Is anyone just starting to declutter? Or hasn't yet.

[LushLemonTart]

I know there's lots of decluttering threads but I'm just starting (again) but this time I mean business.
What's inspired you to declutter now? Mine is clearing out an elderly relative's home and realising I don't want dcs to ever have that much stuff to clear. Plus it's quite depressing having too much stuff.
Dh and I travel a lot,mainly uk, and you realise you need very little to get on in life.

I'm not going minimalist although can see the appeal.

Care to join? I won't be counting items but I will list as much as possible. I should really try and sell some stuff but cba.

DM nearly died this year and it gave her the push she needed to allow me to clear her house out, she had been hoarding for years. It was hard to begin with, but in the end she was putting things in the bin herself. She said that she doesn’t know how it happened, how she became a hoarder but she actively says no to things she’s offered now.

I am fairly tidy although there are certainly areas I would like cleared out but are of the 2 adult children who live at home. I do watch hoarder progammes on youtube sometimes.

@DustyLee123 that's good she was motivated. Hope she's OK now?

Weights and blanket box being picked up today 🙂

Feeling great - one bag of stuff dropped off at the charity that had been hanging around for a few months -old dressing up stuff, school uniforms, teddies, some
previous unwanted Xmas gifts. Keep going everyone 😊

@RosieLeaLovesTea excellent keep going 👏

I was hoping to come on here and write that I had sent items to the school uniform shop, but I missed the monthly deadline...again!

Anyway, I gave 3 items of clothing to my MIL (who kindly lists some things on Ebay for me). I have also booked for a table-top sale!

@BadSkiingMum that's progress.

I’ve started. For me we are buying our forever home and combining two houses. We have until March. Maximum.

I started with the bathroom and binned everything. One plastic tub per person that was it - done and organised. It took 8 hours and 6 plastic bags - it was bad!

Today DP and I did the utility room and the second bathroom. Literally ruthless.

Two trips to the tip and it’s done.

He then went to his and did the entire loft. All of it to the top and done.

We started talking about renting a storage unit or renting somewhere to store stuff and then just looked at each other and said no. We just need to do it.

@Dealingwithatrexrightnow good as you don't need too much stuff. Well done.

Can I just say if you have good working Christmas lights and decoration or kids stuff your local women’s refuge might gladly take it.

I have just given a huge box of lovely nearly new decorations and a spare tree and new lights to a mum who is moving out of the refuge into a flat with her two children this weekend.

Also planning of doing the same with a spare kitchen table, chairs and so on. If you email them they might be able to find a home for decent stuff.

I'm dreading helping DH sort out his parents' house. They are hoarders and nearly all the stuff intheir house will go to landfill. It's so upsetting thinking about it.
As I get older I'm trying to explain to family that I don't want stuff for my birthday or Christmas. I just don't need anything else bringing into the house. Anything we want or need we are lucky enough to be able to buy at the time we need it. So the thought of Christmas coming up and over the top piles of presents with packaging, and homes to find for them, fills me with dread. I swear that half the things in our house are what other people have given us as presents, that we didn't ask for, and don't really want.

Being pregnant! Cleared out so much over the last few weeks as was feeling overwhelming by stuff!

Agree about present. Youngest have just got him an Aquila subscription for Christmas and DP and oldest have a family experience day.

House clearing is bad enough in a normal home never mind a hoarder @CurlyhairedAssassin . Is it empty yet or are you thinking ahead?
Good ideas @Dealingwithatrexrightnow . They also need toiletries etc.
Well done @Jajajagi . How far along are you?

I don't want stuff for Christmas. Dh and I will buy each other something perishable. Ds2 might get me some decent moisturiser. Ds1 is getting me a jacket but I'll donate some jackets and coats soon to a clothing bank.
A friend has bought me a pile of gifts even though non of us friends do Christmas. I've been told what they are by another friend as I'd already sort of guessed. Let's just say they won't see the light of day. She's gone mad this year. Just because she isn't totally poor for a change but she has no savings. She's just wasted her money on people.

