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.

One too small top gone. Total is 2154

Welcome @AtalantaX good luck with all the moving!

I had a long run day on Sunday, then solid with work Mon-Thurs. got absolutely nothing done around the house, and it shows.

We did get DS2’s PIP awarded which is fantastic news. Leads to a tonne more paperwork now though as I can apply for various railcards, motability, etc.

Jobs:

1. hang up as many pictures as poss/get rid of some
2. decide about the shelves we used to have as cat shelves/put up or get rid - DD doesn’t want them so will prob get rid
3. Take sentimental broken wooden box to a friend who says he’ll try and repair it
4. Massive sort of mountain of bedding we now have in the house (duvets, pillows, covers, sheets, pillowcases…)
5. Start looking at DS2 paperwork

Not quite outs yet:

more stuff on Vinted - taken some stuff off there to donate to charity instead
21 items in a Music Magpie box but waiting for password reset email to actually confirm sale - system is not working for me
pile of Allen keys - someone due to collect on Tuesday

Out:
one packaging bag DD was saving
669+1=670

One unnecessary document recycled. Total is 2155

One dress into donations because the colour doesn't suit me. One too small ring given to a friend. Total is 2157

I’ve made a start on dealing with all the things from DD’s room, and have got rid of / ready to get rid of the following:

Ballet shoes (barely used): on FB
Toddler slippers: charity bag
Formula powder dispenser: on FB
Leaflets we had printed when our old cat went missing over ten years ago (she returned after a few days): recycling
Tights with ladder in: textile recycling
DD’s outgrown clothes (3 pairs of shorts, 3 long sleeved tops, 6 short sleeved tops): charity bag
Two outgrown school skirts & unopened packet of school tights - to donate to school
Pair of my old summer shoes: shoe recycling (though I will replace these).
Three baby carriers: donated to sling library & will be collected next week.

I took the bag of clothes to the charity shop this afternoon (which included some clothes I’d sorted out in the previous few weeks) so they are out of the house.

Also sorted through the bottom of DD’s wardrobe and listed out the clothes in the next size up that I already have, and listed the things I’ll need to buy in the next size. Hopefully this will avoid me buying duplicates of things.

I've had an amazing few weeks of Vinted sales. Had about 20 things listed, sold three quarters and took the rest to the charity shop. Some of it had been around for ages e.g. two high chairs. Now hunting the house for more to sell!

Also had some useful school appeals for stationary, foreign coins and spare pants, which cleared out some odd corners.

I have a v expensive baby carrier I feel I ought to sell (Dd is technically still small enough for it but she's 2.5 and won't countenance it) but don't quite feel ready.

462 outs year to date, still on target for 100/month but might not hit my goal of average of 4/day! It's getting harder as I get more on top of things.

Oh, also I have a million pairs of heels I used to wear to work pre Covid. Need to tackle these. That's another emotional one, things from a world that no longer exists- I was made redundant in 2021 and new job is much more casual.

I'm still overwhelmed with stuff to get rid of but one small success which is slightly transformed my life is getting rid of all the excess bedding and towels. I now only have what I have room for and the space is divided into double bedding and single bedding with flat sheets (for the summer) and pillowcases in the middle to keep them visually apart.

One cupboard is for towels.
It is now incredible to me how much chaos clean excess bedding/towels caused and how calming it is to have that huge factor under control.
Paperwork next.......

Morning all, I'm falling behind my decluttering schedule because May is just insanely busy with visitors, dh work trips and social engagements. I usually tackle all paperwork regularly but I've also fallen behind. I also need a new digital declutter. I've decided that whenever spend 10mins decluttering my inbox, drive or pics, I can count that as 1 item. I hope it will motivate me.

Anyway, off to a kids garden party today which dc is v excited about. I also randomly sold an item on vinted that had been there for ages. So I'm a little torn how much to keep and what to donate. Technically I have the space to ait for things to sell but I'm also fed up with looking at it!

Still a bit stuck in a rut here. More building work happening and the decant causing total breakdown of our other rooms and processes. But it does make me think about what is genuinely useful and what we can cope without…

Will aim for a really good “room by room” once we have our loft back.

Welcome @AtalantaX, sounds like you are doing brilliantly.

I have that exact problem @Pigtailsandall, I do have the space to save and sell things but how much time and energy is really worth it?

I'm doing DS wardrobe today. I might do his draws too. I feel like maybe it's not the best place to declutter but he has grown out of so much of his clothes he keeps on putting on things that don't fit

@Pigtailsandall I think maybe it's best to set a time limit to store things. Like 3-6 months. The things I listed in the last two weeks have very few views now so I'm giving everything two weeks. I have some one haggling a £6 dress down to £3 and I just can't be arsed with that right now.

I agree with @IncessantNameChanger that it’s good to set a time limit and if things aren’t sold take them to the charity shop.

