2019 - A Clutter Free Life

Wednesday2000

bit_by_bit wrote: »

The week before last my sister's partner had a heart attack. Dear Sis, who died in March, had a place for everything, well mostly. We had to bring his bed downstairs over the weekend but it was easy as everything had a place so it took virtually no time to clear her sewing room and moved his bedroom down stairs. Everything was in a container so easily placed in a box and moved.

He won't be out of hospital for at least another week as he is having bypass surgery today but I didn't want to be rushed.

Sorry to read that.xxx

Wednesday2000

Donation bag - I am going to finish reading one book this week and then add that and another book to the bag for the charity shop.

Binned - two gross and dirty pet blankets, two dusters, some used up medication packets, a pair of knickers with a hole and two socks with holes. I bought bamboo socks and they seem to get holes very easily! They are very soft and comfortable, though.

I was looking at the details of my state pension in my paperwork box today and realised we have a lot of spare paper. A4 notebooks and lots of printer paper. We haven't owned a printer for years.:rotfl:

I put the paper in a box in the living room and will try and use it up. I do love making lists.:p

I am running down the fridge, cupboards and freezer this week. I want the fridge and freezer almost totally empty before I buy any more food. :cool:

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.

Monday has been mainly dry but quite dull. Another day of being lazy
I finished scarf no.6 :T
Dinner was burgers, mash & baked beans. Still trying to clear down kitchen freezer & getting there + reorganised garage freezer.
The hm soup has been zizzed & DH & I will be eating that for lunches over the next few days.

4324 - 4332 Two drinks cans, glass bottle & metal cap, 3 food cans, glass jar & plastic lid, glass jar & metal lid, cardboard packaging - Recycled
4333 - 4335 Bag of kitchen detritus, worn out sponge scourer, plastic packaging - Binned

Nice to see you Helpmelord Marie Kondo is a bit too hard core for me - unfortunately Well done on all your successes & hope you enjoy your nice new ‘clutter free’ flat :T

Excellent work on the decluttering bit by bit :T You must be noticing a major difference Sorry to read about your sister’s partner, but impressed with your generosity & planning for their return from the hospital. Sounds like your sister was a champion declutterer & sorry for your loss.

Well done Wednesday2000 :T Sounds like you are doing a better job of clearing your fridge & freezer than I am :rotfl: I also love a list :rotfl: but mine are more like Jack Frost’s lists - bits of paper all over the place & in pockets etc :rotfl:

Will see you tomorrow - hopefully having done a bit more work on DH’s office

MrsSD
4335/4038

bit_by_bit

Thankyou Wednesday2000 and MrsSD. He is in cardiac intensive care but came out of surgery alright, I think he will be OK. This has actually allowed us to move some of my sister's stuff out into the garage. Until now he house is almost exactly as it was the day she died.

I am not sure that she was a super declutterer although she did get rid of a load of stuff when they moved into the house they bought last year. She had been running businesses for years and doing all sorts of stuff so had a lot of paper. She hauled it around with her for years.
She stored it in two storage units. Happily it is mostly gone now. Their garage has a lot of stuff in it still all neatly boxed. I would say she was a tidy clutterer. Kept everything. I am yet to tackle that as her sorter in chief. i am trying to find the balance between keeping well and getting everything done that I need to do.

For myself i am definitely noticing the difference in the house. More space. My DD was telling her friend how she had a walkway to her bed and the Room of Doom wasn't accessible. Interesting to hear it from someone else.

Picklepot

400 - 1 tub of expired multivitamins disposed of
401 - big cull of 200 items of paperwork from filing system recycled or shredded
402 - cleared pile of paperwork from DS old room checked with him first
403 - more out of date supplements binned (not buying anymore!)
404 - dealt with post on arrival
405 - finally put my favourite shirt in textiles* (it got damaged and was ripped at back) . buttons removed. I have found a use for spare buttons yay!!!
406 - spent 15minutes clearing out my beside drawers x 2 - wow what a load of rubbish in there!
postives of decluttering
* not constantly feel the guilt of seeing the item and what it represents (in this case I damaged it beyond repair) now it s gone its gone decision made

Wednesday2000

I've been really busy today. I got a bad sleep last night so I had a strong cup of tea and then an energy drink. I cut out caffeine for most of this year so as you can imagine they did give me a lot of energy.:D

I ordered some new LED Christmas lights for the tree arriving today as the ones I have already are in a vase in my living room.

