Decluttering thread 10 - Spring is here, time to get those surfaces clear!

[TidyClutterIsStillClutter]

thread 9 is full, and I can’t find a new thread. Can anyone point me to thread 10?
tia

I vote you put up a pic of the sock rabbit when you've made it cheeseplantfeet

I can't even get into my loft so no chance of me getting stuck in there! 😂 Glad you were ok hasthisreallyhappened

Rose Bucket Cherry 😂

One gloopy nail polish. Why do they never last? I don't think I've ever used one up without it going gloopy first. Anyway, about 100 left!
One booklet recycled.

Total is 3536

Yes: Get rid of the pest before the mess… !!

Raided cupboard this morning and have grabbed a box of Earl grey and a can of Nescafé azera for work. I don’t really like instant coffee much but this is the most paletable in my mind. And it saves me from shop bought coffees. I will have one from cafe over the road from work because it is just delicious. But that’s it.

Almost sent dd out with the bin man. She had us all up at 5am. For no reason than she was bored.

Binned a t shirt and cardi - I did like them but after wearing and washing they just look awful and faded. Frustrating but what can you do. I don’t love shopping but I can’t go around in tatty stuff either.

I always find the first week after a school holiday hard. This week I'm going to be just trying to straighten the house up.

But I'm also going to do a housework xls and plan out my decluttering priorities too.

A couple more items been taken from our 'Wall-mart' help yourself scheme. More card bundled up for mini recycling centre. Dd got rid of an old tatty vintage bedside cabinet on Fb for free and taker repaired & up cycled it in a beautiful shade of green with new hardware. Looks lovely now. Really pleased about that!

W/E 01/06 (Week 22)
2025 – (720 + 45 = 765) = 1260 to go

Digital
14 email folders checked and deleted or archived = 14

Stuff used up and not replaced
Moisturiser, herbal tea, nail oil = 3

Recycled/binned
Pants x 7, garden rubbish bags x 4, plant pots x 2, pillows x 4, gardening gloves = 18

Charity shop
New donation bag filling up. Will count when leaves the house.

Vinted
10 sold and posted, more added.

Few sales on Vinted, everything else had
Been up for a few weeks so took the listings down and stuff to charity shop with a bag of toys.

Less saleable items to the clothes bank where they sell for rags.

Outgrown school uniform and unwanted books taken to school for school fair

That's 65 outs today and 1,130 for the year to date!

Incessant same here, nothing quite in the right place after the holiday! Had a day off to sort out but ds got sent home "sick" so is now bouncing around getting in the way.

Loving “wall-mart” 😆

Sold 2 items on Vinted. Slowly clearing out a huge unit to replace it with smaller, much nicer furniture. It’s a slow process!

total so far this year 596

@CherryRipe1 “Wall-mart” is a great idea. I’ll look for something similar in my area for the cabinet.

Binned - pair of ancient ratty slippers.

Returned to secondary - book of science tables, and to orimary - five laminated work sheets and a reading book.

Have somehow managed to misplace the fairy lights. It really is rather messy here atm.

eta to include missing words.

Leaflet
5 catalogues
DVD

Total is 3543

Just bought a level arch file and a box file. Will shove things to file in the box file and TRY really hard to file it all.

How long do people keep paperwork for? I have my kids SEN stuff going back about ten years!

My decluttering lady has done me a weekly xls to fill in to kerp me focused which is great. Children with disabilities team was supposed to visit today and have cancelled which I'm glad about. I was going to put my paperwork I the laundry basket and hide it but now I can do it properly without the rush.

I have a SEN tribunal and a transport appeal right now which again has mentally burnt me out. I don't feel like I can do the decluttering while I'm in a stressful send situation and I have dds key stage yearly review of her ehcp next week too. Urgh

IMO @IncessantNameChanger - normal paperwork is easy if it’s not emotional - I take a photo and/or action and/or shred almost everything immediately now (partly with the encouragement of this group, I can’t believe I’ve been on this 2 years since before my younger child was born!). I was keeping stuff, but now try to throw as much as possible.

What you are describing though is a hugely stressful set of paperwork from different sources and you don’t know which might be important. You are on this massive journey / complex process and it’s hard enough dealing with it, without worrying you might lose something. In that situation, if it’s too hard to stick to a filing system, I’d personally have a box file or two and shove it (and anything new that arrives) in there and just know it’s all in one place, rather than actually sorted or decluttered. But that’s just me. Sending love and solidarity.

Not exactly the same situation @IncessantNameChanger but I was the executor following three deaths all in the space of 18 months. This was during lockdown so almost everything needed to be done by post and the paperwork was overwhelming.

Once probate was sorted and the wills dealt with, it was hard to decide exactly what needed to be kept so I just put everything into a box, one for each person, and as each case was finalised I sealed the box and put it in the loft.

