Getting rid of unused/unwanted clutter at home

Have given a few " must have gadgets that will improve your life " that have anguished in cupboards for free on marketplace .
Surplus glasses , vases , coffee pots & spare teapots to charity last week.
Today took a food steamer & a slow cooker to the same charity shop .
We are slowly decluttering / Swedish death cleaning .
You realise your treasures , or will keep as it might be handy / I might use it one day is just stuff taking up space and if you were to die tomorrow would only be chucked or taken to a charity shop !

I have clocks that don't work. I keep them in hope I can afford to get them fixed one day

I have clocks that don't work. I keep

I use to make chutneys and relishes as well as apple butter with our fruit. Now I have a cupboard full of Mason jars in various sizes. I no longer have parties but have the glasses and china. I have my mother’s and grandmothers china and silver. And I sew and have a room full of material. I get in a panic at 3am and wonder what to do. DH won’t throw my uncles golf clubs away or his squash racquet last played about 60 years ago. Too tired now to do anything about them. Tomorrow is another day.

Keep one or two treasures but get rid of the rest .that are just marterial things.you can't take them with you when you die ..and they gather dust.......am having a big blitz this week also tried selling stuff on ebay but people won't pay the price you want..

Have u tried donating the machine to emmaus . They look them over and donate them abroad. Lots of people can mend stuff. I dread having to move as it’s heartbreaking getting rid of family stuff. Our kids left stuff here until they had houses . Cherry picked the stuff and some is still here . I kept a firm rein on stuff when I was well but we now have other peoples stuff which can be hard to get rid of . I also have a sewing room so that is another tug on the heart strings. We are fortunate we have stuff but it still needs clearing. It isn’t cluttered but some isn’t ours to use .

Oxfam always want books.
And so do most charity shops..

Do try them.

Just been clearing my brothers house after his death. I’m determined to clear anything I need to get rid of before my demise.

Grammaretto - i wondered that too. I'm in NW Scotland and have sewing machines in the loft which could be of use.....

Some charities find a use for old sewing machines - possibly for overseas. Better than putting in the tip.

We're about to put our house on the market and have had to declutter for the estate agent photographer who came today. House looks so tidy, but also a bit stark.
A lot has already gone to the tip, or been taken after being put on the wall outside with a notice asking people to take things (books seem to go well..). A good, working TV went to a lovely young man via our local Facebook group. But although we've made a dent in the junk, we still have a 3 room cellar full of stuff so I think we'll have to get a clearance company in or/and a skip. We're not even hoarders either, but we have been here since 1981 so I guess things just 'gather'!

Just a reminder not to get rid of old vinyl records. We got rid of most of ours when CDs came in and now our older son has an interest in collecting old vinyl records we realize we should have held on to them, the first two Beatles LPs for example are worth a lot of money.

We have also found nobody wants books but there is a book bank at our local tip.

We have moved house nine times since we got married so we have had to clear things out with each move but we are slowly paring things down, we had quite a few suitcases in the loft for example and we don’t really want to venture far since we have turned 80, we managed to get rid of them all using FreeCycle, people seem to want things if they are free.

I donated four sewing machines to the charity mentioned in a previous post TWAM. The machines were in various states of repair but they cannibalise some to repair others. I also gave them bags of fabric remnants, they were very grateful.

Made a start with decluttering but husband is a hoarder. As soon as I put things out for charity shops etc he takes them and piles them up in the garage. As we have two double garages and only one small car I'm never going to win.

Same as you Beechnut read and go, we have about half a dozen that stay, four or 5 library books temporarily and that’s it. I’m a ‘chucker outer’ every couple of years - it’s due now, the cupboard under the stairs gets a clear out and any ‘new to us clothes or shoes’ could be secondhand, means the equivalent goes out.

One of my past dreams was to have library. Thank goodness I never had the room. Books are now ‘read and go’.

LesLee7

I felt relieved when I saw this thread. It means I'm not the only one out there. One of my neighbours/friends is the opposite and feel embarrassed if she comes over. I am a hoarder and as I get older am more sentimental. I lost my Mum and sister within 6 months of each other a few years ago and had to clear both houses. I didn't keep much for myself but what I had already and have accumulated since has made the house a bombsite. I think it is my comfort blanket. I am on my own and no family and badly want to clear things as it worries me what will happen when I can't do it or pop my clogs. I can truly understand how the people you see on TV get to the state you can't get in the house for stuff. I'm not at that point but still have too much. I've sold stuff on ebay, given things to friends, donated to charity shops but there just isn't enough hours in the day to do everything and to clear stuff. I don't go out a lot but what would life be if I didn't make an effort to go out and do things just stayed in to sort out. If anyone can suggest any motivating words or anything to help would be very grateful.

