Decluttering thread 7 - as the days lengthen we’ll feel more motivated to declutter

[stealthninjamum]

Sorry for the long thread title, I’ve just seen that the old thread has reached 1,000 posts.

For newbies this thread and the old one a day threads are for a group of mumsnetters who are decluttering. We’ll share tips and advice and inevitably the conversation moves on to organisation tips, pretty storage solutions and persuading our families to join in.

We’re all at different stages of decluttering so join us for support and chat.

Wow @17caterpillars1mouse -kudos on having so much going that you run out of containers. Suggest the small bin liners as being large enough for a lot of stuff, but not as big as a black bin bag which might break under the strain or be hard to carry? Or agree with @stealthninjamum and go for the boxes you can get free in supermarkets.

I am truly in awe of you people who can get rid that quickly!

I just saw an advert for this on Facebook

https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/donate-by-post-for-free/?_gl=19vbtdv_gaMTQyNTg1MDQ0OS4xNzEwMTA5Mzcx_ga_DWG9ZD43XN*MTcxMDEwOTM3MS4xLjEuMTcxMDEwOTQ2OS4wLjAuMA..

you can order items to be collected. They’ll even send you a bag.

i think British heart foundation do something similar too

I did a bit of a push on my clothes and I’m up to 5 vinted sales over the weekend. It’s kind of addictive!

Two cardboard boxes I was using to store hats in to recycling and one pair of shrunken joggers to donations pile. Total is 1938

@17caterpillars1mouse ask on a local fb group, or next door? Or ask the charity shop next time you do a drop to take some carrier bags and bring them back? Better still get everything collected.

3rd post today but feeling really chuffed with myself - finally went round the living room and just did one final check of everything, and declutter of small sections I'd missed. Got rid of another carrier bag full (I'm too lazy to count individual items most of the time!) but things like an old candle, a wax burner I never really liked much, a handful of books, some paper and some of DDs drawings (she's getting so good at letting go now, way easier than it has been in the past!), a gift bag etc etc. I also moved a bunch of gifts up to DDs room and put them away properly.

I feel like I can finally tick the living room off my list now, bringing me one step closer to the cupboard of doom...

Yesterday my new electronic scrubbing brush arrived (unrelated to Mothers day) so..

68. Grime from various places!

Also tidied the pan cupboard.
69. Rusted baking tray
70. Lids with no pans!

Identified some pans that can go, but DH needs them at Easter.

Re charity shop... we get an endless stream of charity donation bags. I use them, but drop them at the local charity shop instead. I used to try putting them out, but they were never collected.

I need to throw away cassette and video tape don't I?
There isn't anywhere that recycles It? Can't think what it would be used for.

@Molly0 - advertise them on local parent groups, recycling/reuse groups, free FB market place, free cycle and olio. Do them as two separate bundles - I was suprised how much interest I got in my audio cassettes

thanks will try that

I have reorganised and declutterred under the kitchen sink.

I have (temporarily?) removed the rubbish and recycling bins under the sink and replaced them with bags hanging from a hook on the inside of the door.

Up until now, there has been a battle of wills as to who can stuff more in an already overflowing bin,

Hopefully, this will make the process of actually emptying the bin and taking the rubbish outside to the other, outside bin easier.

I have sorted the medicine cupboard and dropped a ton of DS' shoes to the tissue bank (you would have thought I was the mother of a millipede..).

I also sent out of date bank notes + assorted euros to leftovercurrency.com and got some ££ back 😊

I am also running out of containers, but found that M/S paper bags are pretty good for light items (DVD, clothes etc)

Thanks for the tips. I did the food shop earlier so took a bag of dcs outgrown clothes to the clothes bank and picked up a few boxes. Next task is to find a way for baby ds to be put down so I can box up the things currently living in his room

I really need to get on with the decluttering. Dd7 keeps asking to have her friends over and I keep saying no because I just can't keep on top of the house and it would be embarrassing having her friends here (for me) which makes me feel sad and guilty

@GlassOfPort Was it easy/fast to use the leftover currency place? I'd not heard of this before and could do with getting all mine together and cashing it in plus some old bank notes.

@PissedOffNeighbour22 (love the username..). The process was very straightforward: I got a confirmation email a couple of days after I sent the banknotes and the money was in my bank account after another couple of days.

I only sent bank notes, though. As coins tend to be heavier, I don't know whether the postage cost would have exceeded their value.

@GlassOfPort thanks, I might give it a go once I've located it all.

I used to go on plenty of holidays but since the kids were born I can't afford to go anywhere so I might as well cash all the currency in. Some of it might be out of circulation by now anyway.

Did you just use standard mail to send it?

One face cleanser used up. I have over 20 left. Total is 1939

I rejoined this thread then promptly got too busy to declutter for a couple of weeks!

Here are my recent ‘outs’, which bring me to a pretty abysmal total of 134 so far this year.

3 toys
7 kids clothes
2 make up
4 kids creations
5 items sold on Vinted
28 things from the attic
46 miscellaneous things
10 old towels
2 storage boxes
4 packets seeds
1 tote bag
1 expired bottle of medicine

I’m going to try to get a lot of work done today (freelance), so I can set aside a decent chunk of time tomorrow to start a proper room by room declutter.

And over the weekend we finally managed to get take the overflowing charity box to the shop, and the bags of fabric recycling to the tip, which has made my laundry room feel a lot less cluttered!

DH took the bag of out of date medicine from my medicine cabinet sort out to the pharmacy to be disposed of at the weekend.

Can’t remember if I mentioned that I put one set of double bedding in the charity bag over the weekend - duvet cover, four pillowcases, and two sheets. Plus one of those net hammocks for soft toys - not used as DD wasn’t keen on it (I can’t remember why).

I am still very pleased with my reorganised linen cupboard. In the words of Marie Kondo, it brings me joy 😊

I’m delighted to report that one box made it out of the house, into the car, and then all the way inside the charity shop! Yay me!

Still haven’t started in the bedroom yet. That is going to be a challenge,

took one of my handbags to the post office today. I discovered that Mulberry have a buyback service. I have a few which i bought (pre kids) and no longer use. so that was boxed up and taken to the post office this morning.

have also had another wardrobe clear out and have put a bag together for charity shop.

decided over the weekend that i'm over wearing tights now. so all but one of my pairs have gone. no more tights for me until November or December.

Ins - more bits for presents for colleague who is leaving us, and also ford sis' birthday. but these are temporary as they will all be gone by the end of March.

I have a big out today. My rickety bookcase has gone. I replaced it a couple of weeks ago with a kallax unit that’s about half the size so I’m delighted that I got rid of so many books and a piece of furniture that was falling apart. The charity that collected it just said they’d put some nails in to stabilise it so I feel good about it.

I also have two carrier bags of stuff, I’m going to load them into the car later to take to the charity shop.

nice work stealth i love it when i get rid of a big ticket item. i might do a charity shop run later on actually - ds is home from school with me as he's poorly - i'm wfh but currently am logged into a really boring webinar in relation to FATCA reporting. yawn. hence the mn posting.

That's really great @stealthninjamum that's a big out!
Re: old sterling notes and coins, you can still pay them into your bank account at a post office counter (or your bank branch). No need to post anywhere and pay commission. I paid in £25 in coins from a coin jar I found in my storage box, all in old pound coins, plus £10 note that was in the pocket of my very old winter coat

I feel a bit down and haven't decluttered much, but I did take a bag of loose parts like old screws, buttons, ribbons and beads to dc school. I had it for months!