Sorry rant over 🙈

No, I'm thinking of the future. I can see them ageing and know it will get to time when they can't cope with sorting through stuff. They aren't like the true hoarders they see on telly where you can't get in the main rooms. But every surface has multiple ornaments and just stuff that's been there years. All yellow with nicotine. the bathroom has toiletries that have been there years too, old Yardley talc etc. They have a loft room that has loads of stuff in it, they just don't believe in throwing anything out even if it's broken. And they foist stuff on us even though we say we don't want it. I'm talking about 15 year old travel guides etc. I'm really firm and will just put it back down on a shelf as we're walking out the door when we leave. But DH takes it and then it's just cluttering up OUR house. So annoying!

We cleared my aunt's small house when she died and that was bad enough. But at least a lot of her stuff could be given to charity shops, it was decent quality, lots never unwrapped, stuff she'd bought in January sales that she thought a bargain but didn't need or use. It was all quite stressful and upsetting, seeing all that wasted STUFF. Because of that my mum is determined to have a good declutter of her own house while she is physically able to as doesn't want us to have to get stressed about it when she's gone, bless her. She has got rid of a lot of stuff that's just been sitting there unused and unnoticed. Loads of old paperwork that my dad didn't ever want to throw away (bank statemenst going back 20 years type of thing).

I'm only early 50s but you never know what will happen in life. DH and I need to start decluttering our own house.

@CurlyhairedAssassin might be worth putting a bit aside now and again to pay for house clearance? Or a big skip.
I'm in my 50s too. Dh is a good bit older. But anything can happen. I've lost lots of people 50s and younger. I don't want dcs clearing too much stuff.

DH and I were saying today that we should have a good clear out of papers. I keep things fairly minimal but we need to clear out old bills, invoices, old pension info etc. We'll do this in 2025 though not before Xmas.

I took my Dad's old vinyl to the record shack today. A mixture of classical music and musical albums and some 60s pop (Beach Boys etc). £20 in my pocket. Stuff - I don't even have a stylus to play it on - gone.
An inherited tea set is next...

I have two techniques

1. 'The Australia Test'.

If I were emigrating and needed to fill a shipping container with everything I needed, would I take this, or would I get rid of it and replace it when needed?

1. The Thirteen Technique'.

Walk around the house and collect 13 things to throw away. Envelope, magazine, hair-grip, ornament, spare drinking glasses, pen that doesn't work properly etc etc. You can have a shopping bag for 'charity shop' and put things in there, like spare pillowcases etc - this still counts.

Good luck!

Ah, my tribe. Hello.

I have had so many false starts! Starting again though. Did a bit of a clear out/declutter to get the Christmas tree up today. I'm going to keep it up - little and often - and hopeful it'll see a marked difference in a couple of months.

Busy weekend, but still. 4 bags to the charity of old kids stuff, and a huge pile of old Christmas clothes, books and activities they have outgrown to younger relations. Of course we then brought down about 30 boxes of Christmas decorations and put them in my nice new clean, clear room ready for the big decorate.

We have loads of baby stuff in the loft none of the family want, and things like cots the charity have said no to because they take up too much space. So we think we might try to find a refuge for them.

I’m very pleased to say that I have started as well and am deep cleaning as I go along - not that anything is dirty per se, but while I am cleaning out wardrobes and stuff I may as well give everything a good going over.

So the bathroom is done, the kitchen is done, hallway and cupboards are 2/3rds done, as is my bedroom. Should be able to finish the bedroom tonight, then the rest of the hallway and the lounge tomorrow night. Only thing to tackle is then the spare room where I have been chucking things while decluttering everywhere else and that will be a big task, but I’ll do a couple of hours at a time until it’s done and that’s where my charity shop/eBay stuff will come from. I’m really quite pleased with the progress. I also need to sort out the patio from where the scaffolders moved everything around and the plants are all now hibernating and need cutting back - but I need decent weather for that.

@Hoolahoophop do you have a local freebie page on Facebook? Or quid bid? It'd be worth joining Facebook if you're not on it to get rid of stuff.

@Arlanymor wow you've done amazing. Bet you feel lighter? Good luck with the spare room 👍

Hi everyone else joining. Tips are very welcome.