30 bags in 30 days decluttering method

Why the negativity? People have been happy with their progress, and if someone has ’stuff’ in their living room they don’t need to explain why it’s there - the point is that they are going to get rid of it!

I don’t understand why the perceived value of something matters either. Diamonds aside, if it’s clutter, it’s worthless. It may have cost money to buy, but the value of something is in how much it is loved now, not when it was bought. If it’s in the way, taking up space that could be better used, is unwanted or surplus to requirements it isn’t valuable at all. If someone else can get use from it, or just enjoy having it, why does it matter what it cost?

Anyway, ‘onwards’ to those who are still in . I am going to declutter some craft stuff today, and hope to empty a box of books too. Some will win shelf space, but most will be going to charity for someone else to read.

So many excuses. Not a bin liner, just a carrier bag… really ? How will you clear a house ?
Your poor offspring when you die, you’re just leaving it all to them.
Why would anyone have piles of “stuff” in their living room?
Of necessity I’ve done the Swedish death clearance thing and know there’s precious little left to sort. (Eg some jewellery some paintings etc)

Loving this thread! I'm not a hoarder but am enjoying reading all your stories. I am going to be with all those who are all the way!
Best Wished Danni x

I failed at the first post, am going to opt out of even a bag a day and will carry on donating as and when I come across something good that I will not need

I posted two very good items on rav, had a question about the contents of one and quickly realised that it was too nice, useful, tactile and expensive to almost give away. I deleted the whole post

I cannot see that I have much to declutter really, having been at it since 2006. Anyway, minimalism is no longer a thing

Good luck to you all, especially the ones who are just starting

I sneaked Mr Dog's ancient Engineering tomes into the recycling bag ages ago. Don't tell him though. You never know when he might need them at a time when Google is unavailable and an unspecified emergency has arisen

Doodledog

I've just binned two lever arch files of notes from university in 1986 . I resisted the temptation to read through them all (they were all hand written) but glanced at the exam papers, complete with notes and scribbles, and rings around the ones I (presumably) answered. I have no idea why I kept them, but they must have been in three houses, unopened.

I had some Doodledog and you could see where I had fallen asleep in the ones that didn't finish until 6 pm . Mine were handwritten and the pen had just slipped across the page. It must be three houses at least. We still have a lot of DH textbooks I use then to prop the bed head up when my hernia is playing up.

DD has just contacted me because she needs to borrow something. She did have one but threw it out during a clear out. This is what happens when you donty hang onto things and why I have such a problem with throwing anything away. They’ve just opened a new repair cafe near to me and they could have repaired a toaster I had that broke. It’s frustrating that you now have to make an appointment to go to our local tip where they have various bins so we can recycle things.

I’m chortling at the thought of your DC panicking and hiring pantechnicons, Gramaretto. 🚛 🚛

Dh had zillions of tools, I have no idea when or where he acquired them. Some went to our son-in-law, who farms and others are going to a re-use scheme. Men’s Sheds may be interested in them or if all else fails, they can go into the metal recycling.

Give them to your children?

I think you'll find that if you tell them that anything they want to keep has to go to their houses it will concentrate their minds.

Mr Dog has a garage full of tools. I have no idea what I'll do with them if they are left for me to sort out. My children are not of the DIY persuasion, so might take a screwdriver each, but as for the rest I have no idea. Do tools go out of date? He won't be persuaded to part with them, which I can understand really, as my knitting stash and paraphernalia fills a double bedroom.

Well done all you declutterers

I haven't started yet but I have had an offer from 2 friends who are coming next Monday to help me get started and my DC have had an ultimatum.
I've said I will have to clear the attic and they got alarmed. One DS is going to hire a van and take things he considers important in case I throw them out.

What does one do with films on cassette videos?
Old maps?
Tools?

Thanks for starting this thread Guesswhat. It’s good to have a gang of accomplices.

I haven’t moved mountains today, but I have made progress, which will give me momentum tomorrow. Nothing to charity today, but tomorrow’s bag will be of books I think. I’m out all day, but will try to do something in the evening.

you have certainly set me to thinking and I am breaking my own rule about not selling some things. I think I hang onto some things because they are too good to just give away

I cannot be doing a bag a day or 30 bags but can do a now and then. I have just learnt how to upload a photo to a crafting site and have just listed a couple of really good items

The kick up the arris that I needed

I volunteer in a charity shop.😀We hardly bin anything. There are people who will pay by weight for clothing, shoes, books and bric a brac. This is mostly recycled and makes a few pounds for the charity.

