2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

Keiths_Mum

Evening All

Been productive today, decluttered the top of the dresser and the top drawer of the dresser as promised, the following is now out of the house:

Charity shop:

Sarah Jessica Parker perfume (smelt like an 80's nightclub)
6 pin badges
3 (more) watches (I might have a watch fetish)
1 bracelet
Another keyring

Binned:

Numerous receipts
Numerous ribbons
4 pieces of padding from sports bras
Nail varnish remover pads (dried up)
3 pairs of sunglasses (broken)
2 keyrings (broken)
Several empty cotton bud containers
2 pairs of shoe insoles (worn)
1 pair of reading glasses (broken)
Grey cloth face mask (looks like a muzzle, gives me Hannibal Lecter vibes)
2 watch boxes
1 earring box
Numerous hair ties 
Numerous elastic bands
2 necklaces (broken)
1 pack of wipes (dried up)

I also took 2 bags to the charity shop and only bought one thing, a pair of trousers for work.

Continuing with paperwork decluttering and shredded a massive 132 pieces today, 5 pieces recycled. Halfway through box 5 now.

Dfw38

Evening all! Thank you all for the solidarity and kind comments re dd and the bullying. Dreading tomorrow night because she will start fretting but we have some techniques we learnt when she had anxiety therapy last year (separation anxiety if parted from me) so we will start using them and work through her anxiety exercise book. I do not have much faith in the school, her teacher is excellent, "old school" and puts up with no nonsense (and seems to really like dd) but most of it seems to kick off at lunchtime, less teachers in playground and the ones that are there are not the usual ones so it is a perfect storm for all sorts of shenanigans by the sound of it. We do have an option to have lunch at home, so we can go down that route if needed but dd isn't sure if she wants to do this yet.
No decluttering today (normal business will resume on Monday without supervision). The l0ttie dolls arrived (earlier than originally expected) and the look on both dd and ds faces (ds got a boy doll) was absolutely worth it. They have all taken them to bed and are absolutely chuffed with them. Went to m0unt@!n w@r€house and picked up a small rucksack for my walking marathon and training, got it for £7.99 (£10 off) so happy with that. Also picked up some tester pots for decorating all 3 bedrooms and I have no idea what colours to use! Previously i have used F@rrow and b@ll but the last room I decorated I was not happy with the quality or finish so am reverting to dullux. Plus we are on a very tight budget so I am hopeful that it will be good quality (never used that brand before) Have about 9 testers to try out and am very excited....I am the decorator in this house (I love it 🤭, not a chore for me at all 🤫) and am super excited to get started in the next couple of months. The only thing is I start decorating at 8 in the evening so it doesn't impact on my time with dc, I can get a room done in a week of evenings that way, 1 night sanding and washing down, 2 nights on ceiling (2 coats), 2 nights on walls (2 coats) and 2 nights on woodwork (2 coats). We do have a feature wall wallpaper in 2 bedrooms (dcs) a woodland scene (grey, black and greige) so that will take an extra night...... can you tell I'm excited?! At the moment though I cannot even summon the energy for folding washing so let's hope the iron tablets do their thing and restore me.

Thank you for my medal Mrs SD, much appreciated. Some 💐 for you for your amazing cheerleading and still managing to declutter!

I agree with you about the big bang decluttering,  although I would love to do it like that! I think unfortunately for some of the families it is probably inevitable that they will re-fill their houses up. The last episode I saw with the house clearance family who 'saw value in everything' made me yell out to the telly ' no no no' I really hope they take the opportunity to enjoy life without the stuff.

Well I will leave you in peace, got a 14 mile walk as training tomorrow 😲. 

Muddy_Walker

Hi! Mental note when coming down from the colposcopy sedative…..do NOT go on that well known online store 🫣 in fairness it is stuff I was going to buy in any case but…not yet!!
um decluttering……
My good mood after waiting almost 3 hours to get through to the dr yesterday and then the phone clicked off. I was positively evil.
1 hour of ironing 🐸
 1 box hair dye - I am now very very dark brown but that will lighten.
several hours visiting friends! We haven’t seen each other for ages so it was a great catch up 🥰
Take care x

Muddy_Walker

Dfw38 - have a good walk and best wishes to your daughter - I hate bullies with a passion xx

weenancyinAmerica

I have read three more books so far this week. Turned in the titles for the Winter Reading program - but turned down the opportunity to get two books as my reward from the book cart. I don't really need more books coming in for me. I still think I have about 4500 books to sort through. I did pick up some books as presents for nieces and nephews at our book sale Friday. These are just passing through. I even took several magazines and 6 books in for the sale. And got a bag ready to go to the used book store at the same time.

