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.

@SqueakyDinosaur you've inspired me to add Work wear clothing to my list of areas to tackle. And an area I’m going to ask my husband to start with.

Is vinted really worth it. A cash boost is needed but considering we could be moving in 3 weeks do I need the hassle. We have a ton of packaging and a post office nearby though…

Amazing perseverance @PissedOffNeighbour22 . I would probably only keep the next size up, everything else can go. Could you recurit friends or family to help sort it into piles?
@CornishTiger if time is an issue I would only vinted higher value items. Maybe carve out one hour and List solidly for that hour. Anything that sells, sells. Everything else after 2 weeks gets donated. Ideally I wouldn't want to be bringing stuff I actively didn't want to the new house.

A friend helped us with a job, paid them in some materials. So a decent amount now gone. The materials they didn't want can now go to the tip shop, no doubt will get snapped up ASAP by the trades that come first thing.

Well done on the weight loss @PissedOffNeighbour22 that's amazing!

Is vinted worth it? I can be. I'd say as a rule of thumb 2/3 won't sell so work out from that if you want to do it. I take lots of photos in a soare moment then upload later so I can also crop and relist. Two weeks on vinted, one week then take them off crop and relist. After that I'm done and donate it

Thanks @Maeploy and @IncessantNameChanger.

@Maeploy no, I don't have anyone willing to help me sort it. I think I'll keep one or two sizes max to keep just in case. I've been going through and listing clothes when I have time but life is just too busy to keep on top of it. I've always been a bit of a clothes hoarder and I need to get a grip on it!

I have dismantled the bed in DS1’s room, and emailed a person who often sorts charity stuff out about it before I list on Fb. Have started hoovering in therE and binned various bits, plus some bits to the charity bag too.

Jobs:

1. Hang up framed pictures
2. DS2 paperwork: blue badge started
3. my British passport application - need to get on with this
4. garden generally tidied for end of summer - started
5. loads of scout badges onto blanket - 8 left
6. DS1’s room: ongoing…

Not quite outs yet:
Running leggings to go to a friend - Need to message her to meetup
spare tap left from building works - on FB, bumped up
knackered suitcase to put on FB - posted
old school PE shorts to a friend
DD to return borrowed flute to old school, oops
charity bag (currently 5)

Out:
approx 20 significant bits of rubbish
old pants to recycling

1201+21=1222

Done another hour in eldest room. Omg the dust! Lots of loose unorganised college notes. I will flatten out what I can and put it in a box. Found his gcses. So that was my main worry. So much more to do in there before ds16 can move in. I might do some more tonight

DD15 has filled a binbag with clothes so those need sorting into chuck,donate or keep piles (she has a habit of throwing out perfectly good stuff because she wants new!). Trying to summon up the enthusiasm to photograph my items for Vinted. I put them aside weeks ago. I filled another carrier for the charity shop on Sunday. Slowly getting there.

I've just booked to have the floors re-sanded, stained and re-sealed in kitchen and sitting room. Kitchen is quite straightforward, but I have to take EVERYTHING out of the sitting room, so I'm hoping I'll be seized with the decluttering bug when it comes to putting stuff back! There are a lot of books, CDs, a whole big desk full of stuff....

I'm still on target to reach 2024 items this year! I listed one dress up Halloween dress that got 75 views, but the next lot of items got between 0-2 views, go figure! I'm sure there's something that puts my items low down. I'm just listing school uniform and Halloween right now. Everything else im donating.

15th my belt
Clearing ds20 room
33, Inc boxes, coat hangers, frame, flip flops
Rags, clothes, boxes
16th 37 out ds20 room
1 vinted sale
3 hangers
-----
Total for 2024
1548 out
153 in

Hello decluttering gurus. I’ve actually finally made some progress, definitely inspired by you all.

I have pretty much totally cleared my kitchen work surfaces, which makes me so happy! I’ve been very grumpy with anyone dumping things on them today and it might just stick.

I’ve done a massive sort of kids stuff (embarrassingly still a lot to do) which has given over 100 items for the baby bank, some donations to other charities. I listed a total of 39 things on vinted over the last day or two, and have already sold 8 things!! I also have another bag of nice things to give to a friend, and just a small handful for memory boxes and other sentimental “keeps”.

I also sorted out some of my own clothes, have put some on vinted (in the 39 above) and getting a pile together for charity (not counted yet as not out!).

Finally, I have done a good job sorting stuff out of my present drawer hoarding to give to suitable people in the current birthday season!

Lots of bits and pieces, my September total is currently 135. I don’t know if I can get it to 200 before the end of the month but I’m going to try!

I’d love any vinted tips, big or small, on how to do the best with it…!

