2022 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

ZolaBuddy

Good morning, all. This is my first post on this thread as I'm a bit of a noob to this site. 

As far as decluttering is concerned. I recently moved house to windswept but beautiful Cumbria a couple of years or so ago. 
The house is slightly larger than my old one, and I am one of those who likes to fill every corner of a room what can I only be described as clutter - when I see something in a shop I impulse buy and shove it in a room and forger about it!

But after a rather traumatic couple of years I have decided not only to go for a more minimalist approach to my house, but also to turn it into a comfortable cosy home. As a consequence lots and lots of clothes, shoes, handbags, makeup bags, shoe boxes, hat boxes and gawd knows what else I had stored in my bedrooms and loft at my old place, either went in the bin, or a charity shop or ebay.

The same for those kitchen gadgets like a bread maker, that seem like a good idea at the time, but in essence you only have use once or twice before they end up in the depths of some cupboard.

I also got rid of a number of old mobile phones, video games machines, old computers, computer books, printers and millions of cables (I work in IT).

I only have one plant pot in nearly every room now, compared to about 3 or 4 before. I don't buy ornaments or figurines either; and most of my walls are bare for a change.

Strangely, ever since having suffered severe symptoms from covid during my house move, and ending up in hospital for a time, I now feel more in touch with my inner self and peace of mind. To not only declutter my homes but also my head from pointless randomness and the need to justify my existence by buying things I really don't need but the influencers on social media seem to think are crucial.

So anyway, I seemed to have strayed off-topic a little. But I feel better for de-fogging my mind so early in the morning

GrannyKate

@zolabuddy - welcome this is a very friendly site and we all have our reasons and motivations which can change over time and there is always time for TLC in the refreshment carriage with tea and cakes and a good moan when required.  I didn't quite reach maintenance stage but the good thing about all the decluttering I had done was the ability to fairly easily accommodate DS2 and children.  The mess was bit annoying but I think I have sorted most out of sight but will have to allow some of his stuff to go in my almost empty loft.  I do have an almost unused garden cabin and garage which were late DH's domain so they are being used again.  The stress of the situation is harder to declutter - real life does get in the way of things.  

Yesterday I failed to reach my 4000 steps minimum - I don't really know why but that is only once in 2 weeks.  Those boxes in the dining room are still needing attention. The children helped me clean yesterday - in a manner of speaking but we did do quite well and they decided tor rearrange the living room furniture which they thought was fun.

549 Last of April cards posted
550 Easter eggs and card with money delivered to DGS3 and DGD3 who are away easter weekend
551 Took small people to dentists
552-556 Five rooms thoroughly cleaned
557 Some bath toys to charity bag
558 Cleaned inside of living room window - it is a large almost full length bay so deserves a point on its own.

Some frogs to do today.  Hugs to all who need them. 

basketcase

Sneaking in quietly behind @ZolaBuddy to rejoin.  Again...

I've bee following the thread and have been very impressed - as always - by the amount of work everyone has done, often against really stiff odds.  At 205 pages in I couldn't possibly name everybody, so just WOW!

What with the constant worry and need to support offspring at various times, RL's been obstructive and exhausting.  I've managed to avoid CV19 so far, which is good because DS has several health problems, including having had both lungs collapse some years ago.  Even common colds affect his breathing significantly, so Covid...  DD was down in London working throughout, along with the highly stressed team she was managing.  (She said that, oddly, the situation didn't worsen her own anxiety and depression, it made her feel normal!  It also meant she could support those who were suffering.)  She was applying for jobs for some time and got a few interviews at very good places but they were filled internally.

I also reacted quite badly to the vaccinations.  Fluey symptoms for a week each time (could hardly get out of bed for the first 2-3 days), followed by exhaustion and lethargy.  I know the Room of Doom has been known to bring me out in a sweat figuratively, but washing up,or standing to cook a meal doesn't usually.  Especially not literally!  I'm wondering of Long Covid-Vaccination Syndrome is a thing!

Obviously, the place is a bombsite, decluttering practically came to a standstill and I spent the odd bout of energy I did have trying to get my allotment to a state where I wouldn't actually get thrown off!  Fast forward...

