30 bags in 30 days decluttering method

Only problem I have found with this, is everyone has the same idea at this time of the year, but the charity shops are inundated, and putting up notices saying they're not accepting any donations, so now what do I do with all my bags?

I decided I’d go through all the stuff in the bathroom cupboard today, and found a load of hair products I have tried and discarded - about 10 or so, including shampoo that made my head itch, conditioners that made it greasy, and gel that made it crispy. All good until I looked up how to dispose of it. I’m into recycling, but you can’t recycle unless the container is empty. So I looked up what to do, as it can’t go down the sink either. I ended up with an ice cream tub full of a disgusting mix of it all, which I had to seal and put in the general waste. By the time I’d done that and washed all the containers out the job took me over an hour! I think that counts as my bag for the day.

Done today's bag: a couple of ancient cushions with holes in... Three down, twenty seven to go.

No thanks . It's very kind, but I am systematically taking a bag a week to my knitting group, to free up space for any truly irresistible yarn that falls into my basket from time to time. Otherwise (in theory) I am being very abstemious, and sticking to works in progress for the time being. I have enough to last until I am approximately 107, and then I'll start on using up leftovers.

No bag today, as I've been busy with other things, but I hope to fill two tomorrow, so it's all good. I have a storage coffee table, and plan to muck it out tomorrow. Amongst other things, there are numerous adult colouring books in there - I bought one once, and my daughter kept getting me new ones, along with coloured pens and pencils. I virtually never colour in, so they have to go, but most, if not all, have at least a couple of the pages coloured. Is there any point in sending them to charity, or are they for the bin, do you think?

Casdon

I decided I’d go through all the stuff in the bathroom cupboard today, and found a load of hair products I have tried and discarded - about 10 or so, including shampoo that made my head itch, conditioners that made it greasy, and gel that made it crispy. All good until I looked up how to dispose of it. I’m into recycling, but you can’t recycle unless the container is empty. So I looked up what to do, as it can’t go down the sink either. I ended up with an ice cream tub full of a disgusting mix of it all, which I had to seal and put in the general waste. By the time I’d done that and washed all the containers out the job took me over an hour! I think that counts as my bag for the day.

I've tidied and rearranged cupboards in the dining room today.
Not very strenuous. How long can you keep coffee liqueur?

Yes, I was squirting the contents of old lotions and potions into general waste yesterday and hoping that it will rot and that the washed containers can be recycled.

Doodledog

No bag today, as I've been busy with other things, but I hope to fill two tomorrow, so it's all good. I have a storage coffee table, and plan to muck it out tomorrow. Amongst other things, there are numerous adult colouring books in there - I bought one once, and my daughter kept getting me new ones, along with coloured pens and pencils. I virtually never colour in, so they have to go, but most, if not all, have at least a couple of the pages coloured. Is there any point in sending them to charity, or are they for the bin, do you think?

I'd call around to nice elder care - I'd imagine they may take lovely supplies for their craft room. After all, each person can only do a page at a time, no matter any other pages have been done.

They may also say 'what gave you that horrid idea' - but I think not. I donate lots of lovely things (Mum's mostly) to elder care.

Callistemon21

Casdon

I decided I’d go through all the stuff in the bathroom cupboard today, and found a load of hair products I have tried and discarded - about 10 or so, including shampoo that made my head itch, conditioners that made it greasy, and gel that made it crispy. All good until I looked up how to dispose of it. I’m into recycling, but you can’t recycle unless the container is empty. So I looked up what to do, as it can’t go down the sink either. I ended up with an ice cream tub full of a disgusting mix of it all, which I had to seal and put in the general waste. By the time I’d done that and washed all the containers out the job took me over an hour! I think that counts as my bag for the day.

I've tidied and rearranged cupboards in the dining room today.
Not very strenuous. How long can you keep coffee liqueur?

Yes, I was squirting the contents of old lotions and potions into general waste yesterday and hoping that it will rot and that the washed containers can be recycled.

I don’t think I could bring myself to throw away the coffee liqueur, I’d make lots of tiramisu!

Good idea, Norah. I'll do that on Monday.

Casdon

Callistemon21

Casdon

I decided I’d go through all the stuff in the bathroom cupboard today, and found a load of hair products I have tried and discarded - about 10 or so, including shampoo that made my head itch, conditioners that made it greasy, and gel that made it crispy. All good until I looked up how to dispose of it. I’m into recycling, but you can’t recycle unless the container is empty. So I looked up what to do, as it can’t go down the sink either. I ended up with an ice cream tub full of a disgusting mix of it all, which I had to seal and put in the general waste. By the time I’d done that and washed all the containers out the job took me over an hour! I think that counts as my bag for the day.

I've tidied and rearranged cupboards in the dining room today.
Not very strenuous. How long can you keep coffee liqueur?

Yes, I was squirting the contents of old lotions and potions into general waste yesterday and hoping that it will rot and that the washed containers can be recycled.

I don’t think I could bring myself to throw away the coffee liqueur, I’d make lots of tiramisu!

Yes! Silly me, I threw away a packet of sponge fingers which were bb October 2022.
All that sugar then doused in coffee liqueur and the tiramisu would have been fine.

