De-cluttering, still at it, still no end

After a massive matter de clutter I am still cluttered. If I had good homes for loads of stuff I wouldn't miss them, its giving away unused items that hurts to car boots etc where they get next to nothing.

Soroptimum

I really really want to declutter, with a view to downsizing in a few years time. But whereas I can be ruthless, DH is just useless. We still have his DADS teddy bears, coin, cigarette cards and stamp collection etc. etc. As well as DH cub outfit, car magazines and brochures from the 70s - you get the picture! Any advice gratefully received as I’m getting desperate.

Only thing I can think of, is, my DH will remove things if I have already done so.
I cant decide if he then feels guilty?

But I wouldnt be asking him to remove things if they were his sentimental things.
Only things he has left lying around, or could tidy/bin.

And me, Monica! My first one ("Cuddles") lost an arm. Still love him to death! And dolls. My children were born in the early Seventies and the girls were totally freaked out by my dolls! Why? I loved them and played for days with them. I still have two, once beautiful, china-headed baby dolls. Now somewhat battered an bruised. Sad.

A lot of my clutter is paper-based: scrapbooks, or stuff waiting to go in scrapbooks, brochures of places I have been to over the years, which I bought or picked up instead of taking endless photos which are later unidentifiable. Hard to get rid of as they bring back happy memories and are informative..

Talking of shoes and trainers.

DH couldn’t find a pair of his good sunglasses, we both thought we knew where they were. But no.

We searched high and low, ascertained they had last been with us on holiday to Barbados over a year ago. DH felt we must have left them behind, but I didn’t think so, we are really careful and check thoroughly before we leave anywhere.

I asked him whereabouts in the suitcase would he have put them, and it came to us, perhaps tucked into some shoes?

Sure enough, they were hiding in a pair of trainers, obviously never used last summer since we returned.

So pleased.

Thanks to St Anthony also. 🙏

Last night I started nodding off at 7, I had to get moving or I would not have slept all night. I had watched a youtube video about seniors and shoe safety, so I tootled upstairs and took all my shoes out of wherever I had stored them

Good unworn boots in that pile and they fit so they have been moved from hidden to accessible for next autumn. DB sandals, 6 pairs from under a bed, two pairs taken out to be worn all summer. If I alternate 6 pairs then I will end up not wearing any enough to get rid next autumn, so I will wear 2 pairs constantly. They are already slightly worn anyway

All I got rid of was one set of trainers, too stiff, too small and too white but I have made more sense of my footwear

In process I have sorted a bit in my wardrobe, not clothing just stored stuff and have cleared about 2 cubic feet into the bin, giving me that much space back plus I vacuumed in there

I accessed my sandals from under the bed and am very happy at how space is appearing, slow but steady

I noticed my cases on the wardrobe shelf, they will have to stay for now but eventually they will store, empty, under my bed. That will be a reason to celebrate

Soroptimum

I really really want to declutter, with a view to downsizing in a few years time. But whereas I can be ruthless, DH is just useless. We still have his DADS teddy bears, coin, cigarette cards and stamp collection etc. etc. As well as DH cub outfit, car magazines and brochures from the 70s - you get the picture! Any advice gratefully received as I’m getting desperate.

Arson?

I really really want to declutter, with a view to downsizing in a few years time. But whereas I can be ruthless, DH is just useless. We still have his DADS teddy bears, coin, cigarette cards and stamp collection etc. etc. As well as DH cub outfit, car magazines and brochures from the 70s - you get the picture! Any advice gratefully received as I’m getting desperate.

I thought I would join this thread. I am starting de cluttering tommorow, clothes and anything else that I have not used in a long time.
I am looking to do a boot sale and a tabletop sale in a church hall.
I de cluttered the garage last year. I had a good builder who done the garden for me, and took a huge dilapidated garage down for me. I picked what I wanted to save and he burnt the rest. Saved me £££on the skip. I don't know where all the stuff came from.

I like to give my stuff away, the local community shed has recently had from me an almost-new hegner scrollsaw and stand, a large dust extractor, a lot of top quality wood and so on. Three car loads from me and no rusty rubbish. It is very satisfying to give items that will be used by many people in my community. I believe my things were worth several 00s of £

Good karma always comes back to me

Well done!

Well done MOnica

Well, we did a boot fair today. What we were selling was mainly tools and DIY stuff. All the duplicate equipment we brought back tonthe UK when we sold our house in France last year, plus camping chairs and other such. We sold most of it for a£1.00 a piece.

DH put a lot of the stuff loosely into what he called 'rootle boxes'. It seems no man can resist a rootle box.

We made £60, £50 profit after paying £10 to get in. Better than dumping it all at the tip.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess to having fallen off the decluttering wagon at the library book sale...
In my defence, I was left unsupervised.

It was a good day to be doing the garage, temperature was just right and I have done well, mostly it was compost that went out ie on the garden. Some more tools in the car for the allotment.

