Desire to minimise/declutter

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

I'm looking for tips / advice / discussion around...

Paperwork: How do you minimise and organise paperwork at home? In an ideal world, I would have no papers at all!
There are people on Reddit whose only paper possession is their passport & ID... I aspire to be them but I know that's not practical of course haha.

Perfume: I have enough perfume to last me 11+ years and I keep being gifted more and more (let's just say I have very generous in-laws) and now I just feel so overwhelmed thinking about it. A few years ago, I had finally gotten my perfume collection down to a single bottle, and then, shortly after, I got engaged and subsequently, married, and now it's just way too much, even with wearing 2 sprays of perfume everyday to try to use them up. I can only only manage 2 sprays otherwise it's too strong for me. Also not keen on using them up as room sprays as I prefer the house to be fragrance-free where possible (natural scents like cooking, baking, flowers are totally fine though, of course), lest I get a headache.

Number one send me all your unwanted perfume!!! Seriously a dream come true for me

On a more serious note, I only keep essential paperwork and have a little metal filing case to keep it in. This works really well as everything can't be kept online, some things I do need hard copies. Maybe you could scan the things that you don't need hard copies of and keep it on your laptopt/PC and a backup on a memory stick

Metal Box File A4 Lockable 290 x 370 x 230mm Silver - 040011

Metal Box File A4 Lockable 290 x 370 x 230mm Silver 040011

www.staples.co.uk

Perfumes, I would sell or donate. Maybe even ask a couple of friends if they'd like to choose one. You really don't need to keep a load of perfumes if it's causing you anxiety. I'm with you on fragrance free, I even hate it when people spray in the toilet after a poo. It just smells like flowery poo then

 

[Codiaeum]

I'm looking for tips / advice / discussion around...

Paperwork: How do you minimise and organise paperwork at home? In an ideal world, I would have no papers at all!
There are people on Reddit whose only paper possession is their passport & ID... I aspire to be them but I know that's not practical of course

We recently bought a scanner and scanned everything (Scansnap ix1300, highly rate it). It took my partner and me a day each, I’d say, we did it during a rainy weekend. To keep it organized we also use now a program called Paperless where all those scans live and can be tagged for easy retrieval.
After that we binned an awful amount of paper and only kept stuff we absolutely need to or stuff we would rather shred ( don’t have a shredder, yet).

 

[idk21]

Your "flowery poo" comment made me laugh and I would love for you to have my perfume @OnlyHereForTheLolz ! Free for you, of course .

I have 15+ bottles of perfume so far (mainly gifted) which is too much and that number seems to keep expanding as my MIL brings back a bottle every time she goes on holiday, and I'm conscious that they may spoil before I get a chance to use them up. Ideally I'd just have 1 or 2 bottles at a time. As nice as they are, I may just have to put new ones straight into donation or sell. Do you have any recommendations for where I can sell perfume? I've managed to sell perfumes on Facebook Marketplace in the past but that was when I lived in a different city. I now live in a smaller town across the country and am not sure how they would fare.

I have a scanner too (Brother all-in-one - the printer comes in handy for shipping parcels for Vinted and eBay) and am quite the "scan and shred/recycle" enthusiast, and only keep essential and sentimental (like cards and letters) physical documents so I'm probably along the right lines already.

I have not heard of Paperless before @Codiaeum but will check it out. I currently use a combination of OneDrive for "my" files and a shared folder in Google Drive for any household documents.

 

[ljh1006]

I'm looking for tips / advice / discussion around...

Paperwork: How do you minimise and organise paperwork at home? In an ideal world, I would have no papers at all!
There are people on Reddit whose only paper possession is their passport & ID... I aspire to be them but I know that's not practical of course haha.

This is something I really struggle to deal with. I live in a country where my visa needs to be renewed on a yearly basis and live in fear that one time I'll forget a single piece of paper and suddenly get deported. I know that's an absolutely ridiculous thought but the piles of paperwork everywhere have turned my brain to mush

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

Your "flowery poo" comment made me laugh and I would love for you to have my perfume @OnlyHereForTheLolz ! Free for you, of course .

