De-cluttering, the never-ending process

Ooh, so now I have energised myself, it was going to be a lazy, not doing anything, day. I am going to sort those tool boxes later eg the one full of all sorts of screwdrivers. I talked myself into it just now and yes the mastic can go too. Those boxes are only £4 each so every cleared one can go to the cs

Those wrenches that I bought from qvc, 6 years ago, what a waste. They take up a fair bit of room and I have never used them. Destined for the cs

It is all I need, a word here and there from you brilliant posters, it is like turning that key in my back and I have gone from a lazy day to what will be a positive day. I have always used the word positive. For me it means that I have achieved something, however small, not wasted the day

Yesterday , I felt really exasperated with all those dress patterns .
What was I thinking of ?
Found good homes for them and kept my favourites .
And today it will continue ....

Good Esmay, I too have hundreds of patterns, got rid of the ones I will never wear and made a catalogue of the ones I have kept. Amaxon business cards with a small drawing and brief description, into neat business card folders. So far I am managing to st n my hands re new patterns

Shattered, I worked harder today than expected, all diy stuff, that just in case stuff that I know I will never use. Such as hundreds of screws, part used tins of paint, two wonky tool boxes. I am back from the tip so no changing my mind now. Little by little, spaces are opeing up

One more 18 litre really useful box to sort and I need to be ruthless, some of that stuff was prior to moving here. No nap today so I need to be ready for bed early, I know I will doze off later if I sit back in my recliner, cannot be doing that. I want a good sleep tonight. No clearing of anything tomorrow

Thanks fancythat, Maybee70 and Casdon for your comments and tips - very helpful.

Oh those bloody dress patterns !

I thought that I'd sorted through every last one of them .
There's a neat bag in the hall for the charity shop .
And some that I'm giving to a friend .

I opened another box of them then I found a bag in the conservatory .

Done .

Just shifted a mountain of books and there are more of them ...leave dress patterns long enough and they reproduce themselves .

Next time , I go to the Post Office I'm resisting those dress making magazines .
I'm glad that you have send off for the Prima freebie otherwise there would be even more of them !

Empathy in bucket loads for you esmay

I am back to slow clearing now, I could call it using up. I think it ties in with the Dutch art of niksen. Nothing at all stressful and take it as it comes

I have to say that my garage is nice now, I did put jigsaw rubber tiles on the floor before I moved in, so there is no dust, my efficient powerful sebo is stored in there and I do vacuum the garage floor. It will do fine while I slowly reduce the usables in there, ready for the next stage in several months time

I have usables all over the place, not least in my utility room. I don`t think I will need to buy detergents for years. I use miele twin dos and my cupboard is stashed, me and special online offers! I always had an eye for good value, better value now that prices have risen.

A little bit of kitchen work shortly, my pull out larder, I plan to go through tins and packets, pulling out eg soups that I had in for winter just in case, they will be going to foodbank box today

The sun was out yesterday and I decided to spend a bit of time de-cluttering in the garage. I have quite a few of these on rails on the walls

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/kungsfors-container-stainless-steel-60334920/

They are very useful, contents are now sorted and several liquid items and aerosols are out, my neighbour took many from me. I did not label any containers as I can see the contents well enough. Fly spray, lubricants, honing items, car stuff, shoe stuff etc It was an easy job, worth doing and did not take long

As the day evolves, so I just do what I notice and being spring, I tidied up and shortened some straggly chinese evergreen indoor plants. They look much tidier

The only apparent process left, apart from using up, is a final sort of my wardrobe. I shall do that before I put away for summer

All this decluttering , however virtuous, presupposes that one has amassed clutter in the first place.
Why-ever keep half used tins of paint? An unopened match pot for possible future use to touch up scratches makes more sense. There are only so many Allen keys/screwdrivers/hammers /wrenches any body can need, so why have enough tools to kit out a plumber or carpenter?
From the lengthy threads on Airfryers, bread makers, slow cookers and other “essential” kitchen gadgets I also suspect a bit of a GN Lakeland habit
And finally the tendency among older people to stockpile or even hoard “usables” - Margaret Thatcher was not alone in this. There’s having a well stocked larder and there’s having tins of tomato soup in the garage or dishwasher tabs in the spare room! I’d prefer not to wait until things reach this stage and note that the younger generation in the shape of my DDS seem unlikely to fall into this trap.

