Decluttering Thread 6 - hit those targets before New Year!

[Pigtailsandall]

So the last thread got filled up and I think I seem to have taken it on myself to start a new one every time, lol! I hope everyone finds us because I'm too lazy to tag everyone, but here's few who spring to mind. It also doesn't let me add some people, for some reason

@realfastfoodie
@IndianSummer78
@stealthninjamum
@cornedbeef451
@EllieQ
@Gassylady
@IncessantNameChanger

@nordicmom
@Vinorosso74

Now it's the last push until the holidays to get it all out and done (before new cr*p comes in)

Can't remember what I said but finally got rid of a good item on olio after 2 time wasters out
2 bags full to NDN out
so 30 bundles aprox

Only a few outs this week as I'm so busy at work:

1 tray of paints
1 tray of crayons
Pair of boots
Baby toy
Damaged cotbed mattress
Large poster frame
1 pair of socks that came back from nursery so filthy they're not salvageable

Total 1605

My DP made a start on the outbuildings that are packed full of stuff that didn't fit in the house when we moved. He took a huge amount of cardboard boxes to the tip.

Welcome @hopingforthemillion sympathise greatly with the toddler birthday and Christmas coming. One of mine has a birthday this week and when a toddler/primary age I used to feel so frustrated/sad/annoyed at our presents/Santa’s presents and birthday presents plus all the stuff from friends and family plus all the stuff from older kids still played with. Arrrghhh!
Rant over very therapeutic thank you- people do lots of different things. Try a few and see what works for you. Big baby items if no more kids planned? The hallway because that’s what you see first? The coat cupboard whose door you can’t close? The kitchen worktop because it’ll make you smile whenever you see it clutter free?
I always recommend Dana K White “slob comes clean” I have the kindle book she has some great ideas and a funny writing style that makes me laugh.

@PissedOffNeighbour22 so glad we don’t have outbuildings. That would lead to a new level of trouble. Our garage had to be emptied as asbestos tiles were to be removed. Most of the stuff that emerged I didn’t even know we still owned after moving here!

Final charity shop trip before Xmas!

OUT- bib, cup, plate, ornament, egg poacher thing, books, dehumidifier, ornament, nappy bin, paints.

Big bag of soft plastic recycling to Tesco.

Yesterday - big bag of shoes to clothes bank.

Also posted some linens and clothing.

Does the house look any different yet?! Nope!

Concerned amount coming in over Christmas is more than whats gone out!!

Yesterday, I went through the mountain of stuff which had accumulated on the dumping spot in the kitchen, by that I mean where DP piles stuff when tidying rather than dealing with it. Nearly everything went in the recycling.
Dark winter nights mean I'm using up candles as they feel cosy.
Once Christmas and New Year are over, I have some particular things to go through. Eg. DD's pyjamas and socks, bookcase in bedroom, get DP to sort through his paperwork in letter rack.
Hoping Xmas ins aren't cluttery stuff!
I've given up on significant outs for now, just making sure we're on top of day ro day clutter for now.

@Gassylady I'm dreading clearing them out, they're all full to the brim of shite that we should never have brought with us when we moved.
Do you remember the cardboard shortage during the pandemic? I think we caused it 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

We've been here almost 3 years and there's lots of stuff we've never come across so it'll be buried deep in the stables somewhere.

We'd love to go on the Sort Your Life Out programme but it would be too embarrassing. We have considered putting everything out on the lawn and having a go ourselves room by room 😄.

On the plus side the house IS improving. I'm finally seeing it and we only have 1 room now that is full of junk. All the rest are just untidy and a little overfilled.

Out one polyester blend vest top. I bought it to wear in a warm climate but didnt check the label and the polyester makes me horribly sweaty.

Total is 2011. So close to the target. I still have some some kids summer clothes which are too small to weed out so hoping get there.

Still pretty sick with Covid here and trying to just get Christmas ready so not achieving much decluttering atm but I’m forever getting rid as I notice things .
I tried to look at my running total and think after doing much more last year I got rid of about 1200 things this year but I didn’t count every little bit individually also have been doing this for years now . I will keep going in the new year .
Hoping to get DS to drop off the charity shop load off into the warehouse collection point that’s been excellent taking everything in one go but only open in the week so DH can’t do it . Having him take several big storage boxes worth every few months when he’s home from uni seems to work for me though since DH takes clothes and rag and shoe bank bags to the dump collection in the meantime , and we have a big garage to store that stuff for a bit plus the attic room for my charity shop boxes to collect things so none of this is in the way . I need to book a collection for a hamper sent to me in error otherwise on track with any parcel returns atm . DH needs to put our old games console on Olio after the holidays . I will try to weed out something old from DD room after Christmas as well to make room for her presents . Have been getting rid of too small clothes but there’s more to go after this year’s growth spurt .

