2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

diminua

Four old mobile phones and assorted cables decluttered at work (counting these as 2 things in total) - my boss is off so I've been bored and cleaning through drawers and stationery areas and took the old bits back to IT and dumped lots of out of date leaflets in the recycling. There's a couple of old laptops and some small speakers too, but I need to double check they're not wanted before getting rid. 
Posters and more notebooks out at home, and big long-since-open tubs of vaseline and aqueous cream. One book in, read, and due to go out to the bookswap. Two unwanted bathmats donated by my landlady, but she's nice and I didn't like to say no, and I bought a fountain pen. 

QueenJess

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger I'm pretty sure in my case it is directly from the cold I had (and am still recovering from) as I tried to power through rather than taking it easy..  ear infection is very slightly better today, but still feels like I've been swimming most the time.  My sore throat is finally starting to get better and the cold clearing up.  Fingers crossed I can get rid of it soon.

Went to IKEA as planned this morning, when it opened (everyone apparently runs to get breakfast) and walked round in lovely isolation just getting the things on the list I've been collating this year.  Mainly a few bits and bobs to help things get sorted, so after we got back I dealt with them all which included rearranging two kitchen cupboards and a drawer.  I was very pleased by getting a bookend so my gift bags don't keep falling over in the cupboard of doom... it's amazing what a difference something so tiny makes!  Everything is looking much better and even after hours of tidying today (and a trip into the attic), the place still isn't tidy.  It is high effort low reward with the stuff left now.  Hoping doing a little bit each day will get me there eventually.

I did put a huge pile of stuff in the attic and I did take some stuff out, but there is so much up there now that it is overwhelming and I had to fight the urge to just close it all up and pretend it isn't there anymore.  Lots to tackle up there, but it's a huge job, so I will continue to do it bit by bit.  Hoping in the summer when DH is less busy I can convince him to sort through all his tat up there as it is at least 30% of it.

Still wondering how I have so much tidying to do when I've got rid of so much stuff already?  Anyway, decluttering for today:

1879-1880 - bathroom supplies (Buy Nothing)

1881 - notes deleted

1882 - soap dish fallen to pieces (binned)

1883-1993 - cardboard boxes (recycled)

1994 - folding crate not needed (Buy Nothing)

1995-1996 - drawer dividers (Buy Nothing)

1997 - stationery (donated to school)

1998 - leggings I don't like (charity bag)

Having a lie down now to rest and may break open a puzzle book.

Fayolle

@Fizz2015 - lots of hugs. Don’t forget to look after yourself x

Thank you for all those comments that I really meant to remember as they were helpful - inevitably, I have now forgotten who said what in my attempt to keep up with this bullet train.
Decluttering has been spasmodic, as work has dominated waking and what should be sleeping hours. So I’m pretty pleased that you lovely people are inspiring me to keep seeing more ripe contenders for the declutter list. Before I get behind again, my list from the weekend is:
 - kitchen drawer turned out, various bits of detritus found and let go, including 20 corks, 2 chopsticks, a cheesegrater from a cracker, and random uselessly small bits of greaseproof paper. The drawer (currently, anyway) shuts without brute force.
 - admin declutter: a host of emails deleted, paper filed, and a random bulldog clip donated to DH’s Bulldog Clip Collection. Yes, really.
 - plastic child’s plate mistakenly decluttered by DH. When it says Not Suitable for the Microwave, he now knows that it means it. Bit late for the plate, though.
- essential oil diffuser that had hung on the kitchen radiator for so long, the dust had welded it into place.
 - cake decorating book to the cs bag
The biggest achievement was starting to see off a massive frog 🐸 that has been hanging over us for 20 years. I will claim victory when it is laid to rest.
@Mrs_Salad_Dodger - bed time?

TC77

@Fizz2015 .. like others sending you hugs, and so glad you had time with your nan. I do hope your stepdad is making progress.

