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)

Feeling a bit better today. There is a strong argument for learning to numb up to get through the week. Still no urge to buy anything. I found having a small drink ( I never drink ) then bed at 10pm or 9.30 actually shutting down was as good as trying to process anything.

Dd had a lovely evening event at school and had fun. I'm chuffed she got to go.

Now that event is done and her choosing an outfit for it might free up some more outfits I can see she won't wear again. So nothing out really today. More listed on Vinted. More added to a charity bag so that should be a pleasing number once I count it out.

God just coping with being a adult is so hard some days. In good news eldest did his ucas form and second eldest maths teacher phoned to say ds should smash a grade 7 at gcse. He is also in sen school. So dd is a mess, boys are on fire. Swings and roundabouts.

yeah I'll be blocking stuff out too
had a very unpleasant incident last night with DC which prompted me to ask STBXH for help and him immediately accusing me of "being hysterical" so he didn't need to help "winding yourself up" oh and "taking the bait" from child
woken up and my tummy is bad, no decluttering yet 🤭

I've needed a lot of blocking and numbing this week. Everything I touch is bringing memories and emotions to the surface. I'm practising moving on through it. I started dealing with the boxes and envelopes of scribbles and notes which piled up over the years. Not much has changed over the decades, except now I know that I must learn to move forward without looking back so much.

Decluttered five dried up ballpoints.

Reduced one box of notes by about one third into paper bin or burn pile.

Unworn outgrown school uniform is folded ready for school's next clothing drive.

I’ve managed to sell a few more things on vinted.

Sorry, posted too soon! My vinted success is quite satisfying - it’s not a lot of money, but it’s enough to pay for a few bits.

I’m really noticing every “in” right now. Now Christmas is over, Kids clothes are definitely my biggest risk for “ins”. Will be keeping a close eye!

Trip to the tip on the way to work. Today's outs:

• 2 more pillows (are they breeding in my house?)
• Rusty shower shelf
• Old radio

Are you guys recycling your pillows? Can they go into textile waste? Did my excess pillows a few years back but I have a inner cushion which is wrecked and I want to get rid of it

As far as I know you can’t recycle pillows at the dump textiles collection , you’ll have to put them into the general waste .
We changed all our pillows last spring / summer . I have to do this regularly , washing in the machine they’re always lumpy afterwards so we buy new ones occasionally . maybe my new dryer balls would help they certainly worked on DS puffy coat !
I’ve booked a free recycling collection for coffee pods so that’s something going out soon . 2 clothing parcels are going to be returned tomorrow and DS will take a bunch of stuff to uni , he’ll be home for the weekend celebrate his birthday. I’ve been just cleaning and doing laundry today in preparation for the weekend so no active decluttering today yet .
I’ll try to get DS to look at his jackets / coats this weekend plus his console games and a remote control car he built that has been just gathering dust in his room and is now in an under bed drawer . Maybe he won’t need it all …

I've got rid of a shower puff today. Going to try to find more tonight. Total is 1864

@Pigtailsandall I know this is contentious but honestly if the recycling bin doesn't say if pillows can go in, I'd put them in. Let someone else decide if your drowning. It's not like they will contaminate anything ( but I think our textile bins say no - in which case its the black bin bag waste.

Sorry others are struggling too. The older the stuff is, the harder the memory, the more it hurts to part with. The only thing I can say is just feel it and try to power on but in very small bursts on the painful stuff. So it's fine to cry, do five more minutes then go back to the easy wins next time.

I have just had a look at dds tshirts. They are already all together, which is a bonus. Picked out 8 that are 7-8 and she agreed they are too tight. All her shorts are together and 7-8 and agreed too tight. So that's stuff to be Vinted. I still think it's a bit early to sell them but it's in the Vinted bag. I was thinking I would list them.around April?

Anyway, the good thing is that I am starting to decimate her clothes. So maybe next summer she will need new things but definitely still no need to buy her anything. Got to do ds11 clothes but he has a habit of shredding his clothes like the hulk so I just buy him a few bits every few months ( not this year though!) And he chugs along with everything fitting away nicely .

Doing ds11 dla form tonight ☹️

Todays tip run included...

30. Bag of garden waste
31. Massive pile of delivery boxes
32. 2 boxes of used colouring books, toy boxes etc
33. A box of empty bottles
34. Off cuts of wood

Plus some other bits already counted.

I'm sorry to hear about people struggling.

Re pillows... there's a special recycling point for duvets and pillows at my local Dunelm. I believe its national.

And an unexpected out... DH had arranged getting rid of an old TV (35).

Has anyone done a transition from DLA to PIP at 16? I’ve rung and said we want to so waiting for a form to fill in.

Work today. Mil still here. More work next 3 days. Have sold one thing on Vinted so if I package up maybe DH can drop it off or it will be a while.

sticking at 223

Yes, just sent off the forms for ds16 before Christmas

Have you heard anything back yet? I know it takes a while. Am hoping that the previous medical info will carry weight.

I didn't get round to doing any proper decluttering in the end but got rid of a semi dried up felt pen. Total is 1865

I’ve been going through dcs art and school crap. I’ve removed loads of photos that were taken at school such as them on world book day, book reviews they wrote, photos of them in trips. I might do a scrap book to stick these things in but at the moment they’re just going in folders.