Out :
-6 pair of old pants
-1 pair of DD old pyjamas
-3 Christmas wrapping paper rolls used up from my stash by me not sure how many others have done
-a bunch of gift tags and garden twine
-1 bathbomb used up
-1 face mask used up
-1 DD old sweatshirt

@Nordicmom hope you feel better soon!
DP has gone to the shops for a few things so I sent him with some soft plastics for the recycling.
Hope everyone has a good festive period without any unwanted ins!

@Nordicmom Im sorry you’re still poorly, I hope you get better soon.

It’s so great to see these updates, I’ve not been doing much myself just stuff while I do housework. .My main decluttering has been the fridge freezers (we have two). We have had some interesting food combinations but the fridge feeders have been empty enough for me to clean out the trays and wash them before the main food delivery tonight. The fridge was particularly grim. I looked at every item and we had stuff like mango chutney, chilli sauce, horseradish that had gone off in 2022. I’ve been eating it too but fortunately never had food poisoning. I tend to go through the fridge every bin day getting rid of gone off fresh food so I’m embarrassed I missed the jars.

ive also been decluttering stuff as I go - some of the things I remember decluttering are a broken wire, a key ring, some instructions, socks and pyjamas with holes, some old blankets but they don’t really count because dc are getting new blankets for Christmas.

Anyway, happy Christmas everybody!

Thanks guys , I’m praying it’ll follow the pattern of the last case of Covid for me and start easing off in the second week . I’m think I maybe should have contacted my GP about if but couldn’t find the text / email about it I’d gotten earlier . I’ve been in my room an en-suite for over a week now trying to not infect others and it has worked so far but I will not spend Christmas here alone so that like better be more faint by Monday since I’m going downstairs for meals and presents etc. this time I’ve had no fever unlike the last so my body’s not putting up a much of a fight I have a bit of a useless immune system …

Haven't done anything this week. One tin previously used for storage has been replaced with a proper organiser so that's gone out. A hair conditioner used up, I still have 4 left. Total is 1760.

Welcome to newbies.

Just start, is my best advice.

I like to organise as I go, find it helps to keep like with like. So put things where they should go, if there's no room put them in that general area and note that area as needing to be decluttered.

Don't have a "junk drawer"/cupboard/room etc. If it's junk you don't need it. If you do need it, find it a designated home. Junk areas become dumping grounds for things you can't be bothering to put away which then becomes lost. Also for things you need to make a decision to (not) keep but dump it there instead, procrastinating the decision. It's the most difficult area I had to declutter, although small, due to this. So maybe don't start with it, but bear it in mind that whilst you're decluttering and organising "oh I'll just chuck that in the junk drawer" isn't you making a decision, it's you making things worse for the future when you get around to decluttering the junk drawer.

Haven’t been on here much as not really getting anything out of the house.

But today gave away an unwanted poster and an unwanted whiteboard.

Tomorrow should be giving away 2 x kids scooters the boys don’t want anymore and a spare calendar for next year.

Otherwise I won’t be trying to declutter until January now.

Joining in and OUT has been old cheap jewellery in my jewellery box. Now have one nice bracelet going to wear tomorrow, my engagement ring which is now far too small and one day will be made bigger to wear with my wedding ring and another cheapie but colourful ring that I love.

Evening all. I'm also making rather slow progress as it seems to be impossible to give stuff away locally. I also can't drive at the moment so can't take it to the dump or charity shop and don't want to fill our bin before Christmas 😊

Have posted a couple of vinted sales, and gave away a baby bouncer and baby cushion today though. I've also started rearranging our living area (kitchen/diner) to give more usable floor space for playing. Still need to finish if off tomorrow but it's already looking loads better!

1,700 outs year to date. Includes shredding 21 old credit cards at my friend's house. Have been storing them for years unsure how to dispose of them securely.

1,,825 would be 5 per day over the year- can I hit it? (Probably not!)

Hope everyone has lovely non-cluttery Ins over Christmas!

