Decluttering 2013, the saga continues ...

fluffysox

Dear all,
Been lurking here for a while and would like to join you all in the decluttering mission.
About me: I live with DH, DS (nearly two) and expecting second baby in October. 3 bed house with gardens, garage and shed and there is too much stuff stored everywhere. Need to get rid of some of it before baby arrives and because we hope to put house on the market soon(ish) - might wait til after maternity leave to do this but its the goal eventually. I've filled a few bin bags, sent quite a bit to the CS and sold a few things on ebay but there is lots still to do.
I find reading all your posts keeps me on track. Small steps matter, focusing on each bit of progress makes the huge task seem less overwhelming. Work (teacher) has been pretty exhausting recently but Year 11 leave this week which means a reduced workload and some breathing space to focus on the home.:T

aligerdie

I haven't had chance lately to log on and update my progress, it's been a while - but have been following

I can report, that thanks to this thread and the support of all the declutterers, I have slowly been chipping away at our 'stuff'.
My once terribly cluttered living room is now clutterfree! Every evening when the kids go to bed, it takes me 5 minutes to pick bits up and put away. I have NEVER been able to do this, and our living room has always been an embarrassment Now, it is super tidy, and it feels amazing!

Rest of the house is work in progress, but the gaps appearing are now obvious and things are coming together.

Thank you. Feels like a huge burden is lifting :j

Sue14

shelley_crow wrote: »

we had a tin of paint from when we moved in.....8 years ago! It was totally dried out and no use to man nor beast, what possessed me to keep it?

That's one of my next jobs, sorting out the paint in the shed, some of which has been in there for about 20 years, lol!

Well I’ve not posted for a while, but I have been reading and being inspired by all your efforts, well done everyone and keep up the good work!

I have still been steadily decluttering and have sold another 23 items on ebay, including 6 larger items, and used 16 jiffy bags, 3 boxes, some air packaging and bubble wrap from my packaging stash.

Last week I sorted one of the kitchen cupboards, took everything out, cleaned the cupboard then put most of the things back (now nice and tidy), but I did chuck out a manky roasting tin (still have another couple) and a pizza tray which has lost most of its non-stick coating, but still got 2 more of those. Then I sorted out the cupboard under the sink and binned some OOD cat treats, a broken cat ID tag and a flea collar, used an air freshener and a fly catcher and put the packaging into recycling. I also used some cleaning liquid from my stash to clean the cupboard, and took some scouring powder, a can of air freshener and a tub containing some soda crystals, to my dad’s flat for when I do some cleaning round there.

On BH Monday, OH and I finally got around to sorting out the big shed (only been going to do it for about 2/3 years, lol!), which was jam packed with all sorts of carp! OH took everything out and put it down the side of the garden, then while I sorted it he swept the shed out and got rid of all the dirt, cobwebs, spiders and bugs, and then he washed the shelving unit. He then went into the other shed, and put up the tool hooks that we’ve had for ages and hung the garden tools up. It looks really nice in there now, and we’ll be able to just take the necessary tools off the wall and use them, rather than having to root around looking for them.

OH was convinced that most of the stuff from the shed would just be put into new boxes (as most of the old ones were falling apart) and put back in the shed, just a bit neater. Of course the old Sue would have done just that, but the new improved one has got rid of almost all the toot, (go me!) and OH is over the moon, lol! There were about 5 large boxes filled with VHS videos (DS is an avid collecter, but now has most of them on DVD or blu ray and no longer owns a video player), which I offered on freecycle and are now all gone! I sorted some things to try on ebay, and there is a pile of boxes in the shed waiting to go to CS, and a load of stuff has gone to the dump (including 2 sets of broken bathroom scales, and an iron that was temperamental and was replaced years ago??!), OH just has to take the 3rd and final car load tomorrow, then he will start taking the other stuff to CS and the shed will be almost empty! We also got rid of loads of tatty boxes to recycling and a pile of new boxes which we’d saved for re-boxing the stuff from the shed.

