A graphic of a tool box with various tools inside and out, drill, saw, spanner, pliers, screw driver etc

Episode 251 – 10 things it’s finally time to let go of

When we are decluttering our home we will undoubtedly come across things that are just no longer useful. No if’s or but’s we just aren’t going to use them again. In this podcast we’re going to talk about 10 things in your home that it’s finally time to let go of.

Prefer to read rather than listen?

Transcript of this podcast episode

[00:00:00] Ingrid: When we are decluttering our home, we will undoubtedly come across things that are just no longer useful. No if or buts, we just aren't going to use them again. In this podcast, we're going to talk about 10 things in your home that it's finally time to let go of.

[00:00:20] Voiceoever: You are listening to the Declutter Hub Podcast, bringing you tried and tested, no nonsense tips and advice from the leading experts in decluttering and organising your home. Now here are your hosts, Ingrid Jansen and Lesley Spellman.

[00:00:51] Ingrid: Hello and welcome listeners. I'm Ingrid. 

[00:00:54] Lesley: And I'm Lesley. We're delighted you're here to join us as part of your Declotting journey. So whether you are brand new today or have been listening to us for ages, we want to say thank you so much for being here. It means so much to us that you are here to listen to and support us while we talk all things decluttering and organizing.

[00:01:11] Ingrid: We'd love to help more people with their quest for a clutter, a free home, and our podcast is a fantastic way for people to be inspired to take action. We have a favor to ask. If you like what you hear, be sure to hit the follow or subscribe button on your podcast player. Share us with your friends or share your thoughts on the podcast by leaving a review.

Hello everybody. It's so good to be here. And Lesley, it's a 10 things episode. We like 10 things. 

We do like a 10 things things, and this one we're delving into the depths of our home to things that have been kind of hanging around for a while. Those things that maybe our last decade or the decade before that, or maybe the decade before that, or even the one before that we see them all the time. don't we? When we're in homes and so we just, we'd give you a reminder of some things that. Just are no longer going to cut it in the modern life, in a modern home. 

Exactly. And uh, we probably have mentioned one or two of these in previous podcast episodes because of course we come across them, but making this list where we're like, yeah, they're still here.

People have still not decluttered. These, we need to remind everybody about these things. 

[00:02:26] Lesley: I know, because the problem is sometimes when things are old, So they become a bit sentimental, right? And a bit nostalgic. That's the problem. So we are going to say, get rid of some of these things. And some of these things you kind of wished that you had things from 50 years ago.

So are we saying to get rid of them or are we not? I think there are some things that definitely need to go, I think. And so, yes, let's dig in. 

[00:02:47] Ingrid: I know, and with the first, the first one you suggest is I'm a bit like, oh. 

[00:02:52] Lesley: Well have you oh one? Don't say what it is, have you got one? 

[00:02:55] Ingrid: I do, but it's, it is on the, I'm not going to lie, it is on the hit list of things. That is probably on its way out. 

[00:03:03] Lesley: Is it still in use? We're kind of like, we're like building it up now, aren't we? Is it still in use? It is. It is. Well, if it's still in use, then you don't need to get rid of it. It's when it's unplugged. We need to come clean and say what it is, right? 

[00:03:15] Ingrid: Yeah. Yeah. Number one on the list is a landline telephone. 

[00:03:22] Lesley: Yes. So you're still using one, but I mean, I don't know your number for example. Yeah. You've never given me 

[00:03:28] Ingrid: That is a good thing, Lesley. 

[00:03:32] Lesley: And have you ever, if somebody asked you for your phone number, do you ever give that number out?

[00:03:38] Ingrid: To certain people. Like who, like, who, like my mum has got that phone number. Yes, of course you has. Uh, it is on the website of my other business, my phone number is there. 

[00:03:50] Lesley: Do you want people ringing on your home phone to your business? 

[00:03:52] Ingrid: Yeah, because, because, but I've got it put through to my mobile.

[00:03:57] Lesley: Well that's, that's different, right? You could just, you could just give your mobile out, couldn't you? 

[00:04:02] Ingrid: Yes. Yes. Well, that's what I normally do when it's client things. I always give out my, my mobile, but yeah. 

[00:04:09] Lesley: And do we think, do we think then that landline phones are becoming obsolete? Yeah. We're transitional. We're in a transitional stage, aren't we? I think so. Some people are like, no, I literally use my landline phone every day, and if that's you, then there's no problem with that. It's if that landline phone is still maybe plugged in but never rings or in a drawer. 

[00:04:32] Ingrid: Yes. And you know what, and this is, so I, when you came up with this suggestion, I had to laugh so hard because literally yesterday I had my mum on Zoom.

So I speak to her every Sunday to my mum, and then my sister sometimes comes as well and we have chat and she was actually was not happy because she's like, yeah. And I tried to ring your sister, uh, on her landline, but she never picks up. But I think she said it's broken and she's, she's like not happy.

Cause my mum is still from one generation that rings a landline. 

[00:05:04] Lesley: Yeah. I think the thing is it's because you can do it for free across the internet. Yeah, I like you are your mum. You are not going to encourage your mum to ring internationally from Holland to England on a landline phone.

Exactly. Because however you do that, it's going to cost you money. Even if you get a good deal with like international dial in and all that kind of stuff, you can literally do it for free on your Zoom or on FaceTime or whatever that WhatsApp call in it. Whatever you do. Yeah. Yeah. So why would you then go to a telephone?

You do sometimes need a telephone. You need a landline, don't you? For um, what do you call it? Broadband sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. So you still need a landline, but you just don't need, or some people don't need the actual phone itself. Yeah. If it's never used. Yeah. So, um, I think what I'm going say is, get rid of the online phone if it's unplugged and you'd never use that. 

[00:05:59] Ingrid: Yeah. I think that, I think that's a good shout, Lesley, because we find them in drawers, don't we? And I mean, I, I, I feel a bit nostalgic because I still remember in my parents' living room, you know, you couldn't even call hands-free. You had to sit in one place because of course, the, the, the earpiece was connected to the phone, I mean our younger listeners are probably going, what on earth is she talking about? Google this. Google this. 

