We’ve made it to Friday – hurrah! It’s Day Five of the January 2019 Tenner Week budgeting and decluttering challenge, and it’s time to move on to a new category of tidying. If you haven’t been able to keep up with the quick daily delcutters during the week then don’t worry, you can catch up at the weekend if you prefer.

To get you further along with tidying up and sorting through your clothes, we’re going to tackle those socks and pants today. Yes, the unmentionables are going to see daylight, whether they like it or not. Here we go.

Today’s declutter: Underwear or sock drawer

This should be a fairly quick tidy up, as long as you don’t try to extend this declutter to other clothes. Underwear and hosiery are items that make up the foundations of our clothing, making us more comfortable or smart in our clothes, keeping our footwear clean inside and stopping shoes from rubbing our feet, so it makes sense to own the right ones and keep them where we can easily find what we need.

Again, if you have a huge collection then you don’t need to go through every single thing that you own. Pick one subcategory and stick to sorting that out completely, rather than starting a job that you can’t easily complete all in one go.

You could choose from any of the following, as long as you think it can be done in 15 minutes or less:

• Briefs and boxers
• Bras and knickers
• Slips and shapewear
• Socks
• Tights and stockings

The tidying up process should be fairly straightforward:

• Decide where this group of items should live, and what function it serves. If it’s everyday items, put them somewhere very easy to get to.
• Get everything out of the space, and wipe or dust the area to clean it.
• Go through all these items, checking for holes and other damage, or poor fit. Sort them into piles including ‘Keep here, this season’, ‘Keep, other season’, ‘Keep but lives somewhere else’, ‘Throw away or recycle’, and ‘Give away or sell’.
• Group matching sets together, such as lingerie, and pair up stockings or socks.
• If anything needs washing or mending, separate it out and commit to doing this before the end of the weekend.
• Put your ‘Keep here, this season’ items away in the designated space.F
• Bag or box up your ‘Keep, other season’ items and store them separately.
• Put ‘Keep but lives somewhere else’ things away where they should live. This might include swimwear, or sports bras, for example, or anything else that might get in the way when you’re trying to get ready in the morning.
• Take your ‘Throw away or recycle’ items and put them in the recycling or the bin. Empty the bin.
• This will leave you with the ‘Give away or sell items’. Bundle them up separately from the other underwear or socks, and commit to donating or listing them for sale before the end of the weekend.
• Make a quick shopping list of missing items to buy after the Tenner Week challenge is over, especially if the items you own are worn out, uncomfortable or no longer a good fit.

Be honest when you’re sorting through and deciding what to keep. Does it fit? Does it flatter you? Do you really need 27 pairs of the same thing? Has this worn out?

What’s happening here

Yesterday’s Shoes & Accessories declutter went fairly well, and I picked winter boots as my category to tidy up. It was sad putting my trusty old wellies in the bin, but they both have cracks in the soles and there’s no point having boots that fill with mud, is there? Not fit for purpose. Perhaps I’ll find a replacement in the sales in a week or two.

Today I’ll be tackling my winter sock box (pictured above). These are already loosely grouped together in a cardboard box, in easy reach for wearing with ankle boots and trainers. I’ll be checking them for holes and pairing them up, and maybe adding some new ones to the shopping list, as well as giving at least a couple of pairs away that I never, ever wear. Those few bobbly, faded-looking socks on the top of that pile are actually the newest, less than a couple of months old, so that’s a brand I’ll never be buying again. Yes HEMA, I’m looking at you.

I’m in the habit of having a small Friday treat, but have decided to hold back for once. It’s tempting to head out to the shops and then go for a coffee, but I’ve decided to hold back the rest of the cash for going out the weekend and one more no-spend day isn’t going to hurt.

The general aim is to keep busy this weekend, keeping up the decluttering momentum and planning ahead for the Spring. There’s a trip to at least one charity shop trip in my near future, depending on the weather, and I’ve already dropped off some old clothes and shoes at the only recycling bin in our neighbourhood that isn’t overflowing.

Spent yesterday: £0.00

Spent so far this week: £1.20

Are you managing to do any tidying up so far this week? Are you sticking to your budget?