Being a very competent diy person, I do have that tendency to collect tools and keep pots of paint. My house is completely finished to a high standard now so several of these items can now be released, always for free, to anyone who could make use of them. That does involve clearing out various spaces

I did initially keep my husband`s tools and added to them. It is taking quite a mental effort to let these things go, especially the old allen keys which were in imperial gauge. Who would have thought there would be an emotional attachment to allen keys and the like

Yes I have finished, thank you maw for reminding me about my life. My clearing job since bereavement is done and I will be leaving my house and possessions in good order for the next generation, knowing that along the way I have helped people with my free gifts to them, whether it is mens sheds, foodbanks or the charity shop and even the men at the recyccling site

I am pleased to say that I have no expensive clothes to sell on ebay, now that really would be a waste and self-indulgence

MawtheMerrier

All this decluttering , however virtuous, presupposes that one has amassed clutter in the first place.
Why-ever keep half used tins of paint? An unopened match pot for possible future use to touch up scratches makes more sense. There are only so many Allen keys/screwdrivers/hammers /wrenches any body can need, so why have enough tools to kit out a plumber or carpenter?
From the lengthy threads on Airfryers, bread makers, slow cookers and other “essential” kitchen gadgets I also suspect a bit of a GN Lakeland habit
And finally the tendency among older people to stockpile or even hoard “usables” - Margaret Thatcher was not alone in this. There’s having a well stocked larder and there’s having tins of tomato soup in the garage or dishwasher tabs in the spare room! I’d prefer not to wait until things reach this stage and note that the younger generation in the shape of my DDS seem unlikely to fall into this trap.

It’s a lack of time that results in many of us accumulating too much in the child raising years I think. Unless you have your whole house systemised it’s so easy to buy something again because you didn’t realise you already had it. I ended up with 9 rolls of sellotape because I didn’t have one consistent place to return it to for example.
I also think we tend to fill the space we have, and when it’s tidy because you have lots of storage space you don’t tend to worry about it - until you need to downsize.

Yes karmalady, how many clothes sold on eBay are unused and totally unnecessary purchases?

At least tools etc, especially inherited ones, have had a bit of use.

Calendargirl

Yes karmalady, how many clothes sold on eBay are unused and totally unnecessary purchases?

At least tools etc, especially inherited ones, have had a bit of use.

I completely agree with you calendargirl. Casdon, me too esp the rolls of masking tape, all now gone to a mens shed

I am thinking ahead, since dd told me that they were thinking of moving in around five years time. I shall be 80 and will no longer be climbing up ladders or tackling loft leaks or heavy digging. What I keep for then will be appropriate. I am hoping to keep my energy, health and enthusiasms

It was very similar when I re-homed our horses, all that associated paraphernalia had to go. I sold none of it, it all went to a horse charity. I would say horses for courses but it is bikes for me these days

This house of mine is the first house in 48 years from which I have been able to walk to shops and facilities. A good store was always a necessity, especially during the several snow periods when we were snowed in, sometimes for weeks at a time. It is hard to shake away that mentality but I am achieving a deal of success

There is such a lot of adaptation to do, for those of us who have always lived in the countryside and far from shops. Naturally the upside was the freedom that the children had, the fresh air, greenery and pets.

Adaptation takes time and effort. I admire most on here who are really trying hard. I don`t like to see the sarcastic belittling of people who are trying their best to prep for their futuresbut then people in glass houses eh

In my case it has been me prioritising other things rather than the house.
It never got too bad. But I would rather prioritise people and their needs - I have a large family, church and otherwise, and lots of friends.
I had got to the point at the moment, that the people around me and family are ok for now.
[My 90 year old mother may be in need of care soon].
So I am prioritising the house while there is a window of opportunity.
Plus we have semi retired so that has freed up a bit more time as well. As well as meaning we can have a bit more of a clear up.

