Decluttering thread 11

[TidyClutterIsStillClutter]

Whether you’re taking days or decades, whether you’re glacially slow or galloping along, please come here for inspiration, encouragement, and congratulations.

I was originally but am only on maintenance clutter so very little else to get rid of so I’m stuck at 1169. Can’t imagine I’ll find 856 items by the end of the year 😂

@LR47 that's fantastic though! Never mind about arbitrary targets to keep us on track - you got your house decluttered! You're living the dream 🤣 Well done 🎉

seem to have decluttered all proof of purchase of the carpet cleaner to get it replaced been searching on and offline a whole week now. also can’t find my 8 hour cream or special bookmarks😳

Me! And I only have 135 to go to hit the target. It's been so helpful posting on this thread to keep me on track.

Once I get the Christmas decs down I should find a few outs there, kitchen to be deep cleaned and sorted so a few bits there I think, and DH is finally sorting his clothes so more to go to the charity shop.

His dinner jacket is in the charity pile to go today (now retired so no 'events' to wear it to now) and I found a ticket in the pocket from an event we went to in 2014! Someone will get good use out of it, it's immaculate.

@IDareSay waving pompoms for you too! I agree, this thread is extremely useful for motivation!

DH shrunk my jumper in the wash, no idea why it shrank - it's been washed before exactly the same with no ill effects. But I didn't really like it - wrong colour for me and short sleeved, which, IMO, is pretty daft for a jumper. But it was expensive so I'd kept it. Anyway out it goes!

Total 1905

I pair of expensive but too big even with big socks wellies & a long gilet I was sent 2 of when I ordered sold on vinted last night. Posted them out this morning. Starting to pack for our Disney trip next weekend & have put in the rest of the tatty undies to chuck & not bring home to wash & wear again 🤣 found some too short vests to do the same with as well but they will do for base layers- too old & faded to donate them.

We are putting out some Christmas decorations today as well. We have lost the Christmas eve boxes so another reminder of why you should keep things together and tidy.

I'm still hopeful to get to my 2025 out in 2025. Could do with longer weekends!

I've gone around and decluttered some bits from every room. Quite satisfying actually although probably not the most efficient way of doing it!

Nappy sacks (my child is 8)
2 pairs of old tights
2 pairs of old fleece socks
scattering of loo roll middles no one else puts in the bin.
old boardgame with loads of bits missing.
1 kids top and 1 pair of joggers
4 old odd socks
2 pairs of my socks that have holes in

Got a load of bits listing on Vinted as well so fingers crossed for me.

quick tidy of DD’s room; or she won’t go to bed
1 bundle of recycling out
1 bag of unrecyclables out
1 name tagger found
1 old pair of trainers out
green refill pad and dyslexia overlays found

Well done those of you close to your
targets. I think I start counting every year and end up counting literally every single piece of paper and it takes too long so I give up. I’m sort of in the maintenance zone as apart from Lego my house is largely decluttered - yet still I find lots of things to go. Today I’ve decided to get rid of two of my books and 11 of DDs books (I’ll show them the books after school but I’m sure they’ll be happy for 10 if not 11 to go). I still really want to read my books but I bought them before Covid and haven’t had time - I have about 8 books on my kindle that I’m reading so I guess unless I buy these on the kindle I’ll never get round to reading them.

I found this thread last night when sitting scrolling in a bad mood about what a mess our house is in, when I could have been sorting said mess 😅I think sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. I read a post early in the thread about getting rid of one thing each day, and that spurred me on.

Working from home today so I sorted the cupboard under the sink before work, and also got some bits listed on Vinted at lunchtime. I decanted the last of the hand wash from one 5l bottle and got that in the recycling. And I’ve just gone balls to the wall in the home office making piles of ‘to shred’, ‘to recycle’ and ‘to bin’.

I won’t keep up this momentum forever I know but it feels good to have made a start. I’ll aim to get rid of at least one item per day from now on and will encourage my husband to do the same.

Going to catch up on the thread gradually now. Thanks to all previous posters ☺️

Sorted through a couple of random bags sitting in a cupboard-why the hell didn't I deal with this crap at the time?! Also emptied the unit under the TV, had no idea it could hold so much stuff 😩.
You will be shocked at how many school exercise books I took out of one cupboard!
Anyway it's been very productive today and for the first time I feel like I've got the momentum to keep on with this. Some things are like a puzzle, where I'm clearing out space and then putting something in its place, but I'm trying to work through drawers and cupboards etc so I can at least put some things into those cupboards and make the space look tidier.I will go back and revisit when I've got more overall stuff out of the house.
And I've only gone and listed 10 items on Vinted 🙌 I've got so much to put on but this is a start.
I'm finding this thread helping, especially seeing the high numbers you have got rid of, I think i will do the 2026 target next year so I've got something to actually aim for, and just keep on whilst I've got the energy before Xmas.

Charity
5 x school trousers
4 x school jumpers
3 X crop tops
1 X tote bag
2 x shorts

Recycling
1 X carrier bag full of paper work and old school drawings
73 x school exercise books-from primary, my kids are in secondary 😂

DH to sort out a huge pile of work paper work about 1 x carrier bag worth-i think this may be old and hoping he will get rid of 🙏 also 6 x industry books to sort. 3 X drawers full of cables, chargers, gaming controllers etc to sort through and decide what to do. This isn't going to happen overnight but hopefully before Xmas.