They are still up there so should I ever need to retrieve anything I know it is there and it wouldn't take long to find it. So far so good, and in another year or so I will get the boxes down and shred the contents.

In your case, anything you know you may need can just stay in a box file in a handy location, like the current tribunal and appeal, but you could box up the historic stuff. Sending strength x

With health stuff I keep for all eternity any paperwork stating
"you're diagnosed with X",

"your treatment/help is Y" or
"you've be assessed as needing Z".

With financial stuff it's
"you're entitled to X",
"the amount of whatever (eg account balance or entitlement to discount) is Y",
"your account is opened/closed as of Z date".

Computers are only as good as the data entered and it's surprising how often mistakes are made or new systems brought in that mean all old information is lost. I like to have my own records of important things. I'll probably never need it but I'm happier this way.

Out today:
A CD and a leaflet.
Total is 3545

It's true, it is emotional paperwork and I think I might be kind to myself and just file and keep it for now. The kids get DLA / PIP and three have ehcps. That's a lot of emotional grief and horrible memories of appealing for the ehcps.

Something for another day. I need to warm back up to it with more low hanging fruit.

I have four boxes of paperwork from my mums death. Our family house was a victorian terrace and damp and it smells of home too. I'm happy to keep that under the stairs forever tbc but I can't leave it for the kids either.

Getting ds13 to gradually try on everything. He is a chunk and has shot up so 50% or more no longer fits him. I'm not going to replace any of it unless he hasn't got enough for our summer holiday. Really want to get his wardrobe to the bare minimum and only then replace things for a fresh start ( third boy so he has his clothes and both older boys hand me downs ie a mountain of clothes).

I'm going to book a Anglo doorstep collection for next week

re paperwork. I’ve binned all of my cancer crap. Unless it was sent via email and unless there are specific instructions.

my “diary” I was given to record chemo I actually threw it on the bbq.

dm has 30 years of bank statements in her house. I get one every 3 months so I can havd it to work (I’m a signatory and also a director on some things at work so occasionally I need to provide due diligence). But everything else is kept for a bit thrn binned.

outs
desk draw at work:

• Two boxes of old business cards
• three pens
• glasses holder
• two old mugs
• laptop charger (I had 2)

make up bag:

• finished a primer
• used up a Mitchum antiperspirant

returning a top I bought which isn’t quite what I wanted.

I have all sorts of paperwork. I do not dare shred. Likely it would be fine but having been caught out once before I’m very cautious.

I’ve invested in a number of hard box files and placed paperwork within but handwritten on a sheet at the top is a note to the kids that if they find this box they can easily bin it and a little description of what’s in it. Ie twenty years old bank statements.

Also, I have boxes which when they open them say do not shred. This mainly pertains to our family business and insurance documents that must never be lost just in case someone in the future comes back to try and sue us for something. This is what happened before and we didn’t have the paperwork because it was more than 20 years prior. They were a CF and the judge threw it out.

I'm going to pool up the paperwork and just do a hour a day I think.

Tried more things on when getting dressed and got 7 dresses of mine to go. I'm wearing a wrap dress that's is beautiful but I have to wear a body con type dress under it as wrap dresses can get indecent. Will go look at myself in the mirror if it looks OK after a few hours.

I have gone straight to the smart/ formal wear with it in mind I need max two within the next 12 months. I have 2 lovely dresses and one I'd like to slim into.

Much easier doing this fast and as soon as I get up. Some is Boden etc but I'm donating the lot as I don't want a excuse to change my mind.

A few things I wear but I don't think do me any favours hung on the door to try on later / tomorrow.

Early help is coming in a hour so just time for a panic sweep of the living room.

Seem to have accumulated loads of cardboard letting it get wet today so easier to squish down and will take to the mini recycling centre later.
Our paper and card recycling box is chocka block with overspill so need to make space as next collection is Monday. A suitcase full of absolute junk for the tip has been gone through & bits taken👍. Got some cat food to go for the Lidl food bank as the stray we used to feed has disappeared. Also tins of ratatouille which we all dislike but some people like it hopefully.

I need to go through our groaning bookshelves. I find decluttering DC's books hard as I'm attached to them! Since foing the "1 item a day" declutter I figured I would find one book a day until I had a full bag of books to donate. That way I can just choose something dc/we didn't like and it doesn't feel too overwhelming. I find it hard to let go of piles of books but doing one a day could work.

gave away a toy
gave a book to school
sold 2 toys and posted
sold and posted a set of books

total = 601

Hey everyone I’m rarely on mumsnet but need to help an elderly relative start clearing oit a house for a couple of weeks over the summer. She is looking to give most of it away or sell a few things very cheaply. Please can you share the best ways to do this. I am overseas. She is in Cambridge. If anyone is local I would really appreciate advice about which facebook sites are the best (or whether I should try other places)
thanks