Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

Onebrokelady

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

Reading OneBrokeLady's diary has inspired me to do some decluttering when I get over this horrible cold.

I'm not going to tackle our home office because that is DH's domain and most of the clutter is his. The main problem areas that I want to tackle are mine and DH's bedroom and the landing where clutter is collecting. I keep the kitchen and living room fairly well policed and remove clutter fairly regularly from there.

DH has lots of clutter like cables, ancient floppy disks etc, which he won't let me get rid of but never makes time to go through :mad:.

But if he won't get rid of them I could at least get them out of sight in the void. So if I can declutter the void a bit I could make room for DH's clutter. That would get it out of the bedroom and landing at least.

So I need to get some stuff out of the void and go through it to see what I can get rid of. Then the space I make can swallow up DH's clutter. There are some bin liners and boxes of toys in there which I will get DS1 to look at and tell me what I can get rid of, hopefully most of it! DS2 may be less happy to go through things, but DS3 will probable be willing to look at his old toys in the summer and tell me which ones I can get rid of.

Last summer I cut down a big bush in the garden which needed constant pruning and the previous year I cut down our side hedge. This time this saved enable me to plant flowers in pots which made the garden look lovely in the summer. My ultimate decluttering goal for the garden is to get rid of our back hedge, but I can't do that until we can afford to have a fence or wall built as our garden wall is low and the back hedge is the only thing that stops people being able to peer into our kitchen window :mad:. But the changes I've already made have made our garden much lower maintenance and it now looks neater and tidier most of the time, which stressed me less .


I won't start any of this until I get over this cold though, just the thought of it is making me feel exhausted right now . But as OBL says, less clutter means more time for the things I enjoy doing, as it makes cleaning easier, and I also feel much less stressed in an uncluttered environment.

Good plans there Hairy, good luck with it all but make sure you are properly better before you make a start

I'm really excited that I can actually see the bed in my spare room now,there are still lots of little bits to get rid of including DDs bag of cables but she can sort that out herself,it was DD that originally encouraged/ nagged me to declutter so she can't moan now if I ask her to sort the cables out and get rid of them
My loft will be the very last thing that gets done because there is so much stuff up there and quite a lot of it isn't mine. When DD eventually moves out she will be taking quite a bit with her

HairyHandofDartmoor

Don't worry OBL I'm definitely in the planning stage only until this cold goes. Just getting up to make a cup of tea is making me feel tired .

doingitanyway

Good decluttering and organising plans.

You have inspired me to get my bedroom cleaned and decluttered too.

It sounds as if your cold has got worse so take care and take it easy until it goes!

HairyHandofDartmoor

doingitanyway wrote: »

Good decluttering and organising plans.

You have inspired me to get my bedroom cleaned and decluttered too.

It sounds as if your cold has got worse so take care and take it easy until it goes!

I'm glad I've inspired you DIA .

I don't think my cold is worse exactly, as it felt pretty awful yesterday, but I'm hoping another night's sleep will help. I'm determined to go out and do my food shop tomorrow morning though. I don't think my mood can cope with another day at home :eek:.

SusieT

A tip I had from a friend was for computer and power cables, save the inners of toilet rolls (or cut down the ones from kitchen rolls), fold the cables so that both ends are together, and put them in the toilet roll inner with the ends sticking out, stand them in a carton so keeps them tidy and your husband can easily see which cable he needs.

Sun_Addict

Hope the cold goes soon. Your immune system will be low caused by stress.

I need to do loads of decluttering. I go off in spurts with it then come to a standstill. I tend to tackle it one bit at a time rather than overwhelm myself with too much at once. Just doing one cupboard drawer a day would chip away at it.

Seasidegal58

Hi Hairy. I'm glad your trip on Sunday went well DS3 will be back before you know it. Pleased to read that you and DH managed to fit in a nice meal and together time.

I hope you feel a lot better tomorrow.

Re de-cluttering -15 minute sessions once a day is a good method.

Sallyforth

Hope you feel better soon HH. Colds are miserable beasts and only time gets shut of them - along with rest and fluids.
Hugs
Sally x

[Deleted User]

I really hope your cold has eased a lot by now after a, hopefully, good night's sleep. It will do you good to get out of the house even if only something as mundane as a supermarket visit. Good luck keeping to your budget:beer:


I've been fighting a losing battle against clutter for decades:o. Definitely a Forth Bridge situation:(. Doesn't help that OH is even worse than me, he saves anything and everything in the hope it will 'come in handy' for something one day. At least we have several sheds and a huge garage (that he can barely squeeze his car in among all his 'stuff'). My car's never been able to get inside that garage in 14 years:(. I'm afraid we are both of the 'out of sight out of mind' mentality. You'd take your life into your hands risking opening some of my cupboards with the threat of everything crammed in there falling out and burying you:eek:


I'm intrigued by the 'void' that you frequently mention and seems able to swallow lots of your clutter. What is this magical space, please? We have a loft which runs the length of the whole house, Needless to say it's pretty full but I haven't a clue what's up there. Not a lot of it is mine as it's too much of a faff putting it up there and then retrieving it:(. There is a light up there but the access trap door is small and high and there isn't a fitted 'drop down' ladder. Whenever we drag anything out one of us squeezes in and hands down things to the other who stands part way up the very tall pair of steps. It can get very 'Chuckle Brothers':rotfl:. It's usually me who has to go up there though because I'm slimmer, a bit more more agile and can navigate the trap door a bit better:eek:. My heart sinks when OH is looking for something, has tried all the usual places, and then says 'I wonder if it's up in the loft':eek:.

jwil

Hope you are feeling better today x