DD was made redundant just before Christmas (this was a good thing btw), she hung around for a few interviews as she'd paid the rent anyway.  All the support paid off.  The good news is that she got a very good, permanent job in a prestigious organisation.  I'm so pleased, she's due some good luck for a change.  The even better news is that it's in Edinburgh, so she's back in Scotland.  There is some Bad News.  I went down to London and came back with a car full of her flat, including about a dozen houseplants.  Initially she took everything to her dad's because - as she said - I was already storing the contents of every flat she'd been in as an undergrad and post grad and he's got loads of room.  He moaned so much about the plants that I took half of them, including all the biggest.  But I like plants, so that's fine.

DD's going to look round for a place to buy in Edinburgh.  Not easy, but by being incredibly frugal she's added to a couple of modest bequests and has enough for a goodish deposit.  It'll be about 6 months before she can start to look, but then all her stuff will be gone - including the rabbit!  YES!!

So my Snowbird Mojo is officially back and where else would I go to take advantage of it but here?

I'm still ridiculously tired, so not setting myself a target this time.  I'm going to do a minimum of 15 minutes per day, so that's dealing with just one area/pile/box/whatever.  If I feel like doing more, I needn't stop.  If I don't, it's long enough to be useful.  Plus I'm hoping that it'll become a habit and once I've tamed The Beast that can become 15 minutes a day maintenance.

Guineapigsqueaks

Morning All. 
I have been AWOL for a while, but still attempting to keep up with life :-).
I am on leave from work this week, but have not so far made much progress with the many frogs on the list and decluttering to do! 
I have had my porridge and a cup of tea, so will get washed and dressed, hair and teeth brushed and get on with it!
Hopefully report back later on progress.
Guineapigsqueaks x

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

Tuesday was bright, sunny & warmish until about 6:00 p.m. Then clouded over & drizzled on & off for the rest of the evening. 2nd day of leaving the house - Post Office to send last Easter Egg parcel, onto dry cleaners to pick up DH’s ‘smart’ trousers & then onto to sm. Round trip of about 90 mins. Shopping put away then had a coffee, did some paperwork & cleared down some more programmes from TV planner. Dinner was pork steaks, mash, fresh broccoli & cauliflower 😋 Wudupa. 

Wednesday has started overcast & duller than previous few days, although the sun is trying to break through 🤞 DH is getting better by the day - the rash is drying & gradually clearing but still quite painful 😣 My To Do list is getting longer 😔 so I need to stir my stumps & get on with it 🤞 The one thing I have done today is put a new bin liner in the wheelie bin 😉

603 - 613 Kitchen recycling, 4 newspapers, magazine, 2 plastic takeaway boxes & lids, cardboard box & packaging, paper packaging - recycled 
614 Kitchen detritus binned 

Lovely to see you merrysmiles 👋 Excellent decluttering & an even better result with sales 👏 You have every right to feel pleased with your progress 🙂

You are welcome bit_by_bit 🙂 How very droll of your teacher 😉 It is criminal binning good books - I hope you get to the bottom of the missing book dealer 🤞 What a great analogy - more importantly to me you are a LoTR fan 👏 Sorry to hear you are SAD 😢 but regardless you have still done a lot of decluttering 👏 Happy Birthday to your sister 🎂 

Loving the discussion about the psychology of decluttering 🙂. EnergyShifter, I think you have very succinctly described a decluttering journey & you give us hope that we can get to the stage of ‘maintenance decluttering’ - thank you for reminding us that it is not a linear journey & that if we keep plodding along we will succeed 👏 Your inspiring post has earned you a Gold Star ⭐️ 

TC77 that sounds very familiar - ‘dreaming of maintenance decluttering’ 😉  Perhaps our motivation is off on it’s holidays 🤣 As long as we keep plodding along we might be able to encourage our motivation to put in an appearance 🤞

Very impressed with your motivation for the book sales weenancyinAmerica 👏 You are a force of nature and a remarkable woman 😇 What a serendipitous find - reminds me of a lovely film called Serendipity 🙂 Thank you for sharing your very interesting life 👏 Another very busy day & thank goodness there was no fire 🙂 

Thank you EnergyShifter - “some kind of critical mass of decluttered items” is a lovely way to describe reaching the point of maintenance decluttering 👏 and is a real encouragement to us all that as long as we keep plodding along there is light at the end of the decluttering tunnel 🙂 Fully agree that weenancy’s roommates & community are very lucky to have her in their lives 👏

