The Mental Debt Struggle...

daisy_1571

Adorable kitten!   He or she will definitely focus your mind on making safe spaces and being a kitten they will be into EVERYTHING - on the floor, up on a shelf, behind the couch - there is simplyno way to hide things from a curiousyoung animal😆.   Best way I know to force us clean, tidy and chuck.   Will give you many laughs over the years

Dxx

Makingabobor2

Aww kitten is gorgeous. 

1stTimer

Your kitten is beautiful! Have you decided on a name yet?

Keedie

Thanks for all of the kitten advice and wisdom. He/she is called Silver (my son named him, as he vetoed my suggestion of Stormy or Chaos - as it's a very high energy kitten from what I have seen). He's had his heart set on Silver long before these kittens were a possibility, so I just let him have it.

And yes, a clutter free safe space is definitely needed for a kitten. I remember when we were younger and had kittens and sometimes we couldn't find them (my mum and dad had a Victorian house), and we'd panic, and then somehow they were in a cupboard, or behind furniture and all sorts. So I think the clear plastic tubs will make all of the difference to keeping everything 'neatly' cluttered whilst we work through things. 

I like the idea of having a number of tip trips for the year, as it makes it more achievable. I think I'll set my target at 25 tip trips, and 15 donations to charity/family and friends as some of my stuff are quite nice and can be sold by charities or used by someone else. I'm hoping that libraries take book donations as some of my books are brand new, but I've gone off paper books and so I know I'll never read them.

I've been having a look at nice (but cheap) furniture solutions with dual or multi purpose items like shoe cabinets with a concealed front with a bench so that I can sit when needed, storage boxes etc to keep things neatly organised in drawers etc. I'm looking forward to getting these items once I know what I need (based on reduced stuff). I definitely need to have minimal surface space, as that tends to just attract clutter due to laziness to put things away and items not having a proper home in the first place. 

I'm going to do a Clarity from Clutter Challenge, and take before and after pics so I can see what I don't want to return to. Wish me luck! 🤞🏾

Financially, I've had a few unexpected expenses and some frivolous spending 😬, so I need to sit down and figure out a better budget and finance goals. Maybe then I'll be better at managing my money once it is in my account. I am good at saving in cash, but once it goes back into my bank account, it's a bit of a slippery slope from there... So I'm hoping that with a simpler budget, and keeping track of what I am spending, things will get better. I watched a few videos on creating a yearly budget, and I think that might help. From what I can see, people set a goal amount for things like savings, socialising, food, bills, debt repayments etc and then you record your expenditure. And then you can see where you are overall at the end of the year. I think this may work as sometimes I may overspend in a category in one month, but I can recalibrate in following months, instead of giving up because things haven't gone too well.

I'll also be trimming down all of my sinking funds and combining a few and getting rid of others. I've not been feeling mentally well at all and I need to have the easiest set up, so that I can stand a better chance getting that sense of achievement and meeting my goals.

Cherryfudge

Keedie said:

I'm hoping that libraries take book donations as some of my books are brand new, but I've gone off paper books and so I know I'll never read them.

I have the opposite problem - I love second hand books and have a backlog to catch up on - plus four more over Christmas! Then there are hundreds (literally) on my Kindle.

As well as actual Council-run libraries, do you have a little community library near you? There's one in a box outside a house near my work but I think lots are in old phone boxes. There are also the stalls at supermarkets where people make a donation to a charity in return for a donated book. Interestingly, charity shops don't seem to major on books as much as they used to, though Oxfam is great for older books.

Keedie

I'm not sure about community libraries @Cherryfudge, but I have seen bookshelves in some tube stations near the ticket office, so I'll check them out as a donation destination. I used to love second books and then I discovered kindle and e-reading is the only way that I can properly enjoy a fiction book now.

I have a lot of non-fiction and self help books, so I'll be keeping all of those, but I need to condense them to just the one bookshelf in my room. The one in the living room has a massive old hi-fi on it, complete with a massive subwoofer and I have not looked in the cabinet in several months and the hi-fi doesn't work properly. The cabinet is in good enough condition to go to charity, but the contents needs to go. I'm not even really sure what is in there to be honest.

liselle

Sometimes Care Homes will take books

Makingabobor2

Check out supermarkets. My Mr M & Mr S both have tables of books & people just donate. 

beanielou

That is just a wee cutie pop 😻

AntoMac

Kitten sure does look adorable Keedie. Good that you’re getting some organising plans together. Don’t put yourself under too much pressure if you can