I like the idea of student packs and people not having to buy a 4 or 6 piece pack of things. It always seems unfair to be that those who can buy in bulk and drive to get lots of things get them cheaper than those who can only buy small amounts at a time.
4 days waiting for DD1's carpet to be replaced, and had to pay a 2nd person - v stressful and poor DD is sleeping on her sofa as everything out of her bedroom, was to be sat and now thursday! I have taken a few things from her - pots to go in shed and others for CS. Sold TV from my dad's and decided to take things off f'bay and take to CS. Decluttered stress by going to my cookery class tonight - lots of curry brought home for DD2 (and some ate there). Rescheduled visit to my dad's and arranged quotes for work at the weekend at his, and also his local 'basic bank' which isn't just a food bank but help people moving from homelessness to flats so hoping they will take  dustbin of coal, furniture and maybe some kitchen stuff... I think Feb was going to be focus on his house. March will have to be mine as the air of doom is spreading across the house but its just stuff and the important thing is people. Andrew Mellen (most organised man in america) says that decluttering' s purpose is to free up time for doing the things important to use (by being able to find stuff etc).
I did fix the extender for the wifi and now get good wifi in my temp office (corner of bedroom) although need to move it back to the 'office' as carpet been down for 10 days.  It will happen bit by bit

regnbue

Hi everyone

So I spent 5 x 23 mins moving furniture, tidying, hoovering and cleaning the lounge, dining room, stairs and landing in readiness for broadband engineer visit.  Also included taking numerous bags, boxes and stuff upstairs to go into room of doom.

Why am I still doing this after years of decluttering?  Why am I not further along with this?  I only have a 2 bed cottage - no garage, loft or basement.

So was feeling a bit despondent waiting for the engineer to arrive.  Once he did he worked quickly and we got chatting, and whilst we were talking I suddenly realised how echo-y the dining room was.

Lightbulb moment.  If I can get to this level of declutter in one room I can surely do the same with all the other rooms.

I have since had another spurt of decluttering and filled a big bag for charity tomorrow, and in the meantime the following have been recycled/binned:

2 more empty ice cream tubs
small plastic measure for medicine
1 jacket
2 pairs cotton gloves
uud box of matches
fabric face mask
1 cd
5 mags
1 bra
bag of soft plastics
half used bottle of old hair product
windscreen scraper
plastic bottle used at work
3 local mags
photos (counted as 1 item)
23 pieces of paper (counted as 2 items)

Total 25 items

Decluttering 349/500    Photo albums    /17    Nail polishes 1/45                Cleaning products     /28
Magazines       17/50    Hair mousse     /11     NSD Feb    /15   Jan 17/15  Make £100 in 2023  £33/100

Regional Xmas Tree Wrestling Champion 2022 🏅 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️💐

"The only time I'm happy is when I'm doing absolutely nothing" - Ava Gardner

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

As we are having sausage, mash, baked beans & tinned tomatoes for dinner there was not much prepping apart from peeling potatoes 😉 Now cooking. DH & I have made our HF meal selection for next week. Although we were going to cancel, we are having 2nd thoughts 🤔 Watch this space 😉 Enjoyed our dinner & I have already done the wudupa 🙂 Making the final push to catch up with the cheerleading 🤞

575 - 580 Kitchen recycling, 2 cardboard boxes, cardboard packaging, drinks cans, glass jar - recycled 

581 - 583 Kitchen & office detritus, plastic packaging - binned

Well done on completing your huge frog GrannyKate 👏 One Gold Star ⭐️ is on its way 🙂 Sorry to hear that you have 4 items on your To Do list that will all cost money 😔 We share one though - book oven cleaner (which for me become a frog 😉) Congratulations on your win & well done on banking it by using your banking app 🥳

vulpix, sounds like your Mum definitely knows what she wants & knows she can trust you to deal with it 😊 Shame about your DB 😖 so I will second Floss’s observation about it being better to walk away now 😔 A sad state of affairs indeed ☹️ Good luck with your curtain making project 🍀

What a shame kiss_me_now9 😔 Hopefully D123456789’s suggestion is useful 🤞

Wednesday2000, I was curious & looked it up 🙂 Just wondering why this Army & Navy Surplus wasn’t sold rather than shutting it down 🤔 Whilst I can appreciate that it wouldn’t remain in ‘the family’ but still 😔

Good idea D123456789 👏 Great decluttering of your childhood room 👏 & even nicer that LO has some new treasures 😊 Thanks for the reminder to go to bed 😉

Excellent decluttering mhagster 👏 

Well said Floss 🙂

With life being so crazy well done doing any decluttering Neroli2 👏 especially as you appear to be keeping up with digital decluttering 🙂

