2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

QueenJess

vulpix said:

 The Nick Knowles programme is quite ghoulish really. I am watching being a bit horrified and congratulating myself that I am not that bad. I doubt very much that the quick fix will help the people long term. When they return to their house it has been staged for them.I think they need to set up their own storage so that they will be able to maintain it. Still it is entertaining in so much as how nice their homes look without all that stuff. Plus Nick knowles does give some gems of advice when the people are sorting out their belongings.

I completely agree with what you’ve said. They should probably do a big bang as they need to do something drastic, but then giving them the tools to be able to keep it up and do the decluttering regularly.

Siebrie

I try to channel:

the scouts 'Be Prepared',

the army 'Ever Forward, Never Back' (Canadian), 'Be Ready' (French)

and Mrs Beeton 'A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place'

... but it doesn't always work....

(By the way, the Wikipedia page on military mottoes has some wonderful (or really creepy) ones: "There will be a replacement for everything" - Indonesia; "Do it until it's done" - Indonesia; "Ward off the havoc" - Indonesia; "Steadfast until The End" - Indonesia; "Fortitude Overcomes all Difficulties"- Italy; "It Must, so it is Possible"- The Netherlands; "I want it and I can do it" - The Netherlands; "Don't Talk, But Do" - The Netherlands; "First in, Last out" - Norway)

Florenceem

Too cold here to wrap up and sit in the garden.
How is the train's speed compared to last year?
Learnt a lot about our friend at the funeral yesterday - he was a collector/hoarder in a big - no make that mega - way. Speaking to school friends who had known him for 50 + years - his parents house was filled with stuff. So how much do genes play in this problem that we are trying to sort?

QueenJess

Florenceem said:

Too cold here to wrap up and sit in the garden.
How is the train's speed compared to last year?
Learnt a lot about our friend at the funeral yesterday - he was a collector/hoarder in a big - no make that mega - way. Speaking to school friends who had known him for 50 + years - his parents house was filled with stuff. So how much do genes play in this problem that we are trying to sort?

I suspect it can go either way. DH’s parents are borderline hoarders, but DH and his brother have reacted to it by DH being very tidy and generally not having too much stuff and his brother is a minimalist.

My parents have a fair amount of stuff, but it is organised. My sister is the same but is very tidy with it. I was the same but untidy with it.  I hate tidying and given my lack of time since having a family and my eco leanings, I am now going for as little stuff as I can. Every year we have less stuff than the year before.

vulpix

Florenceem nature vs nurture. I think severe hoarding is learned behaviour either from our parents or due to some major incident. Stuff makes us feel safe. I imagine that most of us are not hoarders but people who have too much and for whatever reason have let it get away from us. Others may disagree. This year's thread is much busier than last year,or previous years I think.Great to see so many people join in.

 Sorry to hog the thread,I am camping out on the bed to keep out of the way of the plasterers. I have got Mr V to get all the baskets out of the bathroom cupboard. A massive cupboard which is 4 ft off the floor and goes up to the ceiling with the toilet in front of it. Loads of storage which is quite inaccessible to a short house like me.

 Mrs SD, I don't know about snow stopping work on the bridge. My friend lives just at the side of it and tells me there has been no work done yet or any sign of any workers.

 Vx

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks

2. Commence ‘Operation Frog Tickling’ I have an acronym - I.R.I.S. being Identify, Research, Implement, Sign Off

3. Implement a new sleep/wake up regime - start going to bed earlier (target before 2:00 a.m.) get up earlier (target by 9:00 a.m.)

4. Deal with daily mail immediately 

5. Don’t put it down, put it away

6. If I spot a mini task deal with it immediately e.g. refill olive oil pourer or salt cellar, stitch up a hole in a garment etc

7. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed

Two x 30 minutes of knitting & back to writing in notes (2:20 p.m.) DSis is still decluttering her room 🥳 Bag of detritus & a cardboard box - 276 & 277

Sorry to hear that work is so manic Fizz2015 😔 but excellent work on resisting the temptation to buy clothes 👏 You are flexing your decluttering muscles by not allowing any more clutter in 🙂 May I make a suggestion 🙏 perhaps try a 