Spent most of Thursday getting ready for the Book Sale at the Library - and then spent all day Friday (9-6) at the Book Sale. We made $396 this month and were able to have the sale outside as the rains stopped that morning. Had rained overnight but sky was nice and blue when we got to the library. Could see snow across the tops of our mountains - looked beautiful from a distance. 

Wasn't able to do school work either day, so finished it this morning for three of the classes. I have a week to finish the other class's homework. 

Still no phone of my own as it won't be connected by the new company until Saturday, so being preemptive and calling ahead to confirm appointments rather than waiting for anyone to call here (since that is impossible at the moment). Arranged for the dental office to pick up roommate on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Got three other appointments confirmed. 

Making up agenda for Board Meeting on Monday. I print it at home. So that is set.

Will be celebrated the Year of the Cat tomorrow with a local Vietnamese-English church. It is the Year of the Cat if Vietnamese, the Year of the Rabbit for most other Asian countries. They will be having a fashion show, a luncheon, and a parade.

I usually never buy lottery tickets, but I have been charging one roommate a lottery ticket each time I take him down to the store. Costs him a dollar for each of three tickets so far. Have won $21 this week which will go to pay for gas for the car.

kiss_me_now9

Popping my head in here! Over the past two weekends I started my major pre-baby decluttering mission (I'm due in mid March). So far I've sorted out the bookcase (20 books gone to the charity shop) and 4 of the 9 kitchen cupboards we have. I've now got a stack of plates, 8 champagne flutes (kept 8 as well - if we host a NYE party then we'd need that many at present), 6 wine glasses (kept 6 for dinner parties as that's the max we can fit in), various glasses and several plant pots in the 'to go' pile. I'm planning to tackle the growing monster that is our mug and glasses cupboard tomorrow. 

Once I've done the kitchen cabinets themselves I have 6 freezer drawers to go through (and then refill with ready meals, easy to cook things and home made stuff we'll actually eat and that doesn't have two years of freezer burn on it), two bathroom cupboards, a very old desk and two craft shelves to go through. Hoping to get those all done before the baby arrives - all being well I should be able to do two or three a week or so and still be good

I'm putting off doing clothes until later in the the summer when I'll have a better idea of what still fits and is still practical. 

short_bird

@Muddy_Walker Your mileage may vary (and you might not believe in it anyway) but, given you've just removed all your gut bacteria, maybe some Y@kult or something of a probiotic nature might be a good thing?

277-279: binbags taken down to the wheely bin
280-308: items to bin bag
309-325: items to recycling (a lot of yoghurt pots and probiotic drink bottles.)
326-328: 150 emails deleted
329-362: 34 GB data deleted. (not as much work as it sounds)

On the deferred decisions: 
25-39: items sold via a specialist group
40-48: parcels built with packaging, tape etc from stash.

I have to confess, that's been pretty much it since I last posted: photo, list, pack (find packing materials) and a couple of late nights at the paid stuff. 
Right, hot water bottle and bed it is...

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all,
Well the half an hour sitting in the garden yesterday was just the training session for going to the footie today . It was freezing. My feet were blocks of ice when I got home so I just made a cup of coffee,put the heating on, put an extra pair of socks on and crawled under the blankie on the couch for an hour until I warmed up . OH was out tonight so I had to crawl out to be chauffeur and then back to do my tea, just lo lurking in the fridge.
So 175 put the washing away
That's all

@Vulpix, your description of the plumber fits perfectly just about any trade I have tried to get in the past year , even ones I have used previously seem to be so busy they are meeting themselves coming back

Take care everyone
175/2023

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

So having done nothing all day apart from knitting & watching TV interspersed with cheerleading I have made the chicken & mushroom pie with added mushrooms & bacon bits & a portion of the cooked chicken that DSis bought. Pastry was blind baked & now the pie is cooking. To be accompanied by mash & peas. The pie was delicious & no soggy bottom 😉 I think DH & DSis will probably fight over the last quarter of the chicken pie 🤣 Wudupa