Yippee to finding the missing jeans Crazycatlady2 🥳 The T-shirt is obviously still hiding because it is too cold 😉 Fingers crossed that the medication you have been given works & that the ENT appointment confirms the diagnosis 🤞Remember keeping up with house jobs is preventing more clutter coming in 👏

donna73, pleased to hear that the good luck vibes are working 😊 Excellent work organising & condensing your wool stash & excellent decluttering 👏 I am sure there is someone out there who knows & can explain why the strangest things are so hard to get rid of 🙏 Also well done on utilising your empty blanket box to stash your clothing for future listings on Vinted 👏 I have a confession to make ………. I have been a bit remiss in making an award 😔 so am catching up & awarding you a Gold Star ⭐️ for 898/2023 (should have been awarded at 506/2023 😉)

kiss_me_now9, perhaps list on your village facebook group with a time limit 😉 Keeping my fingers crossed that your OH can come up with a brilliant idea 🤞

Excellent decluttering Florenceem 👏 Just think of the 6 remaining bags for CS as your excuse for a trip out 😉😅

~FlowerPot~, I don’t know - surely champagne flutes would lend your two sons a touch of distinction 😉 especially with the young ladies 🙃

Brie, what great charity shops, tapping into the local market so effectively 👏

~FlowerPot~ hopefully you will manage to gather together all the bits & pieces your boys need for university life 🤞

Excellent decluttering both at work & at home diminua 👏 A medal 🏅 is on its way for tackling clutter on two fronts 🙂

QueenJess, I know it might sound a bit odd 😏 but I am relieved to hear that your ear infection was as a result of your cold rather than potential teeth/gum problems 😉 How very strange - going to IKEA to get breakfast 🤔 but as you say you managed to find everything you needed & probably in double quick time 😉 Great work utilising all the items you bought & great decluttering as well 👏 You will get there - you are already noticing a difference & as you continue to tidy you will notice the difference more & more 😊 Fingers crossed that DH is less busy over the summer so you can persuade him (gently or otherwise 😉) that he needs to join you in your Decluttering Campaign 🤞Maybe he can sell some of his stuff 😉 I hope you rested in the TLC Carriage 😊

Fayolle, it is difficult to keep up with the bullet train 😥 Your decluttering might have been spasmodic but you have decluttered a great deal 👏 I am sorry to hear that work has been dominating both waking & ‘should be’ sleeping hours 😔 Hopefully it will calm down soon & you can catch up on your sleep. Excellent decluttering & well done on starting to deal with a 20 year old frog 👏 Bed is definitely beckoning 😉

TC77, I agree it such a shame that the people who need it most are not in a position to bulk buy ☹️Sorry to hear that carpet fitters are proving to be such a pain 😖 Hopefully the new chap will be more professional & get the carpet laid on Thursday - it is not good for poor DD1 to have to sleep on the sofa 😔 Good luck with the focus on your Dad’s house 🍀 Your cookery class sounds like a great way to declutter stress & you get to eat the fruits (or in this case the curry😉) of your labours 😊  Re your house, perhaps your mantra can be “March is Mine” However as you so rightly pointed out people are more important than stuff 😊 Also thanks for the reminder of Andrew Mellen 👏 I really enjoy listening to him so need to find a bit of time 🙂 Well done on sorting out your  wi-fi extender 👏

Excellent work regnbue 👏 Sorry to hear that you were feeling despondent but yippee to recognising that you are a champion declutterer 🥳 as you have one room fully decluttered 👏 Your lightbulb moment has inspired you to do a big decluttering session & bumped your numbers up quite significantly 👏 

And breathe, I have caught up 🥳 at this rate I might even get to bed before 3:00 a.m. 😂

MrsSD (a superwoman) 😇 🎖💐🤩🏅🦸🏅💐🏆 💐🍰🍾🌟⭐️🌟

DH Awards: 🥇 🏅

Decluttering Target 2023: 583/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £43.00

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all,

@Fizz2015 hugs

@Vulpix, hugs, I don't get on brilliantly with my sister, nieces dh has commented that he doesn't know how I am still talking to her, but I would hate to be in a situation where I felt I had to walk away. I am sure he will regret it when he sees how much work he's got to do to sort out your Mum's house.

@donna73, wool tangles are a destresser for me, in fact untangling anything people used to arrive at my classroom with all sorts of things for me to untangle , I miss it

I couldn't get on to the site this morning, some sort of tech failure it said so I spent some time deleting photos from my phone. Then I decided to take myself off to get my hair cut. It was turning into a frog as my head has looked like a burst couch for at least the last 3 weeks . Naturally I didn't have an appointment so had to wander around the sm for a while until they could fit me in so did a very small shop. I did nothing much when I got home, tidy around and threw away some detritus so filled and then emptied the kitchen bin. Then just decluttered some programmes from the box and did some crochet. So
334 - 335 200 photos deleted from my phone
336 hair cut
337 kitchen bin emptied

