2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

vulpix

Good morning,

 Great news that work is finally beginning GrannyKate.

 I braved the pantry of doom and brought out all the stuff from the sitting room that went in there before Christmas. As always I will ring the changes and not all of it will go back. I have already sold the light fitting and the mirror. The armchair has been chopped up and is winging it's way to the tip as we speak! We have a new to us free leather armchair and footstool. This is because Mr V is so heavy on fabric furniture and the rug at his feet! 

 No sign of a plumber to move the radiator so I will start to put the room back together as the knocking the fire place out was the dirty job really. I have earmarked some things to sell,I love them but this house is so small that I just can't find the right place for them. The big rug we had cleaned will not go back down until the room is decorated and I have made new curtains. So in reality ages! I don't want to decorate until all the dirty jobs are done. They include a new bathroom and new kitchen and removal of the pantry of doom. I think my decorating days are done, up and down the ladders finishes me off. I may have to grit my teeth give the chimney breast in the sitting room a couple of coats of emulsion once the plaster is fully dry, just to smarten it up a little.

 Dfw 38 I hope you got some resolution this morning at school. By the way I think there would be a big demand for being a lady decorator. Will you travel? lol. Bring the kids, I love kids!

 I haven't started a garden tidy yet. I leave everything until March for the wee beasties to eat and give shelter. It doesn't look pretty but we will probably have more frost and snow here before spring.

 I am so surprised that I keep finding things to go. I honestly thought that we were down to essentials. Apparently not. I don't want to be minimalist,just have enough to be comfortable.

 53. candle I had for Christmas,strawberry not for me
 54. arm chair tip
 55. more socks that the elastic has gone so they slip down your foot
 56. 3 knitting patterns- be realistic I will never make these things

 Vx

gettingthrifty

68 - dealt with post on arrival ( i will tackle the incoming paperwork!)
69 - cleared expired/unwanted items from meds box
70- cleared similar expired/unwanted items from bathroom cabinet
71- craft bags for beads/ brushes etc to donation box

Some ponderings about the decluttering journey:
-It is ok for me get rid of things because they just don't work for my current situation. I dont need another reason.
-When I have kept something  just in case, when that time comes it is often not as I remembered and have to buy said item anyway.
-Things degrade eventually - I have kept things for best only to find when I use it the elastic has perished, plastic has gone brittle, it smells fusty and I cant get rid of the smell ,or it reminds me of times/people I don't want to be reminded of.
-Decluttering can bring twinkles of pleasure. I saw a hard back book over the weekend (new never read) I donated to the national trust book shop on a display stand priced up at £2. I've no doubt they'll sell it.

Madbat60

Afternoon

Off to bed for a nap in a minute, work next 2 nights. New bedding put on DS bed. Old bedding out the door, tip run booked.

Brie

seeds in the cupboard that are meant to go on OH's breakfast yoghurt have been decluttered to the birdfeeder at the back of the garden.  Last time the OH used them (10 days back?) he said they'd gone a bit soft so I assume they are stale or something.  I doubt that in this weather that will much bother birds that might otherwise be nibbling on insects or tiddying up last years seedpods etc.  

Florenceem

Done some decluttering this morning. Having a sit at the computer now after lunch and because my back is complaining.
I have 7 bags of stuff ready for the charity shop.
While decluttering I have found some magazine pages - they must be from Mil's house - they seem to be 1980s - people complaining about the price of food. It may be the time of high interest rates so budgets were tight. There are thrifty recipes as well so I will enjoy having a read later. 
I took a before and after photo of the area by my computer desk.

Brie

@Florenceem
loving the rainbow box!!  that would make me smile everytime I'd sit at my desk if I had one!!!

Florenceem

I have 4 of them in the room - my computer desk is in my craft room - aka our old lounge/dining room. The idea was after renovating the house that we would have a lounge upstairs - hasn't happened yet but I have the new furniture for it in the room - which is very cluttered. I am concentrating on downstairs first.

roundtuit

Looking good @Florenceem 😊

I've brought down the shredder and a bag of 'to be shredded' and made a start on clearing the backlog. Shredder is currently sulking at being made to work aka cooling down ready for the next batch.

It's an easy win which I'm hoping will continue to fire up my decluttering mojo. 

