2022 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

TripleH

My apologies for gatecrashing, but is it possible for me to join at such a late stage?

We've moved from a 2 bed flat via renting to a 4 bed house in 2 1/2 years.

I am determined that we won't stuff things away in cupboards that we used to do (its amazing what you can fit in a 2 bed flat)..

Most of our stuff has been sat in boxes in the 2 1/2 years so I have concluded we don't really need a lot of it.

We've cleared out 12 large boxes so far and most of that has a proper home or has gone. Along the way we've been gifted items by parents who are moving to dispose of.

I'm just determined not to loose my way as I think I can see a light in the distance.

mehefin

4 slice toaster to a small local charity that hold coffee mornings in our local church and run a clothes bank at the same time.. It was just sitting in the cupboard since DS left home so pleased to see it having a useful purpose again.
Usual kitchen/packaging rubbish

balabooberlies

Welcome TripleH

welcome.....

bala

donna73

Yesterday plus this morning …
347 emails x2200 , oldest dating back to 2008 😱🙄
348 online banking transfers
349 paperwork filed
350-358 using up things lurking in fridge & freezer whilst doing baking and batch cooking 
359 finally finished my book - into CS box
360 old candle 
361 door stop
362 eBay listings (chipping away at that frog)
363 empty curva box out to shed 
364 old catalogue 
365 replaced broken compost caddy (frog)
366-374 items from daughter’s room into CS box
375 old instruction booklet 
376 cd rom
377 unsubscribing from emails 
378 binned shaver that doesn’t work 
379-383 shaver heads and accessories for shavers no longer owned! 


😀Bonuses from decluttering- found a hairdryer in the loft ( I have no idea why it was up there) but it works and means I don’t need to keep annoying teenage daughter by borrowing hers! 

Found my old epilator, charged it and it works ! So can attack my legs with that instead of buying razors 👍


Next up I’m going to start tackling a small box that contains a random mix of all manner of things , whilst the kettle boils, then it’s definitely time for a hot chocolate. 

bit_by_bit

wort said:

@thriftycrafter, the post about craft stuff comes under the idea of keeping things for “fantasy self”  I think most people have items they keep for some vision of themselves as someone that doesn’t exist in RL 😉 wether that is of a person who does wonderful crafting ,baking or as a person who goes to garden parties and dinner dances so keeps lots of floaty dresses and elaborate evening gowns and fur jackets ! But rarely has time to do anything certainly no time to sit and craft or who lives in jeans and sweatshirts. 

So we suddenly become realistic and then we can release these things more easily. 

This definitley makes sense to me as I am getting older. I think I am going to put a 2 year clearance date on ALL of my stash. I have put it for the end of March 2024 in my diary. Winter is a good time to be crafting.  That will give me the time and pressure I need to finish some of the crafts I can do now I have retired. After that it it will all be reviewed and donated!! 

Yesterday a bag went to the CS.

Today I am off to the allotment as I have now done the biggest frogs. Just completed the dreaded tax return. 
That is one of those jobs that causes me to procrastinate but once the weight is lifted gives me energy for other thng

nannywindow

We managed to cut down more of the front hedge over the weekend, now it's waiting to be cut up and disposed of when the weather warms up, it's blummin freezing here today. The roots however will need some coaxing out, well after about 60 odd years would anyone like to be uprooted ? We've also decluttered the builders for a couple of weeks so I've been able to clean down my front door as it was covered in brown dust, sadly the windows will have to wait till warmer weather too. The older I get the more susceptible to the cold I feel 🤔
A ton of food has left the building inside DGS who had a reaction to his 2nd jab and so stayed here for the last 2 days, never seen a child eat soooo much, he's like a human hoover 😲 Into the recycling an empty bubble bath bottle, a talc tin, a candle jar and a 'van magazine. Another non working set of gaming headphone has had it's marching orders too. 
nan

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 5 tasks
2. Deal with Old Frogs & potential frogs ASAP but at least one on FROG Fridays.
3. Reduce/Restrict time watching TV and playing AB2 during daylight hours 😉
4. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed

Good afternoon all 👋 Wednesday is a bright sunny day but still rather cold 🥶 DSis is up in her room - she has taken to spending the whole day in there just coming down to make herself hot drinks & then coming down for dinner & staying watching TV with me 😔 DH has gone out to meet an ex work colleague to deliver the magnets he ordered for her (she doesn’t do online shopping👏) As an aside he tried on the shirt I bought him for Christmas unfortunately he looked like an overstuffed sausage 🤣 so I have inherited a new shirt 🙂
I have portioned yesterday’s batch cooked mince - 4 x 200g bags labelled & put in garage freezer (I am still trying to empty kitchen freezer as it really does need defrosting 😬) The remainder is being used to make a Bolognese sauce for tonight’s dinner. Whilst putting new bin liner in wheelie bin, neighbour who is moving called round with a bag of dry food for the foxes 👏🙂 - such a shame she is leaving with her dog, but lease has run out ☹️ Also had a chat with ndn about Community Fibre - he works from home & his internet is not as reliable as he would wish. However he is still in contract so I will get DH to monitor speed & reliability, so ndn has information for when his contract ends. I received a nice letter this morning - my mammogram results - I am clear 🥳 It is always a niggling worry even if I try not to worry 😔 I have also sorted out the remaining shallow drawer & deep drawer under the hob. Everything cleaned & tidied, several items moved to more suitable locations & the instructions for a pan cover to prevent boiling over found & added to the pan cover & put in CS bag. I used it once & didn’t get on with it ☹️ The only reason I kept it was that it was a gift from DH 🙄 Next task is to deal with todays mail 🙂 DH has just phoned - had a mixed grill & a couple of pints for lunch & a good old chinwag 🙂 He is on his way home. It is taking me so long to write this that DH is home & I have had a bowl of hm soup for lunch 😉

141 - 142 Detritus & recycling from kitchen drawers
143 Pan cover & instructions into CS bag

GrannyKate, I also watched a couple of the Decluttering at the Speed of Life videos & like you I am not convinced. I did also watch a report on The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning - very interesting as although Swedish taxes are high they include provision for a basic funeral reducing the financial stresses on the family 👏 whilst the decluttering reduces the emotional stresses. Excellent physical & electronic decluttering 👏

Great observations wort 👏 I have taken the liberty of copying your post & might just print it out as a reminder when I tackle my wardrobe, jewellery box & yarn stash 😉

princesskitty29, So pleased to hear that you are becoming more comfortable with your puppy 😊 & really nice that you are looking to the future benefits 🙂 Good work on the decluttering 👏 especially realising that gifts can be passed on 😉

Never too late to jump aboard The EDT, TripleH 👋 So welcome 🤗 Firstly congratulations on your move from a flat to a house 🙂 Secondly well done on making such a good start on your decluttering journey - 12 boxes is brilliant 👏 Remember that if at all gets too much & you need a breather, just pop along to The TLC Carriage 😉

Good work mehefin & always lovely to see a donated item in use 👏

Excellent decluttering donna73 👏 I am positive that there are ‘email gremlins’ that turn up every week & add hundreds of emails to our electronic clutter 😉🙃

bit_by_bit what a huge decision re your crafting stash 🙂 Great work on completing your tax return - one medal 🏅 coming your way. Hope you enjoy your time on the allotment 🙂

nannywindow, well done for braving the cold to cut down more of the hedge 👏 As to the depletion of your food stores by DGS that is a form of decluttering 👏

MrsSD  🏅🏅🏅 🌟 ⭐️ ⭐️

I AM A STAR 🌟 

Decluttering Target: 143/2022

2022 - 1p Savings Challenge: Jan £5.00; Feb

TripleH

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

I forgot to put, but we have put any money we earn through eBay decluttering into an account to spend on top-up purchases. For example, we have a budget for curtains (and most things) in our new home but the top-up means we can splash out on items above our budget that are a little nicer to help reward our efforts.

We are for minimising waste as much aside can, so must also add, the boxes we got rid of have gone to friends who are refurbishing their home to store their stuff in.

I like the deadline for decluttering, too. I just need to convince MIL as she will continually drip feed items to sell to me if I don't.

Gem-gem

Had an unexpected morning off today. 

So made the most of it. 

Two loads of washing done; bathroom and downstairs loo cleaned; pizza bases and a log of bread made. Then spent 90 minutes in the garden pruning, pulling up chard, removing brown leaves from pots and borders, started on the weeding around the rhubarb and blackcurrant bushes and hoovered up the leaves on the paths. 

Recycled: 
63. Garden bits (see above)

64. envelopes and a piles of used papers
65. usual kitchen rubbish

Mrs SD pleased to hear that your test result came back clear. Always a relief.

DH came home with 8 pints of milk for 26p and two lots of 6 eggs for 50p each. What is even better is that he found a £1.02 so we got it all for 24p. Woo hoo!
DH has requested a fruit cake. We will see what we can do. 

marrob

Hello Mrs SD and fellow declutterers
Hope you are all well and gradually surfacing from under a pile of tat ..

princesskitty29 : glad to hear that you are feeling a bit less overwhelmed by your new puppy.  Hope you enjoyed the real life scones 
Mrs SD : glad that the results were clear, always a relief !

I'm still beavering away in my "office", getting there now with the paperwork, at last.  Two frogs have been eaten and digested by DH, I'm including them as they were things he was doing for me 

125.  One book read – (5/170)

126.  Last week’s papers – recycled

127.  Two u/u tealights

128.  Junk mail recycled

129.  350 emails deleted

130.  Unsubscribed from emails

131-132.  Another pile of papers sorted – recycled and/or shredded

133.  Another frog eaten

134-135.  Two u/u candles – binned

136-137.  Another pile of papers sorted – recycled and/or shredded

138.  200 emails deleted

139.  Another frog eaten