So later today I might ask them which art is their favourite and then scan it in to have a photo book made. The danger is that they’ll want all of it go and I don’t feel ready for that.

I had a text from an asser a few weeks ago saying this. In one way it's a worry a ds16 goes to a SEN school but he is user polite and charming, lovely manners. So you would never ever guess he has SEN. But talk to him for a bit and you might think he is a bit batty. I have told him that he is called not to mask. He is now very good at masking ( has a language disorder and dispraxia) shame there isnt a cycling test 🤣

Right, need a reality check. I have 38 listings on Vinted almost filling an ikea bag. I have this much plus a carrier bag of things I want to list.

Should I donate it all. Or go through for nicer bits and donate the rest?

I still have about 4 storage boxes of dd summer clothes to go through at some point!

Dd wanted joggers today but I only had one pair clean that aren't school ones. However she had 10 pairs of 7-8 leggings. She is a dinky 9 year old.

However much I get rid of, I'm never on top of her clothes. Do I bit the bullet and just get rid of everything I can to start completely afresh? I know I should really but I feel the urge to try to sell her nice bits. It just seems so wasteful to donate them. Arrgghh!

I vote for donating everything if you can afford to that is too small / unwanted . Keep say 5 pairs of legging , 5 pairs of sweatpants , 3 pairs of jeans and so on in total that fit well now and are the nicest ones plus yes you can keep clothes in the next few sizes up if you have storage space but maybe just a selection of of the nicest ones that will definitely be used . Go through it all and be ruthless if you have large volumes of things in general in your house and want to make a big difference otherwise it’ll take you so long to go through it all and as time goes by new things will steadily keep on coming in and you might stay in similar level of clutter for extended period time where as if you are able to purge more quickly you can reap the rewards sooner and be more motivated go go through the rest . Do not buy anything that isn’t strictly necessary because you’ve run out of it in the meantime . It will be hard but I think it’s possible to develop a new mind set and the longer you do it for the easier it becomes .
We have just donated everything except things that cost hundreds / bigger items that my husband has sold like bikes , boats ,cameras , parts for his motorcycle ( new panniers ) , bugaboo buggy etc . I shut my eyes and donated nearly all my kids nice more expensive clothes too just thinking it’ll go into good cause for charity and we’ll have the space instead .it was time to let go which I found very hard due to many pregnancy losses . I have kept some and could probably still reduce the amount but now I think I can keep those few boxes I gave away so much . He even says I should just donate the brand new designer items I have put aside to sell I can’t get around to trying to list with a company I’ve found but I’ll try to sell them first since I do think I could get quite a lot for them .

G day (garage conversion) is approaching ever faster and still have a lot to do. It doesn't help I had a rare rough night sleep last night! The rest of the house is also a mess which doesn't help, not sure how things have slipped but its the clutter thats done it.

Two old bathmats chucked out so far, plus a load of packaging and rubbish out of the bedroom.

@IncessantNameChanger Im thinking out loud here but I think I make donate or sell decisions based on

1. Time. how long it will take to sort through the stuff and advertise / what else would I do with the time?
2. Environment. what is the environmental impact (I am very green so this is a big concern)
3. Money. How much money would I get?

In the case of clothes I would choose not to sell them because of how much time I would spend doing it. I would spend hours making up playmobil or Lego or toy sets because I like to feel it’s a better environmental option. I don’t really need the money but I have earnt quite a lot in the past so sometimes think it’s just nice to have in the house.

The decision is yours but would it be possible for you to work out how long it would take and how much it would earn. Alternatively do you know of a charity like a women’s refuge that would take the clothes? That might make it feel less wasteful to get rid of them.

@IncessantNameChanger I would keep the most recent/weather appropriate stuff, and list the rest as an age bundle and list on Olio or freecycle. That's what I'm doing this weekend. I have about 50 items listed so keeping about 20 and rest are going

Out today:
Expired chutney
2 towels
Jumper on vinted
Hairband that kept pulling my hair
1 sensitive document shredded
Cat care book

Total is 178

Gah! I think you are right @stealthninjamum and @Nordicmom

Dd is 9. She is 122cm tall and 7-8 is up to 128cm so in theory all of it still fits her. However there is just too much of everything and say the rise on the leggings dd says is tight, but the legs are plenty long enough still.

I'd rather she had just 8 pairs of trousers but ones that I know she will wear

@IncessantNameChanger - I’ve been having some similar challenges. And I agree with people who have said not to waste too much time. I love @stealthninjamum’s criteria - time, environment, money.

Like others I’m just not getting enough money for most of my things to make it worth the time and space for most things. I was able to get rid of a load of stuff to give to refugees, and it feels good.

But I think a balance probably works for us. I quite like a little “win” from selling stuff, bigger things like buggies, furniture etc has felt worthwhile. To be honest I think if you can make a plan to get 90% out of the door quickly, you can procrastinate with the remaining 10% if that helps you? maybe @Pigtailsandall has it right, with bundles maybe of the nicer items?