2021 MISSION DECLUTTER and CLEAN

TC77

324 DD 2 also mended the kitchen cupboard hinge.  I Couldn't fix it the other day and hunted in the 10 places I store diy stuff and couldn't find hinges. ( must have been in the clear out), phoned £18 for replacement so maybe put this in my snowflake saving!
325paper declutter 

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. KITCHEN WILL CONTINUE TO BE LEFT CLEAN & TIDY EVERY NIGHT

2. JUST DO ONE THING EVERY DAY (courtesy of bit_by_bit) OTHER THAN DAY TO DAY CLEANING & DECLUTTERING 
3. CLEAN ONE ROOM (TOP TO BOTTOM) EVERY MONTH (hopefully 3 weekly by the end of the year)

DSis thoroughly enjoyed her lasagne 😋 . The tuna pasta experiment was a success 🤤 
We ate half so the los will have more tuna added, a few more hg olives, topped off with mozzarella & oven baked for tomorrow’s dinner. Not sure what I will cook for DSis 🤔 

GrannyKate, better safe than sorry 🙂 Sorting out finances & making plans are major decluttering tasks as you are setting the scene to spend less, save money & stop clutter coming in 😉 - should count as at least 5 🙂 so well done 👏. Well Done on your weight loss so far 👏 So you have two hobbies - decluttering & cleaning - well done GrannyKate 👏

Great work ScarletRibbons 👏 An unplanned decluttering session sometimes yields the best results 👏🙂

Excellent budgeting gettingthrifty 👏 you seem to have it down to a fine art 🙂

Sorry to hear of the loss of a family member, lynnsey30 ☹️ Well done on continuing to declutter 👏 Sorry, I did have to laugh at the tale of the ‘taller’ daughter 🙃 I imagine she will laughing about it until she is 30 😉

You are welcome ruby_eskimo 🙂 Sounds like the meeting with your manager went very well 🙂 Well done on decluttering the washing 👏 No space for a slow cooker in my kitchen, so my mince/sausage meat was slow cooked on the hob. Lasagne seems to have been a theme 😉

Of course giving away chocolate was generous vulpix 😉 Perhaps when you are giving away the ‘pop’ MrV could dress up as Maid Marion 😉😉 Hope you managed to get some work done on the cat house 🤞

retiredinfrance, another canny saver 👏 I am very lucky with my DH - he loves his food - he does have favourites but so far the only thing he will NEVER eat is bananas 🙂 Excellent decluttering 👏

Good work nannywindow 👏 How about making the stairs dusting into one of your hobbies 😉😉

Clutter out, cash in moneyonmymindsam - always a good thing 👏

Glad to hear that you will be wfh Viking_mfw 🙂 Don’t forget to take regular breaks. I hope that your DH is a stay at home dad through choice not necessity - yes I know I m being nosy 😔

Good work battenberg 👏 I am definitely in danger of becoming a hermit as I have to force myself to go out 😞 I am with you in hoping that March sees non-food shops & charity shops & especially pubs open up because now I am really fed up ☹️

Nice to see you lifeatthekings 👋 You did join us (page 9) & mentioned that you were hoping to move. Sorry to hear about the fibro - just read up about it - what a nightmare as if deciding to declutter wasn’t hard enough ☹️ Regardless, you have worked very hard &  have made an excellent start 👏👏 

Moneyonmymindsam, you are correct in pointing out that this is a safe space to have a whinge/moan or even vent 😉 I love that we all support each other & that lots of suggestions/ideas strike a chord 👏🙂👏🙂

Thanks for reminding me that decluttering is a marathon not a sprint bit_by_bit 👏 and that if I treat it that way I will eventually be successful 🤞 What a brilliant result for 2020 🥳
Great work for 2021 as well 👏

Thank heavens your hearing is good TC77 🙂 and well done for staying calm in what could have been a real nightmare 👏🙂 You have obviously raised DD very well hence the washing up & kitchen tidying being done 🙂 Good work on sorting out a frog (described as a chore 😉) 👏 So DD2 is your DIY queen 😉

MrsSD  🏅🏅 🏅⭐️⭐️

Decluttering Target: 2021    330/2021

Savings Pot:  

GrannyKate

Morning - I managed to sleep 10-7 - the first time for ages.  I made myself go out for a walk in the snow yesterday about 2 miles round local woods.  I think I need to make myself go out everyday - I did do that during first lockdown.  I managed to fall in a pile of very cold wet slush but only dignity injured.  
The problem with hobbies Mrs S-D is I have lots that I prefer over decluttering and cleaning - gardening, family history, reading etc etc.  Today I need to declutter some emails and do some stuff for upcoming zoom meeting.
TC77 - your water through the ceiling tale reminded me of an incident just after I got married more than 50 years ago.  We had bought what you might call 'a fixer-upper' these days.  Late DH noticed a small spot of wet carpet next to bed about 11pm one night.  He decided to explore then and there!  As he pulled carpet up a nail, that had gone through a central heating pipe, disintegrated.  As well as water spraying all over the bedroom pretty much the entire central heating system emptied through the lounge ceiling below.  Happy days.
I have set the slow cooker on with some beef and added the contents of some 6 random vegetables that I had frozen in small pots over the last few months.  One seemed to fall out of freezer every time I opened the door.  Trying to stick to the calorie counting but I need more discipline.  
I have started the day by decluttering;
6 pots of vegetables
1 old cardigan - I keep washing it but it looks so tatty and faded that I have bitten the bullet and taken it back out of washing pile and put it in bin.  Not sure if bins will get emptied today.  Loads of snow and ice on my road.

