de-cluttering - what do I keep?

[titferbrains]

I have resolved to declutter this year.

I am a real hoarder and in particular I love magazines. I have piles of them everywhere.
For example, I have a heap of The Face magazines that I loved and I want some collector to have - I can't bring myself to recycle them....

I used to be a PA so I tend to file everything or create "filing" piles with bits of info waiting to be transferred to filofax, laptop, address book etc. plus receipts and guarantees waiting to go into ring binders. What paper work is it essential to file??

Also I need to get rid of some clothes and accept that I'm not going to ever lose THAT much weight...

Do you have that problem when you tend to keep things for your daughter? What should I actually keep? I'm about to get rid of old receipts and some old school exam papers - am never going to read them again.

Have been repeating "is it beautiful or useful?" as a mantra... wish me luck...

take a deep breath and bin, recycle, sell, give to charity ,anything that you have not worn, used, looked at for over 12 months.

Why would you keep old exam papers?

Get rid of anything that you haven't looked at (or worn) for a year or more.

Be Brutal - Less is More!

I need to know what I can bin, if I tell myself "i'll sell that" it won't happen.

Also can you explain how freecycle works? I think I misunderstood how it works when I tried the first time and I seem to remember getting narky replies/emails.

I like writing and I still feel like I'll write something wonderful one day and then everything I've ever written will be of importance... or something. Oh god I'm totally bonkers eh? what a tit.

with documents tat you like for sentimental reasons you can always take a photo or scan it and keep an electronic copy. they take up a lot less room that way.

I am the de-clutter queen and utterly ruthless tbh

Paperwork: I keep 3 mths of utility bills, 1yr of bank statements (although will be changing this to 6 mths because I can look at them all online), car reg/insurance policy (that year only), birth certs etc etc. Guarantees/manuals only for high price things.

Go through clothes and be ruthless, you have to do it without any emotion, have you worn in in the last 6 mths or is it an expensive long term item? If not charity shop and actually put it in a bag in the boot of your car, DO NOT MAKE A PILE FOR THINGS YOU WILL TAKE TO THE CHARITY SHOP AND JUST LEAVE IT, YOU WILL NEVER END UP TAKING IT.

Shoes: are they worn? expensive ones re-heel otherwise chuck.

This is enough to get started with, come back afterwards and we will help with other stuff

cool thanks for this, needed a bit of encouragement.

Have you got any friends who would be able to point out to you when things need to be thrown out?

I ask this because it is easier for someone who has no emotional attachment to things to see what is "rubbish" and what is actually useful.

Yes good idea

DH goes through stuff to be kept/chucked and then I go back through it (he is crap at chucking stuff)

we just chucked our microwave because we haven't used it for 6mths

Yes my cousin has agreed to help me one weekend but till we get that in the diary I want to get cracking. There are boxes of stuff tucked in all sorts of corners and I've no idea what's in them. It's a big job so I want to do a bit every day.

Thanks for encouragement. I have a bag ready for recycling and it contains magazines!

titfer you have every ounce of my sympathy. I do that thing where I save stuff in case DD wants it in years to come. I'm trying to get ruthless before new baby arrives next month but I find it soooo hard. I'm going to try doing one room at a time, starting with the main beddroom tomorrow.

I just tear the pages I want to keep out of magazines - otherwise I find magazines can colonise a whole house within about six weeks. I find stacks of magazines, even with missing pages, go well on Freecycle.

Looking at completed auctions on eBay, some issues of the Face are mildly saleable (2-10 quid) so if you're quite hard up you could sell them. Or just imagine how chuffed the right person would be to find them in a charity shop - you have already admitted that you don't want them for yourself, you are just imagining how delighted a collector would be. A collector can't have them if they're in your stair cupboard - get them out there in circulation!

Agree with the advice to get stuff straight out to the charity shop immediately. Don't wait until you have to rent a van to take it there. The clutter came into your house bag by bag and that's how it should leave.

I am trying to do this too. In fact, I have been doing it for the last year! My house is still too full (although to be fair, we have a tiny old cottage and 4 of us in it). My problem now is, we have got rid of everything we don't use and still have too much stuff. So now going back through it all and seeing what we could bear to part with, even though we use it.

