Monday 6 December 2010

Getting back at it...

Yes I know I've been quiet. I have to admit I lost the momentum a bit having just about finished the bedroom.  However I'm back at it again and took a suitcase full of books and videos to the charity shop yesterday and have another load ready to go.

Nearly all the eBay sales from a couple of weekends back have now gone which made a HUGE space and I put a few more bits on yesterday.  Having thinnned out the books and vidoes I now have a whole bookshelf that can go! Already, even though the bookshelf is still there that bit of the room feels brighter. When the shelves go it will also mean a bit of blank wall!

I'm determined to be able to see the floor and get in all the cupboards by Christmas - at the moment the front room is still covered in boxes and I can't get in the cupboard where the hoover is (well that's my excuse anyway!!)

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Packing packing packing!!!

I spent two and a half hours last night parceling up eBay sales ready for posting - and boy was I bored by the end of it!! I had a couple of days worth of parcels to catch up on as I was out on Monday night so had to deal with all the stuff that had been paid for on Monday and Tuesday.  Thanks to Mum doing a post office trip for me today I am now back on top of it all. Of the 76 things that I've sold so far there are only 5 still awaiting payment and two of them will be cash on collection so that's pretty good.  I still have 10 items listed that will finish this weekend.  There may be more to list as I start on the next room of the flat but I think that's all the bedroom stuff done now. Just got one more cupboard in the bedroom to go (and still the pile of stuff that is looking for a new home!)

Next stop will be the kitchen I think...

Sunday 21 November 2010

Phew!!!

Well that was mad. I must remember not to put so much on eBay to finish over a weekend. I have two large bags of parcels to post tomorrow from the stuff that finished Fri and Sat night and has been paid for.  I have a box full of Myth and Magics that have been paid for parceled up and ready to go on Tuesday (with help from Mum).  There are also several things that are waiting contact from the buyers to arrange collection and all the other bits that have sold and not yet been paid for. 

Ready to go on the train to London to be posted

Ready to be posted on Tuesday

The complete chaos of the front room!!


PHEW!!!

The bedroom is almost finished now.  A couple more cupboards to do and then deciding where to put the couple of boxes of bits that I want to keep but need a new home!!

A box of stuff went to the charity shop today as well.

No more will get done tomorrow as I'm out for the evening!!

Saturday 20 November 2010

eBay - now it gets complicated...

Well the eBay sales are going well. The first lots of stuff to finish this weekend finished last night and I trekked off to the post office with 8 parcels this morning.  3 more people have paid this afternoon so that's another 3 parcels wrapped up and ready to go with three more awaiting payment. Unfortunately the other 60 things finish tonight and tomorrow night so there is the potential to have a HUGE pile of parcels to post on Monday!!!

As I work in London anything I want to post during the week has to be lugged up on the train and taken to the post office round the corner from where I work...I think I may have to smile sweetly at my Mum this week or hope that people pay in dribs and drabs so I only have a few parcels to take each day!!!

I'll be glad to get my lunge floor and hallway back though so that I can start filling it with the next load of stuff ready for the charity shop or eBay. As I only have a one bed flat there is no 'spare' room to clear out into so I'm having to do it in small bits but I'm getting there and loving the results.

Right, back to it!!!

Friday 19 November 2010

eBay

So the first lot of eBay sales finished last weekend and made me £17.  The next lot finish over the next 3 days and so far stand at £49.99!! Fingers crossed for some last minute bidding wars and then the job of packing all the sold goods up for posting and bagging all the unsold bits for the chairty shop can begin.

Tuesday 16 November 2010

A successful weekend

So my four days are up and I got a lot done (but there is still a lot to do).  About two thirds of the bedroom is now done and the rest of it looks like a huge bomb site.  More stuff went to the charity shop and there is lots on eBay too.

A box, a bag, and 6 drawers of stuff all on eBay

The Myth & Magics with no boxes, and the boxes that I can use for packing them.

The boxed Myth & Magics and my old BBC computer.

The cleared cabinets, even though there are 40 on eBay I still have over 100!!!!

Will hopefully have lots to take to the post office next week although it would be good if the buyers don't all pay at once so I don't have to carry too many pewter models all in one go!!!

Saturday 13 November 2010

Half way - through the weekend that is!!

So it's nearly half past eight on Saturday night, halfway through my long weekend - and how have I done?

My flat looks like a bombsite - even more so than when I took those photo's last week but I think I am starting to see the difference. I have basically done the bathroom and half the bedroom (still a lot to do), but the bit of the bedroom I have done looks great (at least I think it does!)

Wardrobe, doors closed...

and doors open...

So what do you think?  A LOT less boxes, and although it may not look like it a lot less clothes too!!

Two charity shop trips today and another load of stuff put on eBay. The first batch of eBay stuff finishes tomorrow, so far only a few of the things have bids but all the listings were free so it's no issue if they don't sell - just more for the charity shop!!!

