Desire to minimise/declutter

[Popcornshovel]

For the new year I'm going to look at finding a home for everything. I've got a few categories of stuff which doesn't live anywhere so it gets left out, so I'll need to make a place for it so it can be put away each time.

It's little things I don't think about like sellotape and scissors, I probably use them weekly but not daily and they just get left on the kitchen counter cos they don't have a space in a drawer.

 

[50sGirl]

Hi All,
I’d like to join in please.
I’m going to try the monthly declutter challenge whereby you declutter 1 item on day 1, 2 on day 2, etc. By the end of January you should have decluttered 496 items.
I need to get rid of a lot of stuff.

 

[Noseybonk]

Hi All,
I’d like to join in please.
I’m going to try the monthly declutter challenge whereby you declutter 1 item on day 1, 2 on day 2, etc. By the end of January you should have decluttered 496 items.
I need to get rid of a lot of stuff.

This is what I have started today too. I haven’t had much time today due to visitors etc but still done well over the minimum and feel better for it

 

[Popcornshovel]

Had a good day today reducing my books down by half! So free-ing to get rid of books which I read over 10 years ago. I enjoyed them at the time, but if I haven't reread them by now, I never will. Put them all in a box for the charity shop.

I also received 2 gifts sets at Xmas which I'll never use due to having sensitive skin. Usually, I would have shoved these in a cupboard and they'd just sit there gathering dust. I've decided to let them go while appreciating the thought behind the gift, but accepting they aren't suitable for me. One I've sold on Vinted and another went in the charity shop box.

 

[JoeBloggs]

I would have started but sadly I’ve had a sickness bug for two days. I’m still not 100% but I am itching to get started and this year I’m going to be ruthless. That dress I’ve been having onto because i love it but it doesn’t suit me is going.

I’m going to go room by room and also do some touch up painting etc so helpfully in three months I will be done and can just keep ontop
Of it.

one of my big things for 2024 is to stop buying crap.

 

[Saddlesoap]

Off to B&Ms tomorrow to buy some storage boxes in a declutter attempt!

 

[MrsGahan]

So glad to have come across this thread. Our house is ready to burst. We rarely throw anything out. Obviously as my kids grew their clothes were given to charity but in general we keep stuff. I must have 25 jackets/coats. Is that a lot? I couldn’t tell how many shoes I have. My teen daughter is the same. My wardrobes are full of clothes I don’t really wear. I’m threatening a big clear out for ages and I think the time has come!! Wish me luck.

 

[Popcornshovel]

I would have started but sadly I’ve had a sickness bug for two days. I’m still not 100% but I am itching to get started and this year I’m going to be ruthless. That dress I’ve been having onto because i love it but it doesn’t suit me is going.

I’m going to go room by room and also do some touch up painting etc so helpfully in three months I will be done and can just keep ontop
Of it.

one of my big things for 2024 is to stop buying crap.

Stop buying crap is a great motto to have!

I've got a one in, one out rule now for things like books, kitchen appliances, board games and clothes.

 

[smellsofbiscuits]

Hello all, saw this thread pop up. I desperately need to declutter. We've moved house three times in 7 years and had two babies (now kids) in that time. The last time we moved I paid for a packing service and moved boxes that hadn't been unpacked since our last move Our bedroom is the dumping ground for a lot of clutter so I'm going to start there. Got two days of annual leave I need to use up in January so planning to use them to make a good dent in the chaos. I'll also pre-book the tip both days so I have a goal/exit plan to aim towards.

Daily decluttering plans stress me out so I'd rather tackle big chunks when I can. May pop back here for inspiration on the days that I am a decluttering tornado!

 

[Flowergirl14]

I had a spare room which was shocking, it was my dumping ground....clothes, shoes, books.
I tried to do it myself but never got far.
I hired 2 ladies from a local decluttering company and they were amazing.
All done in 6 hours.
They went through all my clothes with me, and sorted them into piles - charity, ebay, dump.
Felt so much better after it.
The best money I ever spent.
I now have a beautiful spare bedroom, and have been able to invite friends to stay.

 

[idk21]

Off to B&Ms tomorrow to buy some storage boxes in a declutter attempt!