Rxx

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

Yesterdays roast pork & most of the trimmings was delicious especially the roast potatoes 🤤 DSis had cabbage, carrots & hm gravy + DH & I had an extra vegetable - curly kale. DH did 4/5ths of the washing up which I dried & put away. I did finish the rest before I went to bed. The 4 ear-warmer headbands (from one ball) are sewn up & I have started knitting a beanie. 

Monday is another bright day but freezing 🥶 Managed to be up & dressed by 11:15 a.m. & DH made my first cuppa 🙂 DH has been up a while as he is off out to do a bit of shopping for M & then visiting her. First visit since she has been out of hospital but he has been chatting to her every day - isn’t technology marvellous 😉 Re the tasks I set for yesterday - I have done 2 of 3 this morning - wrote a menu plan & organised my To Do lists. Will ponder today’s tasks whilst cheerleading 😉

Floss, any chance of a photo of the elegant Italian champagne flutes 😉 😅

Sorry to hear about your Mum being in hospital, coconurtaler 😞 Hospital visits are rather tiring & worrying 😔 Pleased to hear that she is on the mend & might be home soon 😊 Well done on the decluttering you did manage 👏

Excellent decluttering EnergyShifter 👏 and good luck with the tax section 🍀 

Excellent work Keiths_Mum 👏 You have been busy - batch cooking, washing etc and decluttering 🤩

Millie2008_2, well done on fighting through your lack of decluttering mojo & finding one item to release to a new life 👏 Fingers crossed that you can resist the lure of the new larger CS 🤞

Ginmonster, you could list large items as a separate target so that they don’t get lost in the general decluttering 😉 Maybe 6 for the year i.e. one every two months - that way you are acknowledging the extra work entailed in decluttering a large object 😊 Re your missing collector of the toy bundle😖 

Sounds like you had a lovely if rather busy Sunday, Florenceem 😊 I can see that -taff answered your question 👏

Thanks -taff 👏

TC77 you are so busy that you barely have time to catch your breath, so well done on taking the time to have a birthday evening with friends 😊 especially as you also did some decluttering 😉😉You have done an inordinate amount of decluttering, dealing with frogs, investigations, dealing with officialdom & the very tiring business of making decisions re your office 🤩 You have done so much that I am awarding you a Gold Star ⭐️  Your comment about the home crafted items gave me “ a twinkle of pleasure” as per gettingthrifty’s post 😊 ✨ 

Nice to see you stellata 👋 Excellent work on the decluttering & sales 👏

wort, I am looking forward to watching Stacey this week mainly to admire the carpenter’s storage builds 😉 I seem to remember one of the Cleaning/Decluttering programmes used to revisit after a month or so to see if the person/family had kept up with their cleaning & tidying 🙂 but cannot for the life of me remember the name of the programme 😔 Excellent work on the January reset declutter & sorting the lightbulbs 👏 (sadly another task to add to my ever growing To Do list 😞)

Beshki, isn’t absolutely marvellous when you find a Decluttering System that works for you 😊🥳 It makes decluttering so much easier & you can see progress each day which keeps your decluttering mojo alive & kicking 🥳 Excellent decluttering 👏 and good luck with your first foray into the Vinted world 🍀

GrannyKate, so sorry to hear that DS2 is being battered by RL ☹️ but I know with your support & love he will come out the other side a stronger & more confident young man 🙂 Excellent decluttering & forward planning re the birthday card to the USA 👏 Hopefully the insurance company will pull their finger out & send you the next instalment sooner rather than later. One medal 🏅 being sent to your DS2 for meal planning & baking 👏 the added bonus being that you have a bit more room in your freezer 😉 Hopefully the weather will warm up so that you find it easier to stay out of the contractors way 🤞 Re the colours for decorating your hall, kitchen & bathroom might it help to list the colours that you WILL NOT use - might help to hone your decision 🤞

Excellent decluttering Wednesday2000 👏 Well done on reaching the decision to put up fewer pictures once the decorating is done 👏🙂 I have the opposite problem - I have nothing on my walls & need something to break up the expanse of newly painted walls 🤣

Excellent work emptying the car SecondStar 👏 definitely makes it easier to declutter the house if you can make deliveries to CS and/or Tip 🙂👏

nannywindow, good job the EDT has an excellent & efficient electricity generator 😉 Well done on dealing with your huge Frog aka Cane Toad 👏  - a Gold Star ⭐️ is coming your way. Hope you enjoy planning for your new lights & soft furnishings 😊  Ouch to your fall 🤕 but good for you looking on the positive side 🙂 as you say it could have been so much worse. However, please take some time out in the TLC Carriage to recover 🙏 Lovely to spend time with both your DGS & your Dad even though it was exhausting 🙂 I see you are going to spend some time in the TLC Carriage - enjoy 😊