Boxes stored for a long time ie memories of box-hunting from my ebay selling days, they have been collapsed and are in recycling. Bubble wrap gone to the tip

Indoors I grabbed all my knitting paperbacks that are magazine-sized, like laine and Kim Hargreaves. Many are old, too `designer` too young for me, too fancy to knit, too many colours etc. I took a heavy load of them to the recycling centre just now. I cba to lug them down to the cs

Feeling satisfied tbh and done more than expected today. I won`t miss those books

I moved a few things in the garage and there is more empty space. I still want to do two top shelves but need to be in the mood. It feels better in there

M0nica

RosieandherMaw

Don’t shoot me down in flames but surely the necessary “companion” to decluttering is not buying /acquiring more stuff - whether that is charity shop shopping, filling the freezer, knitting, buying or sewing special garments eg for gardening (my gardening clothes =my old clothes) or buying gadgets when most kitchens could start up their own shop!
Eg I am constantly being told I should buy an Air Fryer, maybe, but along with my Kenwood, Magimix, soup maker, slow cooker, pressure cooker and (defunct ) ice cream maker, I fully intend to resist.
Yes, shopping and buying are pleasurable but if we are trying to cut down we shouldn’t be topping up at the other end!

Personally, I am not a shopper and I can get all my clothes, bar winter coats into a standard wardrobe and goodsized chest of drawers and I have empty drawers and cupboards in very bedroom bar our own, but when you are down sizing from a house with 2,600 sq ft of space to one with 1500 sq ft, It is not just a case of decluttering.

It means clearing rooms of furniture because there are fewer rooms in your new home, and they are smaller. It is getting rid of furniture, paintings and ornaments that are integral to your current home and have been much a much loved part of your home for decades. Furniture etc that you will really miss when it goes, but has to, because there is no where to put it in your new smaller home

I so agree MOnica. We are currently in the process of downsizing and it seems like I am having to get rid of so many things and memories of our lives here because they ‘just won’t fit’ into our new place. It’s a very emotional and upsetting thing to have to do.

I took 2 large, old and cheap watering cans and a couple more tools to my allotment yesterday. Today I bought a new watering can, Burgon and Ball for home. I bought the 5 litre can last year and the 9 litre can this morning. The old plastic cans remaining at home have not got much life left and anyway I do love my good watering cans, so efficient to use, easy on the muscles

4 items out and one in, not bad

Trouble is that these new cans are so good, I store them in the garage from autumn to spring. The plastic ones are always out

No time for decluttering today as I had the DGC here busying themselves in the greenhouse and garden. After that I viewed a flat for sale. "You wouldn't like a flat Granny" said the 10yr old "you need a garden and a pottery"
The flat is lovely and has a garden and is actually very roomy. It's on the first floor so not so easy as I get older.

I was doing my best to be one in and one out with cleaning products but miele sent me an e mail with a good sales offer and soon I will have 3 large bottles of special wool wash. It would be stupid not to when I use that product often. It did not stop at wool wash btw

Then we are advised to hoard tins as metal prices will be rising, so I did buy 12 of this and 12 of that, all online of course, good products that I will definitely use. Good chocolate is going up steeply due to general problems so now I have a stash of dark chocolate, which I eat every day

I put it down to being a good housekeeper

I want to work in the garage, to see what I can remove but quite honestly I think I am down to bare bones. I do use tools and do maintenance if not too heavy or too high

Oh yes, I do have an area I can work on, some specialist garden stuff that I will no longer use. That might well free-up a whole shelf. Covers for frames for my vegtrugs. I no longer have the frames so why keep the covers?

DH is valiantly sorting away in the garage.

Big pile of scrap.

He also said that he has put some of my late dad’s ‘vintage’ tools to go in our next car boot sale, hope I don’t mind.

Dad died in 1972, so no, we have hoarded them long enough.

I have been in the loft, have put some curtains and a throw aside for said car boot sale, plus various bits and bobs, a wicker log basket that we have no use for, but it was made by the blind at St Dunstans, and I feel reluctant to part with it.

Must harden my heart though.

Not sure if I posted this on another thread but a little girl came to visit us a few weeks ago and I apologised that we had few toys left, not even any Sindys.
She told me that was ok, she'd given away her Barbies because she's too old for them now. She's eight.

Grammaretto

That sounds like the horrid boy next door in Toy Story!

Grammaretto

I had a cruel unsentimental mother who made me give away all my dolls and soft toys when I was about 11 to the next door neighbours' small children. I could see them from my window burying them in the sandpit.
I think I'm still traumatised!

I knew a little boy who had all of his cudllies taken away from him when he reached a certain age ( can’t remember what it was but wasn’t all that old) because he was now ‘too old for them’ .

You’ve all inspired me to get started declutter.

I had a cruel unsentimental mother who made me give away all my dolls and soft toys when I was about 11 to the next door neighbours' small children. I could see them from my window burying them in the sandpit.
I think I'm still traumatised!