2018 - No Clutter To Be Seen

basketcase

retiredinfrance wrote: »

Glad to hear DD is getting better. That is worth a ton of odd food to be thrown out.

Oh, I agree. It was just a slightly distressing reminder of how bad she'd been...
Wow, parsniphead, GO YOU! :T:beer:

Molillie

Parsniphead, I'm sure some of your things going out have appeared in my house!

Not much today for me, as was out until 8:00pm. I also managed to burn a chopped onion last night, by leaving it cooking slowly for too long. It actually smelt quite good, strangely. Yesterday was just some extra rubbish, which I didn't note properly, so no additional bag. For today, I'm going to throw out make-up that's not been used often, and has been open for a long time. Sometimes I buy something, and then find it doesn't quite do it for me. There's also some stuff abandoned by two of my nieces, lip-gloss, etc. and that's been there since last summer. My aim in the bathroom is to get rid of the mini-tower of baskets, as they can hold quite a lot of small toiletry items, and things get forgotten about. Still useful for things like extra toothpaste, and brushes at present.

Monday, bag 5, out of date make-up (assorted)

Molillie

Basketcase, so glad your DD is getting better, what a worry for you, it's a steep learning curve knowing how best to help.

parsniphead

I've just typed out a massive reply and lost it. :mad:

Anyway after I posted yesterday I continued. I achieved...

32. Strange wire
33. Bag of plastic film
34. One shoe ?!
35. Bendy curtain track
36. Bag of old, broken toys
37. Pair of destroyed kids shoes
38. Moulding toy and kinetic sand
39. Naff Christmas decoration
40. Scrap of fabric
41. Ripped ballot
42. Tatty jacket
43. Book
44. General rubbish
45. Broken plate
46. Bag of random bits
47. Piece of foam
48. DVD
49. Daily recycling
50. A massive bag of stuff abandoned by step son 4 years ago. He should have taken it. He is quick enough to criticize the house.

I'm feeling good about this process but also feel upset about how I have let the house get into the state it is. I do obviously have some sort of hoarding issue which I think relates to debt issues. I have so many home improvements to get done and they can't go ahead until this stuff is sorted. It has to be done. I have a little notebook listing everything to help me visualise what I'm achieving.

I also don't want to live in a hovel any longer and fully I tend to have a nice home by Christmas.

Thank you all for your lovely support. X

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Good afternoon from a cold, wet & stormy Isle of Dogs Was going out but changed my mind :eek:

Molillie, way to go :T You are a demon declutterer :T

basketcase, glad DD is on the mend & is getting back to the DD that you remember. Sadly, we ladies are very good at keeping secrets from our loved ones because we believe we should cope

parsniphead, you are going great guns. It is sooo easy to just let a couple of little things clutter up the place & before you know it there is stuff all over the place:eek: & you just do not see it :embarasse Then because there is sooo much stuff you don’t know where to start so it gets left Then one morning you wake up & it is as if you are seeing it for the first time :idea: you just start :rotfl: Please do not beat yourself up about it - I was that person :eek::rotfl: but the lovely people on this thread helped so much :T Ideas were freely offered & stories told - visions of how life could be in a clutter free home :j. Methods - MK, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning & now Slob Lady :rotfl: & I can just pick & choose what I like & what I think I can maintain :rotfl: The fact that you are keeping a notebook & have a very specific goal in mind will help you no end :T

Back to decluttering in the Salad Dodger +1 household

More little bits into the cs bags compliments of DSis:

B616 - B626 All the following are F: costume jewellery - bead necklace, pair of earrings, single earring, brooch, enamelled bangle, Zebra key ring, Giraffe key ring, key ring with a bell in a marble! & elastic wrist band + a DNeph junior school project - small cardboard Boxes a la Russian Dolls + a bag containing 9 foam hair rollers with Velcro fastenings.

The cs bags are in a big heap at the moment but will be on their way either Wednesday or Thursday + I will arrange a collection so more stuff can go:)

Onwards & upwards our happy band of declutterers :T:rotfl:

MrsSD
B626/B2018

retiredinfrance

Yes, Mrs.SD, everybody can find their own style of decluttering. That's the joy of it and reading everyone's stories. I have just found our binoculars which I was sure we had given to CS in UK before we can to France. They have been hiding under stuff in the utility room. we are so pleased.

basketcase

Hi All!

There’s been some serious decluttering recorded today. Well done all!

Thank you all for your kind comments about DD. It’s been a bit of a haul but we’re getting there.

Parsniphead – I know what you mean about feeling good that you’re doing it, but upset too. I feel the same. But we're doing it now and that's the main thing. A lot of what I’m facing in my worst room (the Lavender Room) is stuff I’ve shoved in there to deal with later – often in bags and boxes ‘to keep it organised’. What was I thinking? Why on earth didn’t I just DO IT?

Retiredinfrance – glad to hear about the binoculars. A sort of reverse Declutterer’s Regret!

Anyway, I got up at 6.30 again today and did the kitchen and bathroom S&Ss +1. In the bathroom the +1 was bleaching the loo and drains and in the kitchen it was to clean the microwave, kettle, toaster and bread bin. As the car’s still not well, I ordered a grocery shop last night for delivery this morning. So I decided I’d better clean and reorganise the fridge, freezer and cupboards pending its arrival. The fridge wasn’t bad at all, but the cupboards... :eek:


Decluttering the Lavender Room and trying to get the kitchen a bit more organised are still ongoing. Simultaneously. I know I should do one or the other and perhaps concentrate more on the bedrooms, but changing seems to keep it fresh and I find I can get more done. In the kitchen, I decluttered and reorganised my flours and a couple of shelves in the baking cupboard. I also moved my tea towels and cloths out of DD’s Cupboard to near the sink, which not only makes more sense, it frees up some space in the cupboard.

