2017 - No Clutter To Be Seen

eandjsmum

Yesterday morning, I learn that dad has been given these new tablets to take by the dr, but he MUST NOT DRINK while taking them. I think "pffft yeah fat chance of that happening!" I go about my usual before-work routine, I go to work, I get home in the evening, expecting dad to be soundo, mum to be doing her usual things and so on...

Ohhhh no...

Dad is up and about, about to have his dinner, sorting out some of his things in the living room.

I was literally shocked. Then mum told me the story of how dad is kicking the habit now and when they went to the shop earlier in the day, when mum came out with no can for dad he said to her "I thought you would have forgotten"(to NOT buy a can).

So - in essence - not decluttering in the strict sense, but to us, a decluttering of a substance than literally destroys people if abused


Fingers crossed for you, hope that it works out this time. This weekend I got a belated Christmas prezzie - a bottle of port. I don't drink the stuff so have added it to the cupboard with the other bottle of Port ( also a prezzie from the same relative). Not sure what to do with it to be honest.
Have just given the Scouts some Active kids voucher thingies from Sainsbobs. and have packed up a pile of newspaper for work tomorrow.


I have also finally recycled the old batteries.:T

Saver-upper

gemmajenkins0208 wrote: »

So - in essence - not decluttering in the strict sense, but to us, a decluttering of a substance than literally destroys people if abused

Aww,that is so lovely to hear,gemmajenkins0208.it sounds like your mum and yourself have been through alot.I hope it all works out well.Keep us updated.

Have had a crazy day around here today,but decluttering-wise,it has been good,so that is the main thing .
I had a day off,and wasn't really sure what I was going to do with it: go to the tip/finish,once and for all,the front room/continue sorting out books/clean the house (not done on Sunday)/photograph and list items to sell.....I was also expecting two people to come and collect items.

Ended up doing a bit of photographing/listing,and decluttering front room.

Out today:
295:paint tester pots.I mentioned earlier this month that I had about 60 of these hanging around the kitchen (58,actaully).I had tried a couple of times to sell the lot for £10,but no luck.So I was driving them around in the boot of my car,probably to go to the tip next time I go.Well, I listed them last night,and they were collected this afternoon.And the guy was lovely.We were chatting for ages.
Might be a bit cheeky counting those as 58 seperate items,though it would certainly boost the numbers

Recycled:
296:plastic cup which had contained assorted kids [STRIKE]rubbish[/STRIKE] treasures
297:sponges and paints to go with a decorate-a-cup set that I decluttered earlier in this challenge
298-300:3 pairs of broken reading glasses (literally,each missing one lens,and one was missing an arm).Donated at Specsavers,who reassured me they would still be used(sent overseas for Vision Aid: lenses will removed and replaced to suit the recipient).They have been sitting around my front room for nearly 12months,and I was about to bin them,which just seemed so wasteful.I was pleased they will get used .Very pleased with that effort :T.(So pleased,in fact,that I rearranged my post so they were listed at the 300 mark.I know,small things ).

Just for a change of scenery,I tidied a drawer in the cabinet in the front room.Still keeping too much recycled paper in there,but it looks tidy,as do the 234,530000,456,3333 pens I found in there :eek:.Also found 2 unopened 4G SD cards,so that will save me money the next 2 times I need to replace them in my camera.I also found a couple of assorted unidentifiable chargers,so have set aside an area in the boot of my car (ahem!) to start collecting chargers to donate/dispose of somewhere.Also found a Belkin something-to-do-with-getting-internet-to-your-computer-in-the-olden-days-when-,-I-think,-computer-was-dial-up :rotfl:.

Today I have set aside a few things to go to the charity,and the tip.Will list when they go.

