2019 - A Clutter Free Life

Cherryfudge

Thank you for the lovely warm welcome!

I finally remembered to take the CS bag when I went out today: only 15 items but they have at last gone.

whmf00001, I had roughly 600 videos to clear after my Mum passed away. Some were destroyed by damp, many were old TV shows, or films. As someone has already said, films are available on DVD or N3tflix. Most went in the bin though someone found a charity shop that would take some - a rare thing nowadays. There are still loads that my Dad recorded of village views and events, but they will be boxed up and can be sorted once the house is clear - a massive job. It goes against the grain to bin things but I had to remind myself that my parents would never have got through watching all those again and in five years in a nursing home Mum never once requested any. They were things that they liked but were not their true selves.

My totals for the year so far:
1st 32
2nd 11
3rd 1 (I think!!)
4th 16.
Total so far 60

Saver-upper

Lots of stuff out of the house today.Some of it was stuff I had decluttered from customer's houses,and had been waiting to get around to disposing of.I dont count that,because they were never my posessions,but it is still nice to see the space back :j:j.
I also don't count day-to-day recycling,general rubbish (eg after Christmas).
Out of the house today:




To the tip:

45:mattress that 9yo daughter had been sick on recently
46-47:2fluffy ,heart-shaped pillows that my kids had owned for years (think 16yo got them for her 5th birthday,and they had been handed down).They had been looking very much the worse for wear.
48:duvet


Donated to charity shop,all from this week's declutter of 9/12yo's bedroom:

49-51:3 pr slippers (1 pr slip-on sock-y things,an "emoji" pair,and a pr of grey boot-type)
52-61:10 soft toys
62:dress
63:emoji pillow
64:school uniform dress
65-66:t-shirts
67:vest
68:small box of crayons
69:book
70-71:2 dolls


Edit: just remembered that I also took 2 placemats to the tip today (they werent in good enough conditon to donate the other day),so that is items number 72-73

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. SMALL TASKS WILL BE DONE ASAP
2. I WILL LEAVE A ROOM TIDIER THAN WHEN I ENTERED
3. KITCHEN WILL BE LEFT CLEAN & TIDY EVERY NIGHT
4. WHEN DEALING WITH CLUTTER I WILL USE ‘Daisy1571’s idea of ‘WHAT WOULD I DO WITH THIS ITEM IF IT WAS SOMEONE ELSE’S ?’
5. IF I WAS STARTING FROM SCRATCH, WOULD I BUY THIS?
6. BE LIKE A POSTAGE STAMP - STICK TO ONE THING UNTIL YOU GET THERE

Got myself out of bed today :rotfl: just after 9:00 a.m. pootled about a bit - did some magazine comps, played some Angry Birds 2, checked I had everything for hm pizzas tonight & did a bit of paperwork.
DH got up about 12:30 p.m. & DSis about 20 mins later - I am embarrassed for them but they were not

I then wrapped up warm & as I had been so lazy yesterday, I walked to the CS :rotfl: Fed the swans, Canada geese, grebes, coots & mallards on the way. Dropped off one bag of donations (already listed) plus a very warm bobble hat - item no. 18

Then walked to the sm. Unfortunately far busier than New Year’s Day BUT & this is massive for me :rotfl: I managed to get proper ys bargains :j:T:T:j - £1.19 for a £5.00 pack of smoked salmon, £1.00 for a £3.50 pack of smoked salmon & £1.42 for a £3.85 pack of 10 sausages. The beauty of this is that I was going to pay £2.50 for the £5 pack but timed it correctly (for a change) as the man with the pricing gun turned up :T :T

Whilst I was out DSis & DH started prepping the bathroom skirting board, which turned into DSis doing on her own (small bathroom :rotfl:) & DH moving things around /tidying in the garage. Ended up with more space & didn’t actually bin anything. DSis has undercoated the skirting & door frame :T

I put all the shopping away including a new potato masher - the old one is in a new cs bag - item 19, together with an hand held grater - item 20.
I Finally got a picture hook & nail + hammer & put up our 2019 calendar in the hall. It is a British wildlife calendar with all the photos taken by a friend in her local area - including a hare, an huge stag, a red kite. Professional quality

The hm pizzas were absolutely delicious - even if I say so myself :rotfl: The washing up is done & put away.

