2021 MISSION DECLUTTER and CLEAN

CCW007

Trying to make decluttering something every day a habit, even if it's not very targeted or organised! 

Clearing out spare room from when I used to do fundraising for an animal rescue - half a dozen boxes and about a dozen used jiffy bags out for recycling / rubbish.  Two old cleaning spray bottles emptied and out for recycling.  Old top out for recycling.

Got an old cat scratching post unit to get rid of but needs either an allen key or a sledgehammer and I don't have either to hand so that's a job for tomorrow!

Different kind of decluttering but we've got a gardener coming to quote on Friday to do some work - cutting hedge and tidying up.  We have a big garden and keeping on top of it has really got away from us with the work we are doing on the house, it's really demoralising seeing the state the garden so hopefully they can help. 

TC77

Car taken for servicing and mot, picked up and paid 1803
Bag of things from dd1 for me to sort - knows I don't want to see it binned- will count when  out. 
Mrs SD, remember last year and part of this year we were neck and neck and now see you.so much further on....I must find major motivation next month. I know keeping up owjr how everything is has kept me on the straight and narrow but need to speed up. 

EnergyShifter

EnergyShifter said:

974. Gift to friends Grandson 
975. cxd contact lens contract
976. Cat house - CS
977. Wedding card posted
978. jar of capers - friend
979. returned dress 

Haven't visited thread for a week and I've missed over 80 posts so doubt I'll manage to catch up on them unfortunately.  I went to hospital yesterday for post op check up and my eye is healing well so far thankfully,  I've still got limited sight in right eye and  still restricted in what I can do but so much better than last time I posted.  I returned to work this week - I'm self-employed and think I might have given it a little longer had I been employed with sick pay but  I am so lucky to have a job I can do mostly on the phone. My eyes get very tired using screens though - hence not being on here for a while.  

I hope everyone is doing well x

980. thank you card to optician
981. candles - CS
982. dead shorts
983. item to food bank
984. Returned borrowed neck pillow to cousin

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

Wednesday was a dry, bright day with lots of sunshine but very breezy. DH replaced the hinges on the bedroom door & undercoated the 3 remaining skirting + the door frame. DSis spent the entire day & evening in her room apart from making hot drinks & eating her dinner. Good news she received a text just before midnight - PCR test is negative 🥳 DH will take her to the hospital tomorrow for a walk-in scan. I managed to deal with a few mini frogs 🙂 Phoned bank, paid CC bill (in full 😉), checked accounts & ordered new cheque book (yes I still write cheques 😉😉🙂); emptied, wiped down & refilled 3 of the 4 shelves in my food cupboard (binned a few ood items); tested 14 eggs for freshness - had to bin one & then hard boiled 7 eggs - 3 of which have been mashed up with some mayonnaise (for sandwiches); menu planned for a week & wrote shopping list for DH. Dinner was the remainder of the Bolognese cottage pie with green beans. Wudupa. Vegetable box arrived & contents packed away appropriately (5 largish potatoes, 10 small red onions, Savoy cabbage, 2 aubergines, 2 pak Choi, one squash, one cucumber & a romanesco) 

2020 - 2025 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, large glass jar, office recycling, cardboard box, booklet - recycled 

2026 - 2029 Kitchen detritus, half a bag of jasmine rice (don’t like it so why was it in the cupboard 🙄), ood salad dressing (egg based), ood spread (cream based) - binned

Good work TC77 👏 especially holding your tongue 😉 Yippee the car passed it’s MOT 🥳 The only reason I am ahead is because I count the daily recycling & binning 😉😉 

Yippee vulpix - emojis 🙂 Ooh, a mouse bell 😯 I am hoping to avoid tablets 🤞Wow you & DS were very busy & got lots done👏🤩 Please try not to injure yourself now that you have lost your strong assistant 😉 Your DS is a dab hand - fixing your set square 👏 Please try to get MrV to take care 😉 it is very nice of him to cover but not to the detriment of his own health. You should definitely count your frogs 🙂 Vascodakarma has coined a lovely description “accountability partners” 🙂 What a result with your flu jab 🥳

Excellent work OWD_nana 👏 Clutter definitely breeds or maybe the clutter elves keep visiting 😉 Re the long black skirt - perhaps it was your Goth phase 😂

Money in the kitty Finstickle 👏

Great work short_bird 👏 Sounds like you had a good time even if the great British public are being very remiss with mask wearing 😖

CCW007 don’t worry about targeting or being organised as long as you can build the habit of decluttering something each & every day 🙂👏 Excellent decluttering 👏 As to getting a gardener in to start sorting the garden imo you are doing the right thing for you. You can only do so much & you are very busy indoors. 

Nice to see you EnergyShifter 👋 and very pleased to hear that your eyes are getting better 🙂 but please continue to take care & allow yourself as much time away from the screen as you need 🙂 Great decluttering 👏

MrsSD   🏅 🏅 🏅 🏅🏅 🏅 🏅 🥇🥇      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Decluttering Target: 2021    2029/2021

2021 Savings Pot:  £466.45 to end of October

chirpycheap

I've just found this thread and as I'm really trying to declutter and simplify I'd love to join in. 
Reading the posts is really inspiring and has given me lots of ideas. I assume that next year there will be a new thread? I'm a bit late for this years challenge but if I wait until next year I might lose the momentum.
I'm sure I'm being a bit dense but what exactly are the frogs that people keep mentioning?