[00:06:25] Lesley: And I know what, you know, even, even suppliers and things, they don't want to, they don't want you to give 'em a landline phone cause they know that it's not attached at the hip to you. Right. So there's a good chance that you might have, they might go to voicemail or whatever.

Yeah. So think. Let's say a landline phone is up for debate. Yes, depending on how you use it, shall we? Shall we concede that Ingrid? Yes, 

[00:06:44] Ingrid: I agree. I agree. I agree. So let's go to number two then. Number two, are A to Z maps or yeah. What would your atlas's?

[00:06:57] Lesley: A to Z Street Guides, maybe? 

[00:06:59] Ingrid: Street guides. Street guides?

Yes. Yes. Yeah. I mean, we all have, um, Google Maps in an app on our phone. There's very few people who still walk around. Even I don't do this anymore. Right. I know. 

[00:07:11] Lesley: Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure? 

[00:07:14] Ingrid: Well, maybe if I'm visiting somewhere for the first time on a holiday or something, you get this little lovely leaflets. But otherwise, no.

I mean, you just use your Google what match mean, don't you? 

[00:07:23] Lesley: What do you, what do you mean? Like when you're visiting someone for the first time on holiday, you get a lovely leaflet. What? 

[00:07:29] Ingrid: Yeah, with with like a little tour that, with a walking tour or something like that. Right. 

[00:07:35] Lesley: So you're saying you would still potentially use a map if you were on a tourist trail?

Yes. That's not an A to Z of London, is it? Exactly, exactly. It's a different, different vibe. 

[00:07:43] Ingrid: I even don't have this anymore. I do have, I do have one thing, Lesley, and that is the atlas that belong to my grandmother because its a sentimental item, but the normal atlas is gone. Are you sure about that?

[00:07:57] Lesley: Because I'm sure that we've done a podcast in since we started our podcast and you told me when you got to Holland, you still use Atlas. 

[00:08:03] Ingrid: No, there's um, There, there's two or three in my car. Yes. In case the Sat-Nav suddenly comes out because we do do the back roads and things like that. 

[00:08:12] Lesley: So you've got two or three in your car?

Yes. You know, sometimes I wonder why I'm a professional organiser. Sometimes I wonder. Definitely. Why? Why you are so, you know, we, we we're, we're waxing lyrical about what to get rid of and then you come clean and you say you've got two to three in your car. 

[00:08:32] Ingrid: Yeah. But it's like one as a back. Yeah, but it's one is from France, one is from the Netherland. I mean, we do a lot of driving. Remember, you, you, you fly everywhere. 

[00:08:43] Lesley: We, and what would you do though? What would you do? So if you sat and have contact, we didn't have an Atlas in the back of your car? 

[00:08:47] Ingrid: Yeah. I would probably do maps. I would rather do maps. But I mean, we do, like when we go on holiday in France, we do a lot of the little back roads and you gotta, it's nice 

[00:08:55] Lesley: Do they not have those on satellite? 

[00:08:57] Ingrid: They do. They do. But to find your bearings and to kind of, you know, it's, Like, I, I must 

[00:09:04] Lesley: Ingrid, I'm going to declutter you from the last few decades. 

[00:09:06] Ingrid: That's what I, I must admit, me and my husband do look like looking like maps. I mean, my husband's even more crazier. He's got a couple of maps from Ireland that we, that are still, but they're more nostalgic, I think because we like maps.

[00:09:19] Lesley: Right. Ingrid, can we just get, get this clean out? Are we actually going to find any in this list of 10 that you've agreed to. Yes. That you actually don't have? Yes, for sure. Okay. Well, um, I'm going to allow you to look down the list that we've got and pick one out that you definitely don't have. 

[00:09:38] Ingrid: Yeah, I got, I got, I got a copy.

It's like, what is it, number eight? Yeah. No. So just to, to be clear, you have no landline telephone and you have no a set anywhere. Not in London. No. Nowhere. Nowhere. Not in your car, not in the flat, not in your house. Nowhere. No. Wow. Okay. Right. Maybe we should have done a different list, Lesley.

[00:10:08] Lesley: Okay. Let's go on to number three and let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best that Ingrid does not have this in her house. And we're going to go for a collection of things. I'm pretty sure she'll have one of them at least. But anyway, we're going to delve into stationary, right, Ingrid? Because what we see when we're working with clients in their homes is there's still, stationary is kind of a useful thing that in your back of your mind, you always think, oh, it's going to come in at some point.

It's definitely going to come in and a bit, but a little bit loathe to get rid of it. But there are some stationary items. Yeah. That we just don't really use. I'm not saying nobody in the entire world used them. I'm just saying in general. Yeah, yeah. They've been usurped. Is that the word? 

[00:10:46] Ingrid: Yeah. I think we found a couple of things didn't we?

Like things like correction fluid, like tipex. We don't really use a lot of envelopes anymore. You know, the treasury tags with the little green string with the plastic thingies on the end. Um, the bulldog clip, I probably had one or two bulldog clips, but not like boxes and boxes full. And I even thought, do people still have like these desk organisers?

I mean, I do have a little pen pot here because it's, this is my desk and on upstairs and a lot of people kind of need a pen. The kids, you know. So I have a little pen pot, but I don't have like these old fashioned desk organisers where you can put in pencils and pens and. A lower tray for like pencil sharpeners and things. I think that's quite old fashioned, isn't it? 

[00:11:31] Lesley: Yeah. I'm just looking. Yeah, I definitely don't have one of those. I think the thing is really that time's moved on and as most of our. What was paper-based life has moved to be digital. Mm-hmm. That doesn't mean to say that we don't print stuff off, but, so thinking about the correction fluid, for example, if there was a problem with it, we would just reprint it, right?

We're not going to use tipex to sort it. Do you think it's called tipex everywhere in the world? 

[00:11:59] Ingrid: I don't know, but I've always known it this tipex. I think it's just a brand name, isn't it? It's like Coca-Cola. It's everybody thinks when they think about Cola, they think about Coca-Cola. But Coca-Cola is a brand name.