And as mentioned above, I part need to reorganise to make room for GC and families.
I need to bring back/reassemble a second set of bunk beds for example.

My DH and I have gone from 2 of us, to, well many more.

Everyone has different circumstances and situations MawtheMerrier. Which most do not wish to publicise.

Well said, karmalady! I admire your practical skills, and your sensible and generous attitude. 🙏🏼💐

pce612, I’m so sorry about your husband. 💐
I do hope you find an answer to your dilemma about who will know.

I think this is an interesting thread, with some good ideas. Overall, I consider myself to be a tidy person, not a hoarder, and fairly abstemious in my buying habits. But, there still accumulates a lot of stuff! Some of mine, some of DH, some belonging to AC / GC, as we have a cellar and an attic and they don’t. We have clear ours, from time to time, but I’m not too worried about it.

I tell mine, when they move into owned or rented property, to move into a property with a loft.
I have managed to get them to take most of their stuff. But some remains.
Two used to live abroad. I couldnt have expected them to take absolutely all of their stuff with them at that time. I didnt feel it was fair as we had the room.

I have been trying to de clutter for over 2 years. I am always selling suff on Ebay or Gumtree. last week I sold loads of yarn and made nearly £100. A few months ago I sold masses of crafting stuff which I no longer use. I am an avid reader and buy loads of books and now pass them on to charity shops as I finish them. I have also started using the library more so I don’t have to pass books on.

We have been trying to decorate this past year and have done one spare room, our bedroom and the lounge so far. So as we decorate a room and hang new curtains etc we also remove any clutter. So I now have 3 big boxes of ornaments etc in my summerhouse to sell or donate. They’re not coming back in the house again!

thank you maw for reminding me about my life. My clearing job since bereavement is done and I will be leaving my house and possessions in good order for the next generation,

I am not sure how I have reminded you about your life, and being widowed perhaps slightly more recently my aim is to be pragmatic about resisting the urge to accumulate more “stuff” but enjoy, use and appreciate what brings me pleasure.
Whether it is clothes or mattocks, hand drills or handbags is neither here nor there.

Fortunately we don’t accumulate ‘stuff’ just a few bits to sort in the loft at some point. But I have friends who do, so I admire all of you in tackling this difficult and sometimes emotional task 👏👏👏.

I’ve got all sorts of old tools that belonged to my FIL. I just love things like that. Old meters and gauges.

I just bought more yarn

Some people collect handbags, some collect shoes

I’m back on the decluttering wagon! 👍 I tidied out one third of a sideboard today. Because we moved in so recently there’s not that much recycling or ‘big’ stuff to get rid of but I went through receipts and threw out the out of date ones, binned some odds and ends like the child car seat instructions in French/German/Arabic which we will never need.

I also found a very small kitchen cupboard which somehow is still empty and it'll be perfect for jugs and vases which are currently scattered about the kitchen.

Much of this is easiest done as a couple, I don`t know how you could get a resistant OH to do his bit but maybe supply just one bag to fill and leave him to it. Man cave stuff, perhaps a tiny space at a time. My husband did his wardrobe much before I did mine, the easiest for him to get rid of was his dress suit, then followed by all suits, bar one, I think it was symbolic to do this after finishing work

I only have this and that to do now, today I am taking a large heavy hand made rectangular vase back to a charity shop. I had a candle in it but it should go back now. I paid £6.50 for it and I think they will get that again

I have some lovely felting kits in boxes upstairs eg make an elephant, a unicoen etc I may well start to remove them soon, I just need a bit of a think first. I made a felted robin once and it is lovely on my mantlepiece but felting does not have the same appeal to me as knitting spinning or sewing.

Callistemon, I also collect yarn and fibre tops for spinning on one of my family of spinning wheels. I have beautiful tops in vac packed bags, cashmere silk merino mixes etc. They will never go and will never deteriorate

Paperwork later today, out with the old and in with the new and an update of my bank and savings accounts. All just in case of course