A Simpler Life 2018

RicardaRacoon

Evening all

I had a rather rubbish start into the week... Couldn't sleep till two in the morning on Monday morning, yesterday it went absolutely pearshaped at work which ended in all of us staying in till quarter past eight to pack 3000 letters (at least our boss ordered pizza) and consequently, instead of going to bed at nine, I wasn't home before nine... Today I had a dentist appointment in the morning and for the first time in my life, instead of sitting there with sweathy, cold hands, I almost fell asleep... I was so tired that as soon I closed my eyes I had to fight to stay awake. I told the dentist afterwards and her reply was: "I don't mind my patients falling asleep, as long they keep their mouth open wide enough for me to work."

But at least the decluttering mood is still here and as Mrs Salad Dodger suggested, I'm going to get the last bit out of it before it vanishes! My mind is in quite a state at the moment, I often feel anxious and in the last weeks we had a lot of these strange things at work where I had to prevent the sh*t from hitting the fan... So I think tidying my surroundings helps me calm down.

I've written myself a list of some small tasks to tackle during the week and sone bigger ones for the weekend. Small ones are: under the guest bed, fabric, bedlinen, decoration and my balcony. Bigger ones are kitchen including cleaning stuff, clothes and my basement... So I guess that will keep me busy for the next few days, hope the mood stays...

@Mrs Salad Dodger I also get lost in stuff easily. I dread sorting through some paper stuff as I will end up reading the lot of it first...

@Jonesy88 Polly was quicker posting the link to the Fashion on the Ration challenge. It slipped a few pages down as we are all holding to our points for the moment I guess.
By the way, I think you wrote in the Food Ration post as well. I follow someone on Instagram who does Ration Book Challenges, it kind of adds up and I suspect it is you. In case it really is; I really enjoy your posts!

So, I will now go and run my fancy new shredder getting rid of some paper stuff :-) And then bed by nine tonight for sure!

Have a lovely evening!

SmlSave

Mrs_Salad_Dodger wrote: »

SmlSave, isn’t it marvellous when DHs come on board :T My DH is currently in charge of trips to the Tip, tidying his office & all the prepping & decorating! My tasks are keeping him fed, baking him treats, decluttering the rest of the house, cleaning & letting him play on his motorbike :rotfl:

If you have lots of decluttering it might be worth joining the ‘2018 - No Clutter To Be Seen’ thread. There are lots of useful tips & if you decide to post you can choose your ‘numbers’ - e.g. 2018 items, 365 items or maybe even 52 It is surprising how encouraging it is to list what goes out :j One option is to start small - clear a table & then keep it clear - sometimes easier said than done :eek: or make sure you deal with your post immediately - sit down with a cup of tea & deal with the post - pay the bills, reply to invitations, file info, recycle/shred envelopes etc. (For me it is an easily achievable win :T )
Good luck SmlSave

Thanks MrsSD.
I am currently (aka slowly) going through a cupboard at a time. Removing it all. Giving a good clean with vinegar water and then replacing what I know we use regularly. Then showing DH what a good job I've done :A with warning him that it needs to stay that way - no piling things in straight out of the dishwasher!

I've been trying to find uses for different containers to see if they will help us stay organised. So the under sink cupboard is currently home to grape boxes housing cloths and rags, we'll see how it looks in a few weeks.

I'm not good with paper, it tends to get shoved in the 'in tray' and forgotten until overflowing!

Angel_Jenny

Ah I long for a simpler life! I am loving reading back in this thread. I am feeling overwhelmed as the house is cluttered and my job ...... well it is pretty violent right now. So my plan is declutter and deep clean then make time for things I enjoy doing such as baking. I love all the homemaking tasks - baking, sewing, bread making etc - but have very limited skills!

Hoping I can create a bit of an escape from the drama & stress of my job!

Terence05

I quite agree!

LameWolf

SmlSave wrote: »

I am currently (aka slowly) going through a cupboard at a time. Removing it all. Giving a good clean with vinegar water and then replacing what I know we use regularly. Then showing DH what a good job I've done :A with warning him that it needs to stay that way - no piling things in straight out of the dishwasher!

We don't have a dishwasher, but Mr LW often (usually :A) volunteers to wash up; if he's not certain where something lives, he leaves it on the table for me to put away, that way the cupboards stay as I want them. It works for us.

