2021 MISSION DECLUTTER and CLEAN

Happy_Kitties

342.  another glut of plastics to recycling point
343.  Bag of batteries into recycling point.
I’ve found a recycling point for empty cat sachets at Pets at H@me. I go thru a lot so have started to save them

344-347 items x4 to charity shop including shoes, trousers and a Christmas cushion
348 sorted a Christmas stocking out to wash for the charity bag but it was in a right state so binned
349 another cat toy that has been trashed-binned
350 cushion that poorly cat had trashed and had an accident on-binned
351 electronic bits in a box poorly cat had another accident on-binned. Could not rescue anything

2Scratters

@Blackberrycurved there is no need to put yourself under pressure here. Steady way if that works for you. Even doing a bit between the adverts on TV. 

I have a toad (bigger than a frog) is to get together DH medical history to help him (me do it in RL) apply for PIP. 
We have had a good de clutter day, 2 lots of washing and drying done. Old quilt cover in to halves for the shed, to keep items underneath a bit more free from dust that goes on in there. Soon to have another bout of splitting logs and making kindling. Front and back gardens mowed and tidied. Tatty buntings off the whirly gig and binned. Cleaned down the outdoor chair cushions hoping to get them to a reasonable state of dryness before bringing in to air before stashing them in the loft for winter.
Fridge is extremely empty but still managing to get an odd meal or 2 from there and the freezer. Serious decluttering happening. Not taken the grocery money from the bank yet and I got paid on 25th September.
I find it very hard to let items go as I have the mentality of it having some monetary value. I start with good intentions but find it difficult getting going. Need to focus a little bit more and try to make it a fun challenge to get some successes.
Off to work for the weekend.

Have a good one yourselves

2Scratters xx

-taff

@2Scratters Just remember when filling in the form you do it as if he's having his worst day. So if he can do something a little bit on his best day and not at all on his worst, it's the worst you write down.

TC77

@2Scratters, agree with @-taff that need to focus on worst day and if you can get letter from Dr etc helps. I also attach monetary value and trying to be more generous about giving things away and then I may be more generous to myself in buying new things I really like. Too often pick up cheap things or free that I then realise aren't for me and then spend ages trying to find a new home for them! 

vulpix

 Hello and welcome Blackberrycurved. We all just do our own thing at our own pace here and are kept motivated by the magnificent Mrs SD. What we all have in common is the desire to live with less stuff. Plus we enjoy hearing about everyone's adventures.

 Energyshifter I am so pleased to hear of your son's progress. You are convalescing too. You have had the stuffing knocked out of you recently so treat yourself and rest up.x

 The deed is almost done. The kitchen is tidy, the sitting room almost. There are some bags of stuff that will be collected next Friday and some car boot stuff that will just not fit in the car and believe me we tried! There are some very large pictures that I may take to my Mum's for a while until I decide what to do with them.

 Car boot sale tomorrow with DD1 and I may do one on my own on Sunday. When The stuff is cleared I want a rest for a little while then the big shed needs emptying and excess stuff rehoming.

 I am very pleased with progress so far. I keep going and looking in the spare room ,it looks so nice. Once the house is tidy I need to get into a cleaning routine. Not a fan of cleaning I must say. I also have some frogs to tackle.

 I also put a monetary value on stuff but have come round to thinking I have had my moneys worth from that so it owes me nothing and can go on to a new life. Through past necessity most of my belongings were second hand and didn't cost a lot, often I sell them for more than I paid originally. I get the most satisfaction from rehoming/recycling stuff knowing someone else can use it.

 My new total is massive and I wont list them all, they fill a large car anyway!

 Total 936

 Vx

 

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. ONCE A WEEK LEAVE THE HOUSE (e.g. Go into city centre for bank & butcher;  go to local town for cs dropping off or buying; visit the pub with DH 😉

4. CLEAN & EMPTY SURFACE AREAS - DAILY

That will teach me - 3 pages behind 😔😉 

Thursday & Friday both mostly dry days with a decent amount of sunshine 🙂                      Thursday - DH had his final visit to hospital re Lung Health Check Study + started sorting a couple of his frogs 😉 DSis out to pharmacy to sort out one of her medications - the replacement has been giving her daily headaches 😖 I sorted a mini frog - made a small batch of tomato chutney using hg tomatoes - 3.5 jars + a small tester pot for taste testing in a few weeks. Roasted the remainder of my red hg tomatoes - had some for dinner but managed to put 2 takeaway boxes full in the freezer 👏🙂 Dinner was sausages, mash & baked beans for DSis; sausages, sweet potato mash & hg tomatoes for DH & me.