Following Slob Lady’s suggestion, I dealt with some of the visible stuff in the Lavender Room. As well as being visible, it’s satisfyingly large! :rotfl: My Winter duvet has been vacuumed and crated, as has a large pillow that looks like a pair of legs (mainly used by expectant mums, but equally good when you’ve a broken shoulder). An L-shaped one, bought as an early Christmas present by DS for the same purpose, is now on my bed being used rather than just being dumped in a room.

More books have been boxed for the CS. I was going to sell them, but it’s a worthy cause and this way they’re gone. I’ve noticed again that, for me, weighing things seems to have de-personalised them. Normally I find it really difficult to part with books. Any books!

So, here’s the latest. I really do need the car back soon - I'm running out of space! However, having been able to crawl under the futon to check for a fire label at last, I’m now in a position to get rid of it! This will give me a lot more floor space and add a good amount to my total.

Repurposed veg racks + tea towels & cloths, 4.75lbs
Baskets repurposed for baking ingredients, 1lb
Beetroot jar in fridge with vinegar but no beetroot. Thanks, DS. (Still, having spent his youth drumming into him that he should “PUT THINGS BACK IN THE FRIDGE”, I suppose I should be glad he does...:rotfl:) 1.25lbs
2x frozen chicken carcasses decluttered from freezer for soup, 2.5lbs
Just in date rice, cooked and frozen, 2.25lbs
Sugar basin (with repaired lid! Why?) binned, 0.75lbs
‘Non-GF’ flours (various) OOD, 6.5lbs
Books for CS, 35lbs
Bag of 'important paperwork' (DD's), stored, 4.5lbs
Old Internet Security CD, 0.25lbs
Hot Water Bottles bagged and hung up, 3.5lbs
U-shaped pillow, 6.5lbs
L-shaped pillow, 3.5lbs
My Winter Duvet, 3.5lbs

Totals
Day’s Total 75.75lbs
Running total 997lbs

retiredinfrance

Following Basketcase and the Lavender Room I have decided to leave the Utility room alone and concentrate on the garage as it has more stuff , it is quite dark and I don't want to bump into or fall over stuff and , of course, stuff has been finding its way in there just because there is room. Today,

270 271 two old woodworking tools to CS
272 handful of bits from dressing table drawer to bin
273china pillbox to CS
274 pile of osteoporosis mags to CS . The CS has clients who want them and they get them free.
275 wooden ornament to CS
I think I may have got the total wrong and will sort it on next visit. I am starting to worry (lol) that I might hit my 365 target too soon Ah well, worry about that later.
In dressing table drawer I found 4 boxes of supermarket paracetamol so that is another item on my not to buy when in UK list. It is only our pharmacy that sells that stuff at very high prices.
So, not only am I getting a decluttered house, I am saving money Well, sort of.

basketcase

It seems to have been fairly quiet today, so I think I’ll liven things up:

I’VE DONE, I’VE DONE IT, I’VE DONE IT!!!:j:beer::j

I’ve cracked 1000 and am over half way to the total. I’ve decided to be proud, because the alternative is shame and embarrassment. Like you, retiredinfrance, I’m beginning to worry I’ll hit my target too soon...:rotfl:(Well done on the total BTW)

The ‘rise at 6.30 and do the kitchen and bathroom S&Ss +1’ habit seems to have been reasonably successful so far. The +1 in both today was mop the floor and change the floormats, plus changing out the bathroom towels. I also corralled the cereal onto a small bookstand I’ve had for years and put the (now dry) tea towels and cloths away, properly folded a la Kondo! Today was also hoovering day, so I did that too. Oh, and the chicken I decluttered yesterday defrosted and is now in a large pot of chicken soup.

As far as decluttering went, I’ve not really moved an awful lot because I wasn’t joking - I seriously am running out of space! However, I’ve been in touch with a couple of charities, who are sending vans round to pick up various large items, and the Council, who’ll pick up a defunct microwave that’s been sitting at one end of the kitchen table because it’s too heavy for me to move. (DS would normally do it, but he’s got some sort of trapped nerve in his shoulder and has been on anti-inflammatories/ painkillers for weeks). I’m told that the car should be ready tomorrow, so I’ll be able to get stuff to the Salvation Army and a load or 2 to the tip.

Procrasticlutter dealt with included (a) a food processor waiting patiently on the counter for a place of its very own and (b) a memory foam mattress topper 'waiting to be put on bed'. This was in the Lavender Room and is now on my bed. I’ll count the microwave when it’s out the door.


Anyone seeing a pattern here?!

Today’s efforts resulted in the following.
Recycling, 2.25lbs
2x Christmas candles in jars to store in DD’s Cupboard (we like the smells, but it was time...:D), 4lbs
Food Processor, 8.5lbs
Mattress topper, 16.5lbs
Bookstand - repurposed to corral cereals, 3lbs
Avon Sleep Therapy -which makes all of us sneeze!, 0.25lbs

Totals
Day’s Total 34.5lbs
Running total 1031.5lbs

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

:j:j:j:j Well done basketcase :T:T:T:T. No such thing as hitting your target too soon :rotfl: Both you & retiredinfrance have caught the decluttering bug :rotfl: So I think you will be setting a second target :rotfl:

Today was basically a non starter on the decluttering front as I was out running errands

B627 - B629 Food Tins emptied, washed & recycled
B630 Plastic Milk Carton washed & recycled
B631 - B632 Magazine & Newspaper recycled
B633 Bag of recycling from DH

Tomorrow all the cs bags (contents already listed) are being delivered & I will arrange collection of various large items. Hopefully I can get back on track tomorrow :D

MrsSD
B633/B2018