2022-01 January Report
I've been slowly decluttering for the last few years already so the numbers are small, but I've been enjoying other people's lists so thought I could contribute mine.
For the purposes of the list I'm not counting consumables or their packaging unless the packaging is something we'll keep (e.g. a pretty biscuit tin). I'm also not counting things that I always knew were rubbish but hadn't got around to dealing with like old bank statements or the collection of glass that needs taking to the bottle bank. But things that I had deliberately kept and am now throwing away *do* count, like old electronics manuals. It feels a lot more intuitive than it looks written out...
To make the list the thing has to either be in a waste receptacle (e.g. recycling box in the kitchen) or have physically left the house. So things piling up in a donation box that's still here don't count, but I'm not splitting hairs about when exactly I emptied the bin containing a decluttered thing.
5 items in:
- 1 x Pajama top
- 1 x Pajama trousers
- 1 x "Crystal tree" kit
The above were my Christmas present from my sister, since we didn't manage to be in the same place at the same time until yesterday.
- 1 x small wicker gift basket
My partner gave this filled with goodies to my parents for Christmas and my mum brought it back to me today. I guess she'll be getting it back next Christmas!
- 1 x magazine
I got a free year's subscription to a magazine, decided I didn't want it after about three months but apparently can't cancel it. It feels like such a waste to recycle them without even reading them, so I have a pile of 8 waiting until I get fed up with seeing them I guess. No one was interested on Freecycle two months ago, so I doubt that's changed.
19 items out:
- 4 x pairs of socks either full of holes or with perished elastic - binned
- 2 x pairs of pants full of holes - binned
- 3 x magazines (2 from charities, 1 from the council) - recycled
- 1 x eraser that does not erase - binned
- 1 x "Travel Monopoly" game - recycled*
- 1 x unreadable microSB card - binned
- 1 x broken mp3 player - recycled
- 1 x case for broken mp3 player - binned
- 2 x novelty books - given as a secret santa present
- 1 x blouse - exchanged for store credit (christmas present that didn't fit)
- 1 x set of RPG dice - sold on ebay for net £6.58
- 1 x novelty smartphone - sold on ebay for net £33.66
Other Little Victories
While these aren't things leaving the house, they have reduced the overall clutter level, so are worth recognising.- 2 "travel soap boxes" no longer sit empty on the bathroom windowsill, but are in the cabinet protecting bars of soap until they are used
- 1 pajama top ripped up into cleaning rags
- I've finally cleared the windowsill in the study
For years it had shoeboxes and papers all over, partly because we'd not got around to sorting out that junk, partly because we used to have a sofa in front of it and we needed to prevent the dog seeing out the window and barking *incessantly*. The sofa left last April, so this only took like 8 months...
- One of the "to be dealt with later" shoeboxes in the livingroom is now empty.
When surfaces get overrun with random crap, I'll sweep it into a box "to be dealt with later". When I need something from the box, I find a proper home for it and deal with at least one other item in the box. This works a lot better for me than either dealing with the pile of crap all at once (and running out of energy or becoming overwhelmed before I finish) or leaving it out until I've slowly picked away at the whole lot (and having a messy space that means when I leave one thing out it becomes part of the pile instead of something that can be quickly tidied when I have a spare moment).
That's all. But it's a start, and the beginning of the end as far as having a tidy, organised home is concerned.