I then decided to go out to the garden storage and get the Christmas tree and decorations out. OMG, I saw a huge spider, gross, it had such a fat body. *Shudder*

Anyway, lol, I found lots of carp to get rid of out there. I blame my husband for just putting junk in the garden storage boxes without thinking if we need it. I certainly didn't do it!

A bag of vacuum cleaner attachments to a vacuum I don't own anymore.

Ties to garden shade sails I don't own anymore.

Packaging and plastic bags.

A manky old pet food bowl.

A soaking wet dust sheet.

I also got rid of some old dog toys, a pair of sandals with the strap broken and a curtain rail. That rail was here when we moved in over 15 years ago!

I did find some small storage boxes out there and I have washed them and used them to reorganise my kitchen under sink cupboard.:)

I'm looking forward to decorating the tree later. I know it's early, haha, but I just felt like being festive.

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.

Tuesday was mostly dark & wet

DH & I spent 2.5 hours working in his office. More new heavy duty carpet tiles laid & 2 of the 3 shelving units are back in situ :T & both only have relevant items on their shelves. The 200+ books that we brought over from France are now stacked in the spare room ready to be sold or donated - once the office & all the boxes therein have been sorted :rotfl: DH has put together 2 slimline filing cabinets each with 6 drawers - one for his office supplies & the other for my wool - I have loaded 5 of 6 drawers with balls of wool - 6 x 100g per drawer. I think another 2 of these filing cabinets will be making their way to us in the not too distant future :rotfl: I have started knitting scarf no.7.
Dinner was hm soup & rolls for DH & I, with DSis having ham & chips.

4336 - 4357 Two drinks cans, glass jar & metal lid, Paper packaging, magazine, 2 lots of cardboard packaging, 2 large cardboard boxes + from the office - glass jar, 8 lots of cardboard packaging, bag of general recycling, 2 instruction booklets, large cardboard box - Recycled
4358 - 4361 Bag of kitchen detritus, plastic packaging, bag of office rubbish, bag of carpet offcuts - Binned
4362 - 4371 Nine damaged foam backed carpet tiles, broken power supply unit + wiring - Tip bag
4372 - 4418 Box of writeable CDs, Accounts Training CD, 2 shoe cleaning brushes, 43 books - CS bag

bit by bit - I like it a ‘tidy clutterer’ :rotfl: At least you will be able to declutter a box at a time but please do take it steady & stay healthy

Well Done Picklepot :T I think I might collate your positives - they are inspiring :T

Wednesday2000 - you devil 😈 caffeine & decorating your Christmas tree :T The only concession to Christmas in my house is hanging up the Christmas cards :rotfl: Well done on the decluttering & repurposing :T. I think our spiders are getting bigger _pale_

Will see you tomorrow - more work on DH’s office :rotfl:

MrsSD
4418/4038

[Deleted User]

Some-one came on to local web site asking for empty bottles for a project and I just happened to have a couple as well as a rack ful of some sort of wine (I am not a wine fan) which has been there about 25 years. She popped round and took 4 empty ones, 4 full ones and left me with a bottle with a light in as well as a new friend. Result.

Picklepot

Aw thank you mrs SD. Glad you like the positives:)
407 - out of date trifle sponge to food waste (exp 2016!!)
408 - more out of date food expired 0ct
409 - 100 items paperwork weeded out of filing recycled or shredded
410 - cat smashed flan dish .. binned ( being used as a water bowl as cat constantly tips water bowls over)*
411 - cat pushed water bowl into food bowl also smashed - binned*
412 - post dealt with on arrival all junk mail

* my cats have become so naughty since we lost little dog, my plan was to play them hard keep them occupied to curb their devilment but they are so hard to play with. Im doing all the work , swinging fishing rod toys.. wiggling mice, they just watch, occasionally pat an apathetic paw . Even the activity feeder they look at me as if to say ' you are kidding right? we have to work for our food?'- theyd rather be smashing bowls eating plants and walking over the Christmas jigsaw flicking puzzle pieces round the house !! When the Christmas tree goes up I will have to lie it down flat for a few days until they acclimatise to it :0

Picklepot

whmfoooo1
I just noticed your post,you made me think, I have champagne that is probably just as old. I have not idea of quality or even if it 'still good' can anyone advise please?