Same with like, 

[00:12:12] Lesley: I feel like tipex might be a bigger brand than, um, a, sorry, a smaller brand than Coca-Cola. Not, not quite as readily across the world, but yeah, probably. I don't know. But tell us. We would love to know. Do you have tipex in, uh, America, Canada, New Zealand. Australia. 

[00:12:30] Ingrid: Wherever you're listening, tell us. 

[00:12:32] Lesley: Wherever you're listening.

[00:12:33] Ingrid: We mentioned envelopes in this list, Lesley, but you do have a couple of envelopes, right? 

[00:12:39] Lesley: I think it's the volumes, isn't it? Yeah, it's the volumes. And I'll tell you what you don't use very much these days. It's those window envelopes. 

[00:12:45] Ingrid: Correct. They use, because I was like coming clean about the fact that I still have some envelope left envelopes in this house.

[00:12:56] Lesley: I think when it comes to stationary, it's not necessarily about eradicating these completely from your life, but it's looking at the volumes that you had when you were working back in the nineties or whatever. Yeah. When things were very much paper based and going to, I just don't need these volumes anymore because they're taking up valuable space and so yes, I might need a few treasury tags? I'm not quite, I just don't know. We, you know, if we were sending a 40, 50 page document, we'd send it by email. We wouldn't be printing that off. No. And these treasury tags, I like to keep things reinforced, aren't they? Same with the Bulldog plate desk organisers. We don't have that much apart from pens anymore that we need next to our desks and computers.

Yeah. Now, never say never. Cause there are some people who will love all these things. And so this is like anything in decluttering. There's no one size fits all at all. You know, you are entitled to having your home, whatever you want, whatever. And if you're using it, then keep on using it. Do you know what I mean?

But if not, but we're just, we're just asking the questions so you can have a think about it. Yeah, because it's a nice, easy thing to get rid of when you get to them. And we've done it many, many times with clients where we look at a stationary drawer and it's a very satisfying cull, isn't it, Ingrid? 

[00:14:02] Ingrid: Oh, for sure. Absolutely. Well, you know what a nice call is as well. Our next item on the list list in number four. Okay, here we go. Now I have a feeling we're going to get listeners who are going to be upset with us about this list. I don't know why, but I'm like, who? We might get a couple of emails about this that people are going to go, what?

What you mean? But we wanted to say, VHS players, stereo players, cassette players, and the cassette tapes and the VHS tapes. We know they're still out there, but realistically, do you still the, I think the problem is the tape. I mean, we, I know that of course there's a whole revival in like, um, vinyl isn't there, but everyone's like, oh my gosh, vinyl, and maybe the cassette tape is going to come back.

And I'm like, the cassette tape is disintegrated in the last 30 years, right? 

[00:14:58] Lesley: Yeah. I think it's the, yeah, it's the tape, isn't it? That's very unlikely to come back. I never say never. We don't know. We didn't think vinyl was going to come back and it did. Yeah. But I think that, These are big, so like VHS tapes for example.

They're big, bulky items. Yeah. And people are very, very rarely watching them anymore because it's so easy. We're two, at least two if not three generations further on than that. Yeah. Now that we stream stuff and we download stuff and we've got subscription services and all that kind of stuff, and so.

We really have typically moved on to something that's much easier and much more readily available. And so we don't need these things anymore. Now I'm going to come clean Ingrid and say I do have a VHS player in my house. 

[00:15:37] Ingrid: Do you? Yes. The one thing I do not have.

[00:15:45] Lesley: It's down. It's in my basement. And so it's there because, um, I still have some, we're still in the process of converting over some of our old, like camcorder, cassettes and stuff like that. Uh, and sometimes you need it to, I think it's probably, I'm sure we could find a workaround. Yeah. Um, to do it, but yeah, it's still there.

So there you go. 

[00:16:07] Ingrid: Wow. You impressed? No video cassettes here in my house. Okay. Okay. She's all proud. I'm feeling all smug now, listeners. I'm all happy that I found something that I do not have, unless you now. My husband's going to listen to this episode and go, oh yeah, Ingrid, we've got it. And I'm like, no, I'm sure we don't.

I'm sure we'll do not. 

[00:16:28] Lesley: And if we do, whatever you do, do not tell Lesley between us our little secret. Right? Yeah. So I think it goes without saying. Depends again, if you're watching things and some people have got things, you know, you've got to be really careful as well if you've got wedding videos and things like that.

Yeah. Which a lot of us have, you know, have you got some other way of watching those things? Cause you don't want to take that out. Of course. As I said, there are workarounds. There are people that will sort that. There are people that will put it onto digital, you know, all those kind of things.

Yeah. And so you can find alternatives and if this has taken up valuable space in your house, then maybe it's time to let it go. Yeah. Um, but people are very precious about video tapes because they hold lots of sentimentality in them. Cause a lot of times they are things like wedding videos or films that we love, or films that were very coveted that when we bought them.

And so there's lots of sentimentality with VHS types. And so sometimes, To kind of, to make yourself feel happy about what you're doing. You need to go through a process of going, okay, I'm going to potentially buy the D V D or make sure that I've got it somewhere in my downloads, or something like that. Do you know what I mean?

So you need to remember or write a list of what you had or something like that. So sometimes there's a kind of interim step, isn't there? Yeah, 

[00:17:40] Ingrid: I think, I'm going to confess, I got one. Cassette. 

[00:17:44] Lesley: Oh, there we go. Why are you saying that now? You've confessed. 

[00:17:48] Ingrid: No, but it's a, it's a sentimental item. It's actually because my husband was in this underground little band and when he was in secondary school and there's their recording of them playing and singing in like the real, like, Probably talking eighties, eighties here. That's all. 

[00:18:04] Lesley: That's more, that's really cool. Yeah. That's really cool. Yeah. But you know what you need to do as what you see with these things is you definitely need to preserve them. And, you know, video cassettes are not great. So how are we getting that converted over into something that's a bit more, yeah, a bit more digital.

