Prosperous soul embraces creativity & mortgage neutrality

savingholmes

Very first world I know....

I have made myself bin some stuff. 

I've moved 10 boxes of tissues into a see through storage box in the hall - alongside 4 boxes of coffee pods... 

I have got rid of a lot from my house over the last few years but so much further to go. The way I see it - my kids should be really grateful I am doing this now so they don't have to do it later... Or should be grateful once I'm done!!

It's recycling and garden bin day tomorrow so I may go and chop some branches up as therapy and at least tidy my garden up a bit... Then come back to the front room. I would have been better off if she'd got stuff out a little at a time rather than make my front room look like a dumping ground... as I feel overwhelmed.  She's out with Ex so can't help me.

Another thing I need to stop buying is woven plastic shopping bags... Have tons of those yet often forget to take them in with me!!

I am enjoying the plums and apples from my garden. If I clear the branches currently in the way on the ground - I can spread a tarp and then cut down some of the taller branches of the plum tree and that way get ones I otherwise couldn't safely reach and keep my tree under control in one.

I've moved some freezer food into the garage freezer. The top of my freezer is more like -15-16.5 degrees. So moved everything out of the bottom 'drawer' /shelf area which was around -2-3. Will ring up to see about getting it fixed tomorrow.

WelshmansDaughter

Wow I wasn't expecting that many people to have storage rooms! 
I don't know if you have this in your area but have used cleara🐝 in the past, they do a man with a van if you don't want a skip. 
I recommend watching hoarders as motivation. The Jasmine Harman ones are good for a British perspective and a bit more realistic treatment than just empty your clutter now.

badmemory

I got annoyed at finding I had 6 of one cleaner & none of another, so I now have spreadsheets.  In fact spreadsheets for pretty much everything.  Freezer contents with expiry dates.  Herbs spices & jars, with expiry dates.  The fact that I have cauli in the freezer with an expiry date of last march is of course entirely irrelevant!  Whoops!  But at least it won't be a surprise.

jwil

I hate waste and have tried to sell/donate/recycle anything as much as I could.  I had a real mental block though with stuff that was not suitable for any of those.  I didn't want to throw something away even if no one wanted it!  It meant stuff was hanging around forever as I had no way of dealing with it.  I had to really force myself to start doing it - my home isn't meant to be a landfill after all!  I used it as a learning point to shop more mindfully and buy less tat, so hopefully it's a one off binning of stuff!

With your shopping bags - do you keep some in your car?  If I don't remember to take them into the shop, I just reload everything back into the trolley and load up in the car. 

earthgirl2

"I've been watching some Utube on no/low buy challenges - and what some of the participants learned about themselves while doing it. One I listened to - it felt like she was voicing my inner monologue - of things I don't generally say. It helped me make sense of why I have used shopping and eating as a reward - and emotional crutch - and linked it to ADHD and lack of dopamine which was interesting. Throw in scarcity growing up - and it's a recipe for chaos. My house now has far too much stuff though so I need to continue whittling it down. "

Wow, that's really interesting. I can see parts of this in my personality too. And always approaching life through a lense of scarcity because that was what I felt growing up. Thanks for making me think!

savingholmes

Thanks WD, Jwil and @badmemory

Thankfully - my house is functional and has never reached anything close to the point described in the documentary you directed me too. Making the decision in my early 20s onwards to have a cleaner has made a massive difference and ensured things never escalated too far. The garage is stuffed but not the main house. The garage has furniture in that I over-bought last year and some of the leftovers from the loft (which is now empty). I am working towards becoming more minimal but have a long way to go. I still have too much stuff that I've never assigned a home to. I have filled my general waste bin with what I'm letting go of so that's progress. 

The stuff I'm keeping is toiletries and cleaning products, a box of lightbulbs, diy stuff etc - which were once knowingly put in the under stairs cupboard - it just had been a while since it was accessed and loads of other stuff got piled on top.  DD came back and helped me organise what we were keeping. It should mostly fit in a 4 drawer plastic unit that was originally in there. I also need to put the ironing board (pretty much never used) back in there and the iron. The dyson can then go in there too.

Ex's house is a decent size. They left a double bed in what will be her room if she wants to stay there sometimes. May mean I get some peace sometimes. For now I've dropped DD at a friend's house.

I filled my garden bin with prunings from the garden. I also picked a load of apples and plums. Plenty left. 

Hope you are all having fun.

girlatplay

Oh @savingholmes, your list made me smile.  I got into the habit of buying things for stocking up.  When we moved I had to confess to my mum as she helped us pack.  Was quite funny.  You have loads of stocks so if you work your way through them as planned you shouldn't spend as much.  It's a good position to be in.

savingholmes

Thanks @earthgirl2 and GAP - glad I'm not alone.

Still working on returning the living room back to normal - although in theory there's not a lot left to do. I've brushed the space under the stairs. I have cleaned the plastic unit and currently have a spare drawer. I found a caddy I could use for bin liners under the sink (hooks over the door). I've put the ironing board and the plastic unit back.

I binned some old trainers this weekend which was progress. Too me 8 months! Will do the holey boots next... Little and often I think for me rather than too big a mountain in one go.

We found the instructions for the scales that went funny after running out of battery so will see if they can be resurrected as they are nicer (see through glass) instead of the plastic white older set.

I now know I have two lots of windscreen wash (one concentrated and one ready to use). Pre-de-icer for the night before....  2 more lots of soap... I have at least 6 lots of anti-bac gel too...  @badmemory - love your spreadsheet idea but not ready to go that far. I hope 'shopping from home' and doing that radical thing of taking a list when I go shopping should help. Found a second cable finder... 

mark55man

well done on keeping the house so functional.  we're not quite there yet - or rather it is functional but in a heath robinson sort of way.  not helped at the moment by having DS1 music gigging equipment (think turn it up to 11 speakers) in the lounge pending pick up to their normal storage space.  our garage has never seen a car in over 20 years

WelshmansDaughter

Looking back I think a cleaner would have been a good idea. Especially when living with the sister and we were messy in different ways.
Little bits at a time is the way to go, it took me two weeks to do the shed and still not finished