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)

Not quite the same but I decluttered my car today. Emptied the contents of all the pockets and glove box into a bag for life and sorted through it. Most of it went in the bin. I did find 2 new Christmas decorations that I bought over a year ago! The car has to go in the garage this week so I did it to save my embarrassment. There was so much crap in there.

Lasts week I mentioned I was going to look through a box of CDs / DVDs in the Room of Doom. They were the type that you write on and go in a computer (in the old days!) I realised that I had a stack of CDs in the dining room too and put them all together. So far I have found 15 that can go - some I destroyed with old documents - but the majority were empty and can be advertised on freecycle for a week and then thrown out. I have about another dozen to look through tomorrow.

Cleaned my windows, finished the spray, bottle into recycling and bird-pooey cloth binned. I've still got two bottles of window cleaner left. I don't use it much so that's probably a 3 year supply! Total is 1699.

This evening I’ve been going round with a bin bag again. How do we make so much rubbish? I’m not counting day to day stuff, but I did find a propeller pencil that didn’t work, a hairband and four screws that were all being kept unnecessarily.

Hugely impressed with you all!

I’m currently wrestling with how much to bother with listing maternity and baby stuff. Like some of you, perhaps in need the space more than the cash right now. But then I have some nice frugi bits, which I could sell and it would help fund my secondhand kids clothes habit. But then I am sentimental about a lot of the small stuff, and could do some kind of stacey-Solomon-esque keepsake bunting. Or save them to give to a friend. Oh dear.

I have just thrown out lots of out of date medication packets. About 15 boxes of various cold medicines and prescription things I didn't finish. Straight in the bin or I wouldn't get rid of.

I should really restock and throw more out to be winter prepaired, but feeling lazy. Lots of bad colds and flu like stuff around me so I might regret that if I get ill.

Sold some more Vinted bits. Debating keeping my boys black shoes trousers on the off chance they might fit my chubbyer ds11 or my dd one day.

So much has gone this week. So much more still to do

@Realfastfoodie do you have loft space? I get really big storage boxes (think they're the "really useful" ones). Then I take pics, list all and keep in tubs so they don't get ruined before sale. You could always pop them in attic.

I have put another 11 CDs/ DVDS in the freecycle pile, I’ll advertise later.

im struggling with the last bits of the Room of Doom. I timed myself for 15 minutes and shredded old papers from schools and I found a car insurance certificate and house insurance certificate from 2013 so they’ve been shredded. I also found 2 DVDs and 2 books to go. Now I have piles of dd2s school work and artwork that I just can’t throw away. I was thinking if I could sort it into school years and go through it it might be easier. Or it’ll fit in a box in the cupboard until I die!

I posted 2 packages today and that was it.

I'm hoping all the Xmas stuff I buy doesn't exceed the stuff I've already shifted!

Gave away two baby sleeping bags today, and bagged up four more to pass down to my niece.

I'm contemplating how to store our important documents. What methods do you all use? And what documents/information do you store? Things like marriage certificates, deed polls, birth certificates are obvious but I'm guessing there's lots more I should be storing. I'm hopeful it's many many years away but I'm keen to get things organised just in case the worst was to happen and someone had to try and figure out finances etc in order to look after the kids for us!

I'm up to 198 items decluttered since 1st October 😁

visited the new recycling centre (it's great)
Old wardrobe out
2 paint cans out
1 broken kettle out
pair of boxing boots being collected out
bundle of irredeemable vests to recycling out
so that's about 12 bundles out

also took soft plastics to Tesco which had been cluttering up a corner and tired to return a parcel but the evri machine was broken

oh and 2 packs of tablets returned to chemist

Few small outs today: two pairs of pants with the elastic totally gone, a almost-empty tube moisturing mask thingy that I didn't like and a perfume sample. Total is 1991

Nothing out today. But I’ve decided on how I’m managing the baby clothes so I’m not stuck!

why did I jinx that? had a no- show for the boxing boots, she says she'll come tonight. we'll see....

Oh I hate that @tallsmallmum! so annoying.

I’m doing more sorting than getting rid at the moment. I’m wondering if I can count “outs” from my present drawer (which I am trying to reduce a bit) if they were bought more than a year ago?

I’ve found a couple of really nice toys there that I’m giving to charities doing Christmas presents families in need, as they are nice but I don’t have anyone to give them to.

I’ve also started to make my peace with getting rid of the smallest baby clothes, just keeping some special ones.

Thanks for the new thread pigtails!

Just did a 15 minute TOMM guided decluttering session on two of the square spaces on our Kallax TV unit - one has a box in it and one has random stuff like DVDs, folders, Lego sets etc. One bag of rubbish and one to go to charity, but have to get them past DP who is likely to put stuff back because "they still play with it" Well, yes they do, for 3 minutes when they remember it's there, and then go back to the screen other things because it's a baby xylophone and they are all now at school!

Really need to tackle the airing cupboard which is full of old baby blankets and cot bedding and stuff like that, plus the craft Kallax box and chuck out all the used up colouring books and dried up pens etc.

Two plastic bags of coral and shells which the DC picked up on holiday (probably illegally ) are hanging around on the dining table and giving me the rage.

Ooh @SydneyCarton - I have some shells and coral too that I don’t want to get rid of, but I haven’t worked out what to do with them.

Any suggestions?

Just had my first decluttering session with the declutterer. One bin bag to charity, one to landfil. Shame I didn't count the items. I might say 50 just to put it on my list.

House clearance is doing mums house today. Dh got some things from there yesterday. Feels really weird and tbh I just need to numb that out. I went to mums last week and got a boot full. Gave lots away. It's really opened my eyes in that I can't leave the house as it is to my kids. Mum had reliviley no clutter.

Feeling weird but not uncomfortable. I just want to go in the right direction. It's been a hard year

@SydneyCarton ornamental for the bathroom??

Schools sometimes ask for things depending on theme they're doing.

@Realfastfoodie My suggestion was to leave them on the beach in the first place, but I was overruled! If you have a garden maybe you could put them along a flower bed, or on the soil in a plant pot - we only have a balcony so I can't even do that.

@tantdequestions Good idea, but we have a small bathroom with not much surface space, so quite easy to get cluttered just with normal stuff let alone holiday souvenirs. Might see if my mum will take a few bits for their bathrooms though 🤔

well there's no sign the Olio-er

Out in the last couple of days:
44 CDs
10 books
7 cables/chargers
Electric toothbrush
2 airflossers
Modem
3 scent bars
7 items to fabric recycling
14 items of clothing to charity
1 large bag of cat toys
1 boxed cat game
1 small pile of photos
1 pile of business cards
6 items sold on eBay and posted out

Total 1427