Decluttering Thread 13 - Hopefully Lucky For Some!

[MarmaladeSandwich7]

Good morning fellow sorters, chuckers & sellers! Starting a new thread as No 12 was almost full. This thread is one of my favourites & I find it hugely inspiring. I have a very long way to go as my house still resembles a jumble sale but I have got rid of a lot over the last few months plus made some money into the bargain. Last night I transferred several carrier bags of clothes that are on Vinted into a pink velvet storage chest that, ironically, hadn’t been assembled & was taking up space in DH’s office 🤣🤣🤣 It’s now in front of the storage cubes in the lounge & honestly, the pleasure I get from seeing it & the space created is immense.
I need a day to dedicate to Vinted as I have bags of clothes still to photograph & upload, some clothes to try on which may end up on there too & some TJC rings to photograph for selling. They were quite expensive but I rarely wore them & now they’re too big. I have a huge car bill to pay so the extra pennies will be great. Have a productive day all!

Katy you could always ask them to pay rent on a storage unit while they're with you if it's not possible to declutter in the necessary timeframe. It's cheaper than them renting housing and they might need one for storing their own possessions anyway. Would take the pressure off you a bit if you can declutter from a storage unit instead.

Moasty my only tip is to not ask! If you know something hasn't been used in ages make the executive decision to get rid of it, because if you'd forgotten about it chances are they had too. If they start going around saying they can't find something, just shrug and admit nothing. I've got a lot of stuff but everything has a home and I don't leave it out or encroach upon the rest of the place with it, so if anyone starts leaving their stuff around instead of putting it back wherever it belongs - they find it's mysteriously gone missing 😅. From being on this thread a few years it seems that leading by example works eventually, for most. As they see you getting rid of your stuff and the space it opens up, they start deciding to declutter their own. With the loft needing emptying and the work imbalance, I'd be inclined to slack off on other household chores that presumably you all share. You might not be able to escape doing the loft on your own but you can refuse to pick up majority housework too. I'd scale back to just doing my own laundry, making my own food and getting round to the dishes from that straight away if there's not much or in my own sweet time if there's loads (and hope someone else does it first), changing my own bedding and cleaning the bath before I used it. Leave them to do everything else and if it starts looking awful get grumpy at them, especially if they dare to comment on it instead of just going and fixing it unprompted. In an ideal world everyone would work as a team but if they don't sometimes you have to be tactical. If they don't see you decluttering the loft (and maybe if they do) make sure you tell them about it, every time, how long it took, how many trips to the dump, how long writing ads (if you're selling stuff) took and about all the annoying people who mess you around with collection etc. Us women are too good at hiding ourselves in the shadows and our labour goes unnoticed. Go on about being tired a lot and don't try to sit down and have me-time at home. If it's dirty you won't relax and they'll only come at you wanting something, so go out to a cafe or the park or the library for a rest on your days off.

In a neglected corner I found -
10 x water saving anti-mould thingys
5 x plastic bags
1 x plastic plant pot (repotted the plant)
1 x pair of shoes that don't fit donated
1 x piece of art work binned
6 x plastic flowers (sun faded)
Total is 4745

Donate/sell - one children’s book.

This is excruciating; at this rate I’ll need to live to about two hundred to finish the decluttering.

Yes well need some storage @IndianSummer78 but they wont say how expensive it is online without leaving loads of details!

Today was more of a planning day than a doing day

Added a pair of sandals which I bought second hand in the first place to the charity pile & have 2 pairs to put on Vinted. Neither has been worn. The Lemonade sandals are lovely but my feet itched as soon as I put them on! The M & S ones were a sale bargain. DD17 wears them around the house but I don’t think I’ll get much use out of them.

P .S I posted a toilet stool on a free page but no interest so that will go to the charity shop.

One more pair of leggings added to the pile to go

Packed cook books and party plates, not doing complicated cooking anytime soon

Cleared out fabric to go on marketplace for free

Out
Bin

• Snapped kids fishing net
• Old longline dog lead

Charity

Vinted
Nothing listed- everything on there has
Gone to charity

Freebay

• 2 self inflating camping mats
• Old garden toys
• Gardening tools
• Outgrown gi (karate)

An entire box of lps and singles that my sil is going to try and sell for us!!