Before this thread started I booked a charity shop collection, so yesterday 2 chests of drawers, bed & mattress, 2 other cupboards, 5 bags and 5 boxes were all collected, so I can now continue decluttering on a more normal scale. My biggest clutter is books, I have so many, but must be ruthless.

Jaylou

Before this thread started I booked a charity shop collection, so yesterday 2 chests of drawers, bed & mattress, 2 other cupboards, 5 bags and 5 boxes were all collected, so I can now continue decluttering on a more normal scale. My biggest clutter is books, I have so many, but must be ruthless.

Please tell me how to be ruthless with books.
Charity shop collection? I didn’t know about that so I’ll look into it.

I’ve recycled some clothes via Cotton Traders, which helped me part with some stuff.

We had about 100 books at MIL's house and decided to drop them at a National Trust place nearby - they were very pleased with them!

Mollygo

Jaylou

Before this thread started I booked a charity shop collection, so yesterday 2 chests of drawers, bed & mattress, 2 other cupboards, 5 bags and 5 boxes were all collected, so I can now continue decluttering on a more normal scale. My biggest clutter is books, I have so many, but must be ruthless.

Please tell me how to be ruthless with books.
Charity shop collection? I didn’t know about that so I’ll look into it.

I’ve recycled some clothes via Cotton Traders, which helped me part with some stuff.

Yes, we've got rid of furniture to charities as some have a large van; they may take them elsewhere to larger hubs.
Otherwise you could check to see if there is an upcycling centre in your area.

Please tell me how to be ruthless with books
Difficult one. My friend used to say that hardbacks are meant to be kept, paperbacks are meant to be passed on for others to enjoy.
I ruthlessly threw out some old, inherited books when we move house once and wish I never had. They did go to Oxfam so I hope they were enjoyed by someone else.

I used BHF, the charity shop don't do bag/box collections unless you have furniture to collect, so you can book in lots of boxes and bags as well. Barnados are a bit cheeky, they charge you £10 for a collection.

Yep- same problem with books. I'm determined to cull mine, so I've been taking 10 at a time to the charity shop. Now, if only I could stop myself thinking "ooh look at that" and buying several more it would be so much more successful . I suppose providing I purchase fewer than 10, each time it will help..

We are only a small charity. Our rag man comes about once a month. Last Friday he took 50 x 10Kl bags.
Since Xmas we have been inundated with donations. Last week we had to be really ruthless with ragging good clothes and only keeping the very best. Same with brick a brack.
Good job I’m not a hoarder, it would be dangerous 😟

Days 5 and 6 - Slim pickings, I’m afraid. Was not at home yesterday so I’m trying to do two days’ worth of de-cluttering. It’ll have to be two SMALL bags with detritus from kitchen drawers and not much else today.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to set about things with a bit more energy and enthusiasm.

Have not done anything hardcore yet. Just pottering away really, without having to make difficult decisions. A few more days and it’ll be crunch time!

We selected to target toys this afternoon.

Toys not used here are in better condition to those I saw in Church nursery today - excess bagged to transfer to our Church.

No actual decluttering today but I am on a twofold mission and have a big store-cupboard. I am needing to save and I am using my stores daily. They are going down very slowly but this storecupboard malarky has been ingrained for a whole lifetime

Keep going and wishing you the best of luck!

I wish. Husband is a hoarder - everything "might come in useful".

A big bag of books ready to go (somewhere)
Tidied out the bathroom cabinet

Yesterday I put a pile of DH's puzzles on the dining room table for him to decide whether to keep or donate. They're still there. 🙂

MerylStreep

We are only a small charity. Our rag man comes about once a month. Last Friday he took 50 x 10Kl bags.
Since Xmas we have been inundated with donations. Last week we had to be really ruthless with ragging good clothes and only keeping the very best. Same with brick a brack.
Good job I’m not a hoarder, it would be dangerous 😟

One of our local charity shops always said "No Books" but I noticed they have some very old books for sale in the window.

They seem to be changing ideas about what they want although they did say they were short on clothes.

Ditto the store cupboard goods, Karma. For 25 years we lived in a rural area of Scotland which lacked services and could be hard hit by weather. It seemed normal to me to keep a good stock of food but now we’re within walking distance of a big supermarket and even closer to a small one, there’s no need. It’s hard to re-educate your brain, though! Previously, when I opened a packet of, say, cereal, I would buy a new pack the next time I shopped. Now, I don’t buy a new pack until the first is almost empty but that hunting-gathering instinct is still very strong! I’m also working my way through the tins and packets we have, using them up. One tin of beans is fine, I don’t need to keep four.

Sorting books, I had to be ruthless when we moved. Some i kept for sentiment’s sake, nice hardback copies of classics etc. Some irreplaceable books also stayed. The Useful books stayed, too, and ones I was planning to read. However, I was ruthless with out of date reference books, books which had been read but never would be again and I made myself be honest as ti whether I’d ever read some of the titles on the shelf. One classic in particular that I’d been meaning to read for decades got the chop because I can no longer read the tiny print!

Many of our books went to the local British Legion who hold monthly book sales. Rotary clubs have similar sales in some areas so they might be worth checking out.