My unsolicited advice is sort first, organise later. Don't buy any containers until you know: 1) exactly how many you need after you've already sorted and decluttered; 2) what you're going to put in them, otherwise you'd risk ending up with too many containers which becomes clutter in itself (ask me how I know )

Hope this is ok to do, but I thought I'd share some posts from one of my fave minimalism bloggers on this topic too (I've mentioned her on other threads previously):

Minimalist Strategy: Don’t Organize Your Clutter

www.missminimalist.com

Storage is Not a Solution

www.missminimalist.com

 

[Icbaaaa]

I had a spare room which was shocking, it was my dumping ground....clothes, shoes, books.
I tried to do it myself but never got far.
I hired 2 ladies from a local decluttering company and they were amazing.
All done in 6 hours.
They went through all my clothes with me, and sorted them into piles - charity, ebay, dump.
Felt so much better after it.
The best money I ever spent.
I now have a beautiful spare bedroom, and have been able to invite friends to stay.

Thats such a fab idea!!!
How did you manage to find them etc? I think that would actually help push me.
My husband can do it but I find he bins farrrrr too much, so I'd like to have some sort of control over it!

 

[JoeBloggs]

My unsolicited advice is sort first, organise later. Don't buy any containers until you know: 1) exactly how many you need after you've already sorted and decluttered; 2) what you're going to put in them, otherwise you'd risk ending up with too many containers which becomes clutter in itself (ask me how I know )

Hope this is ok to do, but I thought I'd share some posts from one of my fave minimalism bloggers on this topic too (I've mentioned her on other threads previously):

Minimalist Strategy: Don’t Organize Your Clutter

www.missminimalist.com

Storage is Not a Solution

www.missminimalist.com

I agree, I was close to ordering boxes last night but instead have so many which don’t work for the spaces I want to organise.

 

[bcfc999]

We decluttered our bedroom just before Christmas - got rid of enough that we could send to charity the chest of drawers that had been crammed into the walk-in wardrobe, and replaced our old bedside cabinets too as a treat. We ended up with two big charity bags and two big bags of stuff not good enough for charity. I organised all of our craft stuff too from one massive box into four smaller boxes, so it's way easier to find stuff now, and moved the massive box into the wardrobe to keep shoes in. So satisfying! The room I'm really dreading is the office/spare room - it's tiny (maybe 2m x 3m) but with a desk, cabinet and shelving unit crammed in there it's chocka

 

[adviseplz]

Someone please (virtually) give me a shake and tell me that I should just take the big bag of clothes I've been trying to sell on Vinted/Depop for years down to the charity shop. For some reason I have forged value to these items and don't want to part with them unless they're being sold.

 

[iieee]

Someone please (virtually) give me a shake and tell me that I should just take the big bag of clothes I've been trying to sell on Vinted/Depop for years down to the charity shop. For some reason I have forged value to these items and don't want to part with them unless they're being sold.

Just take them to the shop!

At the moment they are a burden to you - selling them is a job that needs to be done. If you give them away you will never think about them again. And the value you have forged to them doesn't disappear, it will go to the charity that needs it.

 

[Codiaeum]

Someone please (virtually) give me a shake and tell me that I should just take the big bag of clothes I've been trying to sell on Vinted/Depop for years down to the charity shop. For some reason I have forged value to these items and don't want to part with them unless they're being sold.

It's not value you have a assigend, but a task that you likely don't want to do, because it's bothersome and lengthy and not even over with listing it on Vinted (just because it's on there, the clothes aren't gone and if someone wants it you need to find a a box and post it, etc).
Just take it to the charity shop, you'll feel much better, it'll be done in minutes, instead of weeks and free that from your brain.

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

Someone please (virtually) give me a shake and tell me that I should just take the big bag of clothes I've been trying to sell on Vinted/Depop for years down to the charity shop. For some reason I have forged value to these items and don't want to part with them unless they're being sold.

If you feel like you need money for it to get rid of the bag then why not try a cash for clothes. Where we live they pay £0.50 per kilo which isn’t much but I got £10.00 over the wkend for crap that will never be worn. Plus the money is set aside for a treat

 

[adviseplz]

This is the pep talk I needed, thanks everyone… charity shop trip tomorrow!

 

[50sGirl]

Someone please (virtually) give me a shake and tell me that I should just take the big bag of clothes I've been trying to sell on Vinted/Depop for years down to the charity shop. For some reason I have forged value to these items and don't want to part with them unless they're being sold.

This meme is great. Now I just need to follow it!