2020 - banish the clutter

RepententHoarder

Mrs_Salad_Dodger said:

Page 98 = 387 + items on page 115 from the kitchen cupboards which you didn’t count or number So I make that 491 + p115 numbers.

HTH

MrsSD

Many many thanks Mrs SD. (Esp re my news for today!!) also thanks to TC77 for the kind words 😌
DH has decreed btw that we don’t count food or cleaning product etc clearing and We also don’t count any discarded packaging so I’m counting from 491.
VERY excited to report that some random items have been cleared today and we have the following for the CS:
492-495 four glass candlesticks (hideous)
496 tea light candelabra (not better than it sounds sadly)
497- 502 six unwanted champagne flutes
503 small vase
504 pack of heavily scented tea lights 
505-506 small puzzles (unopened)
507-508 unwanted jewellery items
As our target for 2020 was 500 we may be celebrating tonight 🥂🥂🥂
This doesn’t include DH’s seven items a week from the garage which is still rolling but maybe we need to up our expectations and have a target of 2020 for a clearer vision of what we need 😇. 

Thankyou all for getting us started on this road and getting us off the road to hoarder hell! 

Have a great weekend 
RepentantHoarder ⭐️⭐️⭐️

ziggy2407

Another little update, following a few days efforts

All washing & ironing done - decluttered from my mind/shoulders and baskets 
All recycling out into relevant bins
24 cards made (lots of craft stuff used)
7 items sold via FB (packed in used packaging)
Lots of emails read, deleted and unsubscribed from 
various plastic yogurt pots (saved for glue/painting activity with the boy - as he's now 16 it would appear he's no longer interested in crafting with his mum  ) - Binned
Heart shaped rock - placed in garden

Night all, keep up the great work!

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. DO NOT PUT OFF TO TOMORROW WHAT CAN/SHOULD BE DONE TODAY

2. WRITE AND USE “TO DO LISTS”
3. LEAVE A ROOM TIDIER THAN WHEN I ENTERED
4. KITCHEN WILL BE LEFT CLEAN & TIDY EVERY NIGHT
5. WHEN DEALING WITH CLUTTER I WILL USE ‘Daisy1571’s idea of ‘WHAT WOULD I DO WITH THIS ITEM IF IT WAS SOMEONE ELSE’S?

Friday was a very wet day 😒 However I had to go out ☹️  - Acupuncture & Massage booked. Glad I braved the weather as the massage was great. Knocked up a soup from various bits & pieces from the freezer. Hm Cottage pie & green beans for dinner with a small amount lo which was bagged & frozen for next hm soup.

Saturday started bright & breezy & a sneaky pleasure for me was that DH was up & paid the milkman 😆 Knitting - scarf no.28 finished & no.29 started & TV watching - old movies - Double Indemnity with Barbara Stanwyk + The African Queen & tonight Chariots of Fire. Dinner was home cooked fish, chips & garden peas. 

455 - 462 Three newspapers, 2 glass bottles, glass jar, 2 bags of kitchen recycling - Recycled
463 - 464 Two bags of kitchen detritus - Binned

Good work Barny1979 👏 

Well Done TC77 👏 chipping away DOES work & you will soon notice a difference 😀 Like the idea of counting cleared surfaces 👏 - that will definitely incentivise you 😃 Thanks for the info re clean rags etc 👏 

Excellent observation villagelife - thank you 😊 

“Counting items leaving is helpful as you know that a lot has left the house even in early days when there doesn't seem any space created. Eventually clearer areas appear.but I'm doing areas for the third and fourth times now” By the way Great decluttering 👏 

Great work cornishchick 👏 hope it was lots of pennies from sales 😀 

Nice work never_too_old 👏 

Excellent work nannywindow 👏 Fingers crossed 🤞 for the resumption of DH’s training 😉 

Good work Nicnak 👏 Looking at your total 1803/2020 I find it hard to believe that you are slowing down 😉 especially as you have reached this number in the 1st two months of 2020 👏 

Great work shangaijimmy 👏 Agree with greent re donating the carrier bags to your CS. I am very impressed that you are keeping up with your daily decluttering - 2 whole months 👏 

Decluttering decorating - well done bit_by_bit 👏 Mega pennies in the bank 🥳 Well done on making sure DH contributes to easing your decluttering challenge 👏 

oceanspirit, Could you drop a box of paper clips & bin 55 of them 🤭 

Great work newlywed 👏 especially impressed with the blouse 👏 & the receipts 👏 

Good work short_bird 👏 

Excellent work Sa1sysoo 👏 Looks like you have a really hungry washing machine 😂 

Brilliant work Sue14 👏 My gold stars are discretionary so I am awarding you a Gold Star ⭐️ for making a start on decluttering DH stuff even though it was hard. 