[00:18:16] Ingrid: But yeah, it's, it's a tape, it's a tape cassette. So, but the same, same idea. You have to make sure you convert it. Yeah, but I think it's the same. We used to have these like slide slides. Yeah, we call, we call them dias in, in Holland. We call them dias. 

[00:18:31] Lesley: Yeah. They're just call slides. Yeah, that's what they just call 'em slides.

Yeah. But they're, they're actually typically really good quality though, slides, you know what I mean? And, and so, but there's loads and loads of companies that'll convert those slides. Exactly, exactly. And then, you know, Where's the barrier with getting rid of these things? Cause we're get nervous about sending these things off, which typically we have to do.

We have to send those off through the post, which can be a little bit flaky sometimes, and we get nervous about that, and that creates a barrier to us getting the job done. Yeah. So there will be people. Um, locally to you that can do that as well. So if you're nervous about the whole, um, sending things through the post, you know, find someone local to you to convert those over and enjoy them.

Yeah. You know, I mean, that's the thing. We need to be able to enjoy these things. It's so important. 

[00:19:13] Ingrid: Yeah, exactly. But, so let it all go. We don't, we don't really don't want to do a stereo from, uh, from back in the eighties, do we, you know, we've got all these amazing, amazing things. Now we can listen whatever we want from all over the world. 

[00:19:29] Lesley: We can, I mean, in Rock Choir, you know, Ingrid and Ireland in Rock Choir, um, which we love. And wax lyrical about all the time? Um, one of our new songs is Video Killed the Radio Star. Right. So when was, when did Video Kill the Radio Star come out? Like 81, 82, something like that. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. And is it like a worldwide song? I would say so. You think? Yeah, so it definitely made it to Holland.

[00:19:52] Ingrid: Yeah, I, I knew it, I knew it when it's, when, when we started rehearsing it. But it mentions the, it mentioned the VCR, doesn't it? 

[00:19:58] Lesley: Yeah, it does. Yeah. It mentions VCRs and all that kind of stuff, so it's going to have me thinking about that, but yeah. Yeah. 

[00:20:03] Ingrid: So, uh, I thought I wasn't going to like the arrangement, but actually it's a really fun song, right?

[00:20:08] Lesley: Yeah, really good. I think I put, did I put it on the Facebook group? I think I did in that. Cause I, cause cause I sang it a few weeks ago at, um, Eurovision. It is, it's really good. I really like it. But we're not here to talk about rock choir. 

[00:20:19] Ingrid: I know before, you know, but we're going to be, be singing it together. So I'm not going to be, I'm not going to be tricked into singing video. Kill the radio star. So let's go to number five.

[00:20:27] Lesley: Before we go on though, we'll be quite fun to tell this story. Right. So a few weeks ago we, um, we were doing a talk for the Association of Professional Declutters and Organisers.

And, um, so we were about to go on stage with everyone. We were, we were like, she kinda not just not really nervous, but a bit nervous, right. And so, um, and Ingrid was stressing out as Ingrid always does, five minutes before we go on stage. This is where I'm the calm one for one in my life. Um, and Ingrid not.

And um, so she was stressing out we were both on the toilets. And the toilets were completely empty. So we went in that, then we started singing like rock choir songs together doing, I'm in one cubicle in Ingrid next door. And so we were like, and we're both singing different harmony parts at Rock Choir, don't we?

Um, and so yeah, we were singing, what were we singing? 

[00:21:13] Ingrid: What was that had like the music in the toilet, so, right. It's not like, so, and there's like, oh, and that was like in, in the by myself thinking, oh, there's a the rock choir song. And was like, oh, let me just sing along. And then suddenly I heard his second harmony part, like, oh, Lesley's next to me in the toilet.

And then we hear the door again and suddenly going, Wow. Nice singing. 

[00:21:34] Lesley: We came out, we thought we were on our own with someone else listening to us singing, and then someone goes, oh, are you practicing your speech? Like literally we go on stage and start singing that auditorium will be empty before we know it.

Like this is a private matter. But anyway. We need to stop talking about singing, but that was quite a funny thing that happened. Wasn't it? 

[00:21:55] Ingrid: It was it was, it was, it was, I, I love to sing. I sang on the bus the other day with a couple of Rockies. We had a co big concert and we were a bit giddy after our concert, it went really well.

So in the bus on the way home, we, we, we were, we went all the way to the back of the bus. We were like the naughty school children. And the four of us did like a three part harmony, and then this couple left the bus and went nice singing.

[00:22:20] Lesley: Okay. We need to get to number five. 

[00:22:22] Ingrid: Number five, yes.

Suitcases without wheels. I mean, that is really, you can just, just, you don't want to do that anymore when you go on holiday. I have a suitcase with no wheels. It can go. 

[00:22:35] Lesley: It can. I, I've gotta tell him about, I've gotta tell everybody about you and your suitcase is so English. All these things are just popping into my head as soon as you say it.

So we, so we went to said conference, same conference a couple of weeks ago. I think we came to my flat in London before I went off. She's literally packed as much as I would pack to on a two week holiday.

What have you, what, what have you got in there? I've got this and I've got that. So, you know there's no capsule wardrobe or is there literally pack the entire contents of your wardrobe? 

[00:23:09] Ingrid: Yeah, I, I do not travel light. This is very worrying. There's a lot of things I'm quite good at, but traveling light is not one of them.

It doesn't matter. Two days a week, same amount of suitcase. Exactly. With wheels. With wheels. I, I, I, um, I have no suitcases without wheels in this house. 

[00:23:31] Lesley: And what about, can we extend that a little bit further to suitcases that are quite heavy? So we need to take a stage further, right? So it can't just be suitcases without wheels.

We really need to think about lightweight suitcases, because I'm sure it's the same right across the world, but you've got a, a limit to, um, how much weight you can have in a suitcase when you're traveling. Um, unless you're really rich like Victoria Beckerman then can have as much as you want at cast. 

[00:23:57] Ingrid: Yeah. Then you can 36 suitcases, you know, all, all like in the same branding with your initials on there. Yeah, I bet they don't. 