5 box/bag method of decluttering & deal with one area/drawer/cupboard at a time 🙂  One bag for rubbish, one bag for recycling, a box for cs donations, a smaller box for deferred decisions items and a box for items that need to be relocated. Once you have completed the area/drawer/cupboard - deal with the 2 bags + the box re the relocation items. It can be a very satisfying way of decluttering without creating chaos 🙂 Once the cs box is full, bag up the cs items & deliver as soon as possible. Restart the process. Lastly when the deferred decisions box is full treat it as a new area to declutter - you might be surprised at how quickly you can deal with it now that you are a seasoned declutterer 😊Sorry that was a bit long winded 😔

bit_by_bit, Lovely supportive observations for Muddy_Walker 😊 Excellent decluttering 👏 Seeing the positive benefits of decluttering is great motivation for continuing your decluttering journey 😊 Very well done on also seeing the benefits of rest & relaxation 👏

A great cheerleading post gettingthrifty 👏 & you even did some decluttering 😊 Well done on the haggling - please don’t be annoyed, you were busy getting into the right frame of my mind to tackle that particular Frog 👏

Great work x_raphael_xx 👏

Good work GrannyKate 👏

EnergyShifter, what a great ‘take away’ from watching Nick Knowles’s programme - identifying blind spots 😊 Your realisation has led to some excellent decluttering 👏 Perhaps we should start a Nick Knowles Fan Club 😉 Hope you are enjoying your day off 🤞

joanie, Sounds like you had a lovely time with your friend 😊 & it even inspired you to do some decluttering 👏 Excellent work on decluttering jewellery 👏 Thank you for sharing such fond memories of both your mum & dad 😊 and thank you for the 🏆 - added to my signature already 😊

Excellent news that the colonoscopy went well, Muddy_Walker 🙂

This seems to be a good time to have another 23 minutes of knitting 😉

MrsSD (a superwoman) 😇 🎖💐🤩🏅🦸🏅💐🏆 

 DH Awards: 🥇 

Decluttering Target 2023: 277/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00

Millie2008_2

Two items to add today- I have been a bit distracted again- partly because it seems that OH's car might have to go to the garage in the sky, so I have been frantically looking at options....

76. DD's old school shoes from about 18 months back- I was intending to drop them at the charity shop, but my friend happened to mention this morning that her DD had outgrown her school shoes and she's bit short of £ at the moment. These have plenty of wear in them, so I passed them on
77. Another flipping pair of outgrown wellies- why did I keep them! I'll offer them to the same friend

I need DD to try on another pair of school shoes tonight- the ones prior to her current ones. Her new school doesn't allow patent shoes, so I may pass these on to my friend ^^ anyhow 

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, felt better after a shower and hair wash but legs still a bit wobbly
162 conditioner uu, bottle washed and recycled
164 hand cream uu and binned
165 meds collected
166 when putting above away realised other meds need ordering so that is done, it drives me nuts that there is no synchronisity with my meds 
167 almost forgot soap from stash put in to bathroom

I did get a half an hour sitting in the garden so a list has been started
Take care everyone
167/2023

-taff

@EnergyShifter I actually have never thought about it that way before but you're right, we all have blind spots about our clutter. Mine is the belief that as long as it is stored away in a box it's nice and tidy and I manage to gloss over the fact that some stuff should definitely not be in the box. thanks for the tip, I will endeavour to see all my clutter from now on, hidden or no.

One fluffy stool sold on MP. One cat bed to pile to go...

Dfw38

No decluttering for me today. Both dd off school. Youngest with a dodgy tummy though thankfully that has stopped 🙏 I kept my eldest off too because she is really suffering with anxiety at the moment. Turns out there are some girls who were previously friends with her at school who are going out of their way to be mean, name calling and excluding my dd from games etc and encouraging others to do the same. Needless to say dd was a wreck last night and this morning. So a day at home snuggling, talking, watching TV and reading has been today's course of action! I have got a few bits coming that I have ordered. Costumes for world book day for both dd, normally we would make do and eldest dd was keen to go as cinderella before the ball utilising a tudor skirt and adding patches etc. And while I was impressed with her ability to use her imagination and utilise what we have I could forsee a real opportunity for more name calling and bullying with regards to raggedy clothes so vetoed that. I have also ordered both girls a l0ttie doll each as they spent yesterday evening decluttering loads of toys and books they do not want and am trying to hammer home "you have space for new things if you get rid of old things you no longer want". Need to transfer the bits to my box system to calculate how much we are up to now. 
Have also finished my blanket, photos to follow!