Great progress @Realfastfoodie . No tips from me, I find it baffling what sells and doesn't- even very similar items. I use a white background where possible and take lots of photos - especially close up so buyers can see the condition; and get a good picture of the label.

Hoping for some listing mojo too as shorter shift today. And sort out last of the present cupboard.

Good luck with your listing too @Maeploy

I have one hour on my wardrobe this morning which has resulted in 45 items of clothes out and lots to photograph for Vinted.

@Realfastfoodie I normally take photos on my wooden floor and stand on a chair to take photos if it's a bundle. Try to make sure that area is clear. Or put on a hanger on the back of a white door. Take lots of photos. Take photos of the labels then I just upload them at my leisure. Around 1pm weekdays seems to get more views. Delete anything with no favorites after a week. Slightly crop your original photos and change the title slightly. Leave 24 hours then stick them back up.

I normally rotate it all the charity within 2-4 weeks. It's weird what sells. I had a great combination Zara wool blend girls occasionally Cardigan I could even shift for £2!

Back to my sons room this morning then I'm going to drop my donations off

Not much happening here, I decided to get rid of two of our four thesauruses and a handbag. The handbag is in the cupboard under the stairs and I suspect was a gift because I don’t know who owns it. I will ask dds if it’s theirs and will probably donate it as I can see it’s not any of our styles.

Three bin bags gone to the clothing bank. I have got rid of so much now, but back into thinking its not making any difference?

Listed some more things on Vinted to.

Listed 3 things so on target today. If they don't sell, I will donate to the Christmas toy drive.

A cautionary tale : found a bag in the loft which the outside cover had degraded. Had only used it twice as kept 'saving it for best' . What a waste of money.

Thanks @IncessantNameChanger! Am going to relist some old ones and then cut my losses!

If you do, check your settings, otherwise you'll find buyers choosing courier not royal mail.

Personally I'd donate it all and not bother trying to sell. I've never bothered with it. Too much hassle for too little reward. Depends just how broke you are though.

Same to the dieter with a pile of clothes and feeling the dread. Give yourself the gift of peace by donating it.

Today's outs-
One novel finished
Total is 2791

I don't need the money from Vinted, although it is nice to buy new clothes with the cash I make. Its more a good way to say, this has very little value, no one wants to buy this, its OK to let it go, the money has been spent and I'm finished with this now. It's severed it's purpose.

However I think my hoarding tendencies must be higher than everyone else on here. Also I never sell any of my boys clothes however nice they are. Listing on Vinted is very low return for time spent. I have made £25 in two days so in my head that pays for dd new Ballet leotard. I do like a stupid pointless rule! Hoarding is a form of OCD so I'm just replacing one rule with another until I get more used to donating everything as the default.

Ds room is done is almost done. Just got to sort what's in his Otterton bed, then clean and possibly repaint it. Ds has only contacted me once yesterday. Just a few lines on WhatsApp so feeling a bit down again today. I will ask him to phone his little brother at the weekend. Apart from that I'm going to leave him alone for a bit to settle in

Hey everyone. Indeed we are moving. Six weeks ish. Slightly longer than i anticipated which is a relief.

Based on your advice here I’m not putting on vinted. I can’t afford the time tbh.

My husband has had a massive sort out of his work wear. That is going charity shop first thing.

I have distributed soft toys and various bits school this evening ready for our fundraising. Plus gifted some decent stuff to school library and after school club. Feels good.

Given a beloved marble run that we have had for all our children to a neighbour whose child loves it.

Feels good.

I’ve lost count of volume but it’s easily 100+ since I started last Friday.

Also gifted two books to my bestie. They may when once moved. Lol

@IndianSummer78 I can't afford to donate many hundreds of pounds worth of tagged clothing. It wouldn't bring me peace 😄. I'm happy to donate some of the used stuff, but most of what I'm getting rid of is brand new. I managed to photograph a large pile of it today so will start listing when I have time. I have to make sure I never get to a point again where I have such ridiculous amounts of unworn clothing.

Some of us on here have spoken before about how our upbringings have influenced our behaviours around hoarding. I do feel that never having anything nice and everything being second hand is part of the reason I hoard all these nice new clothes that I then keep for best and never use. It's hard to break the habit though.

Someone has just bought our baby changing unit so hoping that will be picked up tomorrow. Had a good run of kids toys sell on Vinted too.

I’m very lucky, I think I have hoarding tendencies but I don’t really love shopping so at least I don’t add to the problem too quickly…!

Ooh yes, @PissedOffNeighbour22, I think you are right about keeping things pristine / new with tags “just in case”. I find it hard to rip those protective packaging layers off. I’m trying to get better at that too.