Blackberrycurved

chirpy cheap I’ve just joined you set your own challenges I think that’s how I understand it. Next year I may go for 182 small declutters in a year. 365 seemed too many so I halved it. At the moment I am on Number three and if I get 15 decluttering tasks done before Christmas I will be a very happy woman. Lovely group I am enjoying being here so not too late. 

Blackberrycurved

Sorry for this ridiculously long post please feel free to scroll past. 

I am in need of decluttering advice. I have just had some decorating done well quite a bit three rooms hall stairs and landing. And while everything looks shiny and bright my house looks like TK Max during a sale. Everything has been put into other rooms taken off walls and there is just stuff everywhere. Some of the stuff is my daughters who is living in London but she has just finished university and may be back soon. Some of the stuff is my man's who died six years ago and although I have got rid of some of his clothes the time still isn't right to make more headway with that. I work as a freelancer and I work 3x12 hour days and two 8 hour days. So I really have one day a week when I can declutter. I don't want to put anything that I am getting rid of back into the newly decorated rooms but the chaos has been driving me mad for the three weeks that the decorator has been here so I am tempted. I've got myself a cleaner since I joined this threat but she hasn't started yet. I don't know whether to ask her to help me to sort stuff out and move stuff back into the rooms or to clean the rooms which look vaguely normal. I'm sitting here getting ready to go to work and I just feel a little bit overwhelmed and not sure where to start. Do I do one room at a time ignoring the chaos that is in the rest of the house and make it look like I want it to be zizzi and clean and uncluttered or do I put the stuff back and go back to doing small little jobs as and when knowing everywhere is brighter and freshly decorated. If I had someone to help or if I was younger and didn't have a bad back, If I had three weeks off and spent four or five hours a day I could do this and I would be really glad to be here. That is another issue that plays in, my mental health needs everything tidy. Thoughts

vulpix

Hi chrpycheap,Welcome.

 We don't have a group challenge, just personal ones so it is easy to join in anytime. But we do have a secret weapon, Mrs SD.   How it works is we come here for inspiration and encouragement and record how much has left the house. Many of us are rehoming things in an environment friendly way. How it's done and when it's done is a completely personal thing. Frogs are things we have been putting off, eg phone call, cutting the lawn, etc I can't remember which of us said it but a good idea is to eat the loudest and ugliest ( most urgent, oldest or difficult) frog first. I am sure you will easily get the hang of it and soon start to enjoy the benefits of owning less.

 Saw this yesterday and apart from the non buying I/ we could have written this. This has been my philosophy for a couple of years now. When stuff does come into the house it is usually to replace things and if I can it will be second hand. I might have a bash at not buying anything for a year come January.

https://metro.co.uk/2021/10/25/i-havent-bought-any-new-clothes-or-takeaways-for-a-year-heres-why-15478929/

 I am pleased to hear you are on the mend energyshifter.xxx

 Gardening came to a standstill yesterday as the green bin is stuffed and I have run out of old compost bags for garden rubbish. I will have to sweep up today as the leaves are ankle deep in the back yard. If I sweep them now when they are dry it will be easier than after it rains. There MUST be another bag in my garden shed. The green bin wont be emptied until a week on Monday then the rest of the holly tree can be cut up. Gifted plants are planted or heeled in until I can get to the actual plant bed bit of the garden where the holly tree is at the moment.

 As Mr V was at work last night I finished shortening the door curtain  and hung it up. I also remembered to take a vegetable knife upstairs to have a go at the paint on the exposed brick chimney breast. I also began making pompoms in preparation for making Party Sprouts to sell at DIL's school Christmas Fair. When my original 6 frogs are eaten I will add more.

 963. olive tree sold
 964. curtain shortened...frog

 Pounds gained £1,743

 Vx



 

Siebrie

@Blackberrycurved re your man's clothes: would it help to decide in your mind which item reminds you of him the best (gives you happy feelings, reminds you of good times, of good characteristics), display that prominently, and get rid of the rest? Don't worry about the item being 'silly' or 'weird', this is for you only.

2Scratters

Morning Peeps,
@vulpix I was wondering about the holly bush/tree, is there no one local who makes wreaths and could take some from you and make a bit of space?
@Blackberrycurved maybe the items that belong in each room are boxed and before you place them in there in preparation you check the contents. This could be done whilst sitting watching TV or when the adverts are on. Let go of stuff at this time and when placing in the room do the same process is it wanted or needed in there.
 Your daughters items stored separately and placed in the room. She maybe more than happy to dispose of plenty. 
It's all about what works for you. There are always great little tips to try. Every time I go into the loft there has to be something come down. If something goes up the number of items to come down increases
This week we have decluttered a 25ltr barrel of waste oil to recycle at the tip. 2 mattresses gone. 2 wardrobe doors after doing a refit here.
Finally got the blinds for bedroom now finished and today to move our bed into there
We have decluttered some wood stored at the back door under the car port and is now only large tree cakes - looks posh now and more organised We have plenty of wood about in piles and am aiming to use more wood than brickettes this year then we can sort out the storage issue with  moving it around at the moment. DH has fire in his shed (size of a garage) so he can get giddy at times
Stay safe

2Scratters xx