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Decluttering 2012, this year, definitely ...

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  • YUP - count me in - my problem is paperwork... I seem to have several files and folders of stuff and receipts which I am sure I no longer need! I dont even want to go under the stairs or attempt the junk in my son's bedroom... but as we want to buy our own house this year I have told everyone we wont be moving junk. Does anyone have any suggestions around where to start? Do you start with worst mess or the least mess... I'm leaning towards quick success so thinking least as then I will be encouraged to move to the next room! thoughts?
    Well lets see - I dip in and out of MSE all the time but I still come back - have done since 2007!!! 2023 - Fashion on a ration - 5/66 2023 - 1p Chalenge - £18 in Monzo pot (cannot do pennies so am rounding up)2023 - Frugal Living - Budget still to be finalised - ambition is to cut my food budget by 20% by shopping smarter and meal planning 2023 - January - NSD 15/20 February - NSD 3/15
  • wit40iwtwan - why not start with the easiest and work up? It's easiest to start with the place with the least sentimental junk (you might dither over old photos and baby clothes). How about the hallway or the bathroom? Or start by getting an alphabetical concertina file for your essential paperwork and shredding the rest? No-one gets sentimental about old electric bills ;o)
  • YUP - count me in - my problem is paperwork... I seem to have several files and folders of stuff and receipts which I am sure I no longer need! I dont even want to go under the stairs or attempt the junk in my son's bedroom... but as we want to buy our own house this year I have told everyone we wont be moving junk. Does anyone have any suggestions around where to start? Do you start with worst mess or the least mess... I'm leaning towards quick success so thinking least as then I will be encouraged to move to the next room! thoughts?

    I have pondered this a great deal. My problem is that I want to gut the whole house from loft to shed and have the instant result of a minimalist calm life style.

    This I think should take maybe three days? five including runs to the charity shop and tip. plus burning time in the back garden of all the paperwork I never got round to shredding. Hmm maybe six.....

    Of course this is ridiculous.

    It would realistically take months. A year even. We moved here 10 years ago, my parents brought with them all the stuff from their previous house (26 years). My parents were meant to move abroad but that never happened. So now it is Mum and I plus "stuff"

    The loft is a death trap,we have three sheds all full (mine is full of stuff I am going to e bay. Honest I am going to e bay really really really I am) and things for my house plus pet cages, odd bits of furniture and garden stuff. oh and old bank statements.

    My room is rammed full (2 gerbils, 1 hamster, 3 guinea pigs and 2 fish tanks) it is insanity. Certainly is when you look at it like that!

    My original point - cos you know there was one! I want everything to be perfect and finished and the rational part knows that isn't going to happen. However the rational part of me is TINY! and wins no arguments with the stroppy I am sick of living in a mess and it's all going to get sorted TODAY insane part of me.

    So i am in a cycle, BIG TIDY UP= boxes of stuff as opposed to piles, boxes pile up, boxes go in the shed, shed gets full up, BIG TIDY UP = boxes etc etc...............

    I think the key is a routine. A system, not neccessarily Fly lady but some thing like that, that fits in with you. Hanging up clothes, feeding furries, bed early...........

    And maybe aim for a drawer a day or a cupboard a week. I might pick one weekend each month when I go to the Tip or the charity shop.....................big dreams me!

    xxxxx
    Nevertheless she persisted.
  • luxor4t
    luxor4t Posts: 11,125
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    I'm in. The through room has to be redecorated - which means stripping the walls. To get to the walls we have to move the furniture and empty the bookcase & cupboards. Oh dear!
    I can cook and sew, make flowers grow.
  • I made a start on the study today, I've cleared all the paperwork & bagged up all the books that we now have on our Kindles, they are going to the CS tomorrow.
    I have also thrown away a work top as I bought a new one from the CS. Last week I threw away 8 pairs of knickers & replaced them with new.
    Hester

    Never let success go to your head, never let failure go to your heart.
  • tigerfeet2006
    tigerfeet2006 Posts: 14,030
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    If any one has an eBay app then apparently it is incredibly easy to list things on it. I have just had a quick look and it definatly does look easy, I have some things I want to list over the next week so will report back once I have if it is as easy as I have been told.
    BSCno.87
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  • I made a start on the study today, I've cleared all the paperwork & bagged up all the books that we now have on our Kindles, they are going to the CS tomorrow.
    I have also thrown away a work top as I bought a new one from the CS. Last week I threw away 8 pairs of knickers & replaced them with new.
    Hester

    This is another problem. I love books and have hundreds, but don't want a Kindle. Think I would need to live to be about 200 to read them all
    You're only young once, but you can be immature forever :D
  • miffy257
    miffy257 Posts: 890
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    I really need to join in this year. Have a massive pile of paperwork that needs sorting but I keep finding any excuse not to do it. Managed to declutter the kitchen cupboards in october and have managed to keep it fairly tidy as there is more room for stuff in the cupboards. Will make a start on the paperwork this weekend.:eek:
    £180.00 in 'sistercas'fund
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  • Please may I join in too? I also buy & sell so I know exactly how hard it is, when you see something at an advantageous price that you know you're going to be able to move on profitably. But it takes up room in your home & needs to be looked after, even if it's only temporarily! :(

    I have almost 20 years-worth of large-family clutter to cut down to size before trying to sell our house & move to somewhere with a bigger garden, a long-cherished dream :). Even if that doesn't come off, I really need to get it sorted for my own sanity's sake; I can't even run the hoover round in a spare 10 minutes as there are so many things littering the floor, or wipe the kitchen worktops because there are so many jars etc. in the way. Some of it comes down to inadequate storage (e.g. tiny spice rack, when I use herbs & spices every day) & lack of planning, some of it comes down to different expectations & methods of dealing with things between OH & I, and most of it comes down to just having too much stuff & being terminally bad at getting rid of the stuff that isn't serving any sensible purpose any more! So 2012 needs to be the year I get a grip on it.

    I've made a good start today, clearing & organising the shelves in the living room, but am all too aware of my tendency to get very easily distracted from tasks I really don't want to have to do, even though I do actually want them done!

    Onwards & upwards...! :D
    Angie - GC March 24 24 £486.13/£500: 2024 Fashion on the Ration Challenge: 10/68: (Money's just a substitute for time & talent...)
  • YUP - count me in - my problem is paperwork... I seem to have several files and folders of stuff and receipts which I am sure I no longer need! I dont even want to go under the stairs or attempt the junk in my son's bedroom... but as we want to buy our own house this year I have told everyone we wont be moving junk. Does anyone have any suggestions around where to start? Do you start with worst mess or the least mess... I'm leaning towards quick success so thinking least as then I will be encouraged to move to the next room! thoughts?

    Why not start by making it fun? If you mull it over you will find you never start. Is there a particular CD you like? TV programme you want to watch? Somewhere you need to be? Set yourself a goal to fit in with your life. I.e. 3 tracks of the CD to clear as much as you can, 15 minutes de-cluttering for a half hour programme. That sort of thing. It doesn't matter where you start but I always think that if you imagine someone is coming round and clear everything of surfaces, even just organising things into relevant boxes to be sifted through as you watch TV or whatever at night.

    I think as soon as you see a little difference you will want to continue and you can build up the time and rewards you receive for doing so. Seems crazy but it works :D
    Credit Card: £796 Left/£900 October 2011 :eek:
    Store Card: £100 October 2011 :o
    Declutter 100 Things In January 100/100:j:beer:
    No Buying Toiletries 2012
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