For example, did the kids room yesterday. They now have one set of draws each for their clothes and thats it. I decluttered all their clothes, and then when putting everything back, if something didn't fit in, like if the draw of t-shirts was too full - I went through it again and again until everything fitted in neatly. Cause realistically, why does a 1 year old need more than a draw of t-shirts?

I think little and often is the key. But also I'm going to have to tackle the cupboard under the stairs as it's full to bursting and horribly messy and that is a BIG job. Will keep posting my progress on here to keep other people motiviated!! I'm going to do it!

name change, sounds like you have a hard time ahead of you, hope the ruthless posters above have encouraged you!

I'm tackling the main bedroom today. It's a daunting prospect - among the items I'm going to have to face are:

• my Dad's binoculars (he's dead and I hate getting rid of things he's owned but when am I ever going to use binoculars, I live in central London)
• two pairs of shoes that I had to wear as a bridesmaid and would never have chosen for myself but have only been worn once and were expensive so I feel I ought to keep them
• various black tie style dresses that I'll probably never wear again but might
• about a million scarves that people have given me in the past 2-3 years so still feel to recent to give away even though I'll never wear all of them (I got 5 new ones this Christmas)
• tonnes of extra bedding that I probably won't ever need but might
• lots of sports clothes that I might wear when I start exercising again after the baby is born
• tonnes of bottles/jars of body lotion that people have given me and haven't been touched but that I feel guilty giving away

It's an absolute minefield but I'm determined that at least one bag of stuff should leave the house every day for the next few weeks.

Good luck with that cupboard under the stairs Titfer

ebay the

binoculars (if you can bear to part with them)

bridesmaids shoes

unwanted scarves

and after you have looked critically at the LBD's, any you know you won't wear again.

Put all the unwanted smellies into a box to give to the next church / school, etc fair (as long as you don't risk the givers seeing them! in which case give to someone who lives miles away for their fair!)

Bedding is always useful as long as it's in OK condition

Can I join in? My house needs a good clear out. I have done the kids room this week. What I am trying to do is get DH to take the kids to his Mums or somewhere once a week. He took them to his Mums on sunday which is when I did the kids room but trouble is, I think she gets a bit funny that I don't come. He doesn't drive so there are limited places he can go, that he can be there long enough for me to get much done.

Anyway, kids room looks FAB now which is so encouraging. Just need to do the rest of the house now! lol. He is off fri-monday this weekend and said he will take them to his Mums on Monday, just trying to think of somewhere for him to go at the weekend too - as 2 days would just mean that I could get so much done!

I childmind and run a nappy website from home so all my stock takes up lots of space. I could do with a day to sort through that though TBH and see if I can get rid of some to make space.

Am continuing with the kids room when I can too. It is done, but just want to make it perfect. And also it makes me feel positive when I am in there! lol. Being in the messy roooms just makes me feel crap! It tires me out just thinking about all the work it would involve sorting it out! lol.

Think living room needs to be next on my list. HATE doing the living room.

Thanks, Tilly - haven't ventured onto Ebay yet. I tried once before and found the whole paypal thing a bit baffling and also didn't want the hassle of packaging loads of stuff up for the post office. Have sold a couple of things on gumtree though, which has been quite good.

Basically did an hour and a half in the bedroom today (and only got through about half the stuff), got rid of three bags of stuff to charity, held back another bag to go through with DH tonight (including the binoculars and a couple of old cameras) and put off the LBDs until after pregnancy so I can have a trying on sesh and decide which, if any, I will realistically ever wear again. Doesn't feel like a huge triumph but if I keep at it every day I guess I'll make progress.

Jenny well done on tackling the kids room. Keep us posted on your progress.

Woohoo sounds like everyone is getting motivated!!

I am currently planning getting a box to put actual keepsakes in eg. letters I want to keep etc. I went to boarding school so there are defo some bits I can't throw away that kept me going thru waves of homesickness!

Does that sound ridiculous? I just want to be able to put away things that I can't bear to part with so they are tidy and not taking up valuable space.

