2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

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

Last post before I go to bed. I made & cooked risotto cakes for DSis & DH & put a bag of uncooked risotto cakes in the freezer as a meal for DSis. I had spaghetti with half a jar of a red pesto sauce from fridge. Wudupa. 

749 - 756 Kitchen recycling, glass jar, plastic jar, 3 newspapers, cardboard packaging, drinks cans - recycled

757 - 758 Kitchen detritus, plastic packaging - binned

Thanks Granny Kate 👏 I still haven’t watched a video but I have read the list of 15 little changes.  Looks very interesting 🧐 

Great decluttering Blue_Doggy, odds & ends soon add up 👏 Shame about the dog food but better to keep your dog healthy & avoid expensive vet visits 😊

Lovely to see you back Keiths_Mum 👋 I think your T-cells were Ninja warriors after all they kept you safe for almost 3 years 💪 Sorry to hear that your bout of Covid was so harsh ☹️ Please make sure you are fully recovered before tackling any large decluttering projects 🙏

Wow what a busy day helping out at SA, Florenceem 😊 Hopefully you can treat yourself to some crafting on Saturday 🤞

DundeeDoll, loving the conversation you are having with vulpix 🙂 Dundee sounds like a beautiful place to live & work 🙂 I think DH & I have only ever passed through on the way to somewhere else 😔 A bakery that is open 24 hours a day - bliss 😉 Excellent digital decluttering 👏 & great news for DS - a new home 😊

Congratulations on completing your MMiM,  vulpix 👏 even if you did try to get MrV trapped 😂 Excellent work completing the curtains - one medal 🏅 on its way 🙂 

TC77, MMiM = Mini Missions in March. A 23 minute job each day of March. I can see you are already using the 23 minute method but I think Dfw38’s idea of the name makes it slightly more interesting 😊Double cuff shirts are a nightmare to iron, so good for you insisting that your ex did his own ironing 👏Excellent tidying & decluttering 👏 Well done on munching away at the huge frog 👏 - hopefully now they have acknowledged that your ‘case may have been overlooked’ they might push it through more quickly 🤞🤞

So excited, I have caught up on the cheerleading & am going to bed at a reasonable time ….for me 😉

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

DH Awards: 🥇 🏅

Decluttering Target 2023: 758/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £43.00

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all throat mostly better today but the cough is back and feeling tired but a few things done.  Started the day with more text messages to various friends then looked at my frog list. I frog phone call dealt with successfully, the second was to try to get an appointment with the chiropodist. No appointments available but I will keep trying next week. I sorted my post and the 2nd stamp swap letter I requested arrived. Telling OH about it and another book of 12 stamps appears from the back of OHs phone case. I have only been going on about stamps for the last 2 months! So another form filled in and posted . Dry washing folded and put away and another load onto the maiden. Bedroom recycling bin emptied. I had got another 2good to go box so I collected that and it was all put away. This time I got a bag of potatoes plus 2 for baking. Bags of carotts, green beans, onions, apples, pears and tangers. 4 portabello mushrooms and a big tub of chinese mushrooms and a container of cherry plums. Also a large sliced seeded hovis. As OH can't eat some fruit due to an allergic reaction to something but is ok if it is cooked I will do some sort of apple/plum/pear crumble tomorrow. The portabello mushrooms we had for tea with garlic butter. Honestly if anyone lives near a M0rrisons it is well worth looking at the 2g2g app, well worth the £3.09 it costs. I sorted out the fruit bowl and ate the last tanger from last week's shop . The kitchen bin was emptied and then I did my 23 mins email deleting. Only managed 200 but I was happy with that as it is still more out than in. I then wrote 2 frog emails that have been hanging around for about 6 weeks I finally finished that terrible book about King Arthur and was so fed up by it I have started rereading Lord of the Rings, one of my favs

@Dfw38 loving the art work

@grandmanerd I have some things called furniture gliders that can be put under the legs and make it incredibly easy to move things across the floor, they are available online and in some shops for a reasonable price. If you could get DS to put them in place they might help you move things like a heavy couch. Take care

@QueenJess I totally agree about the socks. To be honest there are quite a few things that Dilly does that I think are more about making things look nice rather than being practical. I saw her sort a craft room and she put balls of yarn in cardboard tubes then put the tubes in storage squares. It looked pretty but I thought the cardboard tubes were just taking up space. If she had done that in my house the first thing I would have done after she left was put them in the recycling