Please do comment and let me know what you think of the blog, or the idea, or just say hi...

Thursday 11 November 2010

Long Weekend

Well, I've done a little bit this week but as I don't get home 'til 6 by the time I've had something to eat, watched a bit of TV (yeah I know I could skip that!), sorted out stuff for the next day and had a shower there isn't much time left. Another reason for not having done too much is that I don't have a spare room to clear stuff into so I'm having to do small bits at a time and store things in the hallway which isn't very big!  Mum helped loads earlier in the week by taking two lots of stuff up to one of the charity shops - thanks Mum.

I have taken Friday and Monday off for 'The Big Clear Out' at least that is the plan. This will mean I will have 3 days when I can get stuff out of the flat and will hopefully give me the momentum to really go for it. However what may happen is a long lie in, a late breakfast and lots of procrastinating - watch this space to see how it goes!

Monday 8 November 2010

 The chaos that is my flat at the moment - this is one wall of the front room
Here we have the front windows (with the washing!!)
 And the back wall with part of the kitchen
Over stuffed kitchen cupboards - how many mugs and glasses does one girl need?

 Another overstuffed kitchen cupboard
Part of the bedroom (and more washing)
 Clothes, clothes and more clothes!!!
Shoes, shoes and more shoes!!
More clothes

So that's what I have to work with and boy is it going to be some serious work!!

Clearing Out

Well I've started. I took some photo's one evening during the week and just looking at my overstuffed wardrobes and bookcases through the lense strengthened my resolve to do this.  So this weekend I got into it.  This is going to be a 'first sweep' and consist of more of the obvious things, the doesn't fit, not worn, just sits on the shelf and gets dusty things.  Saturday saw a couple of binbags of stuff make thier way to one of the charity shops in town. Sunday saw a few bits make thier way into Mums bag and there are now another three bin bags and two boxes of stuff waiting for a charity shop trip.  I also have 16 things listed on eBay (1 of which already has a bid on it!) so hopefully there will be a little cash making there...

I have a huge collection of Myth and Magic figures and my sister was storing most of the boxes for me. I have asked her to drop them all back and I will thin out my collection (hopefully making a bit of cash in the process). I'm hoping that a combination of clearing out stuff and thinning down the collection will mean I can store the boxes myself.

The bathroom has had the most thorough clear so far as it's the smallest room with the least stuff. No more ornaments and toothpaste tubes out on the surfaces. All cleared away in the bathroom cabinet. Clean lines.

Already it feels better, I can see the top of my chest of drawers and a bit of floor has emerged from under the boxes. I know there is still a long way to go and that once the first sweep is done it will get harder but so far so good...

facebook

Well I started Sunday with 109 friends and ended it with 61!! That means 56% of my friends survived the cull!  I did allow a few to stay that hadn't been in touch for various reasons but was pretty strict on everyone else including family - we'll see if there are any repercussions in the following days...

Someone commented that they wished they could be as brave. Was I brave to delete people that didn't want to talk to me? There is nothing to stop them sending a new friend request. If they are wondering why I defriended them there is nothing to stop them messaging me (although as I gave people several days notice and mentioned it several times they had plenty of warning). If they do none of the above then they really weren't worth having on there as friends in the first place were they?

Thursday 4 November 2010

Response

Well, I'm not sure I was expecting the response I got on Facebook when I linked my first post so people could join my journey. It seems to have rung a bell with lots of my friends. Maybe I'll have started something!!

It's also interesting to see the response to my warning that I will be de-friending people who don't get in touch. I've heard from a few friends that I was sure would be gone come Sunday - just goes to show that just coz you are out of sight you aren't necessarily out of mind!!

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Starting my journey...

I have been wanting to make a change in my life for some time now and have recently come across http://www.missminimalist.com/. I am working my way through all her posts and they just ring so true with me. As friends of mine can tell you I have waaaay too much stuff, clothes, shoes, crockery, dvds, videos, collectibles. Last time I moved house I thought the truck would give in it was so overloaded. I have therefore made the decision to clear out, thin down, rationalise etc etc.

I know there will be things that I can't get rid of (not yet anyway). My scrapbooks, collections and various pieces but I'm hoping if I can clear some stuff then the things I want to keep will be easily stored away until I may be ready to make the final purge.

My starting point is my Facebook account. I'm not getting rid of it. I enjoy keeping up to date with what my friends are doing. But that's just it 'my friends' - not people I once knew who I became friends with to have a nosey and see what they were doing now, where they were doing it and who they were doing it with. I have set my friends an ultimatum. Get in touch or be de-friended!!!

From there I will start one drawer, cupboard, shelf at a time. I will not just sort and tidy, I will clear. If I kept it just in case, then just in case what? Has it been out of it's hiding place in the last year, 6 months, 4 weeks, no - then does it really need to stay?

It's going to be tough, I know that. I have always been a hoarder.

But this is where it stops - or at least this is where the stopping starts!!!

Please come with me on my journey...