Decluttering my flat

Rosa_Damascena · 12 February at 5:16PM

OP - watch Stacey Solomon with your son!

From The Library of Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO_G7Jfwvnw

saajan_12 · 12 February at 5:36PM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81875251#Comment_81875251

The thing with keeping potentially useful stuff is it gets buried behind other potentially useful stuff, and you can't find it when you need it so you end up buying new anyway. I've seen it myself. I'd pick an area at a time and aim to halve it, so don't stress about the borderline stuff but there's often a chunk which are definitely to go. From those, list to sell where appropriate, list for free or thow. In the free bucket, charity shops support the relevat cause, also Olio is great as the person comes to your door and you know its going to someone that can use it, whereas charity shops often throw stuff they can't stock.

I wouldn't buy a shredder to declutter stuff, you're adding before you're removing. I'd take a pile of paperwork and split into 3: keep, throw, and throw securely. Often its just the front page but the rest doesn't have sensitive info on it. Once you've whittled it down to a much lower volume of secure docs, its not that bad to just tear up or borrow a shredder.

textbook · 16 February at 11:41PM

How about old laptop and broken tablet? Laptop might have some info on it which is private but think it's all backed up too- garage?

bouicca21 · 17 February at 9:54AM

Take out the hard disk. Put a drill through it. Then take the lot to the local tip/recycling centre.

textbook · 18 February at 4:23PM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81881787#Comment_81881787

What is sensitive stuff? Address, name bank numbers national insurance I guess.

button_box · 18 February at 4:42PM

Name/Address/ Bank Account Statements/National Insurance numbers/ Payslips/TaxReturns/Medical info. Really just any personal information that shouldn't get into the hands of fraudsters & scammers.

button_box · 18 February at 4:49PM

I should have said things like P60s should be kept for about 6 years. You can buy inexpensive folders with pockets to keep paperwork in that don't take up much room that would hold all important stuff together.

Rosa_Damascena · 18 February at 8:20PM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81887841#Comment_81887841

Will a single hole be enough to put the date beyond retrieval?

bouicca21 · 19 February at 9:09AM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81890373#Comment_81890373

well, that’s what I do because I’ve been told it is best practice. It is actually quite difficult to do as it requires an electric drill. The idea is to make the disk unusable. Belt and braces, you could always reformat it first.