Out-89
Total-260

One dress and a cardigan I never wear. Total is 4182

I have made some amazing progress today. Dh had a day off and we have moved a bedroom around which involved pulling everything in there out. So quite a haul! I'm tempted to donate it to the clothing bank but there is so much of it, it might be easier to donate to the doorstep collection. There's more I can get rid of. Boxes all over the living room too 😪

24th 21 out
My boots
9 items ds and dd clothes
10 batman toys
6 clothes dd
12 old pjs ds
Bedding sets 11
Broken hanger
6 pairs dd pjs
6 items dd Vinted
6 ds old school tops Vinted
Toddler glove clip bin̈ned

I have sold a board game and a t shirt on Vinted so getting them packed to post off tomorrow. I have also thrown out a can of potatoes dated 2022...

Emptied a large tub that had been sitting in the garage for months and brought it into house and washed it out. contents -

Recycled a carrier bag of soft plastics at tesco.

Clean rags bagged up for next time I’m near the textiles bin.

Hard plastics into recycling trolley.

Binned filthy rags

one book brought into house, and a pair of trainers.

Recycling trolley now at kerb for tomorrow. Only one bag of food waste in caddy, mostly banana skins and eggshells. No leftovers or mouldy stuff as I’m getting better at planning meals and controlling impulse buys.

Tidied the boiler cupboard and found two school jerseys and a thick woolly shirt. Also a school
hoodie with tags on All still fit.

Morning all - going to be ruthless today! The house is still resembling a warehouse. I’ve decided that I really have to bite the bullet & donate some more soft toys to the charity shop. All my smaller ones are currently sitting on the lounge floor gathering dust! I’m very sentimental about some of them so it’s not going to be easy. DH is only working for a couple of hours so I’ll ask him to put some stuff in the loft.

I haven’t done this but a couple of people suggested, with things you’re emotionally attached to, to take a photo of them. Then make a photo book online with all of the photos in. Then give away all of the items. You have the memory of them all but it takes up one very small space on your bookshelf and you ‘win back’ all of that space.

I feel like we're living in chaos at the moment. It's been impossible to do anything with ILs about clearing out FILs house.
No work today so have got some laundry done. Managed to give the bathroom and kitchen a quick clean and run the hoover around. Annoyingly, I found some things that could have gone with the recycling this morning.
Got DP to drop the soft plastics on his way to the bus this morning. Sorted items for Boots recycling, just awaiting approval on the app.
Hoping to at least keep on top of things until ILs are all gone!

Welcome @JellyIegs Thats a great start!
I've been cleaning the kitchen and putting up christmas decorations today. Found a few more things to go and then my hoover went bang 🙃 It was very old, it had a good life 🤣

Charity shop: christmas hoodie, box of crackers, glass ornament
Bin / recycling: garland, holey jeans, 2x dead plants, empty diffuser, 3x broken christmas decs, broken mixer, broken hoover

Total 1918

W/E 23/11 (Week 47)
2025 – (1890 + 36 = 1926) = 99 to go!

Digital = 0

Stuff used up and not replaced
Scented candle, puzzle book x 2, eye cream = 4

Recycled/binned
Eraser (that does not erase!), paint charts x 2, dead indoor plant, garden rubbish x 2 bags, foil medication packs (recycled at Boots) x 5 =11

Charity shop
Dinner jacket, trousers, shirt x 2, cummerbund, bow ties x 2, jacket, trousers x 2, t-shirts x 2, braces, belts x 2, ties x 3, jumper x 2= 21

Vinted = 0

Thank you @CheesePlantFeet. I got more done today, getting rid of old stuff from the household paperwork folder. I listed another pair of shoes on Vinted today and the pair I added yesterday have sold, so I packaged those up to post tomorrow.

Sorry to hear about your hoover. I would be devastated!

RIP cheese plant's hoover ⚰️✝️🙏

Congratulations on the vinted sale jelly and living dead girl 🎉 📦 💰

Commiserations on the in-laws situation vinorosso. I don't have any useful suggestions 🏚️ 💣 🗑️

LR47 i like the photo book idea 🖼️ 💡 📚

Will you miss going to all the events dare or is it a relief? 🤵💃 🥂

Soft toys are so so difficult bunny, it's the faces peeking out of a carrier bag that does for me 🧸 🗑️ 😭

Well done on the garage tidy clutter 💪🗑️ 📦

And your bedroom success incessant 🛏️ 🗑️ 🎉

One set of bobbled outgrown pyjamas and a sequined top because they bobble up everything else in the washer.
Total is 4185

Found two tins of tomato soup in the garage. That’s a couple of lunches sorted.

Donate pile - three outgrown school jerseys previously crammed onto bookshelves.

Plastic recycling - three yogurt pots that I had thought might be useful.

Kitchen is a bit of a mess. Vegetable rack on one wall used as dumping ground finally collapsed yesterday. Most of its contents still on the floor. Can’t reach the other side because of the heaps under the window. I’m putting most of my effort into sorting that out today.

I’m still going, I have a slightly mad idea that I can get a bit of progress in each room before Christmas, or even before putting up decorations!

But I did send a bunch of stuff in for the school fair last week - at least 37 items including some big ones! I gave away a few coats too, which I always find hard.

A few more sales on vinted, but I’m trying to wind that down a bit. Maybe another charity run.

I am starting to feel more positive that we will get our house back eventually.