We have an old sideboard in the shed which contains some of the aforementioned old paint that I need to sort through, then I need to sort the little shed, and put some of the stuff from there (painting/decorating stuff) into the cupboards and drawers of the sideboard so I can get rid of another couple of boxes, and there is also some more paint to sort out in there.

Well sorry for the long post, I’ll try to post little and often in future, lol!

mrs-moneypenny

sound like youve been really busy sue, well done.

aligerdie, take my hat off to you, i love bit the where you say decluttering makes you feel like a burden is lifting.

well done to all the declutterers,

only little bits so far today as im going along
a ratty wrist/sweat band - binned
elastic bands that had been used as emercency hair bands - binned
out of date face mask - binned

mitziliz

Hi Declutters :wave: I had to empty the under stairs cupboard this week as we had a new elec meter fitted. I have so far decluttered 3 coats, 6 bags, 3 pairs of shoes and various gloves, hats and scarves.
Feeling pleased now that I can actually see whats in there!:rotfl:

squeakysue

Hi declutterers!

I was active on last years thread and then in dec I had an accident and slipped into a depression so the house has totally gone to pot especially after Xmas when we got more stuff!!

I am feeling better now and have started my mission to declutter my loft along with the rest of the house.

I have started selling lots more on eBay and can already see a space clearing in my very full loft!

Last week I gave my bathroom a deep clean and filled a binbag with stuff from there:eek:.

I am loving my clutter free bathroom, hoping I can work the same magic on the rest if my house eventually but know it will take a long time.

Just wanted to re introduce myself as I will try to be more active on this thread and share my decluttering achievements

Xxx

museumworker

Hello everyone, and welcome to anyone returning. I've been superbusy but trying to keep on top of clutter.

Today I did a quick fling and filled a bag with books and unused baby bottles (about 9 things), took this plus 7 rolls of wallpaper to charity. I also have a pile of paper recycling too .

I came across this challenge http://www.slowyourhome.com/2013-in-2013/ which has useful checklists for decluttering each area. Am going to print one off this evening to stay focused - thinking bedroom. Anyone want to join me?

Yorkielass

My first post on the 2013 thread. I've been active on previous threads, then finally moved house last August after 2 years of trying and decluttering kind of went out the window. We moved to a house which was almost the same size though, albeit with a usable loft.

Now we're getting the house sorted, working out what we need and what we don't!

Last night got rid of our old dining table and chairs. Table had been my craft table in the old house but now I've combined my office and craft area so using my desk for both. Sold via Gumtree & originally was bought my In laws who were the landlords of the property we lived in then & said we could keep it when they sold the house so that was a bonus - £32.50 (including petrol money).

Going to do a car boot sale with a friend on Sunday, did one with her last summer and got £40 so hoping to beat that this time and also get some ebay bits listed too.

On Tuesday night we took a load of cardboard, cartons and 2 bags of textiles to the recycling bins after a garage clearout and sort on Monday.

It's a start and a look forward to getting back into this thread again!

museumworker

Today's efforts -
* 7 books to charity shop from Ama$on listings - not worth selling now as price has dropped and postage costs gone through the roof!
* old outfit of DS which is all holey - recycled
* paper bags - recycled
* catalogue OH gets and never opens - returned and asked to remove from list
* 2 x mail for old housemate - forwarded
* another pile of old paperwork - recycled
* 4 study guides (unused) DDs - charity

So, 17 items today and 17 yesterday = 34 in total. Am going to aim to get rid of 5 things a day for the next 40 days - will be back at work then and am determined to get house back in order before then.

Found old nectar card statement and have emailed to ask if can use points. Been *meaning* to do this for 8 years now!
Also trading some stuff in on Ama$on, will count once package has been dispatched.

mrs-moneypenny

just been round mils and cleared a couple of cupboards, 1 bag of rubbish 1 bag of recycling paper/card etc. also help tidy and orgainse whats been put back so she knows what shes got.

decluttered 2 shamppoo sachets, 2 conditioner sachets and 2 face cream sachets onto me this morning from our bathroom.
dregs of a bottle of bubble bath used up last night so thats in the recycling now
a small glass rabbit has gone in the CS box
14 odd socks binned as they will never find partners they've been in the odd bag too long now