Enough is enough - the great declutter

Mics_chick

mummysaver wrote: »

I could post my ds to you! If I address him to

Mics chick
Round the bend
Up the wall
& over the hill

Let me know when he arrives safely - I'll even throw in a supply of bin bags!

Seriously though, I think for some of us the lightbulb mo may never come, we are doomed to a life of clutter, or swimming against our natural instincts! I do just bin stuff sometimes when I really have had enough, I know as soon as I start to look through it and put it in freecycle, recycle, charity piles it'll never leave the house. Not very green! Thank heavens ds is here!

Thanks MS cheer me up, NOT!!!

But when I read the bit about the supply of bin bags it made me laugh coz I immediately thought "isn't your ds house-trained then?" :eek: :rotfl:

razra

I guess thats one way that being single is good cos theres only me to pick up after and I find if I spend 5 mins or so each night before I go to bed I keep [STRIKE]on top of the[/STRIKE] dont have any clutter.

Mind when the rest of my family all hoard stuff (inc a brother who doesnt seem to want to throw out empty takeaway pizza boxes :eek:) you could say Im the black sheep in the family, so much so it has become a standing joke that I could give Anthea a run for her money:o although I do hate it when I go to their houses as I just feel so claustrophobic with all their clutter:o but hey thats how they chose to live so they must be happy with it

I did find though that the top tip of throw 10 things away each day certainly helps the situation when you are trying to de clutter. That way its small steps and easy to do while you wait for the kettle to boil etc.

miserly_mum

I know i'll always struggle with clutter.

OH says if I sit anywhere for any length of time a small pile of clutter builds up around me........AND ITS TRUE :rotfl:

I'm also really bad about keeping things i'm planning to "do something with" :rolleyes:

9 times outta 10 .......well you know the rest

jinky67

Mics_chick wrote: »

People refer to their lightbulb moment for their money problems but I just wondered if anyone had a similar experience for finally sorting their messy house out?
Or was it more of a gradual experience for you?
I'm interested coz I'm still waiting for my bulb to light up :rolleyes:

I am still waiting for mine too:cool:
I cant get out my back door for stuff piled up in front of it waiting to be listed on Ebay.....its been there for 4 years:eek:
I dont know where to start in my house
We have so much *stuff*
Personally I would love to shove all of it in a bin bag and live in an empty house:D

mary43

I'm a messy person and do like to have 'bits and pieces' everywhere and if they have 'home' on a shelf or a wall then thats ok. As for the rest of the stuff, the only what I'd call 'lightbulb' moments I have are when I can't find something and go frantic shouting 'it's in here somewhere' while OH sits and smiles (or is it smirks ?).
But since coming on here I am bit by bit clearing out 'stuff'............drawers and cupboards where I find things I forgot I had !
Currently doing computer room and was wondering how I can keep mt Dads walking sticks all together in some sort of neat fashion (why he had so many I don't know but I don't feel I can part with them.........not yet). Scoured the second shops for some sort of brolly stand then remembered this morning........upstairs, tucked up a corner in our bedroom out of sight is a wicker basket my son made at school..........right shape and I hope right height, to stick them all in so they stay together and don't fall over...........thats all I need........to fall over a walking stick !

mary43

Good luck pig pen - you're doing so well but really, at this rate you'll need some sort of therapy else you'll e bay yourself !!!!

I can't give my stuff away.............well least not my electronic typewriter..............freecycle brought no response so now its on the don'tdumpthat site !
Oh..........just spotted my waste bin in here............its really too big and I bought another one from boot fair ages ago.........for some reason its upstairs still in the carrier bag If I empty the rubbish out of the one I've got, I could stick that on freecycle and have my little one in here........might empty the rubbish out of more often :j

Realised I've got s basket upstairs my son made at school I can put dads walking sticks in so I don't trip over them when they fall down (as they''re bound to) then.............I can attack the sofa.
Oh...........haven't finished painting plant trough yet:rotfl:

Mogkat

Yup. In the last few months lightbulb big enough for a lighthouse has gone off above me. I'd followed FlyLady and agonised with Anthea and it made me feel uncomfortable but didn't change my umpf factor. But then I had my eyes opened to Peter Walsh who has done some decluttering shows with Oprah. I've been watching them and reading one of his books. He advocates asking yourself what you want your life to be like, or, in Oprah's words what would your life be like if you were "living your best life" and then asking if the object in your hand helps you with that life. If not, it goes. Clutter became so much easier to throw out or pass on to charity when this clicked in my head. Also how you keep buying things that you want to be your life so maybe crafting materials if you want to be a good "scrapbook mum" or fun cake mounds so you can be a mummy baker but if the stuff is still around you you can't possibly be that person you want to be cos your head just has no room to think about it.

I watched a show last week where he talked about weigh loss being easier when the house is decluttered. I'd figured that much before now but couldn't fathom why but then he said it's because you are able to choose the good option rather than the easy option when it comes to your food choices when the house is cleared up. WOW! That hit me like a train.

I was decluttering before but now I've gathered masses of clothes since to go to the charity shop, given some to my best friend and passed a mountain of magazines to her which she'll recycle after. I'm also giving her a chest of drawers as we have too many and I finally flicked my thinking so instead of thinking that we need to keep it cos we have so much stuff, I realised that if I thin out the stuff we don't need the extra furniture! Easy for anyone who is a Born Organiser but I'm not so it's really been great.

I sympathise greatly with those who haven't had their moment yet but keep going and read some Peter Walsh books if you can cos they really got to the heart of why I'm such a packrat.

angelavdavis

There have been a few posts on here with tips which include:

The "pile" sorting process - putting junk into piles and sorting through them on the Messy House thread.
The "Get rid of 10 things a day" process - ebay/freecycle/charity shops/bin, etc also featured on the above link.
The Flylady thread. Not everyone's cup of tea but some swear by it on here.

Sadly, I haven't yet come across a "how to brainwash an untidy OH" thread!!!

angelavdavis

Need opinions here. I am due to pick up my MBA award on 10 May (yah! 5 years of studying now over).

I have piles of OU MBA related books which I know will sell as I have previously sold other educational stuff. Will I risk my award by selling it on eBay? Plenty of people have sold OU study material on there, and my course cost me over £8500, so getting a little cash back would be nice.

Tibbie's_mum

It wasn't a lightbulb moment, more of a slow dawning for me. We want to move and have already seen our ideal house, but can't put our house on the market as the decorating needs finishing off, this is almost impossble with all my clutter. My OH pointed out that I am hoarding stuff that I say I'm going to list on Ebay when I get time, but rather than making pennies on Ebay, if I get rid of the clutter and we finish and sell our house we could be mortgage free. It's taken me a while to realise what a twit I've been, holding on to all this stuff. As a SAHM, ebaying is something I do that doesn't involve the kids and makes a small contribution to our finances, so it's a bit of an outlet that's why I wouldn't let it go at first, but it's quite liberating when you start making a dent in a pile.