Friday - Paid the milkman & cancelled next weeks milk as we already have enough to have a shallow bath 😉 DSis has spent most of the day in bed with a headache. DH did the weekly sm shop. He also sanded down & put the undercoat on the bedroom windowsill 👏 The financial frog I started 2 Fridays ago is further along - the annoying thing is that it took less than 10 minutes to sort out my bit & I had built it up to being a problem 😔 The last part of completely sorting this frog is out of my hands & in my DB’s hands but I will chase him 😉 Sorted out my flowers - two vases down to one but still have about two thirds of them left 🙂 Dinner was delivered - curry for DH & me = 2 nights dinners, posh burgers for DSis. Wudupa.

1880 - 1895 Kitchen recycling x 2, drinks cans x 2, paper packaging, 7 foil containers, two newspapers, 2 cardboard boxes - recycled 

1896 - 1898 Kitchen detritus x 2, lr detritus - binned 

Great work villagelife 👏 as you say every little helps 🙂

vulpix, MrSD was chuffed at your praise 🙂👏 I know you can do it vulpix 🙂 so good luck 🤞 Wow vulpix, you have been a busy bee 🤩 loft & bedrooms empty or clear of clutter 👏 Good luck with the car boot sale/s 🤞

Sorry to hear that you are back on your meds Wednesday2000 ☹️ but very impressed at how much you have done 👏 one medal 🏅 on its way 👏

Very pleased that the end of the Dakar Rally is in sight Liverpool_Anne 👏 The Virus has caused no end of problems for many people & coupled with Br*xit & our f…w.. of a leader the U.K. is in dire straits 😖 Sorry but fw Doris has completely lost the plot & is a contemptible man 😡 Looking forward to hearing about the sweet potato & pepper soup 🙂 Lovely post & comments for Wednesday2000, nannywindow & vulpix 🙂 Hope the funeral goes as well as possible. 

You really have been enthusiastic GrannyKate 👏🙂 You have been exceedingly busy & that is an excellent day of decluttering & cleaning 👏 What an interesting project for DGS (6) 🙂👏 Great work on the kitchen sinks 👏

Nice to see you bit_by_bit 👋 Well done on decluttering lots of gardening tasks - it all counts 👏

How very MSE of you & DH, nannywindow 👏 Well done on persevering in your quest for a GP appointment 🏅Excellent decluttering 👏 Are you sure it wasn’t the Garden Gremlin rather than a naughty elf?🙂

Welcome to our merry band of declutterers Blackberrycurved 👋 Floss & TC77 have done a good job in explaining how we work. You have overcome the first hurdle of decluttering  by joining us 👏 One of my favourite ways to start the actual physical decluttering is to create a little haven for myself. By that I mean create a small clutter free space (could be in a corner of your living room or maybe in your bedroom) - this is your haven to go to when it all gets too much - sit, have a cuppa, read a magazine or listen to music & don’t even think about decluttering 🙂 One method to get you going is to carry a rubbish bag & go into each & every room & get rid of all the visible rubbish. Do the same again with a recycling bag. This gives you a quick boost whilst you decide which decluttering project you will start with. I look forward to reading about your decluttering journey & your successes 👏 Remember it takes years for the clutter to build up, so will take a while to declutter but as you get more practice it will start to become easier 🙂😉 We love seeing new people, Blackberrycurved & it is never too late to start 🙂 I can offer one Rule “Never beat yourself up about decluttering”  One ‘tool’ that many people find useful is a To Do List - write down all the areas, tasks etc that you wish to complete - the list can be very vague but then can be broken down into smaller decluttering tasks. E.g. you might want to declutter your wardrobe which is a large task. This can be broken down into taking out one type of clothing & going through it - do you love it, do you wear it, does it fit? Only return those items to the wardrobe & either sell, donate, rag or bin the rest of the items. Rinse & repeat. All of a sudden you have a well organised & decluttered wardrobe 🙂 

TC77, if you can do a little bit of tidying/decluttering each day then November will be a bit easier 🤞😉 Lovely comments for both Blackberrycurved x 2 & Liverpool_Anne 👏

Excellent summary Floss 👏

Good work Siebrie 👏 I am always surprised at how much pleasure I get from tweaking an arrangement of items 🙄 Visually pleasing & prompts me to do more 😉

Good luck with your Friday Frog oceanspirit 🤞I think that once you get started you will gather pace & another frog will be banished 🙂👏

Just seen what the time is 😱 so am off to bed & will finish cheerleading when I get up 😉

MrsSD 🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🥇 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Decluttering Target: 2021    1898/2021

2021 Savings Pot:  £466.45 to end of October

florianatwobob

I have finally decluttered my brain of two jobs! 🎉 Number 1 - re-level the washing machine feet (so it doesn’t sound like Long John Silver doing a jig on its spin cycle) and cleaned its filter. 

