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.

One DVD case gone. Total is 2732

Thanks @Realfastfoodie in theory I’ve been in maintenance mode for about a year (apart from Lego and some bits of schoolwork) but I still keep finding more stuff

Last night I decluttered dd1s room. It truly is a hellhole - and she likes it like that - so I started on the wardrobe.

Things going are

• a bag with a broken handle
• a childish fairy bag
• Two onesies
• a dressing gown
• 6 tops and 3 jumpers
• a hoodie
• some old cards
• bits of craft projects
• old birthday cards with £170 spread between them
• An Amazon voucher for £20 from 2018 which amazingly still worked so she bought a t shirt to replace some of the ones we got rid of
• unused book vouchers that I hope still work

and about a dozen books I’ll count later.

so that’s one section done. All her surfaces are covered in collections and books and magazines. I might tackle them at the weekend but that will be hard as they’re the items she’s attached to.

I've been following for a couple of months a vlog on YouTube about a single Japanese woman living in a 30 sqm apartment. I originally followed her videos for the food (I love Japanese food) but I've found a wonderful pit of never ending ideas of how to organise and maximise space.

I went to Kmart last week and bought a car full of storage items. From wire baskets with rails to organise sheets, quilt covers for different size beds, lots of vacuum bags for blankets plus beautiful baskets to organise the studio at home.

I have plenty of storage at home. But it's been wasted without organising it properly. I'm feeling very proud of myself - which is a bit ridiculous because I needed to follow someone on the net to open my mind about it.

Would you mind posting the link? That sounds interesting.

Wow @stealthninjamum your DD1 is very restrained; that birthday money would have been spent in a heartbeat when I was still getting money in cards (I'm old enough to remember that mine would have been a ten shilling or pound note 😁)

Wow @stealthninjamum that's quite a loot! Even as an adult I would've spent that in a few weeks.

Not much going on here. I did another 15min email declutter and I've gone back as far as early 2022. Even still its a huge job. Also out too-small kids socks, and my holey pants. All my pants are giving up on life. I also used up a facial sunscreen which wasn't my favourite but I persisted and used it anyway. This year has definitely been about using things up, and it has been reflected positively on my bank balance. When we went on our holiday trips, I was able to spend a bit more freely on coffees, beers and treats without worrying about every penny because I've bought so much less in 2024.

Total for the year = 1321

Outs

used up shower gels / shampoos / creams that have been hanging around for ages, will count as 1 bag!
5 items sold on vinted, posted off
sorted wrapping paper into 1 roll and recycled all of the middle tubes
used up all the kids’ party bubbles in a ‘fun bath party’
bag of girls’ clothes donated to a friend
son’s outgrown hoodie and coat given to another friend

total outs 60

By the way, I have been on MN for ages but name changed in honour of my retirement 😎

I am also aiming to declutter some kg that I accumulated in the last couple of years of work. Lack of time to properly meal plan, unpredictable schedule, many nights in hotels, and stress eating have not been kind; I must do better now I have the time. I'll report on that at the end of this month (it's one of the reasons I don't want to rapidly declutter clothes; I am hoping to fit back into some of them!)

Here's my second week results...

w/e 11th August
Decluttered
Personal files

Recycling centre
2 x large bags garden rubbish

Binned
Shredded personal papers
2020 calendar(!)

I’m sure it’s taken dd1 about 2 or 3 years to accumulate last nights haul. £20 from grandparents every Christmas and birthday. I’ve taken the money and transferred £170 into her bank.

I have also decluttered 28 books from her bedroom - so far!

I haven't posted for a couple of months but have been trying to maintain a bit of a list so will try to update soon. I've a fair bit of eBay and Vinted sales to count up too.

We've been carrying on with our renovations and have finished wallpapering the landing which has allowed us to put back up the large paintings that have been tripping us up for months. One of my great-uncle's paintings is too damaged to go back up and one my mum gave me will be donated as I have nowhere for it to go anymore.

