Decluttering

Congratulations Sally, I'm on the same journey. In addition to the grand plan, I have stuck with the policy this year of one in, two out with new purchases.
It has achieved a steady reduction in books, magazines, and clothing alongside the larger clear - outs.
Good luck 🤞

We moved this year so I did a huge declutter.

Do a room at a time.

Make sure you have plenty of bin liners and boxes.

Use FB market place, Gumtree, Vinted etc to sell anything
decent….. I made £100’s this way.

Once a room has been declutterred clean and organise it before you start on the next.

What sorts of tips do you want?

There are two long running decluttering threads that are full of all sorts of things.

Cant help you with books though.
I wrote a while back that was my worst failure[hardly had any].
I only managed to rehome 6!

I got a Kindle and invested in downloading my favourites. It enabled me to get down to about 300 books 😳

I like especially being able to read in the dark hours of the night without putting the light on so it’s a double bonus.

I find it a thankless task, but I’ve found little and often is far better than tackling a whole room in one go. There’s still quite a bit of ‘stuff’ but at least my DDs know where the important things are. I must admit there’s a real sense of achievement when somewhere is sorted and organised the way I want.

I’ve just returned from my partners to complete chaos ( as per usual) and am currently trying to work on one room at a time. Starting with the kitchen. Having changed my diet I’ve bought a lot of new products and I need room for them. And there are store cupboard items that I’m no longer eating. One problem is only having a small fridge with nowhere to put a larger one. So many things need to be kept in a fridge these days. And my new freezer is much smaller than the old one so I’m really struggling. I’m really missing our decluttering leader Miss Adventure ( hope you are well Miss A) who was inspirational.

I’m pretty good at decluttering as I set myself small tasks, a whole room would be too big a challenge for me and it simply wouldn’t get done!

My solution is to start with one drawer/cupboard in one room and have 2 piles - to keep, to donate or sell. As you fill a box/bin bag with excess stuff, get rid of it asap - bin, charity shop, friends/family. Don’t be tempted to store it in the loft or garage!

I have always found that I am much better when I am in the right mood to do it. Like being made to write christmas thankyou letters on the day after boxing day, they were a real struggle to think of things to say, but when I wanted to write I could easily find things to say.

So, I have separate things. I will have a bit of a sort out each week, but that is more putting things back where they belong, and sorting mostly the kitchen out. But in the meantime I make sure I have a good amount of boxes and bags at the ready and then on a day I am physically a bit better and can move about more easily I start with a drawer. That doesnt take too long to sort out, and you then have that to look at and remind you that you have sorted something out so that is a plus. That is a quick and easy thing to do, so then while I can face it I then go to one of the hardest cupboards or set of shelves, and make a start there. Sometimes I dont even finish all of that most difficult place, but deliberately put into a plastic bag anything not sorted out properly, so that I dont allow myself to put the muddle back. Then the next time I am in the right mood I can finish that bag off and it is encouraging to see that bit done and it then seems less difficult to carry on with that room. Once I have done a room, I sort of allow myself a week off, just doing ordinary things until I gather up the energy and resolve to start again in another room.

Well, I’ve cleared out of date stuff from the larder. Trouble is it’s now all sitting around in the kitchen while I decide what to do with it. How do I dispose of a tin of coconut milk?

Give it to me Maybee and I’ll make us a chicken korma! I’ve opened tins a few years out of date, done the sniff and teaspoon taste test before using the contents to no ill effect!

MayBee70

Well, I’ve cleared out of date stuff from the larder. Trouble is it’s now all sitting around in the kitchen while I decide what to do with it. How do I dispose of a tin of coconut milk?

It all depends on what you call out of date Tins were made for a reason: to preserve food.
But if you do really want to dump it, open it, pour contents down the sink or toilet and put tin in the recycling.

MayBee70
Re your fridge problem. Do you have room on your work surface?
They are a lot easier to access.

Pantglas2

Give it to me Maybee and I’ll make us a chicken korma! I’ve opened tins a few years out of date, done the sniff and teaspoon taste test before using the contents to no ill effect!

I was at my partners recently and we tried to use up some out of date tins of food. One of them was rice pudding and it really wasn’t good to eat ( everything had separated) which made me question keeping anything milky that was out of date. I usually ignore use by dates. Anything coconuty is very greasy I believe ( I was reading up last night on what to do with some dessicated coconut which is also out of date and it said not to put it in the compost bin as it is too fatty and also not to give it to the birds, which is what I had considered doing).

petra

MayBee70
Re your fridge problem. Do you have room on your work surface?
They are a lot easier to access.

I bought a mini fridge for my utility room but there is no heating in that room and when the temperature drops below 10% it doesn’t work which is annoying as you can fit a surprising amount of stuff in one. There is a door in the kitchen that is never used and I did think of putting a fridge freezer in front of it but it would look really awful and there isn’t a power point close enough. I’m not sure if there would be enough room for the door to open either.

Thanks for replies, a kindle is a great idea!