Enough is enough - the great declutter

Pink.

I've added this thread to the 'great declutter thread' where hopefully the regulars on there will be able to give you the encouragement to get going.

Pink

who is currently slinking off into the garden to avoid decluttering.

unhappybuuny79

I had my Life Laundry "lightbulb moment" a couple of months ago when i realised i couldnt find anything in my "organised piles"

So I spent hour after hour sorting stuff out, and now am super organised, i sort stuff now as soon as it comes in, i keep records of dates in my mobile phone (which is linked to my outlook on my PC) so i never forget a birthday or aniversary - and if you do accidently miss it, i put it in my diary for next year so i know then.

Bills and such are now fille din filing boxes which are neatly marked, and every couple of months i go through and see what i can shred etc. I can also make more informed decisions on weather to change a supplier etc.

Sorting everything out is a great accheivement and makes it simple if you want to do somethin glike balance transfere all your cards or find that certificate of insurance, or that lovely pair of shoes in the blue box that you deffinatly know are somewhere.

I can now lay my hands on anything i want, because as Mary Poppins (im sure it is anyway) once said everything has a place and there is a place for everything.

vivw_2

angelavdavis wrote: »

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.

I found that my MBA OU books sold really well on Amazon

vivw_2

jinky67 wrote: »

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

Why not shove it all on freecycle and get rid of it quickly....

mary43

Reading all this I had 'guilt pangs' and have done some more de-cluttering of comp room............
coats (2) are now in spare room (eek !! What a sight it is in there...could just get to the wardrobe to hand them up !)
Pair of curtains for the kitchen -need turning up...must make a day for that
Liverpool footbal book I bought for OH for christmas....too big for bookcase so still big ? over that one
shopping bags.........four !!!!!! Why ????? My shabby chic one looks nice sat i plant trough, found my othert floral brolly so thats also now in plant trough
smaller shabby chic shopping bag hangs on back of the door with handbag
Drab looking shopping bag (useful size) is on a peg in another cupboard
4 handbags -blue denim, small floral one, sort of stringy one now upstairs in spare room (really must do that room next !!!)
I can actually see the bed settee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the 'comfort cushion' my son bought me for christmas, bless him, for me to cuddle if I felt stressed
two little teddies that sit on the back of the bed settee
and I've located piece of material from a load I had - I'd put it aside to recover old dining chair I use for computer............lol

Dads walking sticks are now in sons wicker basket..........rubbish emptied from my rather oversize waste bin and a smaller bin in its place.
Next bit is final corner under mums china cabinet.........:j
So far I can see a charcoal drawing -not one my son did but he got it from the college he works at.........was going to be thrown out so he wrapped my birthday pressie in it...........little box that came from Dads......whats in that I wonder ? Slow cooker from freecycle but its only a 'one person' so no good for us. Don't want to offend lady we got it from by putting it on freecycle again.......bit stuck with that. Might give it to ex foster girls sister -she does loads of boot fairs. Pencil drawing that came from my grans (dated 1830's and must keep it) I re-framed it and then couldn't find place to hang it !!!
Thick stringy and wood type artificial flowers.......meant to take them to charity shop and forgot ............three carrier bags waiting for ex foster lad to collect.............oooooH, sort of hessian bag, thick string handles I used to use for stuffing magazines in -got to keep that cos I love it..............lol

Oh eck.......whatever else could possibly be shoved up one little corner ??????????

zarazara

bag of clothes taken to Salvation Army today.
to do
1 hr home blessing
washing up
washing out to dry
washing folded/ironed/put away
newspapers gathered and put out for recycling
bed to change
vac mattress
wash down garden path
buy card and present for friends birthday which is on Sunday
plant a row of potatoes in veg plot

zarazara

Think I need to get off the pooter then.

vivw_2

Mary, you can freecycle the slow cooker......just say kindly given by fellow freecycler but now too small for our use.....I don't think anyone would object but be glad it was getting a third user

mary43

Ooops..............just reminded me...............washings done and I haven't hung it out...........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back in a mo........................:j

missyg_3

Ooh merged thread, hello everyone!

Good luck those starting out, keep us posted with progress. My method was to mainly do one room or one collection of things (e.g. books) at a time.

Angela I don't understand how you would risk your award by selling past course materials?

Mary, someone, somewhere will want your stuff if it's useable! It might take a while but you will find a home for it! Remember my bloomin' chest of drawers, took me months but eventually it went - I put it on ebay at 1p buy it now!

Mogkat I found the house sorting easier after I'd lost weight So it was the other way around for me, I'd minimised my body and wanted a minimal house to go with it!

I've had various "paperwork/phone call type things" to do, a lot of it is stuff that could easily be put off but I've worked my way through it this morning and now it's DONE! Yippeee!

Will be walking 3 bags of recycling to the recycling centre shortly. Everything else is pretty shipshape around here