Decluttering Thread 12

[TidyClutterIsStillClutter]

Whatever your speed or method, whether it’s a few shelves, a couple of boxes or entire attics, rooms, or garages, come here and share both your successes and your struggles. There’s support and commiserations, and lots of good ideas.

Forgot the message! We go vertical with storage as much as possible. Wellies are in a tub.

I’ve randomly thrown away some Xmas decs that have really seem better days, a toastie maker that just sort of makes floppy melted bread & husband has cleared out some if his doom corner in the living room (only so he can set up his gaming stuff there, but it involved a full bin bag going out so I’m not really complaining- even though he was offering me his manky sliders in case I needed them 😬)
need to get into my sons room once he’s back at school! Hoping to get rid of some more old decorations once the tree & everything comes down.

How do people not keep things ‘just in case?’ !!

Consider when you last used it and how long you've already survived without it.

Consider the likelihood of you using it in the foreseeable future. Is the issue that you want to use it, but don't? So is a lifestyle shift what you really need instead of decluttering it? Are you going to commit to that lifestyle shift, new hobby or whatever it would take for the item to be used? If not, accept it's only a dream, not reality and let the item go.

Consider whether, if you didn't have it, there's something else suitable (or "good enough") that you already have which you could use instead.

Consider how much it would cost to replace it with a suitable item, if you found you did make a mistake decluttering it - eg they might be £400 shoes, but if you needed shoes in that particular style/colour etc would you need £400 ones or would £30 ones do and how long did it take you to Google search something suitable? That gives you your repurchase value and you've considered the ease or otherwise of repurchasing, which is also a factor.

Consider your income and decide if you made a mistake decluttering and needed to replace in future, could you do so without financial hardships? If yes, you can get rid, secure in the knowledge that even if you're making a mistake you can fix it if necessary and it's not the end of the world.

Today's out:
One blingy bobble hat with some blings missing. Total is 4216

Sold 5 bras & a teddy bear backpack on Marketplace today. DH got rid of some board games that had been by the kitchen bin for ages.

Sound advice there @IndianSummer78 I am getting better at letting go of stuff, but I find it harder for things I paid a lot of money for but don’t use. Seems like I am throwing money away iyswim?

8 things out today:
x3 coats dropped off at the local homeless charity
Pair of jeans added to charity shop pile
Old bed sheet and face cloths added to textile recycling bag
Big jar of conkers chucked into garden waste

Also added two of DS’s t-shirts to Vinted

I did a Dana K white style attack of my bathroom and managed to tidy up and find 21 items for the bin/recycling. It all feels nicer and more organised ❤️

Find decluttering hard as I don’t want to throw anything away to landfill. I feel huge guilt.

things on my list to chuck but how

bag of Willy straws from hen party. Mostly unused.

unused advent calendar (just paper windows no chocolate) that my son aged 5 refused and said was boring (gifted).

fake flowers (give by mum when she declutter I didn’t want them).

ikea ice cube trays. Useable but I just can’t bin feels awful.

Most of these could go on the Olio app and/or see if you have a local FB group for recycling stuff? If no takers, leave them prominently outside your house. If they still don’t go, then bin/recycling.

Today was sorting and tidying. Three shoeboxes emptied out and contents put where they belong. I did not fill the boxes up with other random crap. That way lies the madness of churning.

Out - leather tray purse with hole. Four OOD vitamins and cold remedies.

Only one out yesterday; a deodorant that make me feeling am on fire! Aiming to do some more today, but not sure where to start!

Box down from the loft yesterday to sort. Turns out we have been storing stuff belonging to my DSS’s ex-flatmate’s random paperwork for 20 years. 🤯

Zireael it gets easier the more you do it. I decided a couple years ago not to sell any more, so the focus could be on getting things out. I also read somewhere that the pain of acknowledging you've been throwing money away is part of what stops you buying more. So my advice is to start doing it. Find something you're sure as you can be that you don't need it, then give it away, even if it's BMWT and expensive and never used. Sit with the feeling a while and declutter easier things, then go do it again. And again. You'll get used to it. I wasn't aiming to deal with my spending habits until after I'd decluttered, but I've found the decluttering process itself is having a massive impact on my spending habits anyway.

One face powder finished up. Total is 4217

Went to the tip this afternoon; got rid of loads of big cardboard boxes, and old cooking pot, two bags of textiles and a whole heap of those natural wool insulation pads that I was holding onto as they looked useful

actually went to the dump on Christmas Eve and cleared my car boot the intention was to get a nearly new bedside table for DS but the shop was shut no real rubbishy stuff has come in over Christmas. decluttered some food into the bin last night as I don’t seem to be able to cook at the moment 😳

a few hoodies and children’s clothes into the charity box.
an old broken food chopper
got out loads of paper plates/cups for NYE. Will also be putting out the Christmas chocolates and snacks then.

taking a few smellies into work tomorrow to get used up.

That is most excellent advice - thank you so much for taking the time to type all of that out. @IndianSummer78 I definitely need to change my mindset about how I look at things and this has helped loads.

@TidyClutterIsStillClutter vertical storage is definitely the best idea - thank you! Hadn’t thought of that for shoes. Our house isn’t very big - it’s a cottage with no utility room or hallway and open plan downstairs so spaces need to be used carefully.

I’ve made a start sorting some things today and have piles of things to take to charity. I’m making a list on notes so I can add up what’s gone and post it once mission completed tomorrow.

@Specialagentblond that’s a great idea with smellies. Will be copying that - thanks!

@IndianSummer78I’ve given up selling too. I am lucky I am in a position to to be able to prioritise the stuff going out against the potential money coming in.

Tip trip today (love it!) to chuck a non-functioning power bank and broken weights stuff belonging to aforementioned DSS’s long-gone flat mate.

Also, cleaned out 2x fridges & found a random can of cider so used the Feast app to find a recipe to use it up. Recommended.

https://theguardian.com/food/2024/oct/22/nigel-slaters-recipe-for-chicken-thighs-with-mushrooms-and-cider

checking in!

Still tidying and sorting. Fifteen-minute bursts of hoovering in bedroom. Everything moved away from walls except massive wardrobe. Storage boxes stacked in the middle of the room for sorting through calmly.

Elsewhere, I reduced four miscellaneous boxes to three. Found odds and ends that I would otherwise have replaced because it’s so easy to go to amazon.

Nothing actually out of the house in any true decluttering sense. Just a lot calmer inside.

Hello everyone, I have the post Christmas need to declutter, there is also an element of life being stressful at the moment. Over the last 2 days I cleared out 3 charity bags of clothes and bedding from the children’s rooms.