@GrannyKate, I too am very overweight and although I do eat less cake, biscuit and sweets than I used to I do still have treats. I used to have a lot of chocolate but I know myself well enough to know if I said I could never have any I would crave it . I can now have a bar of chocolate in the fridge for months without worrying about it. I know if I really want some it is there . One thing I did was switch to dark chocolate as it has a much lower sugar content but you still get the chocolate hit. As for cakes and biscuits I just have smaller slices or on!y 1 or 2 biscuits instead of my previous half a packet . The thing about fruit juice is the sugar hits the bloodstream quickly but takes longer if you eat the fruit. I do eat a lot of fruit, it is my go to if I am hungry between meals. 1 nurse told me I should have a fruit ration and eat more veg but I pointed out I am vegetarian and ate quite enough veg . The thing with sugar is that it is in just about everything we eat in one form or another and is actually quite difficult to avoid completely. I cut out sugar in my tea and coffee years ago though I do sometimes have a sweetner in coffee. It is quite a lot to get your head around but it will get easier as you go along , hugs

@Mrs SD I totally agree about the NHS not being privatised. I am with you on that soap box . My Mum used to love to iron and my sister loves to clean while I love to see a line of washing blowing in the wind. Between the 3 of us we would have made 1 decent housekeeper . 

@Blue_Doggy, "under canine supervision" , so funny, I can see it now

So
474 -476 frog phone call and emails
477 bedroom recycling bin emptied
478 washing sorted
479 kitchen bin emptied 
480 stamps posted
481 - 482 2 x 100 emails permanently deleted
Take care everyone
482/2023

oceanspirit

2 items clothing gone and a couple more emails dealt with and deleted.  Flipping things are worse than paperwork for breeding.

2 frogs nudged over the finish line.  Will start some more next week.

Am in the mood for getting stuck into a box but need to save energy for walk with OH this afternoon so will have to leave it and have a gentle morning.

GrannyKate

@Liverpool-Anne - many thanks for your advice re diet etc.  I have been using the NHS app for calorie counting which seems quite good. They have set me quite a low target for 12 weeks - I have lost 4lbs in 2 weeks since I started so steady progress.  I am going to take the exercise steadily as think I overdid it last week.  

I watched a couple more of the Joshua Becker videos and quite liked his ideas.  The one minute theme - if it will take less than a minute to put it away do it now, put things away straight away eg don't empty dishwasher onto work surface and leave stuff there. Planning to do a quick kitchen review based on 'what would I use if I didn't have it' He is also very keen on the notion that the fact that you have the space is not a good reason to keep it, dining room table should be available for eating  and looking at the stuff we have 'Justin' from the perspective of - could I buy/borrow it in the unlikely event that I ever need it or could I use something else instead. 

I thought I would apply the one minute theme and see if I could easily find 23 things to put away.  In less than 23 minutes I found 60 + items lying around.  Box of sewing pins on side in bedroom instead of in sewing box, 3 empty shopping bags just lying around - they have a wicker box in porch, random Tupperware used for packed lunches this week, pens and pencils everywhere - you get the idea - I'll give myself a point for each ten things put away.  

BIL had a mild stroke but quite deep in brain.  Discharged home with therapy follow up and some drugs.  DGD4 messaged me to drop her make up bag off - she's 10!

Downloaded an Amazon voucher payout - £4 - every little helps.  Managed to do a survey - long and boring but payment is £8 once it is approved. 

325-334 60 items put back in their permanent homes - took less than 23 minutes
335-337 Three food items binned as OOD
338 General tat binned or recycled
339 Another kitchen cupboard sorted and tidied whilst putting stuff away.  Toaster lives in there so crumbs emptied off cupboard liner and wiped out
340 DGD4's make up on side to return to her lunchtime

I have a meeting on line at 10 then I plan a short quick shop.  May put swimming kit in car and see how I feel after shopping.

Edited to add that I found my box of unused postcards on windowsill when I drew curtains in study.  Not their home of course.  

Dfw38

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger I told dh about your suggestion to take photos of the uniform.... he said he keeps them not because he is sentimental but because they might come in handy 🙄.  I have told him they have got to go. He can keep 2 spare t shirts and the rest is out. Thank you for ds medal, I will tell him it has spiderman on it 😄. 
Yay @vulpix - a fellow musketeer, yikes about the dog but well done for getting the problem solved. 👍
The car works beautifully now, just completed my first tip run. Heard the workers there talking to people and they think it will be complete chaos for a few weeks/months with gridlocked roads too, caused by people not booking when they need to. I also heard them advise people to get it all done this week if possible and said 3/4 trips a day are fine 😳 I don't think I have that much to get rid of but we will see! I need to catch up on today's posts but need to convince the dc to do there homework first, wish me luck 😬

daisy_1571

Dfw as I remember your tip was changing to appointments only ?  Ours did this after lockdown and I think they still do it (we've moved since then) and tbh I preferred it.  You knew you wouldn't have a long wait as there was only going to be so many cars each hour.  The whole thing worked more smoothly and people got used to it very quickly.   