I was correct RepentHoarder 😉 I said in my 10th February post that you would reach your 500 target by the end of February. Great work & here is your 4th Gold Star ⭐️ Keep up the good work & here’s to your new target of 2020 🥂 

Great work ziggy2407 👏   “various plastic yogurt pots (saved for glue/painting activity with the boy - as he's now 16 it would appear he's no longer interested in crafting with his mum  “  I nearly fell off the sofa 😂 

See you all tomorrow/later today 🙂 

MrsSD
464/2020

EnergyShifter

EnergyShifter said:

183. PS3
184-7 4 x books
all dropped off to CS

It's been 2 weeks since I've posted & I've been struggling! Looking back it feels like everything other than work & recovery from work came to a stand-still.  I'd got into some good "self-care" habits which completely fell by the way-side a week ago and yesterday everything caught up with me and I had a meltdown.  I definitely need to make some changes to my life - the biggest change that's needed is for me to work less.  I actually love the work I do - and I am still getting burned out ! I didn't think that was even possible.  So my big challenge over the coming weeks is to declutter some work! I'm also going to focus on sorting some life-admin stuff that has been festering!
Anyhoo.......... 
188. Cancelled Sky subscription
189. Dead bra
190. Deactivated FB 
& I must have been doing something to keep on top of things as the house does look reasonably presentable..... 

Willowtree222

Morning all,
I'm not sure what, if anything will be achieved decluttering wise. 
One thing that I have realised, and maybe posting this will help someone is that decluttering is giving me a purpose and a reason to keep moving every weekend. My personal life isn't the greatest at the minute, and I think the reason I am so into it is because I need to keep my mind occupied and this is the way I have found to cope. 
Thank you everyone for being so supportive of each other. Have a lovely Sunday x

villagelife

MrsSD thank you for the support.
466 a shirt with a large rip in it. Not repairable unfortunately.
467 a random sock.
468-469 more work publications recycled.
Closer to the 500 mark.

TC77

Haven't made headway on important paper scanning etc but hope to update tonight. Motivated by everyone keeping going. teenager on a rare night away with her dad so thought I would do lots but decided last minute to go to the pictures.

This morning tidied - 10 mins in my room - it's what I tell my teenager and a good reminder that you can do a reasonable amount but unrealistic , then several 10 mins in kitchen/dining room.

366 - hoovering and minor rubbish out my room

367 carrier bags back in holder

368 things back where they belong

369 - another item in charity bag

370 mouldy food binned

oceanspirit

Mrs_Salad_Dodger said:

oceanspirit, Could you drop a box of paper clips & bin 55 of them 🤭 

That would be cheating, lol!  Have you found your decluttering mojo yet, Mrs SD?  How about writing a list of the areas you would like to tackle, then just do a quick 10 minutes on the one which is causing you the most angst.  Then do another 10 minutes tomorrow.  You would be able to gradually cross things off your list as well as seeing the difference in your home.  Would that help?

OH and I have decided that I will use my limited energy on making us healthy meals for the next few weeks as we are both feeling rubbish.  The decluttering will definitely be on the sidelines however with us both living with chronic illness we do need to do this.  We are going to be following the Ross Bridgeford Alkaline diet and have been having green smoothies for breakfast for the past 3 weeks to get us started.  It will be a balancing act as OH will need to do some of my daily tasks such as laundry in order to free me up for this.  Also, it will be annoying for him to keep coming over for meals when he's so used to just eating when he feels like it (as am I, too).

1 box paperwork shredded/recycled
2 items of paperwork recycled
That brings my total to 278 for the first 2 months of the year.

oceanspirit

EnergyShifter said:

It's been 2 weeks since I've posted & I've been struggling! Looking back it feels like everything other than work & recovery from work came to a stand-still.  I'd got into some good "self-care" habits which completely fell by the way-side a week ago and yesterday everything caught up with me and I had a meltdown.  I definitely need to make some changes to my life - the biggest change that's needed is for me to work less.  I actually love the work I do - and I am still getting burned out ! I didn't think that was even possible.  So my big challenge over the coming weeks is to declutter some work! I'm also going to focus on sorting some life-admin stuff that has been festering!

It's interesting isn't it that when you most need the self-care is when it slides off the end.  All the best for finding the right balance for you.  Great news that the house is looking good despite the busy time you've had - a clutter free home definitely makes it easier to manage.

Foofoopuppy

Finally done some more decluttering (and packing!), loads of holey/ stretched tights to the bin. Some pyjamas to charity shop, and some old dirty slippers to the bin. I always feel so much better after I sort a chunk out!