[Deleted User]

I am facing a very large declutter........I have a weakness for crystal, I have had to stop going to our favourite coffee shop which raises funds for a local hospice, they have a charity shop attached everytime we went for tea I ended up buying crystal. Not expensive stuff just a couple of pounds or so each time. There is also more expensive bowls which I do use, and things like champagne coupes.

There are two dressers in the house, one in the sitting room and one in the hall, both are groaning with stuff, some of it I am very loathe to part with so I am making room on some shelves in a cupboard to store it, to do this I have to get rid of whats on the shelves. Saucepans I have not used in 3 years, an ice cream maker I have not used for ages and the said dresser in the sitting room, the room will be so much easier to clean if its gone. Some of the stuff belonged to my husbands family, I want to keep that, but other stuff has to go!!

I have already decluttered my bed linen, a settee, chair, small table and a lamp, but there is still more to go.

I make quilts and quilted things, I recently 'decluttered' my fabric stash, sending some fabric to a friend who runs a sewing group. I have an embargo on buying any more fabric until I have mostly used up what I still have. I could start a shop with the reels of thread I have. Most of them have been used at some time, but there are a few that still have the wrappers on.........arrgghhh...... I need a clutter free simpler life....

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Deleted_User wrote: »

I am facing a very large declutter........I have a weakness for crystal, I have had to stop going to our favourite coffee shop which raises funds for a local hospice, they have a charity shop attached everytime we went for tea I ended up buying crystal. Not expensive stuff just a couple of pounds or so each time. There is also more expensive bowls which I do use, and things like champagne coupes.

There are two dressers in the house, one in the sitting room and one in the hall, both are groaning with stuff, some of it I am very loathe to part with so I am making room on some shelves in a cupboard to store it, to do this I have to get rid of whats on the shelves. Saucepans I have not used in 3 years, an ice cream maker I have not used for ages and the said dresser in the sitting room, the room will be so much easier to clean if its gone. Some of the stuff belonged to my husbands family, I want to keep that, but other stuff has to go!!

I have already decluttered my bed linen, a settee, chair, small table and a lamp, but there is still more to go.

I make quilts and quilted things, I recently 'decluttered' my fabric stash, sending some fabric to a friend who runs a sewing group. I have an embargo on buying any more fabric until I have mostly used up what I still have. I could start a shop with the reels of thread I have. Most of them have been used at some time, but there are a few that still have the wrappers on.........arrgghhh...... I need a clutter free simpler life....

Hi Deleted_User, you might find ‘2018 - No Clutter To Be Seen’ inspirational although I must say that you have made a great start :T

I am slowly decluttering & cleaning whilst my DH is prepping & decorating. However, there is still sooo much & now I have ‘wall unit cubby holes & cupboards of doom, plus boxes & crates of doom & horror of horrors ‘The Understairs Cupboard of DOOM’ :eek::eek::eek::eek:

There is sooo much to do but I try to keep something I learnt many years ago in the fore front of my mind “How do you eat an elephant?” In bite sized pieces of course! Same principle applies to decluttering However sometimes some of the ‘pieces’ are so small that I wonder why I bothered:o Then I remember the end goal ‘A Simpler Life’ and the sun comes out - after all every little thing out means one less bit of clutter :j

So onwards & upwards

MrsSD

dolly84

SmlSave wrote: »

Thanks MrsSD.
I am currently (aka slowly) going through a cupboard at a time. Removing it all. Giving a good clean with vinegar water and then replacing what I know we use regularly. Then showing DH what a good job I've done :A with warning him that it needs to stay that way - no piling things in straight out of the dishwasher!

I've been trying to find uses for different containers to see if they will help us stay organised. So the under sink cupboard is currently home to grape boxes housing cloths and rags, we'll see how it looks in a few weeks.

I'm not good with paper, it tends to get shoved in the 'in tray' and forgotten until overflowing!