DH & I tried a new beer tonight - he was not a fan but I thought it was OK :rotfl:

21 - Beer bottle rinsed & recycled

Well done ScarletRibbons, villagelife, Lily54, Wanna Bee Free, whmf, Uncluttered_unicorn,
been there_donethat, madammim, ginmonster, DD265, pippo, chocolatebum, - keeping items moving out :T

sweetpea26, welcome - you have a plan :T & you have already started :T Do you have more than one local cs ? as it might be nice to spread your largesse especially as you are planning on donating so many bags each week. By the way - you never need to apologise for posting more than once in a day Your enthusiasm & success spur us all on :rotfl: - in fact after reading your 2nd post I dashed off to empty a section of cupboard that contained my JRR Tolkien books & I moved them to the bookshelf in my bedroom :T

frugal_lass, I am quite excited for you as well :rotfl: Kon Marie is too much for me :rotfl: although I do utilise her clothes folding techniques :rotfl: I wish you every success & hope that you let us know when you are done

CAFCGirl, very well done :T How much of your patterns etc stash have you let go ? I need to brave my wool stash & decide if I am going to ‘release some into the wild’ or start knitting for England :rotfl: My momentum usually gets going just before I go to bed :rotfl: You have joined so many of us in finding that decluttering can be addictive :rotfl:

short_bird, have a big pat on the back - couldn’t find an emoji so :T well done. You recognised a ‘clutter trigger’ & resisted temptation :T

Chrystal, welcome to our happy band of declutterers :hello: One of our posters has a great way of getting started (name escapes me ) - carry a black bin bag into a room - pick up & bin any actual rubbish, then move onto the next room & so on. It might just be the motivation you need

red0209, a gentle nudge from me - put your items on eBay Think of all that lovely money & the clear spaces when sold & posted

Wednesday2000, I get distracted too :rotfl: but so worth it By the way - your picture is soooo cute

Bozwood, if you have the space, I would keep the items. Maybe revisit in 3 months but don’t think about it

osbornbiscuit, welcome to our merry band :T You have made a great start :T A word of caution, try not to put too much in the loft and if at all possible try & move items completely out of your home. It is surprising how oppressive a full loft can feel - as I have learnt Onwards & outwards :rotfl:

Towser, might be easier but you probably wouldn’t get the same satisfaction :rotfl:

retiredinfrance, what a brilliant post :T a succinct explanation of why it is good to declutter :T

nannywindows, I am sure the cs would love the diary You are putting me to shame tackling the ‘office of doom’ - I have yet to tackle any of the ‘of doom’ areas However, I am gradually stoking up the motivation & DH has volunteered to tackle the ‘understairs cupboard of doom’ :T
I had to laugh 😂 at your description of making it out alive :rotfl:

gentlepurr, items out - you are winning Re the airing cupboard sort out - do you have any animal sanctuaries or vets near you - they might be grateful for old quilts etc.

Cherryfudge, is there some sort of historical society in the village who could be offered the videos of village views & events. Well done on the numbers :T

Great numbers Saver-upper :T

Only taken me 2 hours to write this :rotfl:

MrsSD
21/2019

frugal_lass

Wow MSD - I admire your energy. Great work so far! The real work will be maintaining everything once I’ve KonMari-ed. I think I could do it with a daily 10 minute tidy.

ScarletRibbons

When I took my bag to the chazzer yesterday I saw a pale pink jumper in the window, just what I've been looking for. I asked the girl behind the counter when they changed the window, but she said she could take it out there and then. It's an M&*, and hardly been worn, £3.95!

In one of the other shops I bought 6 BHS china dinner plates for £5, looked brand new. When I got home I chucked out some of ours that had been in the dishwasher too often, that I'd been meaning to replace.

A good day then!

sweetpea26

MSD thank you for replying to us all. This is a superb thread.

Up way too early I had messed up and added saturday to my weekday alarm !!!!!!! on my phone ....woke from my deep sleep 6.10!!! Once I am awake that is it.