Going to make a cuppa,check out the Kondo thread,then see what else I can find to declutter.Pity I'm working tomorrow.I could get used to days off during the week :rotfl:.

somerandom

GemmaJ Best Decluttering Ever

gemmajenkins0208

Thank you all so much for your kind words re: my dad

I think the main thing that has triggered it is not just these new tablets he's been given from the dr, but we lost my granddad just before Christmas

My brother was saying how he wanted to start living a healthier lifestyle as he feels he owes it to my granddad and my dad mumbled a few words about kicking the drink at some point in the future and maybe trying to eat better blah blah blah...

Losing my granddad was one of the reasons I joined this challenge - we have just let stuff build up since we moved here 10 years ago and then in the last couple months of my granddads life we were doing so much running around that things got so on top of us and our house was a right pit to say the least! :rotfl:

I'm so glad I didn't go on holiday as planned last week(after everything with granddad it just crept up on me and I didn't have the time nor the money to book anything) and instead spent it at home helping mum start to clear out all of our crap!

Last week helped us to start and clear the bulk of it, now mum can do little bits between her shifts during the day in the week and then we can do more 'heavy' stuff on the weekends when we're both at home all day

Since Monday(dad's first day of no drink) even dad is getting in on the action. He seems to have this newfound oomph in him and I hear that he spends a good couple hours each day sorting out his crap in the living room and under the stairs

Hopefully this is the start of a bright future for us all. I really hope so anyway

KitKatMum2

Good luck to your dad Gemma, hope everything works out for you all

417.-418 Toys
419.-420 Candles
421.-423 Tops
424. Random crayon
425. Kids drinks bottle

I think I mentioned that a relative had given me some stuff to sell, well I finally got round to listing it and some sold straight away. I won't count it here though as it's technically not my clutter. I still have more of it to sell, I just don't have a box big enough at the moment.

Even though I have passed 400 items, I'm starting to feel a bit disillusioned with the whole decluttering thing. I think it's because it doesn't look like anything has changed. It's probably a combination of years of hoarding, therefore having more stuff than the average person and only getting rid of smallish items. I guess throwing out the odd lipstick or crayon isn't going to suddenly make a house look better, so I need to really crack on and try to make a dent in the mess, but it's really overwhelming and I don't know where to start. It's not made easier by the fact I have two toddlers under my feet, so can only manage the odd 10 minutes here and there Anyway, moan over, hopefully I'll be back with a bumper list next time!!

Fruittea

gemmajenkins0208 wrote: »

Thank you all so much for your kind words re: my dad

I think the main thing that has triggered it is not just these new tablets he's been given from the dr, but we lost my granddad just before Christmas

My brother was saying how he wanted to start living a healthier lifestyle as he feels he owes it to my granddad and my dad mumbled a few words about kicking the drink at some point in the future and maybe trying to eat better blah blah blah...

Losing my granddad was one of the reasons I joined this challenge - we have just let stuff build up since we moved here 10 years ago and then in the last couple months of my granddads life we were doing so much running around that things got so on top of us and our house was a right pit to say the least! :rotfl:

I'm so glad I didn't go on holiday as planned last week(after everything with granddad it just crept up on me and I didn't have the time nor the money to book anything) and instead spent it at home helping mum start to clear out all of our crap!

Last week helped us to start and clear the bulk of it, now mum can do little bits between her shifts during the day in the week and then we can do more 'heavy' stuff on the weekends when we're both at home all day

Since Monday(dad's first day of no drink) even dad is getting in on the action. He seems to have this newfound oomph in him and I hear that he spends a good couple hours each day sorting out his crap in the living room and under the stairs

Hopefully this is the start of a bright future for us all. I really hope so anyway

