Hoarding...not just on TV

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Morning!

I have fed the cats, cleared the bowls, fed the fish, cleaned the top of their tank, swept the floors, emptied the bins, had breakfast, had a big mug of tea....

....and I'm ready to go back to bed again!



I won't, obviously, but I'm certainly going to sit down for a while with Radio 4 on.

wannabe_sybil

Very sick yesterday, lots of vomiting. I have had this for about the last six weeks, and I have worked out that actually I am sick whenever I have cheese. This is relatively recent. OH is intolerant to cheese, so I haven't bothered having any in. Now darling father is living with us who adores cheese (he grew up in the Cheshire countryside where the real cheese grows) and little bear is having baby bels in his packed lunch etc then I have been having more and more. I love cheese. I will be cutting it out, though, and most dairy.

Also doctor is doing tests for liver, kidney and thyroid function. I go next Friday for the bloods, which should be fun.

So no de-richarding happened in any way yesterday.

Elona - I did that a few months ago, clearing out and getting rid of really out of date stuff. It was such a feeling of liberation! I felt like I 'ought' to be using stuff. Not having it tutting at me on the shelves felt sooo good. I hope you are giving yourself credit, and you deserve to!

Jojo - GOOD LUCK!!!!!!! Now comes the long wait. Keeping all crossed for you.

A rest day for me.

(Also, yesterday, before I got really bad, I ordered stuff for little bear for school and also called in at Matalan for some extra bits for little bear's sports kit and accidentally bought two tops for myself I am a bit short of tops, though)

katep23

Been to the recycling centre and got rid of 4 bags of garden waste, one bag of household waste, all the cardboard boxes from the woodshed and all the glass and cartons our curbside recycling doesn't accept.

One big bag of clothes ready for charity shop and a box full of assortments as well.

Last night took a huge bale of woodshavings which are no good for our ducks to my friends for their guinea pigs.

Going well but now cannot get to my bed under all the clothes hangers I have freed up!

whitewing

Hullo everyone. Good luck with the job app, Jojo.

I am really tired today. Went out for a walk earlier and a deer crossed the road in front of us - that was exciting.

Came back and dd has got the lego out. But I had a revelation because although it is untidy with her toys out the house still seemed a lot clearer than it has done. This really is a great thread.

elona

DH drove me to recycling centre late this morning with at least a dozen carrier bags full of tins. Man in charge remarked you could tell they were out of date because they had gone rusty! I have only just stopped blushing!

Did a shop at Al*i and as well as the milk, bread, fruit and veg , mince, chicken thighs etc I got ten tins of mushrooms which have been put away tidily and I know will be used. Promised myself not to get stuff because it was a bargain but only if it could make things we liked and would eat.

DH not happy because tiny jars of spices are taking up a lot of space in a tall cupboard. I wonder if I have a look at the jars and empty and combine them all into a larger glass jar and label it as mix of cumin, tumeric, ginger etc - could then use it as marinade for chicken etc and it would free up space without wasting anything.

Have just found a medium size jar and filled it with mixed spices, labelled it and been able to throw out nearly ten tiny jars and make space in cupboard to see what I actually have so feel quite virtuous.

whitewing

That's great, getting rid of your tins.

Tell DH to make you a spice rack! Combining is a good idea but mightn't you get sick of the same taste.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

elona wrote: »

DH drove me to recycling centre late this morning with at least a dozen carrier bags full of tins. Man in charge remarked you could tell they were out of date because they had gone rusty! I have only just stopped blushing!

Did a shop at Al*i and as well as the milk, bread, fruit and veg , mince, chicken thighs etc I got ten tins of mushrooms which have been put away tidily and I know will be used. Promised myself not to get stuff because it was a bargain but only if it could make things we liked and would eat.

DH not happy because tiny jars of spices are taking up a lot of space in a tall cupboard. I wonder if I have a look at the jars and empty and combine them all into a larger glass jar and label it as mix of cumin, tumeric, ginger etc - could then use it as marinade for chicken etc and it would free up space without wasting anything.

That's basically what Garam Masala is. As long as you leave out the chilli (as getting that wrong could be explosive), it could work. As long as you never use spices for sweet dishes/baking - as then you'd end up with a big jar and separate jars.

Although if he's focusing on a bunch of jars put away in the cupboard to the exclusion of great piles of stuff everywhere else, it could be a bit of a deflection away from something else.


Personally, I have quite a lot of spices and seasonings in the cupboards. The ones I use most consist of:

Cinnamon
Turmeric
Parprika
Ras el Hanout (a blend)
Garam Masala (a blend)
Sea Salt flakes
Peppercorns

Sake
Mirin
Soy/Tamari

I buy the former in an ethnic store in small tins that keep fresher, stack better and don't make the same godawful racket as glass ones if they jump out and try to bite me on the head. The latter come from an oriental supplier and are in bigger bottles for less money, but get used so frequently, it's rare that I ever have more than a quarter of a bottle left in the cupboard.


I could manage without all the others. Perhaps that would help? Decide what you absolutely need every week or so without fail and then cull the ones that will in all probability have gone stale by the time you need to use it again? So you will only buy if you need it, not on the offchance?



ETA: they were selling full spice racks in Lidl last week. I personally think that they add another piece of storage to the problem and mean you keep more spices that you won't necessarily ever use.

Brighton_belle

blossomhill wrote: »

Thank you for this BB - you helped me throw 3 pairs yesterday!

Thanks for that - it's great to know it is good to post these sort of things. I felt so good with them in the bag - I found it a bit harder to actually take them to the cs today. But I did it! I kept reminding myself that for 2 of the pairs, I just never felt good in them, even though they were very comfortable.

Good luck with the app Jojo - I've been in a similar position:it does seem impossible after along bout of ilhealth / unemployment to get someone to give you a chance. But it can happen, as it did for me, so everything crossed. I like the game plan re organising your life at home for when you do start work.
The more declutering I do, the greater I strive for a very simple life at home, with everything streamlined /in place and set up to make life easy.

Doesn't sound good Syble - home the dairy elimination solves that for you.

Well, today I finally got several bags of stuff to the charity shop - a bag of rags and bric a brac and some of my shoes. Gosh, I find that final letting go so ridiculously painful - ridiculous because I feel so pleased when it goes in the bag. I find I feel quite anxious in the CS but make myself turn round and walk out, knowing that I haven't regreted anything I have let go of so far, and that the anxiety does pass, I just have to ride it out.

beanielou

You are such a star BB :A

Brighton_belle

:wave: Beanie, you're making me blush:o:D:D