Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

I expect part of the joy of collecting ancient nostalgia tech, OBL, is the there are nerdy folk who enjoy trying to get it working again. I think I'd be inclined to sell it, as long as you clearly state that it isn't working & you're selling for spares. Sounds to me like that potential few quid would be better off in your 'new flooring' fund.
But I am in massive Declutter Mode, so shall probably be listing myself for sale soon...... Oh, hang on, that didn't come out right.......
F x

scandimore

OBL I am sure you could get some good payback for your collection. 
Good work on the loft foxgloves, are you planning on using the space for anything else once cleared or are you on a de-cluttering mission only?
It made me laugh when you said it was too cold for gardening, Mr S went to the allotment yesterday for 4 hours in the snow and hail (and occasional sunshine). He is a man of bullish determination when there is work to do! (I am the opposite and even had the fire on at home to stay snuggly). I did send him with a pack up and flask though

savingmore

happy decluttering day foxgloves...it’s a fab feeling when in decluttering mode isn’t it.....i am def. not at mo...not in any mood, just blah.  just lockdownitus i think.   need sun to come out and play again.   am thinking it’s post long easter weekend and finding it hard to ramp up enthusiasm for work.  25 months to retirement.   more colour squares to colour off, doing one every working day!

foxgloves

Thanks for all your comments, which I enjoyed reading, as always. The loft clearing isn't for any particular project. It isn't part of the home improvements programme, more that we are just thoroughly 'in the zone' with clearing out various stuff atm with having to live in chaos upstairs for quite a few more weeks while the rest of the bedrooms, landing, & stairwell are re-decorated. Our solution for far too many years has been to shove stuff we are unsure about keeping up in the loft  - a lot of it Mr F's old tech & also empty boxes which tech arrived in, as he has a thing about potentially needing the box if it needs to be returned. It occurred to us that if we don't take the big unwieldy stuff down & deal with it now, we risk damaging the new paint-job, & if we leave it till even longer, there will be crud falling all over the new carpets (next job after the decorating) too. It is very satisfying decluttering & even if I wake up with Lockdownitis, I find it lifts quite quickly once I get my bin bags ready & start sorting & chucking.
F x

foxgloves

Hello Diary Friends,
Another busy day. Checked in on my plant babies first thing as it was minus 4 here overnight & the lawn was white & crispy. Also thawed the bird bath & broke the ice on the pond. Must remember to go back down & re-wrap stuff tonight as I think it will remain very cold.
My cash-out from One-p*ll arrived this morning, so I added it to my Personal Spends spreadsheet & emailed them to request closure of my survey account. Also did next week's meal plans. We spent more last week, as included Easter treats, wine, etc, plus that big leg of lamb, so the meal plan I devised today makes good use of stuff we already have in (the only meat we will need to buy is a pack of chicken thighs) & I have included 3 recipes we haven't cooked before for some variety. I shall write the shopping list this afternoon too. Quite a few use-it-up items in the fridge, so I shall add those to my prawn & bulghur pilaf tonight - I can't bear food waste - those TV programmes where families whine that they have no money but then show a bin full of perfectly good veg & stuff chucked away do do my head in!

Have also filled another sack each for rubbish & recycling. Target area this afternoon was the boxes on top of my wardrobe. Now, in case you are thinking they were cardboard boxes making our bedroom look like a mini-warehouse, they weren't! They were all nice decorative ones, not opened for simply ages, so that I couldn't recall what was in any of them. Well, I shan't describe them all, but the following will give an idea......a big silver box, very attractive, seemed so light when I took it down......which was unsurprising as it was completely empty! Why was it even up there? No idea! I could have used it for presents at Christmas. I have put it with my wrappings stash. Next Christmas, that's a nice gift box that can be shopped from home. A pretty hat box turned out to contain random ornaments, not currently on display. I split them between the charity shop bag & my planned box of vintage family china which has already been sorted ready for returning to the loft. As for the hat box? The bottom fell out while I was sorting, so I jumped on it & managed to squash it into the recycling bag. And so it went on.....suffice it to say that the only box which will be returning to the top of my wardrobe post-redecoration will be the one containing my wedding dress. Oh, & there was a basket up there too. I used to have a problem with baskets back in the Spendy Years.....not as in an allergy to rushes or something, I mean I couldn't resist buying them. So that all felt worth doing, anyway, although I am so dusty now, I think I shall need to jump in the bath. 