Out to lunch tomorrow but hoping I can get something done
Take care everyone
337/2023

Dfw38

Morning all. Had a day off from decluttering and frogs yesterday. I took the dcs into our town and visited a free museum. Eldest dd picked out some rocks and minerals to add to her collection....possible geologist in the making there.... youngest dd picked a pink glittery unicorn out of her saved up pocket money, when asked why she said "because it is a unicorn mummy, with glitter and sparkles!" Duh! Obviously! 🙄🤣. When we got back youngest dd had a rash over her so took her to pharmacist who said could be eczema or could be chicken pox 😳 for goodness sake, one thing after the other at the minute! 
Wallpaper still not up, hopefully some point this week because I am behind on my schedule now. Should be working on the walls in 2nd bedroom by now...aaargh frustrating! Going to concentrate on frogs today so I feel as though I am accomplishing something.  
So today's plans:
1. Finish gravel on side of house 
2. Get bedroom prepped for wallpapering - all tools upstairs and floor vacuumed and window washed. One less excuse for dh then..... 🙄
3. Start decluttering kids stuff for when they go into new bedroom - including clothes and make  list of clothes needed for summer.
4. Come up with list if stuff still needed for dcs room. 
5. Hopefully wallpapering bedroom tonight although not holding my breath.
6. If not wallpapering tonight then work on budget for March and catching up on shredding which is a huge frog as we have 2 years worth to do... we just replaced our shredder.

Good luck @vulpix with dbro. I used to work for a solicitors and would help on wills and probate cases sometimes (that dept was a one woman team so i would be loaned to her when dealing with new cases and visiting property) I have seen and heard all sorts when dealing with relatives and friends of people making wills and then the aftermath when probate is involved. I think you are doing the right thing. 

Hope you all have a lovely day, huge hugs to all - don't worry I'm not contagious!

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

Eventually in bed by 3:00 a.m. & dropped off to sleep within a few minutes. Bathroom visit about 5:30 & 2nd one at 8:00. absolutely parched so dressing gown on & downstairs for a small cup of tea & reply to posts. Back in bed by 9:00 for hopefully another hour of sleep 🤞Wednesday is currently dry outside but complete cloud cover although the weather forecast maintains it will be brilliant sunshine by 11:00 a.m. 🤞

Liverpool_Anne, sometimes it is difficult to maintain a relationship with a family member so well done for keeping the lines of communication open with your sister 🙂 Hopefully vulpix can do the same with her DB although I do think she is making the most comfortable decision for her as DB doesn’t sound very pleasant ☹️ I quite like untangling things too but never sure if it is a destresser or just plain stubbornness 😅  The tech failure thing with the MSE site seems to have been ‘a thing’ for several people on various MSE threads, very odd 🤔 Never mind, you are here now & have dealt with a frog by getting your hair cut 👏 & also doing some decluttering. Hope you have a lovely lunch 😊

Dfw38, Very pleased to hear that you had a day off from decluttering & dealing with frogs 😊 I was hoping that it was a day of rest or as much of one as you could manage with your children at home 🤞The visit to a free museum sounds wonderful & I had to smile at youngest DD’s choice of memento & her rather brilliant comment 😅 I  see that it never rains but it pours 😔 I have everything including my eyes, crossed that your youngest DD has eczema 🤞 But of course you now have to try & get a doctor’s appointment 😖 Sorry to hear that the decorating is not going to plan but very well done on being flexible & deciding to deal with frogs  👏 Perhaps the children can  give you some assistance with the gravel laying 😉 I imagine it was ‘interesting’ working for a solicitors although it sounds quite distressing seeing  how some families let monetary matters sour the family dynamic 😔 

Tea drunk so am off back to bed 😉

MrsSD (a superwoman) 😇 🎖💐🤩🏅🦸🏅💐🏆 💐🍰🍾🌟⭐️🌟

DH Awards: 🥇 🏅

Decluttering Target 2023: 583/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £43.00

Wednesday2000

Mrs_Salad_Dodger said:

Wednesday2000, I was curious & looked it up 🙂 Just wondering why this Army & Navy Surplus wasn’t sold rather than shutting it down 🤔 Whilst I can appreciate that it wouldn’t remain in ‘the family’ but still 😔

I was talking to him and he said he wanted to retire and move to be near his grown up kids. He said there is still an online store after the store closes if we wanted to buy there.

We did end up buying a few things yesterday, warm clothes for winter for my husband. 3 pairs of gloves for £1. Good value.:)