Decluttering and organising thread 8 – it’s nearly summer

[stealthninjamum]

These threads are accountability threads for mumsnetters who are decluttering and organising our homes.

We’re all at different stages of decluttering from the beginning to the maintenance phase and use different techniques. Join us for support and chat .

We discuss all things to do with decluttering, the things that stop us decluttering, how to get over them, where to dispose of our clutter, how we can encourage our families to join us, and pretty storage solutions which is the fun part.

I’m doing one last big push to get rid of loads of stuff before the long summer holidays when it’ll inevitably turn to chaos again.

Useful tips
Some of us have found the Toss app (on apple) a great place to start with decluttering.

Many of us love Dana K. White (A Slob Comes Clean) on youtube and podcasts.

Many of us at the start just take a timer for 5 or 10 minutes to just make it seem less daunting. I used to start by clearing surfaces.

If you want to make a big impact quickly then increasingly charities will pick up your furniture, books and clothes so you don't even need to leave the house. Or if you have hundreds of books / CDs it's really easy to use the Music Magpie, ziffit or We buy books apps to get them taken away and earn a (very) small amount of money at the same time.

The BBC TV Program Sort Your Life Out is particularly inspiring.

When I do housework I listen to podcasts from a Slob Comes Clean, Clutterbug, the Declutter Hub and The Art of Decluttering. If you think you have ADHD then Clutterbug talks about this a lot as she has ADHD, and Amy from The Art of Decluttering did an ADHD season about 8 or 9 months ago which gave some good tips. My dc have ADHD so it’s something I’m very interested in.

Got rid of of another 24 items of clothing yesterday so I'm back on track of 2024 outs this year. 204 out this month. Will be taking my items off Vinted today and donating them too this weekend. I'm also going to donate some of dd tshirts I have laid out ten for her to pack and whatever she turns her nose up can go. They won't fit her next year. We still have a two week holiday in Scotland coming up but only packing ten outfits for her. If its not enough I'm going to wash it on holiday.

Dropped bag off to charity shop yesterday.
DP appears to have stalled with his paper shredding. Drives me mad. I know the shredder overheats but if he just spent 5 or 10 minutes a day, it would be fine and the pile would go. Rant over!
DD cleaned and tidied her room yesterday. Lots of rubbish gone. I need to help her go through things over the holidays as I'm sure there's stuff we can get rid of.

I had a professional declutter once tell me to just bin my paperwork and that's what I do now. I might rip off my name and address but that's it.

I got rid of more than 100 items of clothes and toys today. I'm back on track now. Sold three more on Vinted so once they are posted I will go onto holiday mode.

Back on target now and very happy about that. I will do lots more over Aug to stay on target of about 160 outs per month.

More shredding done today - another two bags to go into the recycling. This also uses up my stash of paper bags as shredded paper has to be bagged up.

I am planning to try selling stuff on Vinted, starting with the school shoes I got for DD last September which she decided she didn’t like and never wore. I’ve also got some winter coats to sell as well.

took a break from mn but just checking in.

last few days have been successful.

• finished a notebook at work. Started a fresh one. Shredded old one.
• cleared out garage
• took car load to dump inc 4 cans of paint and a bottle of car oil which had been lurking for months
• took car load to charity shop inc desk bar stool and other bits
• tidied the kids art cart (again) and binned so much scribble paper
• tidied up porch and binned a load of rubbish.
• 4 car loads to green waste as we cleared the patch of land behind our house so we can properly utilise this for storage.

im off work bext two weeks. So my goal is to get more stuff out of the house. Although it is DD’s birthday on Monday. So more stuff in.

I had to clean and declutter the car before it's servce/MOT so a bagfull of wrappers and other assorted gubbins .

I have a duvet cover set to go out
Tidied the pantry , mainly re-organising and some empty boxes

Had to throw out a glass as it cracked so now I only have 3 of the set left ,

Binned - two broken elastic bands. Big step forward from just chucking them back in the drawer.

I'm off to the coast for a week so that's the end of my decluttering for a while.

Annoyingly, this morning I took a broken cordless landline phone and some electronic scales to the small electricals recycling point today. I then went home to finish some domestic chores - at which point my iron decided to explode and die... so I have MORE stuff to take there again!

Hello all, it's summer holidays and I have 3 weeks off with DC so literally nothing is happening. I'm woefully behind my target, but I do have MIL wanting to look after dc a few days next week so I might get something done then.

I had a quick pass at our underwear drawer - 3 pants and 2 very worn socks out. Also finished a small sample moisturiser and finally read and recycled a magazine. Binned one broken fidget toy, and recycled a postcard that jsd been on the fridge door for a out a year.

Total is 960

@SqueakyDinosaur that’s so annoying! We’ve gone through some kind of electrical storm recently which seemed to kill off various things including our iron. Haven’t ironed for months now 😃 DS1 needs an iron and ironing board for navy training though so will need to buy a replacement soon.

Been busy with work, have 2 days off but with 2 DC away, DH has gone MILs with the Ddog, and Ds2 has lots of summer job shifts so mostly enjoying the peace and quiet.