I re-use tubs and boxes as cupboard and drawer organisers and it seems to work really well, especially in the drawer where all the random screws and itty bitty diy bits live.

frankiedarv

If its okay with you all I will join in. I work as an online shopper part time hours I really enjoy my job which is just as well since I start at 4am however on the good side im normally home by 8am, the one thing that has made me think is how many packets of biscuits and crisps I see people buying I was amazed at how many packets people buy. I have been decluttering the house (my dad died about 3 years ago and my sister and brother in law have moved in with me) as we are planning to finish off bits in the house and then move to Yorkshire in a couple of years to hopefully lead maybe not simpler but a better life. I do make cakes and biscuits although not loads of, but i dont buy them. I love crafting and have found a nearby charity that runs craft workshops so I have already signed up to learn crochet, silk ribbon embroidery and needle felting and all are reasonably priced and I will have the pleasure of learning a new skill. I have 2 greenhouses which this year will grow lots of salad crops since salad is quite expensive and you end up throwing half of it away because it doesnt keep very well, this way I can pick what I need. I tend to grow heirloom varieties since I want a range of tastes rather than all the same. We have planted raspberries, blueberries, black currants gooseberries and strawberries since they are fairly easy to grow and are always expensive in the shops, however when i do buy food in shops I always try to buy British where i can, i like to support our farmers. I really do need some new clothes this year so I will be searching the charity shops to see what i can find, later in the year I will try and buy a few things made in the UK to add to my wardrobe. I do watch TV only freeview but i dont watch news or reality tv programmes or soaps. I have a smart tv so i can watch BBC4 programmes which i find interesting, and i can watch them anytime im awake. Im trying to loose weight and im doing okay although im the first to admit that when i finish work and hungry its really easy to buy crap to eat, so i made myself some cereal bars they are lovely with honey and agave instead of sugar that now stops me buying the stuff I shouldnt eat. I also have a ninteno wii which helps me exercise and i use it everyday, since i would never go to a gym (not enough confidence and couldnt afford it) the nintendo wii was brought second hand about 10 years ago and is still going strong. I have brought 1 new magazine in about the last year a cross stitch one, i have however brought several from charity shops for 20p each which is far better than paying nearly £6 each. So normally my days are filled with loom knitting, cross stitch and patchwork. All of these things may have cost me money to start with but last me far longer than a magazine. I do have a sewing machine one electric which was my mums and was brand new 40 years ago. I used to have a all singing and dancing one but it broke down, I found that half of the things on it I never used, so now I have a singer hand crank brought from my local charity place fully serviced and for me works great and on the plus side I can learn to service it myself. I read lots but never buy new books. I enter competitions but only enter the ones with things I really want to win, quite often holidays since my wages wouldnt stretch that far and money since the car will need servicing and it seems to need this stuff they call petrol.
Well thats my story for now, thank you for reading
Francesxx

RicardaRacoon

So, looks like I am done with my little spring cleaning and decluttering project. Well, the wardrobe is still untouched, but I'll maybe deal with that tomorrow.
It didn't felt like I binned loads but still everything looks so much cleaner and less cluttered.

I talked about minimalism with my sister yesterday and we both agreed that we don't want clutter, but this does not mean not wanting things. We both have loads of books (I have close the 400, she has even more) because we like to reread them and we don't want an empty living room in white but we love our pillows, curtains, candles, missmatching pictures...
I think it sometimes is good to have a quick think about these things and find out how you see it and also keep in mind that it is ok to have say a capsule wardrobe but a whole chest of drawer full of crafting stuff or being quite drastical with books because once read they don't need to stay as they won't be reread but at the same time have ways more baking supplies than an average household because baking sparks joy.

Yesterday afternoon when walking home I had a lovely chat with an elderly lady. I know her since I was about 15 or so, we meet about twice a year or so on a walk but when we have time we always have a chat. CHatting for half an hour meant that I had to hurry up afterwards to be ready in time to go out with my sister but then, well, isn't that also part of simple and intentional living?

@sml could you set up some filing system to help with paper? I have no idea how they are called, but I have one of these folders that have various openings. So bills go into one, one is for things I have to look through and respond and don't feel like doing right now (I go through these two every fortnight or so) and then one for everything that I need to keep and will eventually transfer into a proper folder and one for things that are relevant right now, but not relevant enough to be filed "forever". About once or twice a year I file everything worth filing and sort through the rest to see what is still releavnt and what isn't.

@Frankie Welcome! Sounds like you are on a really good way to a nice, simple life!

Have a nice Saturday everyone! Around here it finally looks like spring, so I will definitively go for a walk and then go over to my parents later on. I just called to check if they are home and my Mum was laughing when she picked the phone up. WHen I asked her what it was about her answer was: "Dad just said he'll dust the living room. Than the phone rang and he said in case it is you we could ask you to come over and dust." Dusting is actually my most favourite household task and my parents both hate it...