Good to hear about your Dad GemmaJ. I'm sure it will make the family feel so much better but it's a hard one to crack - so he'll need a lot of support. Good to know he's got a bit of oomph back and best to keep him occupied and positive.
I've started my re-carpeting project -which involves three room. Everything has to be packed up for the new carpets to go down. I really wish I didn't have so much stuff. Anyway yesterday the first bedroom was done and it looked great - trouble is everything from the second bedroom has to go in there. That gets done next Tuesday so quite a bit of decluttering to get on with.
Here's my update:
451 – Hat CS
452 - Jump leads CS
453 – Raffle tickets - Neighbour
454 – Old bowl – binned
455 – Air pump - tip
456 – Car light – tip
457 – Chest of drawers – To dealer
458 – Book CS
462 – Tee–shirts – binned
477 – 15 Tops and fleeces CS
478 – Old carpet - Tip

oldtractor

((hugs)) GemmaJ
OUT large bag of wool, 2 jackets, large bag of hobby things, pair of old trousers, bubble wrap,paperwork,,glass bottles.
IN Nothing

lemonlolly

KitKatMum2 wrote: »

Even though I have passed 400 items, I'm starting to feel a bit disillusioned with the whole decluttering thing. I think it's because it doesn't look like anything has changed. It's probably a combination of years of hoarding, therefore having more stuff than the average person and only getting rid of smallish items. I guess throwing out the odd lipstick or crayon isn't going to suddenly make a house look better, so I need to really crack on and try to make a dent in the mess, but it's really overwhelming and I don't know where to start. It's not made easier by the fact I have two toddlers under my feet, so can only manage the odd 10 minutes here and there Anyway, moan over, hopefully I'll be back with a bumper list next time!!

You'd notice if somebody dumped 400 crayons in your house, and not all of the stuff you've got rid of is that small. I find it hard enough de-cluttering with just one toddler - the fact you're managing to do it with two is pretty awesome.
Reading this thread has really helped to get me back going with clearing stuff out. Even though I'm not keeping a list, I'm making sure to get rid of at least one bit of clutter every day which feels very satisfying.

SuzieTheCat

Thank you for the inspiration! I read it and then decided that today I will make a start on 2017 things in 2017. I'm going to start today with 17 things. I wouldn't say I am a hoarder but I have been known to have the odd impulse buy (or two or three or four...) for some time. So here we go:

1 Old magazine
2 Catalogue
3 Catalogue
4 Catalogue
5 Catalogue (why on earth have I got so many catalogues!?!)
6 Furniture leaflet
7 White postal packet
8 Catalogue
9 Old letter
10 Out of date fry-lite (yuck)
11 Old cinema ticket
12 Another old cinema ticket
13 cardboard packaging
14 pair of a shoes (one had a hole in it!)
15 empty plastic water bottle
16 another empty plastic water bottle
17 a glass vase with a chip in it (that one has actually gone in the charity shop bag)

I'm surprised at how fast I managed to find things that needed binning. I'll certainly be carrying on with this challenge. Thank you!

* I did also notice I have difficulty in letting go of things that people have given me. It isn't even that I feel sentimental I just feel ungrateful chucking it in the bin / or charity bag if I don't particularly like it. Does that sound odd? Anyway. that is something I'd like to tackle in the next few days. Maybe I'll manage 100 things by the end of the week, that would be fantastic!

eandjsmum

Even though I have passed 400 items, I'm starting to feel a bit disillusioned with the whole decluttering thing. I think it's because it doesn't look like anything has changed. It's probably a combination of years of hoarding, therefore having more stuff than the average person and only getting rid of smallish items. I guess throwing out the odd lipstick or crayon isn't going to suddenly make a house look better, so I need to really crack on and try to make a dent in the mess, but it's really overwhelming and I don't know where to start. It's not made easier by the fact I have two toddlers under my feet, so can only manage the odd 10 minutes here and there Anyway, moan over, hopefully I'll be back with a bumper list next time!![/QUOTE]

When I started clearing out I took pictures of all the clutter. I found them the other day. I can see where the clutter has gone from. Toddlers don't help and mine haven't got any better as they have got older. Perhaps make a list of the worst offending areas and start from there, chipping away a bit at a time. You have to start with small steps. Good luck