I was off work last week and spent pretty much all week cleaning and tidying. This was in preparation for BH Monday and my daughter's first play date. We've never had anyone over and I was so embarrassed by the house it had to be blitzed. DP was still cleaning at 1am bless him despite needing to be up for work by 6. Play date went well but they never came in the house 😂😂. They stayed in the garden the whole time so I could have just enjoyed my days off instead of clearing out! Oh well, the house does look better for it. Some rooms are still dreadful though.

Congrats on your retirement @IDareSay

Back from our visit to PIL. Found a party bag with a few toys in the bottom of our wardrobe while I was putting the suitcase away (presumably from a previous clear-out), so I threw it in the bin. It felt wasteful, but I didn’t think any charity shops etc would want a few bits of plastic tat.

Thank you @PissedOffNeighbour22

Hasn't really sunk in yet as I usually have most of August off. Will hit me next week I think!

Weather looks good so I think it will be a garden and shed declutter today. Hope everyone has a productive day.

I’ve not posted on here over the summer as normal routine has been interrupted but I’ve carried on slowly…

A few vinted sales have gone on their way and I’ll start listing some Halloween and Christmas things once school is back. I also made dd try on her coats so I’ll list them and if they don’t go in a couple of weeks I’ll take them to the charity shop so they can even fit someone this winter.

We had been away, bin was due to be emptied and was still only half full so went round the house with bin bag and chucked some plastic tat and bits in it - scary how easy that was.

what do people recommend for stationery I have got loads of pencils etc that we are never going to work through…

vroc1 your local school or nursery might like them, particularly if they are totally unused

Congratulations @IDareSay my um retired last year and she's busier than ever (but nicely so)

I posted a vinted sale off yesterday, a pair of kids trousers, and will withdraw the balance soon so I don't feel tempted to spend it. Then woke up this morning feeling really unwell, with lots of covid symptoms. I took out the 2 unopened boxes of covid tests and both packs had expired- there was no fluid in them. It made a big space but I'm still not sure if I have covid (though I feel like it)

Total for the year = 1324

One stained top. Total is 2733

I have sold three things on Vinted out of about 15 listed. So I'm going to reduce everything as the boost ends in five days, then the rest is being donated.

What is really weird is that I had lots of hangers. Then I got rid of about 60 items of clothing and now have no spare hangers. How?

My next job is rechecking school uniform. Only two are in school uniform as ds16 is going into sixth form.

Starting to dread my eldest move to uni but I have promised myself he will see another massive change when he comes home at Christmas. I'm hoping that with one less body I get some space to rearrange some bits

I have dropped off a big blue ikea bag and a carrier bag of stuff to a charity shop. I advertised the books from dd1s room online and a friend wanted to buy most of them so I’m going to drop them off tomorrow. I don’t normally deliver but I’m in the area anyway.

Today’s only out is a broken metal clip. It’s something - although very little.

Oh, that's good! An IKEA bag gone, too!

I discovered that I have now completely worked through my box of random bath bombs, bath salts, bubble bath etc I've been gifted last bath. Wondering if its against the principles to now buy myself some lovely new bath products...!

No, of course it's not! It should be about having space and time for the things you want to do, and if that includes baths with lovely products, then you should definitely have them.

So I think the trick is to work out which one you really love and buy that one? Rather than buying a whole selection to “use up” again!

Not that I’m judging, mind!

I do love this stuff... but out of stock! It's a sign!

https://yorkshiresoap.co.uk/product/no1-yorkshire-rose-bath-foam/

That's disappointing with the last lot of vinted items incessant

I agree about the bath products Mistrali try to only buy one at a time. I'm aiming to get my essential toiletries down to one in use and one spare so I don't run out, non essential can just be the one in use and replace once finished.

Two nail polishes, one half used and dries patchy even with two coats, one the same brand has separated so may have gone off but even if it hasn't I know it's going to be rubbish. Binned. Total is 2735