This sorting process isn't going to be spend-free, although I will budget the cost from our home improvements fund. We have got rid of a lot of stuff from the loft & we will be sorting more as soon as Mr F has a day off work & can get up there, but some of it has been edited & will need to be going back up there for storage. I want to store it properly though in see-through lidded plastic boxes. I intend to make a list of how many I need to buy & will try to get them on Saturday. Even though they will be see-through, I still intend to write in marker pen on each one what is in there, so that whatever we are looking for can easily be spotted. I also need some big sticky address labels so I can re-use a big photo album. I think it will be well worth a fairly modest spend to get the cr*pfest that is our loft sorted once & for all. 
Now, that grocery shopping list isn't going to write itself, however much I wish it would, so I had better get it done, then I think I will put my audiobook on while I start chopping tonight's veg. I have inhaled so much dust this last few days, I feel like I am coming down with a cold, but I think it really is just dust & dead bees. We will stretch the vacuum up there at the weekend for sure.
Take care m'dears,
F x

 

Pixiehouse55

Hi everyone.  2nd vaccine tonight. New thing now that the driver has to wait 15 minutes before you can leave, this is from the insurance companies. Last time j had a really bad arm ache for 3 weeks and felt slightly wheezy for 2 weeks. Hopefully better this time. I know some people ended up in bed for a few days. Can't be ill with our job. I hope you are all OK? Any snow?  Nothing here but we very rarely do. I painted the back gate yesterday but I think we are going to have to get a new one.  Pay day was yesterday so I sat and worked out our finances for the month. Will go through cupboards and freezers tomorrow and do a menu plan and do a list of what we need. Daughter will be paying us back some money this week so that will go in to our boat savings. I love that we have no debts and if we need something  and I mean really need it,we have the money for it and doesn't go on a c card . Off for a up of tea.. take 
 care and keep safe. X 

Onebrokelady

It must be a tech thing because every time my DD2 buys new tech the box has to go and live in the loft for at least a year 😀 we have used a few of them for other purposes though so some have come in handy. I am slowly converting my loft storage to plastic boxes, it's so much tidier and easier to find things 

HairyHandofDartmoor

DH loves keeping empty cardboard boxes in our void too 🤣.

I've also put most of my void stuff in plastic boxes. I love the really useful type as they're strong, a good shape for stacking and easy to open. The plastic boxes will protect from damp, moths and mice too. Plus you can see what's in the boxes if you buy see through ones. I put a couple of packets of silica gel in each one to stop things sweating inside the boxes though. Not that I'm obsessed with boxes 🤣😂 .

Baileys_Babe

We too like the "really useful" boxes, lots of different sizes and robust.

foxgloves

@Onebrokelady It's definitely a tech thing.... any gadget, really. He even stored the box from my new(ish) spray mop in the utility in case it needed to be returned. I refused to have to move it every time I needed something underneath it, so into the recycling bin it went!

@Baileys_Babe I do keep a selection of cardboard boxes, but I store them flat, so if I can't fit any more in where they 'live', then that's time for refusing further additions.

@HairyHandofDartmoor. Yes, those are exactly the storage boxes I want. So far, I need one for vintage children's books (my Grandma born 1905 was a teacher), one for old family china (inc Nana's teaset) & one for my Easter decorations. It will be such an improvement just being able to stick our heads through the loft hatch & actually be able to find stuff! 

F x