Welcome aboard The EDT ZolaBuddy 👋 Lovely to meet you 🙂 So sorry to hear that you have had a traumatic couple of years 😢 I hope that you are fully recovered from your rather serious bout of Covid. You have had a true epiphany & I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing it with us 👏 As far as straying off topic, I disagree 😉 your post is illuminating & insightful and I would like to thank you for sharing with us 👏  I look forward to sharing your decluttering journey 🙂

iPad needs charging so will be back later to complete my cheerleading 🙂 

MrsSD  🏅🏅🏅🏅 🌟 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

I AM A STAR 🌟 

Decluttering Target: 614/2022

2022 - 1p Savings Challenge: Running Total £74.92

Guineapigsqueaks

I have done a run to the tip with a load of old wood and a couple of bits of plastic/polystyrene. Then worked out how to put rear seats back up in car, which was much harder than putting them down! Turns out I wasn't giving them enough oomph to click back locked. Swept up behind gate where rubbish had been. Put a couple of buddleia plants into garden that had been patiently waiting to escape their pots, but then got rained off. Made a tuna and pasta bake ready for tea. Put dishwasher on.
Guineapigsqueaks x

allmannerofthings

I'm a bit late to the party, could I join in please?

I have an enormous amount of stuff to declutter/organise. After our son moved out, we spent five years using his room as a storage/junk room, until it was piled high with boxes and other stuff. Then son moved back home! We had to rent a Big Yellow storage room to put some of it in, the rest is in the house. We have boxes and piles of stuff everywhere in the house, and have been paying out £138 a month for the storage place for two years, argh. Son has left again but the spare room has now become my husband's office as he works from home, so we can't put all the stuff back in there. Our loft and shed are also full to overflowing. It has got to the point now where I can't even get a pair of shoes out or a clean nightie, without having to move a box first. I have mobility issues that have come on over the last year or so and it's really difficult for me to walk, lift, carry etc, which just makes things even harder. It's harder to declutter, but also harder to negotiate picking my way around boxes. I have had ENOUGH. 

So. This is my plan:

1. Declutter something every day.
2. Declutter at least 2022 things this year - this should be easy!)
3. Use up craft stuff from my stash (possibly make some gifts)
4. Be honest about what I will and won't use - books, craft stuff, toiletries, cleaning stuff, costume jewellery.... make an effort to use some of it, declutter the rest

Wish me luck!

Guineapigsqueaks

Good luck allmannerofthings x

TripleH

Good luck allmannerofthings.

I kicked myself when I moved our my first flat as I paid for items in storage for a year. It cost more in storage than they were worth in the end. Stupid as for health reasons I wasn't going to move in that year.

My parents absorbed everything useful into their rental properties so waste was minimal. Until I got married nearly all my possessions would fit into a wheelie bin (if you squashed it down a bit) but apparently I have the hoarding problem 😉

2Scratters

Well a couple of frogs got thrown out today.
Made DH deal with one of his, he can only manage 1 at a time, he thinks I wanted to sort them all out. I wouldn't see him for days as he would be worn out with the task. The staff member was very helpful and gave us telephone numbers too for us to follow up with claims. 
Got 3 items sorted and dropped into the post office.
Did the butchers shopping run from far away in another town. (Its the butcher we have used for 35 years or more)
No doubt when son & DGD turn up tonight they will be shopping in the freezer. 
Went 2 times to the barbers today still not got my hair cut. Looks like that is on for tomorrow morning now.
Finished reading a borrowed book yesterday so that is now in my work bag ready for Friday when I go back to work. I'm just wondering why did I volunteer to work all the bank holiday?? I'll thank myself at the end of may
Mr V man called as the Broadband had stopped working - It hadn't - it was our old expensive in the day equipment that had failed. Should have been charged for that according to customer services, anyhow turns out we had too much power Hopefully it might reduce the amount of electric being used too We purchased 2 new extensions and sorted the sockets that can be turned off at night. 
Off to do some batch cooking now.
Welcome to the newbies who have jumped on board with this journey.

Stay safe and enjoy the Easter break all

2Scratters xx