I’ve almost finished the garage. It’s mainly exh’s stuff. Today I organised it and created a pile of stuff to go. There’s a desk that’s mine and things like a broken bucket, several broom handles, rusty tools, compost, hoover attachments that must’ve belonged to exh 25 years ago from a hoover I don’t remember. It’s too heavy for me so I’ll pay someone to get rid of it.

Little to report. OH has sold first set of Lego on eBay I think he was disappointed with the price but honestly it had not been built and played with in about 10 years. Not sure the price justified the time and effort in finding all the bits but it is nice to think someone else will enjoy it. I suspect that actually someone will sell of the unique parts and mini figures separately and make a killing but 🤷‍♀️🤫

We also manage to break two drinking glasses over the weekend but won’t need to replace them. Some travel sized toiletries used up - got a set at Christmas of mini Milton brown shower gels and now two are finished

I did all of ds wardrobe and draws. Only got his pjs and undies / socks to sort now. Dd said she wanted to keep a fair few of his clothes but I can't see her actually wearing them. Will count it up tomorrow

On holiday at the minute but finally emptied the shed before and did a charity shop run. Loads gone including the 94 dvds, a skateboard and lots of kitchen items. About 130 things in total.
And now I can get in my shed!

I've been doing this since the start of the year and have finally managed to go through everything and get rid of the first couple of layers of clutter. Now I'm trying to figure out how to deal with the lack of storage in a small house. No attic or garage which doesn't help.

I did find out that lots of B&Q's now collect plastic garden pots for recycling. That was satisfying being able to pile up about fifty of them to go.

Can I ask why flat sheets for the summer?

I'm moving house soon and am decluttering. I've got rid of about 4 bin bags full up to now. I didn't count the items but at least 100. I need to be more ruthless.

I'm not sentimental just fall into the will it be useful/worn range? Need to be stronger.

One damaged plate
One finished magazine
One useless top

Total is 2160

I’m not sure I mentioned last week I advertised an old bookcase on freecycle, so today I emailed a photo to three of the local charities who collect furniture around here to see if they want it. I’m going to wait til Sunday and if no one wants it I am going to ask the guy who is collecting my garage rubbish to take it away as well. I’m so chuffed, this is an ugly 6ft piece of furniture that had my paperwork. That now fits into a bookcase that’s half the size.

Decluttered yesterday & today:

Jumper - charity bag
Cardigan - textile recycling as it has holes in the cuffs. I’d replaced it last year but kept the old one in the drawer!
Child-size camping chair - on FB
6 pram toys (the type you hang on the frame) - charity bag
1 teething toy - bin as it looked well-used

Yesterday DH and I had a quick sort out of the under stairs cupboard to make space to put the pram carrycot in there (carrycot had been under DD’s bed but the frame was in the cupboard).

This led to the discovery of a large bag of ordinary plastic bags and several bags for life that I had no idea were in there. I then went through the various plastic bags and bags for life from the kitchen and we now have :

• two bags of ‘ordinary’ plastic bags
• a woven hemp bag full of bags for life
• another woven bag containing more hemp bags and some fabric tote bags

I put two bags for life into plastic recycling as they were torn, and need to decide how many of the others to keep 🙈

Well done stealth! Had a great restart to my decluttering. So much out today. Ds has now tried on nearly his entire wardrobe and hardly anything fits him any more! There so much room. However I'm not going to rush out and replace anything as of yet. He has enough of everything and I think that will see him into next summer. Both his brother are very thin but he is a massive chunk so I don't think any hand me downs will fit, plus his brothers are possibly not growing any more. Some I have kept for dd.

Not buying more is the real key. I really think kids clothes are close to ideal numbers now which has always been my biggest issue.

Had a horrible day with my daughter and school / sen issues. But I have to chug on.

13th out 11 my clothes, 57 out ds, 6 out Vinted dd
Total May
In 7
Out 90
-
Total for 24
877 out
39 in

Not been doing much around the house due to work, social life, running, sleeping!

Jobs:

1. hang up as many pictures as poss/get rid of some
2. decide about the shelves we used to have as cat shelves/put up or get rid - DD doesn’t want them so will prob get rid
3. Take sentimental broken wooden box to a friend who says he’ll try and repair it
4. Massive sort of mountain of bedding we now have in the house (duvets, pillows, covers, sheets, pillowcases…)
5. Start looking at DS2 paperwork: done cinema pass, railcard, started blue badge

Not quite outs yet:

more stuff on Vinted - taken some stuff off there to donate to charity instead
21 items in a Music Magpie box but waiting for password reset email to actually confirm sale - system is not working for me
pile of Allen keys - someone due to collect on Tuesday - no show, sigh.
box of DVDs - maybe library?
my birthday jigsaw completed today, needs to go to charity

Out:
holey pair of my leggings
5 holey socks
670+6=676