ruby_eskimo

Morning all!  Oh no TC77, hope any damage is easily fixed - we had a leak into our kitchen a few months ago and it was a nightmare to sort out.  

I finally cleaned the bathroom last night 🎉 I don't know what it is, but I just hate doing it and find that every time I go in there I think I really should wipe down the tiles and scrub the bath but just can't find the motivation to do it.  Had to rejig the freezer to make room for the two portions of lasagne that were left over and the extra mince mixture but at least that's 2 dinners I don't really have to think about in the future.  Going to put another load of laundry on (it's never ending...) and make another cup of tea to warm up as it's so cold here this morning.

Hope you all have a good day!

Viking_mfw

when we had our first child he had the choice of going to work mainly to pay nursery fees or staying at home. He didn't like his job that much   He is a very good stay at home parent but he is looking forward to DS1 going to his free hours at nursery to get some peace and quiet! Of course then DS2 will be looking to get mobile...

Gtree sale being posted this am so I'm up to 48/49 for the month! Still waiting for some baby clothes I counted last month to be picked up. Hoping this weekend so I can get on and list the next size up. 

villagelife

I have been busy but not posting.
238 coat hanger
239-242 shampoo and moisturiser samples
243-246 various instruction manuals
247-250 end of year accounts
251-253 school reports quite a few of them
254 shredding
255 recipe book
256-257 thin metal poles possibly from a blind
258 flip flops
259-260 broken locks
261 plastic box
262-264 broken plastic files
265-267 empty essential oil bottles
268-272 remains of candles
273-274 plugs
275-276 old trays
277 more carpet
278 more underlay
279-282 magazines
283-284 cafetiere

That's all for the moment. 

mothernerd

Hugs lynnsey30.

I am only claiming 3 for yesterday, that was 3 trips to the bin. First trip was take bag of paper to paper bin, plus a few bits to the brown bin (plastic/ tin cans/ glass) from my room and then more from the kitchen (anything that doesn't go out before we lock up, waits until morning - mum has been known to lock us in at 3 pm in the afternoon). I undid the gate padlock, went outside and retrieved the two bins that were collected yesterday, checked the mail box, picked up some twigs and bits on the ground and put them in the green bin, went back outside to sweep stones off the pavement and back onto the 'garden' (movement of bins or a dog or cat), padlocked the gate again , put one load of washing and the peg bag into my trolley and sat on a garden chair to wait for mum to come out of the kitchen so I could get the load of washing in the washer. Came in because my tiny hands were frozen.

All 3 trips outside were like that, but don't have anything definite, so I'll settle for 3. Lots of washing was line dried and I brought some things out of the shed (setting them up for my next painting session) so I'm quite happy. Yesterday was a great painting day but my shoulders and arms told me that if I painted, I'd be unable to use them for the best part of a week (some moderate lifting done, but repeated several times). Did more sewing but stopped as soon as the light lessened (protecting my eyes). I had another sheet and a ratty dress (painting/ mucky jobs) to wash so took off all the pillowcases (will dry for putting back on) and was going to do the shower mats (I hate the bathroom too, mainly because a lot of it hurts) but mum said they didn't need doing so often and 'I' had made them a funny colour (they were semi-opaque and are now a bit brown but soap and bits get trapped between the suckers so I throw them in the wash before doing the shower base).

More tips and hints from me (with many thanks to the OS poorlies)

Before I finally got a diagnosis that I needed a total hip replacement, I had a month of bed rest followed by several months of physiotherapy. Physiotherapist tried to discharge me 3 times but on the third time, when he came to the door to call me in, I stood up and couldn't take a step forward. Various other patients offered me their sticks or an arm, physio placed a chair in front of me for support, but I couldn't move my right leg forward. Physio's boss (he was there to sign off on discharging me) went to get a wheelchair. This was happening when I stood up from the table, when I was on buses, sometimes I had to haul myself up the stairs using my arms to help pull me up. I also have long-term depression (I manage to be happy each day) so frequently lack motivation especially when there are books to read and sewing and gardening to do.

1) Three things - before I leave a room, I look round and do 3 small things to make it better. This could be putting something away in a drawer, picking up something that belongs elsewhere, tying up the waste from the bin and throwing it down the stairs.

