff. They will most likely just think you are responsible:)

I would also just do a big bulk listing of donate-able stuff. I did this a few times early in my decluttering because wanted to be environmentally responsible (also, the thought if decluttering stuff sensibly is one of the biggest ways I stem the flow of stuff in, so in that way it's good that decluttering is a bit inconvenient). It also made me feel really good bring able to gift stuff directly to people. It was definitely a high.

Just checking in. Sounds like lots of good work going on. We are back from a brilliant holiday and just ticking over with some holed clothes being put in rag bag. Few books and DVDs to charity bag too.

@Nordicmom that’s amazing for your son you must all be so pleased. Which uni is he off to, maybe someone can give you the inside track on what is really needed in his accommodation. One of mine is at Sheffield for engineering

@Gassylady , he’s going to Imperial College in London his father was at when we met 😊!

My son wanted to go to Imperial. He could gone in by train from home at a push.

Hope he has a great time I’m sure he will. It’ll go one of two ways he will be super neat living in much less space than he is used to or like mine will turn the room into a recreation of his pit at home 🙄🤢

I tend to leave recycling bits in the car and get rid of them when I drive past the place they can be recycled. So I have a bag of lightbulbs in the boot but they’ve been there about a month because I haven’t been going to Tesco lately. So with meds - if you’re avoiding one pharmacist in particular- I’d put them in the car and at some point I’d take them to a different pharmacist when I next go past.

I have two bags of charity shop stuff that is going in the car. One bag is dd2s stuff from when she decluttered her room at the weekend, the other is random but from the last couple of months.

Good idea @stealthninjamum - I do think recycling of meds is worth doing properly too and any pharmacy will take them without a second look.

No decluttering for me today. Just trying to survive work, sick kid, unpacking and being nearly 8 months pregnant 🙈

@Realfastfoodie my problem isn’t finding stuff to declutter but getting it out of the house! So if it’s in the car I’m almost there.

It sounds like you have a lot on, hope your pokey child gets better.

Poorly child not pokey!

Mine could commute in on the train after the first year too if he can’t find a flat share but I think he’s keen on not to after doing 2.5 y of 3 h total of daily school journeys . It’s a good fall back though .

Thanks @stealthninjamum - looks like he’s a lot better this evening

Congrats all the clever sons who got into good unis, although Imperial was our massive rival uni so I can't cheer too much ;)

Not long to go @Realfastfoodie ! You've done so well decluttering before your new arrival is here.

Not much this weekend as I was solo parenting and the weather was nice so we spent most of it outside doing stuff. I watched my 4-yo eat an entire adult portion at Wagamama plus an ice cream - kids really grow like weeds in the summer. So I've actually had a lot of ins- few more kids clothing bits for September, plus new underwear for me, as well as a few indulgent buys from sales which is naughty.

The only things that went out were a full-up notebook, some kids art work, a sample moisturiser I used up, a Vinted sale plus a box I sent the sale in (I definitely hoard boxes and useful packing items. Have way too many)

Total is at 1428, although I have accepted I won't get to 2023 this year as we will be away all of December which means I'd have to complete this challenge in just over 3 months.

Awww thanks @Pigtailsandall but our house is currently in total chaos due to a nightmare bathroom refurb gone wrong. I’m trying to get everything sorted before the baby comes, along with some replacement windows and decorating. It’s madness but underneath the madness I think we are making progress.

My challenge at the moment is that I have a few larger items (furniture) which should have resale value (eg great little trading company or nice solids wood). I don’t quite know how to price them as we do really need them gone too!

Ah we have that issue too. I have a nice small leaning ladder-type shelving unit, plus a lovely coffee table from Made - we don't need them and I need to sell them. Aldp need yo list our pram for sale, bit that means taking it out the loft, washing the covers, listing it etc... i only like selling simple quick things on Vinted i can post the same day!!

One necklace that doesn't suit me donated and one catalogue recycled. Total is 1144

Hello, I'm new here!

Our DD is being assessed for autism and it has recently dawned on us that she finds her bedroom (and probably the whole house, but particularly her bedroom) very discombobulating because of all the stuff.

