My House is a Pig Sty, Too Much Stuff, Where do I Start??

lynzpower

completely agree with hex

Flylady has been brilliant for me. I have a 2 bed flat and it was packed to the rafters with "stuff", and now its a minimal space that is spotless and attractive. When the EAs came round this week they were bowled over. Not only have we decluttered cleaned & tidied, we have repainted every room and door, and done the garden. It has taken a couple of months Id say to get it looking brilliant, but only sinc flying have we really seen any discernable difference.

DSespite seling a lot of stuff on ebay the charity shop seems to get about 3 big bags a week. I cant believe what all this stuff IS old videos that arnt worth ebaying or clothes that are not the best- so the C shops have had those. Freecycled some crap furniture to give us more space and set the right "look" and Ive got a massive ebay box Im putting on now, it really doenst take that long.

For books I use greenmetropolis.com its so quick & free to list. well easier than amazon or ebay But for some textbooks I use ebay too, if they arte popular

Come join us in flying.

I also recommend that you dig out the SC if you dont have one already, so that dinner can be done with no prep some days, so you can use the evenings for ebay admin, cleaning tidying and making your pad gorgeous

Crazychik

I moved from place to place throughout the years, during my service in the army. I finally settled for 10yrs in a city, before moving 79 miles back to my home town. I had to move to adults, 2 children and 2 cats, all items (incl furniture) had to fit in a Luton van (just slightly bigger than a transit van) and a 5dr car. It was a tight fit, but we managed it.

Once I knew we was moving, I started with packing away photo's, ornaments, etc. Going through my cd's and video collection was the worse. Any video's etc, was either passed on to friends/family, or taken to the charity shop.

Kitchen - I used to hoard tupperware like it was going out of fashion, and being a chef in the Army, my kitchen was full to capacity. I put things to 1 side which I used most often, and kept, anything I hadn't used in 12months - again was passed on.

All this happened 5yrs ago, I didnt have the facility back then to Ebay or Freecycle, Now - on the other hand, anything which doesnt get used often, either goes to Charity, ebay or freecycle, or passed on to friends/family.

I always try to keep things to a minimum, but "keepsakes" are kept in secure boxes and put in the attic.

Kids rooms are the worse. especially my DD, she has the smallest bedroom, so I always go through her room often and throw away rubbish, pass on things which are no longer required. Or ebay her clothes, if they are in reasonable condition.

Easier said than done, but do keep on top of things, and try not to let things build up. I was a !!!!!! for doing this, now, I wont go down the same road.

I just have clutter (which you get with kids anyway), but its easy clutter which can be put away no probs.

bobsa1

Just a quick update, so far from the study we have 10 black bags for the tip and 4 for charity shop!

Why have we kept all this?

I'm following the bin it charity shop method at the moment but will be ebaying in other rooms.

Thanks all

morganlefay

dear all, Thank you so much for your thoughts on this brilliant thread, esp Cabbageboy. I live in such complete chaos that we are all suffering from depression. It's my fault as I'm a serial hoarder and it's all my stuff, but I shall take heart knowing that there are others out there like me, and I shall start tomorrow. THANK YOU. (I have previously thought that if I hadn't worn/used/played with it for about 20 years then I ought perhaps to think about getting rids of it one day !!!! I shall print off Cabbageboy's good Plan, stick it up on the wall and get stuck in. Hoorah !:j :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

hazzie123

I love hording things,I have a whole kitchen drawer full of screws,bits of wire and other metal things which I have no idea what they are for.So I`m gunna get my bin bag out and just tip the whole drawer into it,not even gunna bother looking in the drawer.

I know I`m never gunna use them as they were my husbands and he`s had his own flat for the past two years!

Hmmmmmmmmm might actually take the bag of rubbish round to his flat and let him fill his bin up with it rather than mine.

Just gotta think what I can put into the empty drawer now?

TheFlyingGerbil

If you can't be bothered to eBay stuff yourself, but still want to make some money here's an idea. Our local hospice has a service run by "auctionhere" for them. You call up, they come around and collect all your stuff, list it on eBay, deal with buyers questions and post it. Some of the money goes to the charity as commission (I'm sure autionhere must get a bit too) but the rest goes to you!

I haven't tried it myself but it seems like everybody wins and I'm sure the Hospice wouldn't still be using them if there were problems as they obviously rely a lot on goodwill.

Joe

Crazychik

Hey Bobsa1 - how you getting on!
Cabbageboy's advise ref the piles was brilliant. I do exactly the same but couldn't explain my method as well as Cboy.
I went through mine and DD bedroom again this wk/end. Managed to salavage some items worth ebaying. Bag of clothes will go the neighbour for her little girl. The rest in the charity bag
Like I said before, I used to be mega lazy with housework etc, now, (its not spik n span) but i do keep on top of things regular, and it makes life so much easier in the long run.
Keep us posted!!!!

bobsa1

Well study nearly done and a big box sorted for ebay. My bedroom started and clearing landing as well.

Up to about 15 bags of rubbish and several more for charity shop

BWZN93

I did my loft last week and it was an utter nightmare as for the last 12 months ive been buying thingd for the house and putting the boxes in the attic :eek:

I spent a day just throwing junk out of the loft hatch onto the floor and sorted it out when I came down - the place looked like something out of a life of grime! Eventually ended up with 20 items to freecycle, 3 bags of charity clothes, a bag of old sheets and towels for the PDSA and 3 trips to the tip with the boxes! I can see floor space now though so it was worth it!

This week im determined to give my kitchen the same going over, and im doing to degrease the kitchen cupboards if it kills me. All I am doing is setting aside one day a week, taking out everything, cleaning, and only putting back the stuff I truly need - the rest gets freecycled or thrown (I cant be bothered to ebay - its too much work!)

Jo x

raeble

It is worth noting that you still have to pay for listings on ebay even if the item doesn't sell. So it could end up costing you money in the long run. I would check to see if what you are planning on putting up there sells. You also have to make sure you are charging the right amount of postage, check other peoples listings. I think carboots, the local paper (mine has free ads up for items up to £100), charity shop and free cycle would be good ways to get rid of things.