I have 15+ bottles of perfume so far (mainly gifted) which is too much and that number seems to keep expanding as my MIL brings back a bottle every time she goes on holiday, and I'm conscious that they may spoil before I get a chance to use them up. Ideally I'd just have 1 or 2 bottles at a time. As nice as they are, I may just have to put new ones straight into donation or sell. Do you have any recommendations for where I can sell perfume? I've managed to sell perfumes on Facebook Marketplace in the past but that was when I lived in a different city. I now live in a smaller town across the country and am not sure how they would fare.

I have a scanner too (Brother all-in-one - the printer comes in handy for shipping parcels for Vinted and eBay) and am quite the "scan and shred/recycle" enthusiast, and only keep essential and sentimental (like cards and letters) physical documents so I'm probably along the right lines already.

I have not heard of Paperless before @Codiaeum but will check it out. I currently use a combination of OneDrive for "my" files and a shared folder in Google Drive for any household documents.

Use Vinted for selling brand new perfumes and ebay for used ones.
Just be grateful your MIL likes you enough to get you a good gift. Mine get’s me the most disgusting tat you’ve seen in your life, can’t even donate it, it’s that bad

 

[idk21]

Use Vinted for selling brand new perfumes and ebay for used ones.
Just be grateful your MIL likes you enough to get you a good gift. Mine get’s me the most disgusting tat you’ve seen in your life, can’t even donate it, it’s that bad

Thank you - I had actually been looking at eBay to see how popular used perfumes are.

Tbh, some of it can be tatty, though I'm now curious to know what your MIL gets you! There are some things which me and my husband have shoved into a cupboard or under the bed, never to be looked at again. The perfumes are often cheap copies or non-branded, which can make it a bit more challenging to get rid of.

I had a chuckle earlier seeing that one of my sisters-in-law had listed a bunch of gifts on Vinted that my MIL had brought back for her from her last holiday (I did the same thing with my gifts last week!). So if anyone goes onto Vinted and sees identical listings for jewellery, it's probably me and my SIL both trying to get rid of our stuff

I did have an awkward moment just this weekend though, when my MIL had mentioned a bag that she'd got for me from one of her previous holidays and that I should use it... she never needs to know that I sold it on Vinted only 2 or so weeks ago...

 

[Icbaaaa]

I'd love to have a more minimalist home but my issue is attachment!!!!
I like to keep things for memories but I just dont have the space anymore.
My partner just tells me to bin it or donate but I feel so guilty and I really don't know how to stop feeling like this any hints/tips please?

 

[Flowergirl14]

I'd love to have a more minimalist home but my issue is attachment!!!!
I like to keep things for memories but I just dont have the space anymore.
My partner just tells me to bin it or donate but I feel so guilty and I really don't know how to stop feeling like this any hints/tips please?

I am the same!
I have now pretty much managed to declutter my upstairs of my small house.
Now downstairs to do!

I actually had to employ 2 ladies who came in for 6 hours and went through my spare bedroom which was full with clothes and shoes. We did bin it, charity, ebay it, keep it piles! Also did a memory box, with clothes I had from my late sister... Best money I ever spent.

I was then in the mindframe to tackle my other rooms.

Although I am not a fan of Stacey Solomon, I find watching her BBC show motivates me to declutter....Marie Kondo on Netflix also. You can pick up some tips also. There is another show similar on BBC.

It is very libererating also! Good luck....

 

[bcfc999]

That Stacey Solomon show is so motivating! I'd love to get my hands on some of those houses - it's always easier when it isn't your stuff.