Great work Brie 👏 Now you come to mention it, we haven’t had any charity bags through the front door in months 🤨 My thought is that the charities might have stopped due to the proliferation of ‘non charity’ bags being posted through people’s doors 🤔

Sorry to hear that you have been feeling so overwhelmed CMD79 ☹️ but I completely get where you are coming from 😊 I also look around, look at my To Do lists & then do absolutely nothing 😥 always forgetting the pleasure I get from tidying a space or dealing with a frog 🤔 You would think that I would have learned my lesson by now 😉 So well done & excellent work by both you & your husband 👏 You have inspired me to go upstairs to DH’s office & bring down the large bag of DVD’s he is donating 🙂 That action has decided my next task - sort (& count) the DVDs into manageable lots to deliver to CS 🥳

Excellent work QueenJess 👏 and with the new furniture arriving tomorrow, the end of sorting your DD’s room must be in sight 🥳 I seem to remember that doting grandparents are the main source of “so much stuff” 😉 We might have to have a Stacey Solomon Fan Club as well 🙂

roundtuit, that is what I call the best type of decluttering - getting someone else to do it 👏 Can I ask, is the massage function still working on the recliner 😅  Re: nature vs nurture debate. I'm wondering if geography comes into it. There are at least three of us on here from the same county. And it's not what you'd call a heavily populated county. Just a cluttered one apparently 😉 That comment almost made me fall off the sofa I laughed so hard 🤣 

Excellent work in the Pantry of Doom vulpix 👏 & excellent work on the sales & taking stuff to the Tip 👏 Fingers crossed that a plumber turns up to get the last of the potentially dirty jobs done 🤞 & good luck with putting the room back together for day to day living until the radiator has been moved & the decorating done 🍀 You have major works in the pipeline but it would be nice to get one room sorted out before the next round of chaos 😉😊 It looks like Dfw38 has her next commission 😊 Excellent decluttering btw 👏 - I think the extra items you find to declutter are probably the ‘unconsciously deferred decisions’ items 😉

Excellent decluttering gettingthrifty 👏 I love your ‘ponderings’ about the decluttering journey 😊which are also very useful for your fellow declutterers 👏 It is a strange thing to realise that we have to give ourselves ‘permission’ to declutter 🤔 and I adore your “twinkles of pleasure” observation 💐

Good work Madbat60 👏 Enjoy your nap 🙂 I really do not envy you working nights 😬 

Very generous of your OH to donate the breakfast seeds to the birds, Brie 😉

Excellent decluttering Florenceem 👏 & like Brie I love the rainbow box 😊 Good luck with sorting the downstairs before creating your new upstairs lounge 🍀

Great work roundtuit 👏 I love shredding, very therapeutic although my shredder also sulks if it is made to do too much work 😂

The HF box has been delivered so need to sort that before sorting the DVDs. 

Have a good day everyone 🙂

MrsSD (a superwoman) 😇 🎖💐🤩🏅🦸🏅💐🏆 💐

 DH Awards: 🥇 

Decluttering Target 2023: 293/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00

Soontobeoap

Did a stock take of freezer yesterday. Nothing thrown out but all listed for an eat from freexzer month in February.

I have sorted out my sewing box whilst trying to stress bust DH! One small bag cleared. I will add to it when I sort wool stash.

Our car was towed away for repair last Thursday after a speedng car crashed into it whilst  we were parked outside our house! Driver disappeared and we are left claiming off of our own insurance. On Friday we finally got written confirmation from insurance company  (after a week of phone calls)to  assure us that we are entitled to a courtesy car. Garage our car has gone to has paperwork that says we are not to have a car, company working on behalf of insurance company seem to know nothing about it other than the fact that we have requested a car!!! To make matters worse garage cant get one of the parts that they need for 10 weeks. I craft and declutter when stressed so a lot of both will be going on here!!!!!!

Please dont send me to the TLC carriage as it wouldnt be fair on the other occupants. I am off to the baggage compartment to sit alone amongst the bicycles and calm down!!