Tonight on impulse I finally blitzed through DD room . Resulted in 1 big black bag of recycling , 1 big black bag to dump
1 bag to clothes bank , and a quite a pile to charity shop . I dusted her bookshelf after emptying it completely and putting all her damn dust gathering little objects into a keepsake box in her wardrobe . She thought I threw them away but oh no it’s all safely stored ,all the important little rocks and snow globes that were such dust magnets like the damn Lego I the next dusted with my soft brush as best as I could . I sent a pile of books back down to the book case she’s got plenty in her nightstand to get through , art stuff to art drawer next to kitchen, a few console games to tv room etc , I went through her desk drawers again after doing them 6-9 m ago . This time I got rid of a lot of half finished activity books etc I left then as I had warned her . She’s not using any of them and she has plenty left . I went through 3 large toy drawers and one of books . I organised her wardrobe shelves the hanging side I’ve done recently and a bunch of coat and jackets are earmarked to go after this winter . I removed a lot of small stuff . I didn’t do her toy box that has some puzzles etc I’ve done that recently and she has her Christmas Lego calendar on top of it . So much just trash too inc food packets under her bed grrrr . Felt awful in the end because I am still ill but I did it with pure rage I was so angry about the state of the room after me not being able to clean and tidy due to Covid for a week and despite all my pleads for the 3 others to do it especially since Christmas is coming her room and the kids bathroom were an abomination except for her bed which was nicely made . I don’t even know looks like downstairs but I have warned them there won’t be a Christmas next year if it’s bad down there when I finally get to go down . I’m still up due to extra steroid and sorting out what I took out . Really got to get the bags out of my room and have a quick shower and go to bed . Here’s what went out roughly :

• 1 unused activity book
• 2 kids annuals
• 4 kids books ( Guinness work records etc ) all to charity
• a giant stack of kids trading cards
• 3 decks of old playing cards
• wrinkled origami paper
• 15 half finished activity and colouring books
• 11 notebooks
• new kids journal to charity

• 4 big soft toys

• 2 dress up outfits
• 7 small soft toys
• An old board games set
• A horrible piggy bank
• 1 Christmas head band

• 1 pair of new small sport socks

• 1 pair of DD small trousers
• 1 broken light up headband
• 1 toy gun
• 1 part of a costume already thrown away
• 2 fidget mats
• 6 old keychains
• 2 Falling apart Rubik’s toys
• a hover toy
• A theme park hat
• a theme park headband
• A dress up head band
• 1 piano exam book cd
• 2 other kids CDs
• A medal from a party
• A cover for a book we don’t have anymore
• A random toy ball
• several little balls
• A squishy Rubik’s cube
• a sports event visor
• A sports event headband
• 3 ski trip wrist bands
• 1 party wrist band
• 3 wooden souvenir toys
• Plastic bow and arrows
• 3 wooden catapult toys
• Sudoku cube
• An open bag of balloons
• A bunch of wall climbers
• A sports event drawstring bag
• A stinky body spray
• A light up thumb
• Lego bracelets
• A selection of hair clips
• An old pencil case
• A Christmas ornament
• 1 Teddy and a coat for it to charity
• A bracelet
• An unwanted secret Santa present
• useless decoupage kit
• 1 Christmas scrunchie
• 2 other scrunchies
• 5 broken science kits
• 1 old bracelet
• 1 new bracelet to charity
• 2 pouches
• 1 plastic kazoo
• 1 poster
• 5 magazines
• 1 souvenir wrist band
• A travel journal
• A set of erasers
• slap wrist band
• 1 face mask
• 6 badges
• 1 small tin
• 1 clay craft
• A bunch of little balls
• 30 ish pieces of old stationary
• 2 sets of small pyjamas
• 1 pair of shorts
• 1 bikini
• Swimming costume
• 1 rash vests
• 2 hoodies
• Jacket
• Golf skirt
• 1 golf shirt
• 6 DD small T-shirts

Pheeewww

DD isn’t so happy but her room was impossible to dust anymore properly due to all the Lego and little things on the bookshelf , drawers were too full etc . I’ve told her to use her things or they would go ! She is getting Christmas presents if she behaves so I needed to make room that’s just fact . I did offer to give her the bin bags under the tree instead of anything new if she wanted that but she then said no …

OUT a set of plastic colourful straws I have had for yonkee’s year’s. Never used and never will

Hoping to carry on the decluttering into next year and have just discovered this app that I'm planning to use to do at least one thing a day, has anyone else used it?

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/toss-declutter-fast-easy/id1460056693 (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/toss-declutter-fast-easy/id1460056693]

It means ins but I've placed an order from the Christmas sale catalogue and got rid of the main catalogue too which has been hanging around for a while. I didn't buy too much either, not like I usually do. Total is 1762

I don't use many apps Reno but I believe that's how these threads started, one thing a day (I wasn't in the earlier threads)

Nordic that all sounds very challenging. I hope they've not trashed the place downstairs too

I cut expired cards into several random pieces and bin them JellyCat. Never had a problem. Think it's safer than holding onto them

Had a last minute sale on DP's fb marketplace - large boxed item so am very happy to have it gone.
Also gave a book to my mum and DP has sold a couple of items on eBay.

Total 1609

did a festive unsubscribe from a particular sports coach's emails, she wasn't very nice to me so I won't be using her so bye bye 👋🏽

House is gloriously cluttered with Christmas but I can really feel that it’s not piled on top of so much other clutter! Happy Christmas fellow decluttering people!