[00:24:05] Lesley: I bet they don't have wheels, you know, wheels. But they've not got wheels, right? No. They've found the suitcases. But anyways, so, um, so yeah, so it's really important to, to think about the weight of the suitcase.

And so if you've got a suitcases that you have, um, replaced for more lightweight suitcases, you're never going to go back to the heavy suitcases because you've got an alternative. But suitcases are just one of those things that you always think they're going to come in. Right? And you, you're a bit loathe to get rid of them.

[00:24:30] Ingrid: Like, I have like a nice delsy one. They were really, I remember buying them like in this beginning of the two thousands and they were really good quality and they were really expensive. 

[00:24:43] Lesley: You mean the hard, like the hard shell one? Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Agreed.

[00:24:47] Ingrid: So nice. And I'm like, I remember how much they were, you know. I know. 

[00:24:52] Lesley: But you know, people, um, people in houses do like to, um, use suitcases for storing stuff. Mm-hmm. And, and we are not really big fans of that, are we? Yeah. Yeah. We prefer things in a box rather than case, don't we? Yeah. Um, so it's another way of trying to keep hold of the old suitcases and stuff.

But anyway. 

[00:25:12] Ingrid: Can I go on one more tangent, Lesley, before we go. We've got a lot of tangents to that. I know, I know. I know. This is a lot of tangents today. I know, I know. So recently I've had solar panels installed on my roof. And the guy, there was a couple of guys here, and one of them had to be in my loft.

And of course my loft is boarded and everything in there is in boxes with labels on it in zones. Right? And the guy went, they went up, the loft ladder went blimey. This is amazing. This loft is a boarded, it has lights and Wow. It's very well organised. I'm like, and my husband was like, yeah, yeah, Ingrid a professional organiser, and everything in boxes of labels was like, wow.

Very impressive. 

[00:25:57] Lesley: Nice. You did a full, uh, walkthrough, I hope, for all our members didn't you, Ingrid? Yeah, yeah. Exactly how you did it. Yeah, it does look very nice. I'll give you that. 

[00:26:05] Ingrid: Yes, yes. But no, no suitcases without wheels to be seen. So let's go for a break and then we'll come back with our next five.



[00:26:20] Ingrid: Hi everyone. Welcome back. Well, I hope you found the first five of our lists very good. Or hopefully at least we've made you laugh a little bit with all of our crazy. 

[00:26:27] Lesley: Yeah, we hope people are still here. They're here for advice, not anecdotal stories from Ingrid and Lesley. 

[00:26:34] Ingrid: Or maybe they're like, well, I've completely checked out because I've got all these things and what are you thinking?

I'm going to, that's possible too, Lesley, so quickly, let's move on to number six. Now we have to stop doing all these times. We're going to be sensible. We're going to be sensible now. Yeah. We have to calm down a little bit. Right? Number six, old-fashioned light bulbs. And what I mean with that, I don't mean like light bulbs that have a screw top or twist up or anything like that, but a lot of the light bulbs these days are LED and they use a lot less energy, but a lot of people still have got the old-fashioned light bulbs that absolutely, you can see your electricity meters kind of run crazy when you plug in a light with an old-fashioned light bulb.

Right? They, they, it, it's just not smart. 

[00:27:22] Lesley: No, exactly. Smart. And a lot of people have moved from LEDs to smart bulbs Yes, as well, to be fair, haven't they? There probably still are LEDs, but they're also smart bulbs, which are a different thing again. So, um, yeah, Steve's got a smart bulb in the flat, you know, so I went to Flat and he's like, Hey Google, turn the light off.

I'm like, really? Are we really, we really doing this? 

You know what I mean? Just get out bed and turn it off. So, but it's quite cool. That be fair? To have a smart bulb can definitely say, I'm not sure he should be in the bedroom there at the flat because Steve could get out of bed and do it. But you know, interesting.

So everything moves on so fast through generations at the moment and that's what we're talking about. So, um, what would we do with these light bulbsthough, Ingrid? Because they're expensive. If people are a little bit like, oh well they might come in cause you can still use them, right? Mm-hmm. If you wanted to, if you were nervous about if you, um, came unstuck sorry. And so, What we're going to do with those light bulbs when we get rid of them. 

[00:28:20] Ingrid: You know, Lesley, I, I think if you would've asked me this question last year, I would've said, oh, you know, just use them up and it's all fine. But now with like the energy prices, it's like, Crikey, we, you need to replace as many bulbs as soon as possible because you can re, I know the investment to a a, a newer LED or smart light bulb is, seems a lot, but the way the old ones eat, go through energy is really cost more money I think in the long run.

So, but what to do with the old ones? Oh, well, I would probably try to give them away maybe on Olio or free cycle, because maybe there are other people who are like, well, I can't afford new light bulbs, and I have still the old-fashioned ones, and I'd rather do that than let them throw it away. But I mean, I was in the recycling center yesterday that's got a whole crate for light bulbs, so I recycled, uh, I had some broken ones, so I recycled them.

[00:29:22] Lesley: I think it's, I think it's just, LED light bulbs that have to go into recycling. So you use those old light bulbs. I think you can throw those away into general waste. Mm-hmm. I don't think you can recycle LED light bulbs into general waste because of some kind of metal that's in them or something. Yeah.

Yeah. So I think, yeah, you've got to be careful now with light bulbs. Where I think, but before you could just throw them away if they were, if they were finished, but you can't anymore. So yeah, I would do the same thing. I think it's up to other people to make a decision about whether or not they're willing to make the investments still, if you want to call it that, into old-fashioned light bulbs.

And so I would definitely think they're useful to somebody. So I would offer them out on Olio and uh, but get them out of your house if you've definitely made that transition over to LEDs or smart bulbs. There's another, or halogen, is that the other one? Halogen, yeah. Yeah. LEDs and smart bulbs. So, Yeah.