So we are embarking on a declutter, with her permission - she has finally agreed to get rid of some stuff!

So my question for all you experts...how do I know which things to sell/charity shop/carboot/bin? I imagine we'll do a bit of everything and I'm interested to know what people's benchmarks are for these categories 😊

Thank you - feeling a little overwhelmed at the prospect right now!

Welcome @thirdistheonewiththehairychest! I think we all have our own thresholds for what is worth it. I sell a lot less because I am feeling very time-poor right now. So I either sell

I would say

• Big stuff/furniture on marketplace and local FB groups. Be willing to cut your prices quite quickly if you need it gone.
• Something that might be a bit more valuable (big playmobil sets for example or small postable electronics) might do better on ebay - see what others have sold at
• Everyone I know seems to have given up on carboot as the prices are so low
• Small postable stuff on vinted. I had given up on this as it seemed to be a waste of time, but got encouraged back on and have been pleased!
• Ideally find a charity shop that will also take clothes recycling (oxfam do and lots of others) so you don’t have to sort too much between sellable and not!
• Giving away for free - box outside your house, olio app, freecycle or local Facebook groups/marketplace . Olio is a bit less unreliable to me for giving things away as you can review other users. I’ve had a lot of no-shows. I’ve started just leaving things outside the house and telling people they are there, because I find no-shows so annoying
• If you can’t get rid of it through the above, put it in the bin. I’ve started having a box of stuff outside the house for neighbours to take from and if it’s not gone in a day or so I do then bin it.

@Pigtailsandall made a really good point further up… in some ways it needs to be a little bit painful to get rid of things, and doing it properly with minimal waste, otherwise we will just keep buying things and filling our house back up!

Does anyone else struggle to get stuff out of the house due to the lack of accessible charity shops? We live on the outskirts of a city, so all charity shops are either a bus ride away (a bus ride that I wouldn't ordinarily do), or I would have to pay to park a 5-minute walk away from the shop which isn't practical when you have armfuls of stuff.

It's such a faff!

@thirdistheonewiththehairychest I struggle to get stuff out of the house - but that’s more because I’m lazy! As mentioned earlier I tend to put things in the car boot and then take them to charity shop/ recycling point when I’m going into a local town for other reasons. I do have a favourite charity shop but there are two others I like in different towns that I sometimes use too.

some charity shops will do collections - I think BHF is one of them so if you have a local Facebook group you could ask. Also you could donate things to local organisations like crafts to schools or preschools as long as they collect. I had a heavy rockery taken away by a private school teacher for her school and used to give crafts things to a preschool employee who’d collect things from me including half completed craft sets, half done sticker books, crayons etc I also gave away about 50 white tiles to a teacher to do a craft activity because my local tip wanted me to pay to get rid of them. I also used to donate books to dds schools - in fact lots of schools and libraries will take donations.

I hope that helps.

I started a rolling bag of misc to go by the door yesterday. 3 items went already

I only tend to sell my items that I'm emotionally attached to, which is kids clothes. If I love something like a girls Boden dress, or a Joules jumper, selling it helps to move it on. I get punts on Vinted but over the summer have made £80 selling about 30 listings. Then it's easier to donate literally hundreds of other kids clothes to a person who sorts and gives them away on Facebook as a clothing bank. I have used the clothing bank myself so it's nice to give back.

It's OK to just bin some of it too. I possibly bin less than 5% of the clutter but because I give so much away I feel no guilt.

Seeing a brand new kids dress you spent £15 on selling for £3 on Vinted definitely hammers home not to buy extra or because its a bargain next time in the sales. I think of that every time I rumsge in a charity shop or the Next sale.

Also a tshirt might be a bargain in the Next sale but now I know it's even cheaper on Vinted, so if need it, I can get it on Vinted later ( which now I never do). I'm not going to give up browsing but my purchases are much rarer now.

Definitely got to be that element of pain. Feel the pain and store it for the next shopping trip.

My kids has SEN and we definitely cope better with room to see and store things

2 old duvets 1 child doesn't like duvets so might not replace 1 pillow 1 broken trug out
STBXH suggested replacing all bedding which had been out during the reschuffle 🤔 but that's the opposite extreme