285 - 286 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans - recycled

287 Kitchen detritus binned

Thoughtful advice re little cat, daisy_1571 🙂 I think that is the mark of a true ‘collector’ they can see other people’s clutter but not their own 😉 Your tale comes down on the side of nature 😉 sixty years apart but the genes won 😱 

Excellent home office decluttering skint_chick 👏

Thank you for sharing your DD’s inspirational story, Fayolle 🙂 Hopefully Dfw38’s DD can get the same outcome 🙏  Two serendipitous events - DH going into town so CS bag out & then the suicidal glass ramekins throwing themselves out of your cupboard 🥳 Excellent decluttering 👏

Excellent decluttering Florenceem 👏 definitely on a charge towards reaching February’s number 😉

QueenJess when the decluttering mojo is strong, the only thing to do is become a decluttering demon 😂 Great work 👏

Excellent paperwork decluttering Keiths_Mum 👏 Good luck with your earmarked weekend tasks 🍀

Excellent decluttering ilovetea 👏

So true TC77 - youngsters nowadays have so many extra pressures 😔 Sorry to hear about the problems with DD1’s medication 🙁 Good decluttering 👏 & remember you can count tidying especially if items are relocated to their proper locations 🙂

Lovely supportive post, Liverpool_Anne 😊 ‘Despicable behaviour’ is the perfect description for bullies 😖 Sorry to hear that you are still feeling a bit wobbly 😔 but well done on sitting down & doing some digital decluttering 👏 Hope the weather is kind for your visit to the match & your tea with friends 🤞

Excellent decluttering donna73 👏 especially dealing with so many frogs 👏 What a great way to describe ‘tackling frogs’ - empowering 😊 Also love your choice of word for 2023 - PROACTIVE 👏  

Dfw38, if this bullying behaviour has been noticed by other parents, it might be an idea for a group of you to see the head teacher. He/she needs to nip this in the bud before it gets any worse. Hope you have a lovely day - some organising & lots of fun stuff with your DDs 😊

vulpix, Thoughtful comments for both Dfw38 & gettingthrifty 😊 Now, now - maybe a hedgehog badge 😉 but not so sure about other merchandise - after all we are supposed to be decluttering Not recluttering 😂 Great decluttering 👏 but the mention of a nit comb had me scratching 😥 

Brie, Great work returning unwanted items 👏 Not sure why the location of the pick up point should mean there is no paperwork 🤔 shouldn’t be that onerous a task 😉 No need to gloss over purchasing a great bargain 🙂

Great decluttering Florenceem 👏 No need to sigh when you look around your room just remember to be proud of yourself for continuing your decluttering journey 😊 Must be quite ‘interesting’ in your house when the teams are playing each other 😅

Great decluttering Millie2008_2 👏 Shame about the books having to go back home 😔 Is the particular charity moving to larger premises or maybe smaller premises in a better location? Thank you for sharing your experience of bullying in school 🙂 I hope Dfw38 can get the same positive & quick resolution 🤞

Thanks for that Radish72 👏 I have gathered together all my stamps & will complete the forms tomorrow as a matter of urgency 😮‍💨 I completely misread the information 😔

Well said DundeeDoll - family before decluttering 😊 Excellent & copious decluttering 👏 

Well done on colour coding your wool bit_by_bit & also thinning out your stock 👏 Also excellent decluttering of paperwork & items for CS 👏 One medal 🏅 coming your way for resisting temptation whilst decluttering your shift in the CS 😊

What an excellent Friday EnergyShifter - taking a large number of items to the CS - well & truly decluttered 👏 I am awarding you a medal 🏅 for finally releasing the unused Nutri-bullet 😉 Sorry to hear that you have been feeling unwell 🙁 but at least you made good use of your time by watching the Nick Knowles programmes 😉 Thanks for contributing to the conversation that the NK programmes has started. The conversation has been very enlightening 🙂

Excellent & eclectic decluttering Florenceem 👏

Sorry to hear that the decorating is trying your patience charlies_tribe 😔Hopefully now that the plastering is being sorted out by your DH, the rest of the prep work can be completed quickly & you can actually ‘crack on’ with the decorating 🤞 Well done on using your time profitably - sorting out the pantry & making the decision to replace the deep shelves 👏 Excellent decluttering 👏