And so along the same lines, we're talking here about technology and things like that are number seven, and this kind of pops into my head is, and I'm always a bit nervous when I see it in people's houses. It's like, you know, electric curling sets, you know, heated rollers. Yes. I would be nervous about the electric, you know, putting something right close to my head that was really, really old.

Would you not? She's looking a bit clueless now. 

[00:30:41] Ingrid: No, no, I'm, I'm, I'm thinking, I'm thinking because I think it really depends, like some of them have like used electric curlers and rollers for like every year, every day for the last 20 years. And they know they're fine. I think it's more when we find them somewhere dusty in the back of a cupboard.

We're like afraid to plug them in because we don't know if we're going to kind of upset the whole electric, electric system in the house. I think that's the difference, isn't it? I think it's when it's regularly used or when it's a newer set. I mean, I've got, I've got an electric curling set that I use once per year, but I've now got, recently I've got the straighteners that you can also use to curl your hair.

So, and now I'm ready to let the other set go because it makes no sense. 

[00:31:30] Lesley: They're not from the seventies. I know you're talking electric curling set. They're not from the seventies or eighties. And that's the kind of one that I'm talking about. Yeah. And I don't even think they were electric. They used to like change color.

Like, I mean, they are fascinating to see, to be fair, but they, they used to kind of all be stuck on these little things and then the color at the top used to change when they'd gone to the right temperature and stuff. Yeah. You know, like now our strengths gone on and within two seconds they're um, you know, they're at the right temperature.

Yeah. They used to maybe have to put 'em on for 20 minutes before they'd like heat up, but like old electric blankets as well. I'm always a bit nervous. I know. Those as well. Yeah, me too too. Yeah. I'll be like, oh, maybe it's time for a change. Cause it's not that much to change. Have an electric blanket, is it?

And I think that probably there's going to be efficiencies as well with the new electric blankets. And I would be worried about having something that was old next to my, um, Next to me. 

[00:32:18] Ingrid: Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. But that's not in the list. That's my, it's, I know electric blankets is not, but a very good one, Lesley, a very, very good one.

So we can definitely, that's, that's our, that's our secret, our secret number 11 again. Electric blankets that we are like, But I think it's mainly when there's, when the plug looks a little bit, don't you? Or the wire, it looks like it has this brown cover. You're like, Hmm. From which decade is this item? 

[00:32:46] Lesley: I know exactly.

It's a bit, you'll be a bit, bit, bit nervous about it. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so I know we've snuck a little one in, but let's go on to number eight. Ingrid. Yes. I bet you've got one of these, but hundred percent that you've got one. 

[00:32:57] Ingrid: I do not. Ha ha. Encyclopedias. Yes. No longer in my life. I think when my, my grandmother passed away, she had one and then I kind of had it in my house for age, but that's been decluttered like a decade and a half ago at least.

[00:33:13] Lesley: I think as much as from a nostalgic perspective, and it's going to be a kid, I mean, I'm never going to use a encyclopedia since I was like 15. But you know, you kind of like to think that it's, particularly if they're really nice ones, a lot of encyclopedias are really nice, aren't they? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I think.

The nostalgic part of you wants your children to use an encyclopedia. Mm. But it's just so rigid and restrictive in terms of the information that's in it, right? Yeah. And so I think, um, that's the thing. And they're never, kids are never going to use an encyclopedia. No, not a chance. 

[00:33:45] Ingrid: Not a chance. 

[00:33:46] Lesley: Not a chance.

They're just going to go straight onto, um, the internet and find the information at the fingertips much more easily. 

[00:33:52] Ingrid: And, and they, and you can find so much more and so much more up to date and so much more details. I mean, you know, we used to do homework with encyclopedias, Lesley, or go to the library and find the encyclopedia there to do your homework.

I mean, it's a whole different world. 

[00:34:12] Lesley: It is a different world. But I suppose, you know, There are some that are very nostalgic and probably full of great information. So I'm not talking about the Encyclopedia Britannica 75 volumes, which I suppose is probably very useful, but more of a kind of kids encyclopedia.

Mm. That you, you know, I mean, when my kids were growing up, you know, my eldest is 27, we definitely would've bought 'em an encyclopedia. Oh yeah, me too. So it's not that long ago. I would say it's probably, well, it'll be all to do with the internet. Right. Yeah, so whenever the internet came, came, you know, properly, which was probably mid two thousands until it came into all of our lives, kind of with a vengeance.

I know it was before that, but I think that's probably when we started to tail off. Yeah. And so look at those encyclopedias. Are they worth it to you? Are they worth the space that they're taking up? Yeah. Cause they're typically really big. That's what this is all about. Yeah. And there's a lot of books in our lives that we keep for sentimental reasons, but you need to look at, actually, would you prefer to have 15 novels instead of those five encyclopedias on your shelf?

Really think that through and think about whether an encyclopedia is what you need in your life right now. Yes. Yes. 

[00:35:19] Ingrid: Number nine, Lesley, we would like you to have a look at your tools. For example, have you got tons and tons of different screwdrivers, but do you now have an electric power tool, an electric screwdriver that you can easily waste stuff into the wall with instead of going.

Yes, let me actually get like a, a muscle ache because I've tried to screw something in the wall while I've got electric screwdriver. There are so many things now that there are power tools, that are tools that you can do multiple things with, that we used to have all these different tools for. Can you do a bit of a clear out, but this is, this is, Ooh.

This is a tricky one though. Woo.

[00:36:00] Lesley: I mean, you know for a fact that you've got things that are not just power tools that could probably go. 

[00:36:05] Ingrid: Absolutely. Absolutely. This is, I think one of the things that I am not in charge of in this house is tools that is my husband's domain, because he's amazing at DIYing and fixing stuff.

So, I'm always a bit like, this is why, uh, this, this whole tip run from yesterday was like, I think I need to do a tip run. And he's like, there's nothing here in this garage. I went with a car full of stuff. Right? 

[00:36:29] Lesley: Yeah. It's exactly. I think, you know, but I think again, It's something that people are typically quite nostalgic about.