I’ve only had the feet on my mental to do list since August and cleaning the filter for about a year. Amazingly the filter was remarkably yuckiness free and it made sense to do both whilst I was lying in the floor fiddling with the feet. 

I feel so proud of myself. 😊

Also built a new tool store for the shed and posted the last of last weeks online sales now they’ve paid. The shed is now feeling tidier and it’s easier to get to the spades and forks. And the online sales all contribute to less clutter and more pennies for house improvements. 

Wednesday2000

My dog is in at the kennel today so I will take advantage to do some cleaning. She hates the vacuum cleaner so I will wait for her to leave and then vacuum the house and mop the floors.

I feel a lot better from all the rest I have had the past couple of weeks. I am off out tonight and I was out last night too. I really loved the new James Bond film that I saw last night. I would give it 9 out of 10.

I changed my outfit about 10 times before I left the house yesterday. I am going to ruthlessly declutter my wardrobe next week as I hate so many of my clothes. I can easily see that I won't be left with that much after the declutter. I'm okay for the autumn/winter season though as I have a lot of jumpers that I like but when it gets warmer next year I will have to replenish my wardrobe.

Happy decluttering!

3secondmemory

Morning all! Thanks again for all the support. I’m feeling a little better now and I think that possibly the new tablets were making me feel really low. It happened a few years ago when they tried me on Prozac; I just felt worse and stopped after a month, then kicked myself that I was being a wimp about it. 

Obviously meeting the new baby playing with my grandson and being spoilt rotten by my daughter and son-in-law was a big boost this week. I have never seen such a smiley happy baby – I know they say it’s wind but, nope! These are definitely smiles ❤️

Unfortunately I have caught a nasty cold en route – as a shielder, it’s the first cold I’ve had for a long time. Two years to be precise because it was October 2019 that I ended up in Hospital with a chest infection and complications. 

I’m going to throw everything I can at it - although, I feel much better just for being awake and up. Covid test was negative

Obvious frog this morning is to email the lady who did my makeover yesterday and let her know. That went very well – I really enjoyed the pampering and, because I’ve thrown away the few bits of makeup I had, I treated myself to a few bits. Not cheap but I wear the barest of make up and it’s always the same 😂😂 I only need a decent moisturiser, a light foundation, mascara, lipstick and bronzer – I can’t stand make up bags full of clutter 😂😂 or all this baking/ contouring business. Best of all was a lovely bundle of freebies. Because I said I was going away she gave me loads of travel sizes, a full size Clarins Aftersun and a couple of make up bags 😃 my skin definitely looks brighter today. 

Not much cleaning or tidying to do today because I had to make sure it was nice for the cat sitter I’m hoping it stays sunny so I can go and do some tidying up in the garden. I’m due a landlords inspection this month. Forewarned is four-armed (not really, just my literal mind 😉😂) 

later on today I need to try on my click and collect order so I can take it back tomorrow when I have another session with my personal shopper. I saw her on Monday evening and we literally had so much to talk about, she didn’t get a chance to pull any clothes for me. I need smart/casual for Italy, casual and warm for Netherlands and very smart for Silversea next year. I’m looking for inspiration as much as anything because I still intend to source as much as I can from charity shops or secondhand. Two of my nieces have said they will have a sort through their wardrobes keeping me in mind. 

Also thinking about sewing machine 🤷‍♀️ 

Anyway, wishing you all a productive weekend whether it’s mental or physical decluttering. 😃

stellata

I'm pretty happy today as my spare bedroom is finally all cleared out and tidied up, and a black bag of tat in the car to go to the tip later. I've been ruthless about not just moving stuff but actually getting it out of the house, and apart from a rug and a clock which lodger wanted, I've got rid of everything except bed, chair and clothes rack (it's a small room!!) I keep going in there just to be inspired.