2) lots of things can be thrown downstairs, rather than carrying them - washing, bedding, rubbish if the bag or sack is firmly knotted. I used to do DS3's attic bedroom sometimes when he and his friends were out for the day - found an average of 27 unwashed socks he claimed not to have. Gathering all the clothes from the floordrobe plus bedding (including putting pillows and duvets outside or in the wash) gave me more space to work. Then bagged all the rubbish and recycling.
  
3) It all helps if carrying things adds to mobility problems. Even now I sometimes use mum's spare walker when shopping - I can walk further and longer if I put all the shopping in bags for life on the seat and handles (and have somewhere to sit if all the benches are taken.

4) I bought a pack of 20 straw waste baskets for about £20 online. These are great for carrying all sorts of things especially cups and crockery. I felt much safer carrying a basket tucked in the crook of my elbow, clasped to my chest and using the other hand to grip the handrail firmly (for those times when you go round the house collecting all the cups, rubbish, recycling - 20 gave me enough to separate into categories as I went and it's so easy to tip a basket full of cans into the correct bin. In case anyone thinks I'm a pushover (I am) I occasionally lost it and dragooned everyone in the house (up to 11 at weekends) into doing all the collecting, binning, washing etc. Don't often lose my temper but everyone does what I say when I do.

5) During the bedrest period and particularly after my total hip replacement (no bending, no twisting at the waste - had to turn round by taking small steps, placing my feet at a slightly different angle) I learned to do things in small amounts of time. When I went downstairs for something to eat (only once a day after my operation but frequently during the bed rest) I would put something in the microwave (cook from scratch when I can but I moved back into my old house 8 days before my operation and I filled the freezer - did cook my c***mas turkey and all the trimmings and froze them 8 weeks early). I would dry any washing up from the previous trip, wash any pots that needed doing, clean anything nearby, fill my water bottle. (After my operation DS3 was looking after me and it terrified him - in the end as long as he helped me with shoes and made sure that I had 3 x 2 l bottles of water by my bed I would be fine, even if he slept all day - he worked at night).

6) I alternate standing and sitting jobs and do as much sitting down as I can. So if I can manage 15 minutes washing up, I can then sit at the table and do 15 minutes food prep (peeling and chopping) or sorting out plastic boxes with no lids and vice versa. Even last week whilst painting, one of the things that kept me going was standing to paint things using the bins as a surface and sitting at a small table to paint.

7) When I'm really ill (compromised immune system mean that at some point in the winter months Sept - Mar I will be unable to do more than get myself to the bathroom and back and slight dizziness caused by some of my conditions and the combination of pills is occasionally lurching dizziness - I need to hold onto things and not go anywhere near the top of the stairs) I do little things to keep things going until I am well enough to do more. When I'm standing up I can do my three things, pick up bits that have missed the bin, tidy a bit.
I also keep wipes in the bathroom (usually use rags for most cleaning tasks) and will wipe the sink when I brush my teeth or wash my hands and things like doorframes. I'm so sad that I once worked out all the bits of the bathroom (skirtings, some of the bath, most of the floor, towel rail rungs) that I could reach whilst sitting on the toilet (not necessarily whilst using it - it's easier to sit down and scrub as much floor as possible rather than use a mop). Those little flat green scrubby pads are excellent for removing stubborn marks. I have also 'mopped' the floor by walking/ shuffling round the room (even the kitchen) with rags soaked in cleaner on my feet and then gone round again to dry it. I also learned that I could reach inside the bottom of the freezer to clean sitting on a chair using a rag on a stick (during the post op not bending - could lean forward to do it without breaking any rules).

This is quite a long post so I'll stop for now.
 

short_bird

205-208: 3 bags rubbish, 1 bag mixed recycling out.
209-215: kitchen detritus 
216-222: packaging cardboard beyond reuse either recycled or binned, large piece of bubble wrap binned as life's too short to remove gaffa (duct) tape from bubblewrap.  I've been consolidating reusable packaging supplies - oh! the excitement! - and there's one of those big Ike@ bags full of bubble wrap.

moneyonmymindsam

Not felt great today after reminding myself what day it is, I cleared 1 box and milk carton to recycling. Small bag household /kitchen rubbish out.
Walked the dogs. Cottage pie for tea.
Try again tomorrow for a proper declutter. 
Sam x

[Deleted User]

Ah thank you, Mrs_Salad_Dodger ! I thought I posted here before!
Don't be sorry, I'm pretty stable now - bad days are rare now. This week is a bad week 'cos of girl stuff 
Today was my day off and I stayed in bed for the whole day. I did manage to clear my entire gmail from emails. I had some I needed to save so I sorted labels out / deleted labels not needed. I then spent the day clearing my notion workspaces as I had 5 or so that was honestly just filled with crap. So I deleted all of them apart from one - it took ALLL day as I had to check all docs to ensure I wasn't going to lose something important. 

Someone on reddit made me a Notion time tracker which counts how many minutes I spend on a day and in a month...it shows me the precentage of how much i've completed so far! 

moneyonmymindsam, 
Gentle hugs for yourself & anyone else who needs them x