Yeah. Towards as well. Often they've been handed down through generations. Yeah. Something quite nice about seeing a wood wooden handled screwdriver that's been around in the family for 20, 30 years that maybe your granddad probably could be grandma, but more likely granddad that you know, these days and, and so I think it's nice to see those as well.

But as with everything, when it's, when you're decluttering, is, is that stopping you from having the things in your life that you do want to have? So like we spoke about before, you know, what would you prefer telling encyclopedias or 15, 20 novels? You have to make those choices if you're compromised on space.

Yeah. And so sometimes, To be able to be more organised and have just the tools that you need that are going to get the job done for you. Perhaps we need to offload some of the old ones. There are loads of charities and stuff that will take old tools as well. So there are nice outlets for these things that you feel that they are going to somebody who's truly going to appreciate them.

Yeah, so do look out for those as well, like what they call like tools for men or, I mean, it's kind of some sexist thing about men's tools. 

[00:37:36] Ingrid: Some men's sheds, men's sheds or something like that. But yeah. 

[00:37:40] Lesley: I'm, I'm sure there are equally women around who can um, use these tools as well. Definitely. I'm sure there are men, what is it called?

It's like some kind of macho kind of, yeah. 

[00:37:50] Ingrid: I think it's called like a men's shed or something, isn't it? 

[00:37:53] Lesley: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Men sheds or. Maybe we'll pop that, we'll pop that into the show notes when we find out what it's called. So, and that's probably, that's probably just a UK based um, thing I think, but I'm sure there will be equivalents in the country that you live in and we find ourselves at number 10.

We've, we've definitely calmed down a little bit in the second half of this podcast and hopefully started to make a little bit of sense, Ingrid? Yes, I think some people prefer when we don't make sense if I'm being truly honest, but it might be 50 50. So we'll give you a 50 50 podcast. Some sensible, some ridiculous.

Here we go. Let's go for number 10. 

[00:38:26] Ingrid: Yeah. The last one on our list are laptop bags. This is very interesting because of course we used to have, we, they were given away a lot as freebies as well, right? You would get a laptop bag when you would in work, and you would go to a conference or you would go to somewhere and they would give you a laptop bag or you would buy one.

They were expensive and now laptops are so small. You can just actually put em in in your backpack or in your purse or in your handbag. It's so easy. 

[00:38:56] Lesley: Yeah. You don't see anybody typically hanging around do you with, if we were doing this podcast 10 years ago, it would've been, would've been about getting rid of your briefcase kind of scenario.

But now it's laptop bags because that was next generation. But I think. There are definitely laptop bags still out there, but they're very, very different to the ones that we are talking about, which are those big chunky ones. Because laptops used to be really chunky and used to have to be protected really well, so they'd have like big rigid sides and things like that.

And so do, um, Do look at whether or not you've got any of those laptop bags hanging around. Cause what we typically do, even if we've changed a laptop, we might go, oh, that might come in that bag, and then we shove it somewhere with all the rest of the suitcases and things like that, and then we forget about it.

And then 10 years later we'll come across it and go, geez, that's an old, old clunky thing that I no longer need anymore. Or you may no longer be working and might not need to carry your laptop or your computer from place to place. So think about that. Think whether a laptop bag is useful. And of course, laptops change sizes all the time.

Yeah. So, you know, that's what we've gotta think about. So we've going to go laptop bags for number 10. 

[00:40:00] Ingrid: I know, Lesley. I had a complete flashback a minute ago from my dad's when he used to be at work. He had his, he had a briefcase. Yeah, with a brown one with the, you know, the click click that you open the things to the side and the dsh?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the, the, and there was, I've, I've almost been, and then this one empty lunch box came out every day. 

[00:40:20] Lesley: Oh. Like Mr. Ben, did you have Mr. Ben in Holland, that program? No. So no. Did you not? Oh, such a great thing. And Mr. Ben used to go to work every day, and then he used to go into like a changing rooms and then change, and then he'd become like a spaceman or a scuba diver or whatever.

Love Mr. Ben. I'm sure of anybody who's like my age or maybe older will know Mr. Ben in the UK obviously. So, um, yeah. Go back into nostalgia, into nostalgia. I know, I know. So what are you going to get rid of that you've got?

[00:40:50] Ingrid: Uh, the electric curlers. 

[00:40:53] Lesley: Okay. You gotta get rid of the electric. Kayla. Yeah.

Okay, cool. No, not convincing you about the landline telephone. 

Uh, no.

In a nutshell. 

[00:41:07] Ingrid: Uh, no. Right. Well, listeners, you need to tell us what are you going to declutter? We hope we've brought some lightheartedness and fun in this episode, but then of course, we've made you think, what of these 10 things are you thinking, Hmm, yes, I have that in my house as well. Maybe it's time to have a look at this because, you know, We want to clear some space.

We want to get some space in your house. And, um, these are great ideas to, to make a go, make a start with. So let us know in the show notes, um, declutter hub.com/251. You can leave us a comment, tell us what you're decluttering. We'd love for you to tell us. And thanks so much for being here, and we'll see you next week.

[00:41:53] Voiceoever: Thanks so much for listening to the Declutter Hub podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to us in your podcast player so you don't miss an episode, and we'll see you next week.

Subscribe now so you don't miss an episode

Listen on

Apple Podcasts

Listen on

Amazon Music

Listen on

Spotify

Watch on

YouTube

Prefer to watch rather than listen? Watch on YouTube

If would like to pre-order our book, click below

10 THINGS TO DITCH FROM YOUR HOME TODAY

Sometimes we don’t have time for a big decluttering project, and we want something quick and impactful. To that end, here are 10 things you can throw away right here right now.

Dead plants and flowers

When they’re gone, they’re gone. If you have flowers in a vase that are past their best, take the opportunity to recycle them with your garden waste. Fresh flowers are a welcome addition to any home but once they have seen better days, it’s time to say goodbye.

When it comes to plants, an element of realism is needed. If you know it still has life in it, make a point of starting the revival project today. If not, cut your losses and let it go.

Newspapers

If you get a newspaper on a regular basis, be mindful that a newspaper is supposed to mark a moment in time that is here today, gone tomorrow. Don’t have piles of newspapers hanging around waiting to be read or kept for posterity. Let them go.