Good luck with the book decluttering, Bored 🍀 An excellent plan which will lead to not only the books being decluttered but also a bookcase 👏

Boo to the electricity going off, QueenJess 😒 but well done on the decluttering in DS’s room 👏Excellent work 👏

Wow you have been very busy Keiths_Mum 🤩 Excellent decluttering 👏 Well done on delivering 2 bags to the CS & only purchasing one item 🙂👏

Dfw38 sending you & DD lots of good wishes that the bullying situation can be sorted out with a minimum of fuss & stress. Your daughter sounds very grown up & with your help and support + appropriate actions by the school I am wishing both of you the very best 😊 You must have been so pleased that the lOttie dolls arrived earlier than expected & were so happily received by your dcs 😊Good luck with your walking - 14 miles 😱- I am tired just thinking about it 😉 Thank you so much for my flowers 💐 Perhaps you can start up a decorating business when the dcs are grown up 🤔 - I could be your first customer 😊 You are the very first person I have ever come across who loves decorating 😅 Your enthusiasm is infectious 👏 Btw, I am rather pleased that I am not the only one who shouts at the telly 🤣

Muddy_Walker, as long as the items purchased were already in your basket, then no real problem 😉DH once tried to book a holiday after too much alcohol 😱 - ended up costing quite a bit more as he had to amend the names of the passengers - he originally booked with our day to day names rather than our official passport names 😖 Not sure I would have been ‘evil’ after waiting 3 hours to talk to the doctor & getting cut off 😉 My head would probably have exploded 😉 However, a good end to the day - visiting friends is such a good stress buster 😊

weenancy, that is a lot of books 😉 Pleased to hear that the weather was good for the Book Sale & a great amount of money raised 👏 Great work on sorting out so many appointments 👏 Fingers crossed that the new phone company will be prompt & efficient 🤞 Your New Year celebrations at the Vietnamese-English church sound wonderful. Hope you have a great time 😊 A great idea to ‘charge’ your roommate - and how great that the lottery ticket wins are providing a little extra income 🥳

Welcome aboard the EDT kiss_me_now9 👋 What a marvellous idea to do ‘pre-baby’ decluttering 😊and what a brilliant start to your decluttering 👏 You have worked very hard to get so much done already 👏 Keeping everything crossed that you manage to complete the rest of your plan 🤞But please don’t do too much 🙏 

Excellent decluttering short_bird especially the deferred decisions sales 👏

Liverpool_Anne, I was cold 🥶 just reading how frozen you were 🥶 Then no sooner than you get warm you are out on chauffeuring duties 😬 

Will you look at that - I have caught up 🥳

MrsSD (a superwoman) 😇 🎖💐🤩🏅🦸🏅💐🏆 💐

 DH Awards: 🥇 

Decluttering Target 2023: 287/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00

GrannyKate

No children this weekend but contractors starting work tomorrow so not much point cleaning and tidying as guess things will have to move out of their way. DS2 thinks he got a speeding ticket yesterday so more woe for him.  Will just have to wait. a few weekend frogs dealt with.

125-126 Legal type letters written and posted for DS2 
127 Last of January cards posted
128 Plastic recycling to Co-op
129 Stocked up with new printer paper - out of reach off the children so they will use the 'second hand' paper for scribbling etc
130 Spotted really good offer at Mr A for DGS4's birthday in March so bought that and put it away.

Small pile of bills waiting to be paid later this week.  Two of my family history memberships need renewing, National Trust for Scotland, Car tax and a CC bill to pay from December holiday.  I have almost finished up another note book from my stash.  I use one to note my decluttering etc and keep it on my desk.  I need to make a list in the front when I start the next book (I still have a fair few to get through in my stash then the pile of used paper is still over a foot high - I am getting better at using this up rather than filling printer with new clean paper unless it is a letter or something I need to keep).  I have a number of pending frogs - dentist, eye test, boiler service - need to write them down and work through them.  Perhaps one a week.  DD just sent a picture of snow in Midlands where she lives - just very frosty here - it was -5 when I took children home yesterday morning.