Re feeling guilty - is any of it stuff you could repurpose or give to charity? My partner and I are mid clear out and she showed me a pile of shirts she was giving to charity: one was a shirt I really associate with our first couple of years together, so I asked if I could keep it to make a cushion cover out of - won't take up much space but I'll get to keep the association with the memories. I know some people make patchwork quilts or even memory bears out of old clothes or bedding, could that be an option? Obviously still takes up some room but could be a lot less. I've seen suggestions too (maybe here? Not sure) to take photos of belongings with sentimental value and keep those instead.

 

[Flowergirl14]

'Clean It, Fix It' is another programme on BBC iplayer I would recommend

 

[Boz]

I'd love to have a more minimalist home but my issue is attachment!!!!
I like to keep things for memories but I just dont have the space anymore.
My partner just tells me to bin it or donate but I feel so guilty and I really don't know how to stop feeling like this any hints/tips please?

I really struggle with this too! I'm still working on it, but sometimes I keep something because I worry that if I get rid of the item then I will lose the nice memory attached to it, so basically I'm keeping some things as a prompt. One thing that has helped me with that is taking a picture of the item, then you can give it away but know you still have the prompt there. I hope this might be helpful to you too!

 

[Lucyxxxx]

I sware I declutter my house monthly and yet there's always too much stuff. I was very deprived as a child and now I love to have all the nice things I went without back then. It soothes 6 Yr old me. But I want a space free of stuff. It's not as much as it used to be. Currently half way through yet another declutter. I know if I kept off vinted half the issue would solve its self!!!

 

[idk21]

Thought I'd share this quote I've just come across

 

[Popcornshovel]

Anyone got the itch for a new year's declutter? I love taking down the Xmas decorations and cleaning everywhere. It makes me want to get rid of all my unnecessary stuff.

 

[Icbaaaa]

I seen someone on instagram talking about getting rid of old clothes etc that youre holding onto for no reason/doesn't fit/holds memories from a night out etc and its got me quite motivated to finally tackle all my clothes!!!
I still have dresses/shorts pre pregnancy from over 5 years ago with the hopes one day I'll fit back into them, truth is I know I won't!!!

 

[Popcornshovel]

I seen someone on instagram talking about getting rid of old clothes etc that youre holding onto for no reason/doesn't fit/holds memories from a night out etc and its got me quite motivated to finally tackle all my clothes!!!
I still have dresses/shorts pre pregnancy from over 5 years ago with the hopes one day I'll fit back into them, truth is I know I won't!!!

Yes this is so liberating! I found the best way was to give to the charity shop in one go, because if I listed them on Vinted I got second thoughts about letting them go.

Also, where I've been 3 different sizes in recent years I recently went through my clothes and seperated into these categories:

- what fits me now (organised in drawers for easy access)
- what isn't far off fitting me if I lost a few pounds (put in bags in the cupboard to get out later)
- what will never fit me again or I don't like anymore (Vinted or charity shop).

 

[Zulkraa]

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

Yes this is so liberating! I found the best way was to give to the charity shop in one go, because if I listed them on Vinted I got second thoughts about letting them go.

Also, where I've been 3 different sizes in recent years I recently went through my clothes and seperated into these categories:

- what fits me now (organised in drawers for easy access)
- what isn't far off fitting me if I lost a few pounds (put in bags in the cupboard to get out later)
- what will never fit me again or I don't like anymore (Vinted or charity shop).

I love doing this and like you recently has some size changes.
Good reminder for me to do maybe next wkend and get rid of some unwanted clothes!

 

[Noseybonk]

I really need to join in. Our offices closed and we have all worked remotely since September. At first it was great - able to put washing on the line, still wearing pj bottoms occasionally whilst only top half visible on zoom calls etc. But now it’s just depressing, and the house feels too full and overwhelming. We have put the Xmas decs away today, and we have no real plans tomorrow so I will make a start, before I am back at work on 2nd.

 

[Icbaaaa]

I think I really need to focus on not having as much clutter. Normally people have 1 bad drawer or cupboard, I've got 4 cupboards and several junk drawers that need sorting.
Feel a bit overwhelmed by it all, but we really need to maximise our space and can't do with me keeping things I "may need" in the future etc!