Out-of-date medication

I’d like to wager that if you look at your medication supplies, some will be way out of date. By its nature, medication is often bought for a one-off ailment or illness, and once the ailment is gone, we no longer need the remedy.

But it stays in the cupboard for months, often years, till we need it again and that day, more often than not, never comes! If you are disposing of medication, bear in mind this should be done responsibly.

Odd Socks

Odd socks are a mystery. Where do their partners go? I think we will be wondering this till the end of time. There’s an old adage out there that odd socks turn into tupperware container lids! In any case, once an odd sock has been hanging around for a while without its friend, it’s time to say goodbye.

Takeout menus

Takeaway menus are posted through our letter boxes on a very regular basis. They are junk mail and should be treated as such. If you have a place in your home where old takeaway menus pile up, make a point of going through them and only keep the ones you regularly use.

Dead batteries

Dead batteries are something that hangs around our homes for a while. Mainly because we need to dispose of them responsibly. It’s a great idea to have a small box or container to keep them in while you’re storing them to take to the recycling point.

Once the box is full, make a point of dropping the batteries off. Once they get old, they leak, and you don’t want to deal with that in your drawer!

Videos and cassette tapes

We are at least four generations past videos and cassette tapes when it comes to media. If you stream, download or at the very least listen to CDs and DVDs, it’s time for the old music cassettes and video tapes to go.

It’s a tough thing to part with as they are not readily recyclable but nevertheless, take action today! Be sure to weed out any highly sentimental ones first though.

Empty jars

How many empty jars do you have in your home? They feel so useful, right? We tell ourselves they will come in for all manner of things.

Particularly if you’re a cook or a crafter, it can be all too easy to convince yourself that you need to keep any jars that come into your home – but be mindful of volumes. They are taking valuable space in your kitchen cupboards that could be used for other, more important things.

Carrier bags

If you have carrier bags from shops that have started to breed, it’s time to pass them on. We don’t need many of them but homes all around the world have hundreds of them kept forever and a day. It’s not hard to find people in local community groups and food banks that absolutely do need a steady supply of bags so pass them on and declutter your home at the same time. Win-win!

Out-of-date spices

What is it about herbs and spices? We can go through them every year and still find one with a date from 2007 on! Have a quick look through yours today and discard any that are out of date. Whilst they are most likely not harmful, they may have lost their potency.

So, how many of the items on this list do you have cluttering up your home? Can you find half an hour to make a big impact on your clutter? When was the last time you got rid of something you don’t really use?

This article was first published on Sixty and Me on 30th August 2021. It can be found here.

Subscribe now so you don't miss an episode

Listen on

Apple Podcasts

Listen on

Amazon Music

Listen on

Spotify

Watch on

YouTube

Recent Posts

Episode 332 – How to get things out of your head and onto a list

Episode 331 – Breaking through your ‘just in case’ mindset

Episode 330 – Dana K White, A Slob Comes Clean, on the role of spirituality in decluttering

Episode 329 – 10 ways to avoid overwhelm when decluttering

Page [tcb_pagination_current_page] of [tcb_pagination_total_pages]

First

Last

Bethanie Branton says:

23 November 2023 at 1:48 AM

Hello ladies! The only thing on the list i had was suitcases without wheels. I have a duffle and my husband has a duffle. We don’t fly for vacation. And I don’t take enough to get a suitcase on wheels. And we rarely are gone for more than 4 days.

Reply
1. Lesley Spellman says:
  
  23 November 2023 at 8:38 AM
  
  You're all good then!
  
  Reply
Ann says:

22 July 2023 at 8:30 AM

Hello Ingrid & Lesley,
Well from start to finish I listened to Podcast 251 this morning. I laughed at your interesting place to practice singing.
I remembered last year how my Sister and I were shocked when emptying our Cousin's flat after she went into a nursing care home. The spare bedroom had 2 very narrow single beds, we removed bedding and found very ancient electric blankets on each mattress. When I sat ancient possibly 1950-60 era. The plug on each blanket went into an adapter/ generator at the side of each bed. This scared both of us and it took all our strength to lift these 2 pieces of equipment. They were swiftly taken to a recycling centre. The loft had 6 suitcases no wheels, some fitted inside the larger. Charity shops didn't want these as no wheels so sadly they were also put into recycling.

Now I am going to search through old video tapes and see how many can be converted digitally and perhaps let the rest go.
Really thought about landlines. It is the one thing I think we need to keep. Recently we had some big thunderstorms and very heavy rain. Neighbours couldn't use their mobile phones or receive tv I think lightening struck some equipment they had got rid of their home phone equipment so were unable to call anybody. I wasn't affected, my landline and mobile worked. For an emergency my neighbours could not have made a call for help. So maybe keep 1 phone for landline just in case!

Thank you both for making me think about other things you discussed in this Podcast.
Ann ⚘

Reply
1. Ingrid Jansen says:
  
  24 July 2023 at 10:19 AM
  
  Hi Ann, good call about the landline and I still have one as well 😉
  Glad our podcast has made you think about the other things.
  Have a great week.
  Ingrid
  
  Reply
Alison Parker says:

21 July 2023 at 4:16 PM

Loved Mr Ben!!!

Reply
1. Ingrid Jansen says:
  
  24 July 2023 at 10:18 AM
  
  xx
  
  Reply

Episode 251 – 10 things it’s finally time to let go of

10 THINGS TO DITCH FROM YOUR HOME TODAY

Dead plants and flowers

Newspapers

Out-of-date medication

Odd Socks

Takeout menus

Dead batteries

Videos and cassette tapes

Empty jars

Carrier bags

Out-of-date spices

Episode 332 – How to get things out of your head and onto a list

Episode 331 – Breaking through your ‘just in case’ mindset

Episode 330 – Dana K White, A Slob Comes Clean, on the role of spirituality in decluttering

Episode 329 – 10 ways to avoid overwhelm when decluttering

Leave a Reply

categories

want to get started right away?