Hope your tip works smoothly too 

Daisy xx

Muddy_Walker

Slides in wondering if anyone noticed I’ve been missing and not skiving honest 🤣
Real life has intervened and how very dare it!!
lots of mental decluttering going on workwise….and a massive FROG workwise evicted. Well, tamed really… anyway it’s better!
I am also semi famous in the instagram world! My cancer support group asked me if I’d do some tips for my treatment after posting about them so I did! In video 😳😳😳 they were very happy with it and if it helps anyone that’s really good but it is so embarrassing watching it back 🫣😁
hugs to all xx 🌼

Blue_Doggy

I forgot to add the paper that was redeployed as I sorted the paperwork: it included several items stapled together, so separated into
- items to shred (with personal info on) 30;
- items to recycle (printed both sides, general guff) 55;
- and items to reuse (printed one side, or half a sheet blank - tears up for shopping lists, odd notes, etc. 9 I’m still a child of the ‘40s/‘50s 😀

 

@Liverpool_Anne the canine supervisor did offer to help, but he doesn’t yet know the difference between “helping you” and “helping myself” 🐶🥰 so he had to just watch.

I’m another who needs to declutter some weight, but find myself self-sabotaging too often, to the extent I can find myself thinking “I must get this weight off” while picking up a packet of biscuits 😕. Biscuits are off my own shopping list, but I run a fortnightly club for which I provide the refreshments... 😢. I’m another who happily snacks on fruit, I try to stick to lower-sugar sorts like berries and apples and avoid things like juices, bananas, grapes etc. And dried fruit. And crystallised ginger... And I no longer watch cooking or food programmes, even dieting ones, which I found just made me want to eat.

Dfw38

Thanks @Liverpool_Anne, dh reckons I went full on Austin Powers with the colours 🤣.
@daisy_1571 yes going to an appointment system which will be great once teething problems etc sorted..but.. there are some local people who are trying to sabotage it. Shows you the type of halfwits that live round these parts 🙄.
Well done for the videos @Muddy_Walker! Hopefully your experience will help others, even taking the pressure or worry out of the situation would make such a difference. 
Right homework negotiation I am currently winning, but it is a nightmare trying to juggle 2 dcs homework at a time (and ds who thinks it is funny to distract by dancing, singing, being cheeky etc. He is right, it is very funny but not helpful 😄) any one here got any tips?
Also just spoke to sister who has been clearing parents front bedroom (she lives with them) as mum is no longer with us and dad is in a home she has gone through their clothes (we started together pre-covid and got rid of 40 large bin bags of clothes, and then dad wouldn't let anything else go) and she has cleared 80 large bin bags full of clothes, mostly unworn with labels and now no good as they have mould in the room due to lack of ventilation and floor to ceiling piles. 120 bags of clothes! 🤬🤯😖

charlies_tribe

Good morning (afternoon now).
Yesterday I decided I'd join you with the MMiM. 1st we Decided to do DS1 drawers as didn't want anything unneeded going back in to their room. He is way too good with not wanting new things and making things last and I did have to persuade him that some things were way past binning (full of holes/stretched/very discoloured). He is definitely my most MSE child and never wanted/asked for anything. He started work a year ago and other than paying me his board and 2 video games, has never spent a penny. So parting with what he has was hard work 🤣 (there's some bits not counted yet as the charity bag hasn't yet left the house).

2nd was a 23 minute Sweep of the living room. Nothing actually left but lots put away.

Today dd3 has a friend stopping so the first 23 minutes will be spent trying to make their bedroom look a bit more presentable. How they have managed to destroy it in 3 weeks I'll never know. Then second will be a drawer or something (aiming for a cleaning and a declutter 23 mins each day)

I really should get a wriggle on as all I've managed so far is to feed dogs, load washer and hang washing on airer, sorted dd2 some lunch and drank lots of tea. 

467-469 3x holey boxers
470 Holey socks
471 Yellowed shirt
472-474 3x pjs
475 Handful of stationary
476 Pile of cards/papers
477 my pjs, dropped to bits in washer