Moved bed, 2 sofas, 4 cabinets and miscellaneous cupboard contents have been sorted through

I have sorted five small bin bags for charity and rags. I have given up on Vinted for a while. I only had 5 views for dd Nikes that I relisted three times. I think things either go withing 24 hours, or have high views within 24 hours or they wont go. She has some really nice winter coats but Im not prepaired to hold onto them for months to come back into season.

Really do need to donate at least two packing boxes worth of toys over half term. This heat is making me so tired too.

Also I am going to get all of my bedding in entire house into the living room to sort, pair up into sets and put back in each room. Have way too much bedding

Out - boxset of mini-series and accompanying book.

Three more of my paperbacks.

Exams over, one shelf of jotters and workbooks cleared. Kid wants it all in paper bin. I’ll sort through and keep some for next year’s subjects.

Still need to drop my stuff at the charity shop which seems to be my major downfall. It's bagged up ready but still in the house

4 x uncomfortable summer dresses donated
3 x blouses in a bad colour donated
1 x itchy jumper donated
1 x shampoo finished up

Total is 4754

One book set aside for friend who likes that author.

Three tops that were languishing in the too-small section of my wardrobe passed on to family member.

Sorted through a pile of clothes bought for last spring and got rid of -
1 x skirt because I have nicer ones similar
1 x shorts the wrong colour
1 x top the wrong colour
3 x blouses too big
Total is 4760

W/E 24/5 Week 21
Aiming for at least one item per day.

Recycled/binned
6 bags garden rubbish to tip

Charity shop
New bag almost full

Vinted
Sold and posted = 4

Week 21 total = 10
Total for year so far = 164/365

I was allowed to throw things in the skip today. Oh what a good feeling. Also sorted a mahooosive pile of metal for the scrap man. I’ve added late DH’s naff golf clubs.

I’ve added a ton of nails and screws that were all in old wooden crates that I can barely lift, an old tow bar, and three pairs of rusty shears and lots of Knackered spanner’s too. I was ruthless and it felt good.

Sold a ring & a Shein dress on Vinted. The dress was favourited over 50 times.

From yesterday's laundry -
Two dresses that don't fit right
One top I don't like
One skirt that's shrunk
One pair bobbled socks
Total is 4765

It was the turn of the loft yesterday. Oh that proved hard. The shed was simple. The loft stuff is mainly mine. My dolls, my teddies, childhood games and random things like eyeball cards in albums from the days in the 80’s when I had an AM CB radio (sigh, loved that time, Roger Roger, over and out).

BUT, I did a fair bit, and I binned three bags of random fabric scraps, two old printers and some broken suitcases. Have decided not to bin the old curtains as they are actually too good, some I might put back up as they are actually better than what’s up the windows at the moment.

Trades share a passion of DH so have been happily passing on some of his hobby stuff that was buried in the loft. Have decided to hang onto his lawn bowls (not sure why), maybe the kids will play with them, who am I kidding 😀

Im finding this overwhelming; prepping the house for a viewing on Sunday

Prepping for a car boot sunday morning (at least the boxes are out the house for the viewing)

Deciding what to keep for moving house

Prepping for my DC and their family to move in in just over 2 weeks

But 8 boxes packed, furniture moved in 2 rooms

Key lost for storage 😢

I don't envy your time limit Katy that's for sure!

Hasthisreallyhappened it's always harder to do your own stuff. Hope the loft isn't too crammed full.

Feels like I'm really getting somewhere now. Little pockets of space opening up in various drawers.
Getting dressed this morning yielded -
3 x dresses that don't fit
1 x shirt I never wear
3 x blouses with annoying bits
1 x moisturizer gel finished up
Total is 4773

Getting overwhelmed so I need to try & focus on one area today. I have loads to go on Vinted so think I will concentrate on that. I’ve put some stuff in a bag for DH to iron as he’s better than me at it!

Ready to go- 1 t-shirt and 1 box food seasoning packets that DH doesn't like. DS1 is coming over today and will take the seasonings .
To do today- empty 2 very large corner kitchen cupboards to make some room for an actifry that arrives next week. If I am ruthless, there should be plenty of room.

I've been awol for a bit! Lost the motivation and the daily habit. Time to try again

Got rid of 6 old bras today and added 2 dresses to the new Vinted pile.

Total 1177