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures
2. DS2 paperwork: started blue badge (have done loads of this apart from the blue badge like travel cards etc)
3. my British passport application (have an Irish one but life sometimes easier with a UK one and I’m allowed both) - waiting to come back from holiday before getting on with this
4. main job for the moment: orchestra folders for Sept - started

Not quite outs yet:
3 x old duvets to find a home for - emailed local dog charity place
Running leggings to go to a friend - maybe next Parkrun? Need to message her to meetup
spare tap left from building works - on FB
pile of unwanted files - on FB
spare Taylor Swift poster from DD to neighbour’s DD
bag of bags - on FB

Out:
old tshirt, socks & dress to fabric recycling
1112+3=1115

Have moved some furniture around, and done loads of orchestra music filing. Freed up a cardboard box for charity stuff to collect in.

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures
2. DS2 paperwork: started blue badge (have done loads of this apart from the blue badge like travel cards etc)
3. my British passport application (have an Irish one but life sometimes easier with a UK one and I’m allowed both) - waiting to come back from holiday before getting on with this
4. main job for the moment: orchestra folders for Sept - started

Not quite outs yet:
3 x old duvets to find a home for - emailed local dog charity place
Running leggings to go to a friend - Need to message her to meetup
spare tap left from building works - on FB
pile of unwanted files - on FB
spare Taylor Swift poster from DD to neighbour’s DD
bag of bags - on FB
cardboard box for charity (currently 4 items in it)

Out:
2 empty perfume bottles recycled
2 half full cheap body sprays tipped out/bottles recycled
1115+4=1119

Finished a stretch mark cream - won't be replacing. Toiletries declutter going very slowly.
Finally got the courage to weigh myself - 3 and a half stone to lose. Feels like a mountain to climb. Got some time off next week so am going to have another pass at clothes and see what can go. Dc2 will need to go to next size up too.

Following on from the two broken elastic bands that I binned, I’ve been binning useless bits and pieces that I come across, no matter how small. Feels good.

Yesterday -
Binned two hospital wristbands from years ago.

Six busted lightbulbs set aside for recycling at supermarket.
Half-inch thick pile of magazine inserts Into recycling trolley.

Appreciate I’m not getting anywhere with my jobs or nearly outs but do plan to crack on with them when I have a few more days off, work is just so busy right now.

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures
2. DS2 paperwork: blue badge started
3. my British passport application (have an Irish one but life sometimes easier with a UK one and I’m allowed both) - waiting to come back from holiday before getting on with this
4. main job for the moment: orchestra folders for Sept - done loads more (just the 3 new pieces left to sort out)

Not quite outs yet:
3 x old duvets to find a home for - emailed local dog charity place
Running leggings to go to a friend - Need to message her to meetup
spare tap left from building works - on FB
pile of unwanted files - on FB
spare Taylor Swift poster from DD to neighbour’s DD
bag of bags - on FB
cardboard box for charity (currently 4 items in it)

Out:
2 holey odd socks
one bra with wire poking out
1119

One sunblock and one bubble bath that I think I'm allergic to them. Gone

Total is 2052

A bit more shredding done on Sunday, and the three bags of shredded paper went out with the recycling today.

Used up a pack of charcoal blackheads strips. Total is 2453

I dropped off several bags at the charity shop today. I didn't count the clothes that went in there but it seemed like a lot! I tend to wait until I do a big burst of cleaning but I know that I should do little and often.

It is good to see those with 4 digit totals.. let's keep it going!

For sale/donation - two dvd boxsets.

Recycling trolley - some plastic and paper packaging.

Residual bin goes out tonight.

A set of fake eyelashes used up and a bobbly t-shirt recycled. Total is 2455

A mug that I was keeping because it was a gift. A year later I still haven't used it. Thought about repurposing it as a pen pot, but on looking at it the design is faded and it's chipped, so it's binned. Total is 2456

I can't do Marie Kondo, but I do like her attitude to gifts - that they have already fulfilled their purpose by being chosen and given, and that then it's absolutely OK not to hang on to them. I also find her thing about thanking objects as you remove them from your life works well for me and helps me to let them go.

I'd not heard that before about gifts Squeaky. It makes sense to me.

One too small dress into donation. Total is 2457

Right, finally some decluttering time. I climbed up to the loft to go over a few old boxes (I don't have much left to sort out - and I had a pass at some of the items I'd already looked through). Also thinned out our kitchenware a bit so it all fits well.

Out yesterday
11 photographs
3 CDs
Scissors
2 plates
2 bowls
2 glasses
Jug that's huge and we never use
Book
My pants from yesterday- elastic totally gone 😅
Brelets
Earrings
Ring
One too-tight top
Pair of heels I'll literally never wear - will try to sell
Small clutch - ditto sell
Small booklet
Souvenir soap
Hairclip
Stuffed toy
Tote bag
Thermal undies
Guidebook to Singapore from 2004!
Shredded a pile of old travel docs - counting as one
Dregs of a natural deodorant I hated

Total now is..999

Dammit. Was hoping to break 1000.