2020 - banish the clutter

oceanspirit

Decluttering has been slow as still very short of energy.

6 food items uu
4 food items bin
2 perished elastic bands bin
9 items paperwork shredded
75 old emails deleted

newlywed

Ok so have just been through my chest of drawers:

binned: tatty T-shirt with sealant on it, uncomfortable undies, bobbly tights, manky socks

charity bag: one jacket, 3 t shirts I don’t love, a skirt, a nighty (too warm) and pjs (not fitted since I bought them 4 years ago...)

swedish shop fabric drawer dividers that smell fusty

everything tidied and rearranged so no there is more space. 

I did start on the wardrobe (hence the jacket and skirt) but decided it was too big a job for 10pm so put freshly washed winter coats away at the far end of the wardrobe and moved my three spring macs to the near side, ready to wear. 

Trouble is I have so many clothes that don’t fit and now the lockdown means the weight isn’t going in the right direction.... do I give up and get rid of them? Or take a deep breath and try and behave myself...

StickyTheStickInsect

Gem-gem said:

 Somebody else on here only counts the number of full bags they have decluttered.

 

That's me ! I can't keep track of all the individual items themselves, so hope to do 52 bags in a year instead.

I got DH to go through the box of cables, chargers etc. today and we filled half a bag with duplicates or cables that we still have but no longer have the item they work with. They'll go out with the WEEE collection with our rubbish in a fortnight, so I'll have to find a place for them until then.

Keep safe everyone xx

facethemusic

Thank you all for the suggestions, I've been "hanging onto" them for months/years (you see why I have a clutter problem), so no issue keeping them until lockdown lifts! I'll try the tip when they reopen and see what they say. 
I have SO much stuff half my problem is I don't really know where to start! And my DD is awful- everything I suggest we could get rid of suddenly becomes her very favourite thing that she can't live without. 
I had thought I could do some while at home just now, but as no tip or charity shops just now, I don't want to land with a stack of boxes in the hall. Although that may be a bit of an excuse! I laugh at you having rooms of doom- I just have a house of doom! I'm seriously hoping to move house at some point (was considering this summer, but likely later now) so I do have to make an effort to start. 

tboo

Ok over the last few days I haven't banished any clutter as such I have just painted the kitchen

134 - Used a pot of white paint from the shed so I suppose that can be clutter lol

All kitchen applicances and things washed and put baclk into their place.

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. WRITE AND USE “TO DO LISTS” - MINIMUM 30 MINUTE BURSTS OF ACTIVITY AT LEAST TWICE EVERY DAY

2. KITCHEN WILL BE LEFT CLEAN & TIDY EVERY NIGHT

3. I WILL ENDEAVOUR TO BE NICE TO EVERYONE & TRY TO SEE THE FUNNY OR PECULIAR SIDE TO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
4. DAY TO DAY DECLUTTERING WILL CONTINUE

Recycling bin emptied. Rainy day Friday 🙁 but not the torrential rain forecast. Went out for the 4th time since 14th March. Visited the newsagents for my weekly magazine & a loaf of bread but also bought some bread rolls, couple of packets of biscuits, small jar of red pesto,  bottle of hand sanitiser & a packet of 5 face masks. Neighbour had fennel in her veg box (no one in her family likes it 😉) so offered to me, I accepted & will use for soup. I offered a spare pot of single cream in return which was accepted 🙂

Finished knitting scarf no.38 & started scarf no.39, watched 7 episodes of The Time Tunnel - it really hasn’t dated very well but James Darren was very cute 😉, 
Dinner was salmon fillets cooked in foil, roasted tomatoes, mashed potatoes & carrots 🤤

746 Kitchen packaging - Recycled
747 - 748 Plastic packaging, bag of kitchen detritus - Binned 

Well done Nicnak 👏 

Nice to see you tiddles 👋 You have kept busy & you have earned your first Gold Star ⭐️ for your first 500 👏 Congratulations on your retirement 👏 

Congratulations on releasing the paperweight TC77 👏 Shame about the weed killer - maybe psychologically you didn’t want to kill the weeds - after all they are usually green 😆 & some can be quite pretty - thinking about daisies & wild geraniums 😉

Good work ailz95 👏 ooh a bonfire - I do like to see things burning - a pyromaniac at heart 😉

Great advice re kitchen knives Gem-gem 👏 You must be my DSis’s twin - she loves hard cheese 😉 Me - I love all types of cheese 😋 

Good work newlywed 👏 & really nice that OH is on board 🙂 Re your clothes - you have the perfect excuse to keep them 😉 Perhaps you can sort them into favourites & not or maybe very tight & not so tight 🙂

Steady progress short_bird 👏 Very odd diet 🤭 

Remember oceanspirit - decluttering is a marathon not a sprint 😉 Hopefully you can build up your energy reserves by taking care of yourself 🙂

Great work StickyTheStickInsect 👏 

Please do not get disheartened facethemusic 😉 I think most of us started with a house of doom & then one day we just decided enough was enough 🙄 We all eventually found the OS decluttering thread with various ideas, suggestions, methods etc & picked one. Could you perhaps start in your bedroom? Create a haven for yourself 🙂 How old is your DD? Can you appeal to her to give away some of her toys to children less fortunate? Or maybe a reward system - her favourite meal when she gets rid of 5? Toys/games/other. Also when you start your decluttering journey, don’t forget to factor in little rewards for yourself 🙂

Tboo, really 🙄 - you have decorated a room & cleaned everything before returning it - WELL DONE 👏  You have decluttered more than a pot of paint, you have also decluttered a major task 👏 Please give yourself a huge pat on the back & to remind you how well you are doing I am awarding a Gold Star ⭐️.

MrsSD ⭐️ 
748/2020

tiddles

Thank you for your good wishes Mrs SD. 
Having been motivated by this thread I was super-impressed by my efforts yesterday. I managed to declutter the following:
35 tatty old books 
3 broken plastic magazine holders
3 magazines and
7 calendars (belonging to DH)
So 48 items, bringing my total to 562 this year!
I'll try to do some more today.
Have a great weekend everyone!

stellata

Cut up some boxes for recycling bin and broke up some polystyrene from the black bin which was taking up all the room. I've only stuffed it under the cat's bucket (upturned in the garden, he sits on it to wait for mice) but it won't rot and it's out the way. Made soup out of fridge veg and put it in the freezer. I'm living on soup. Binned most of my makeup, I'm not wearing any and I'll want new once this is over if I ever want to wear it again. Put my very old and flat duvet in the bag for Freecycle (people want them for dogs) because I bought a beautiful new fluffy one really cheap online, it's so comfy and I'm spending more time in bed so it seemed like a good thing to do. Burned some old notebooks which I kept to "have a record" but really who's going to want to read my to do lists from 2014?

villagelife

A few more this week
662-664 moisturiser samples. Trying to use them up as they contribute so much to the clutter.
665-667 various OOD seed sOckets - seeds sown and let's hope they grow.
668 more shredding .
669 broken mug binned
670 birthday card from stash to a neighbour.
That's all I can remember for now but sure I've done more.
At least things are leaving the house and things aren't coming in to the same extent which is great.

Willowtree222

I've heard on the news that they might consider opening some tips because of a huge increase in fly tipping. Social distancing will be worked out they said. That might help a few people hopefully. x