We had a declutter of 25 yrs stuff last year, prior to a house move. It was a mammoth task. As we were moving to a smaller house we had to be ruthless so loads of books had to go and all sorts of ephemera we’d gathered over the years. There was a box full of guidebooks to castles and gardens etc, they all went as did loads of magazines that had been put in the attic and never looked at again. In fact, the vast majority of what was in the attic was recycled. We found five guitars, in various places. Five. No one is a particularly skilful player so why we had so many, I don’t know. 🤔

Despite that, we still had to get rid of more stuff when we moved into our new home. My kitchen has about one quarter of the storage space I had before, plus we had a dining room but don’t now, so that kind of thing had to be severely culled.

My main tip, once you’ve decided to part with things, is to take it to its destination (charity shop/dump/etc) as soon as possible. We started off by putting things into the garage but then that got congested and we didn’t have room to move and we had to spend days going to various places to get rid of them. Instead, the bags and boxes went straight into the car and when we went out somewhere, we’d swing by the charity shop, re-use centre or whatever.

Good luck everyone, you’ll appreciate all your new-found space!

I've just binned two lever arch files of notes from university in 1986 . I resisted the temptation to read through them all (they were all hand written) but glanced at the exam papers, complete with notes and scribbles, and rings around the ones I (presumably) answered. I have no idea why I kept them, but they must have been in three houses, unopened.

Just boxed 24 pl sets of china. Charity shop.

Our daughters don't want it, same reason to us, can't go in DW. They each had selected a few pieces, enough to use together for a family do. Coffee/tea pots, sugar, creamer, gravy, torten platte, tureen, big platters/bowls.

I've just done a second spare bedroom and found loads of children's socks and books too young for GC. I vaced and looked at the room and moved a chest of drawers and a chair. DH had to help with the Chest of drawers and could not believe the illusion of space I had created we have lived here 10+ years it makes you reassess that sometimes things need moving. Also, bag two is ready to recycle.
I like this, Guesswhat. Thank you for the idea and for getting us all motivated I'm going to tell my DDs about it.

I think Doodle that they must be bagged and hidden, as much as she says she doesn’t want them the day (I believe) will come when she will want them or at least to ask after them.
Certificates ( educational) they all eventually took.

Since about 2015, (apart from Covid years), DH and I have done one car boot sale each summer.

Made a bit of money, but more importantly, made a bit of space. Some of the things we sold were inherited from my mother, stuff I didn’t really want, but felt bad at parting with. But I hardened my heart, what would the kids do with these things eventually? Chuck them in a skip. We may as well clear things now.

It’s quite good seeing someone else making use of it, and once it’s gone, you don’t miss it.

Another one who loathes clutter, as avid readers, once read, books go to friends or charity shops. MrJ has a small three shelf bookcase he keeps his bits and bobs on. Loft has an old dolls house which must go.

watermeadow not necessarily happier. You probably don't spend hours hunting for things or spend loads of money buying things you have already bought twice but can never find when you need it. You probably don't have to move loads of stuff to clean, or have drawers full of clothes you never wear.

Someone told me once that you have to let go of the old stuff to let new things into your life as you grow and change.

dogsmother

But….am I a hoarder….I have four trophies that are / were my daughters, can’t bear to throw them away. Surely I need to save them for when she realises she wants them ……. Help me?

I got over some of that by asking my children to take things away when they got places of their own. My son did that fairly quickly, but my daughter is her mother's daughter .

The next stage was to bag up everything left behind, and ask her to go through them. Nothing happened. Then I hid the bags, and waited.

Sure enough, the inevitable 'what have you done with. . .' came to pass. It was about certificates, which of course I had kept, but I said they were in the bags she had already checked.

Panic, until I 'found' them where I had put them for safekeeping. She was lucky. I wouldn't have deliberately binned them, but could easily have done so accidentally.

After that she did go through the bags, and 99% of the items went out, to charity or the tip.

It took ages, as she lives miles away and there were long gaps between the stages, but we got there in the end.

I'm like MerylStreep don't hoard things and love a good sorting out session. My husband won't let me near his stuff though and he has a lot of it - grrrr
I'm an avid reader but my books are given to the library I run whenI have read them. I just keep a few old favourites. Family heirlooms have already been given to those who want them. Not a lot to clear out when I turn my toes up.

Must try harder …

Gingster

I’m not a hoarder but Dh is. He has two rails of clothes that he hasn’t worn for 10 years at least. What can I do about that?
Every so often I say, ‘let’s have a clear out’. Last week he through one hoodie away! 😤

Mine takes them out of my recycling bag and wears them all crumpled to prove how useful they are.
I already have a recycle bag in an unused wardrobe where I put things as we go along.
I'm joining in, yesterday I started on a guest bedroom and have bags ready to recycle. I won't manage to get rid of them every day as I'm pretty rural but I will have filled thirty bags by the end.
I also found tablelamps in one room that just needed moving to be useful I hope that counts as recycling.