Am still horrified by all the filing we are keeping, four lever arch folders plus various other folders and at least 2 drawers which haven't been sorted out for a year. I find paperwork so bloody time consuming.

Anyway have been doing lots of jobs which are helping me to create space, dug out things that can be collected and taken away, taking an armful of clothes downstairs each day for the charity shop, putting stuff in the car ready for the tip this weekend... I'm feeling really positive!

Hope everyone keeps up the good work. Keep posting! x

Well done

I haven't really got much further. Have been sorting out my room when I get the chance with the kids but realically - I have a 2 year old that follows me everywhere and an 8 month old who is so bored and frustrated with no being active and she screams blue murder if I go more than 3 feet away from her! lol. So, waiting till the weekend when DH is going to hopefully take the kids for a bit.

I have a childminding interview next week so need the house to be looking good by then, which isn't ideal as that means I need to roughly do everywhere istead of thoughly do one rooom at a time iyswim?

Sounds like it might be worth setting up a filing system when you're sorted.

Gather all paperwork together then as you chuck, organize into categories (car insurance, bank accounts, utilities bills, birth certificates etc).

Then allocate and label a hanging file for each category, placing the paperwork in a removeable labelled folder.

If your filing cabinet is big enough you can include sections for things like school reports, even takeaway menus - whatever helps to clear the piles of paper lying around.

This took me a whole weekend a few years ago, but it dies make things more organized and I can always (apart from a few memorable blips) put my hands on our passports.

feeling a bit disheartened today. I put my first item on eBay last night but it took me absolutely ages to set the whole thing up for one reason or another and I just feel I'm not making best use of my time. I'm sure other people would be much more efficient about the whole process. I have a 2YO and a few hours childcare each day (because I usually work freelance but am now winding down before the new baby) and am trying to find the best way to manage that time. I didn't take a bag out to the charity shop yesterday because I only managed to collect half a bag. I just don't know where to start, feel so lethargic. Do you set a time limit on your declutter sessions?

Jenny completely sympathise about trying to do any of this stuff when there are kids about. I've only got one (until next month) and I find it hopeless. But then again, when I have the time to myself it all seems so overwhelming I don't know where to start

The first time you do anything it's always going to be slow. So you'll speed up as you put more things on Ebay. Having put your first thing on was a big step on the learning curve, and the next will be quicker but still slow, and then things will go more easily.

Do you have an iPod or MP3 player? I put a favourite radio programme on my iPod and say that I will tidy / declutter for as long as the programme lasts.

Also, if you set yourself a time limit for decluttering, you need to make sure that you include 'putting away after decluttering' in that time limit, so work out how long that takes, and allow time for it.

I find ebay takes too long too, and I know what I am doing with it etc as I used to sell loads on there. Its usually the pictures that take the longest. If I am selling something quite common, I often just do a search on google images to see if I can find one the same to use the picture . I do state that it isn't the actual one though so the buyer knows. That doesn't work if it is something that isn't that common though!

Have you got a travel cot? I know this might sound barmy but I found it usefull when I did the kids room the other day! I just threw everything off the floor and surfaces and then gave it all a good clean and sorted through the cupboards so that I had some storage space (decluttering them in the process so I have somewhere to put the stuff away). and then I worked my way through the junk stuff in the travel cot. Only works in rooms big enough for the travel cot not to be in the way though - which for me, is only the kids room! Think everywhere else is too small!

I have loads of stuff sorted now and waiting to go in the loft/charity shop, just need DH to help me as they are too heavy. He is working 13 hours a day so not much chance of him doing it today. He is off tomorrow though and goes back on Tuesday (he does shift work). He is having a lie in tomorrow while I childmind and then we will either go out for the afternoon to spend some time together or he can help me put the stuff in the loft.

I have put EVERYTHING summery in suitcases in the loft - clothes, hats, sun cream, beach stuff etc. So lots of stuff out the way.

I also think I am addicted to caffine drinks . I keep drinking the cheap version of red bull from tesco. Would litterally go through the 1 litre bottles very quickly while tidying up . I have now run out and haven't managed to get to tesco and I feel awful. No energy, can't get motivated etc. Think I have litterally been getting withdrawal symptoms. .

Think I will have to get some more for the weekend