I actually spend most of my life working on my house or attempting to declutter. Many years ago I used to dream of having a garden big enough to put a caravan in so I could leave the house to fend for itself and just live in the caravan!

Aely well done you! I have finally started on my junk room. Loads of books have gone to the local Oxfam shop along with the number on my gift aid card. The card is specific to Oxfam. Other charity shops need to give you their own. I took a load of odds and ends, including ornaments to my local dog rescue charity shop, Shak, and I'll be taking ancient unmatched crockery to the Salvation Army shop. They sell any crockery that isn't bought or saleable in the shop to a local artist who smashes and uses it to make mosaics.

I'm doing this now so my kids don't have to when I'm gone. I'm not planning on going any time soon, though!

BlueBelle

Please consider the sewing machine if useable but old going to TWAM Tools with a mission They are collected cleaned tidied mended if something simple and sent to third world country where it could mean a young woman being able to start a small business
All tools of any kind too so anyone who s lost a husband but has a shed full of tools please consider doing that
Such a lovely charity

Brilliant! I've never heard of this organisation, I'll certainly bear it in mind for future clearouts. We still have Dad's old Jones sewing machine and his cutting shears ( he was a master pattern cutter) and my DH has many tools which will need to go when the time comes

I felt relieved when I saw this thread. It means I'm not the only one out there. One of my neighbours/friends is the opposite and feel embarrassed if she comes over. I am a hoarder and as I get older am more sentimental. I lost my Mum and sister within 6 months of each other a few years ago and had to clear both houses. I didn't keep much for myself but what I had already and have accumulated since has made the house a bombsite. I think it is my comfort blanket. I am on my own and no family and badly want to clear things as it worries me what will happen when I can't do it or pop my clogs. I can truly understand how the people you see on TV get to the state you can't get in the house for stuff. I'm not at that point but still have too much. I've sold stuff on ebay, given things to friends, donated to charity shops but there just isn't enough hours in the day to do everything and to clear stuff. I don't go out a lot but what would life be if I didn't make an effort to go out and do things just stayed in to sort out. If anyone can suggest any motivating words or anything to help would be very grateful.

There were some really useful ideas on this thread. The thing is that when we were little, we were taught to look after everything, which means that a lot of the stuff is in pristine condition. Nowadays, there is a throw-away culture, so nothing is cared for.

We have over 5,000 books (and not enough bookshelves). I think that they 'make' a room, as do paintings. I can't bear to throw any book away - which is a major problem!!

Unfortunately, there is so much clutter, I can't find the things that I want. The removal guys were hopeless at labelling packing cases (kitchen - house) - what does that tell me?!! I couldn't pack due to heart & back issues, otherwise labelling would have been precise. There is an autograph book with an LS Lowry sketch and signature - can't find it. A stamp album of some vintage. Where is it? It is frustrating.

Anglo Doorstep Collections take books.

RedRidingHood

I have never been a hoarder, in fact I've been in trouble for getting rd of things a bit too quickly. However after mum died and I cleared her house it came home to me that what holds sentimental value for the parent is of no interest to the child.
We haven't used DVDs for over 20 years, everything is digital here. The main thing was books. Many, many bookcases full. I only read on kindle now so I've got rid of 99% of my books. Not easy as charities don't really want them these days. It frees up so much space when you get rid of stuff.

Some Oxfam shops specialise in books and music, if you can find one nearby.

It is so hard to be ruthless with things you've loved for so long. I decluttered before I sold my house, boxes & boxes of books, dvds, random crockery, glasses, bedding etc. All went to local charity shop. Now 10 years on I'm doing it again, this time so that my children don't have such a huge job after I die. Although I still have a study with several floor to ceiling bookcases I'm drastically pruning them & only keeping the books by my favourite authors. No 1 son has been taking a crate of books into his office and letting colleagues take what they want. My cookery books went down a storm! Since we gave up having dinner parties I have donated the many, many lovely sets of plates, bowls, glasses etc. I'm not interested in selling them, just want to gift them to people who can use them. I have a women's refuge charity close by so they take all of my donations. I aim for a box a week, slow but sure! I also put larger items out on my drive.

Esmay; when my mum died there was nothing of my childhood left in her flat. Even a photo I’d taken of my toys had been thrown away. So I’m sure that’s why I can’t throw anything away. The only books I have are ones that I’d taken with me when I left home and I’ve been overwhelmed with emotion when I’ve found books from my childhood on eBay.