Yesterday was a very positive day and gots lots done. 3 bags to black bin and loads to recycling. Going to clean the larder fridge out today and see what needs to go to the birds and the bin. I am ashamed when I throw food out simply because I bought too much. That is another area of my life I need to sort out.

I know I have lots jam jars so am going to recycle them this weekend too.

Today I would like to continue fillng the charity shop donations bag..I donate to mostly 2 MSD..as I buy most things I need from them. By this evening I hope to have cleared the larder.
Wishing everyone a positive chuck out day

Seaotter

I’m back again - and we’re determined that this will be the year when we get on top of the house. Lots of action in 2016 but not enough since then, and during that time I’ve acquired stuff (mainly paperwork - ugh) from my aunt’s home, as she’s now in a nursing home. So DH and I have both re-read Marie Kondo’s book, and we’ve started a list as things go out. In previous years I’ve found posting on here has been helpful, as a great way of holding myself to account!

Thanks for setting up the thread!

Guineapigsqueaks

Morning All
Survived the working week, only 3 days instead of 5, but a bit of a shock to the system :rotfl:. Got a busy weekend just catching up with general household chores, bathroom must be cleaned, want to Hoover through upstairs and catch up with laundry. But have included on my list both a 30 mins general tidy and a 30 mins declutter, so will report back later on any outs.
I've watched a few episodes of the new Marie Kondo series on Netflix. I already have her books and and am a fan of her folding and clothes storage techniques! I like her calm and smiley, but determined persona and I do identify with the calmness that a tidy and uncluttered environment provides, it's what I'm constantly striving for .
Right, better show some enthusiasm and get going!
Guineapigsqueaks x

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

sweetpea26, there is a great thread called ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ which might be useful to you - plenty of great ideas re keeping food waste to an absolute minimum. Two of the most useful ideas from my POV, are menu planning (around the food you already have) & batch cooking. Of course you do need freezer space :rotfl:

Well done on keeping up the momentum with your decluttering - it is very heartening :T

frugal_lass, visualisation of the future - love it

ScarletRibbons, serendipity - right time, right place I wasn’t as lucky - I dropped off a bag of donations yesterday & thought I would have a quick look at the clothing rails - they are gone Apparently ‘I :heart2: Community’ are opening up a clothes only shop as they have had so many donations that the current shop cannot accommodate the stock :j Oh well, I saved my pennies

Seaotter - 2019 is your year Clutter free & proud

I got up @ 8:30 a.m. this morning so I could pay the milkman - 3rd time lucky as I owed him 6 weeks payment :eek: Pootled around a bit, had a cup of tea, played Ang*y B*rds 2, emptied the under sink cupboard in the kitchen - hopefully DH will be able to locate the source of the smell :eek: when the washing machine is put on after a couple of days not being used. Once he has looked & possibly sorted it out, I will clean the cupboard & try to thin out the cleaning products.

At 10:00 a.m. regardless of the fact that DH & DSis were still in bed I vacuumed the whole of downstairs. DSis came down about 15 mins later & DH 15 mins after that :rotfl: I have also thrown a load of leftovers into a saucepan added stock & it is cooking on a low heat. I will eventually blitz creating a soup. It is an experiment so may require a decent amount of seasoning & I may be the only one who eats it :rotfl:

:j my Christmas present from DH finally arrived - an Heng Balance Lamp - it is absolutely beautiful - plugs into a USB port. Once we decorate our bedroom & DH changes the sockets, it will be my bedside lamp.

I am now binge watching ‘The 4400’ whilst drinking coffee.

Keep up the good work

MrsSD

Cheapskate

Afternoon folks

Just finished decluttering the Christmas tree - NEVER had a real tree that shed so much! Took me over half an hour to hoover the room and hallway after we got it outside! :eek: DH has taken it to the tip, along with about half a bin bagful of stuff that won't go in the recycling cos the bins are full, so dumping the things in the relevant bins at the tip - about 25-30 items, plus the tree.

ETA: Watched half of the first of the Marie Kondo programmes, rather inspiring, and made me actually WANT to tidy and organise! I like the idea of having a calm, meditative moment before they got stuck in, just long enough to get yourself framed, as they say around here.

A xo