2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

gettingthrifty

moorviews
I have read your post several times because everything you say absolutely DOES resonate with me. You could not have described any of it any better. The stuffing of stuff into cupboards etc to keep' like with like' and the decision making, and the anxiety circle - it causes anxiety dealing with it , it causes anxiety not dealing with it. Thank you
2scratters
some good advice thank you. Our medical emergencies were random and not part of any ongoing medical condition but all i could think of in all the dashing about was why is my house not more simplified for times like this? Not only that but when something big happens you want to say 'yes' to any help and i was too embarrassed to let people in, in case they opened a cupboard or drawer. Also not be able to say to people 'yes its in the bottom drawer can you bring it to hospital' because i clearly hadnt a clue what was in any drawer! Great advice thank you.
Liverpool_anne
your fears are exactly like mine and the difficulty in getting things out of the house are the same as mine. I had the basics in my childhood which was adequate for my needs, but my dad in particular had a  fear of lack and was frugal and a 'collector of things'.That mentality is hard wired into me im sure.
DFW38
Finding my reason  - that is such an important and crucial point. After my horrendous 7 year legal issue life felt like it stood still. I have come out of it a very different person and now want to spend my time doing the important things .Unfortunately the incident has become my identity over the period of time. I lost my job and career as a result.
 My reasons are:
1.I want to be more spontaneous to see friends/days out/last minute opportunities weekends away etc
2. to cure my CHAOS (cant have anyone over syndrome)
3. If a big life event happened I could accept help from people to come into my home cat feed/ plant water /post collect/ curtain swish whatever needed doing and be very grateful rather than gripped with embarrassment/shame/guilt
4.I can spend more time on hobbies and interests instead of overwhelmed at where to start
5. If i suddenly wanted to market the house I wouldn't have a monstrous task on my hands
6.I would be surrounded by stuff i love or use, not bad memories.
7. Nothing would be saved for best ,every day would be a best day.
8. Making the house a wonderful environment for myself and DH rather than a dash to tidy up for visitor
9. because like all of us. we deserve our home to be our sancturary
10. I want to live life to the full and put the stuff behind me

Thank you all once again. Sorry to hog the thread. I will step away and form my battle plan.

Fizz2015

@gettingthrifty you are not hogging the thread and I can relate to most of your points. No-one comes to my house other than my mum (who will run the hoover round, clean or dust). I don't take offence and the MIL whose house is very minimal. She might judge but certainly doesn't air her comments to me thankfully. The thought of someone just turning up fills me with dread. 
I totally want my house to feel like a sanctuary and feel grown up but their is just stuff everywhere. 😕  I should post pictures might kick me into sorting it. 
We will fight the clutter and win but it is an ever evolving process with the roller coaster of life thrown into the mix. 

Florenceem

My back is sore from more gardening.
I have put stuff for the tip out ready for Sil to collect - 
There is - 2 umbrellas, an electric hot plate & lead, a rotary drier, a length of wood, 2 bags of garden waste, various lengths of plastic stuff, a wine rack , a bag, a suitcase,  cardboard, thick branches from a bush, a box & lid and 2 plastic boxes, flower pots, and a microwave. There is still lots of stuff to sort in the garage.

florianatwobob

3 bags to the charity shop (the stuff sorted out last week) and a banking frog sorted out. 

More banking frogs to sort out this weekend too but ones that don’t involve visiting the bank. 

Blue_Doggy

I’ve just caught up with everyone’s posts, please forgive me if I don’t mention people by name, but thank you for being so open about your experiences and problems with the monster called “Stuff”.
I have to admit to being another who is overwhelmed by what has to be done. I look round my house now and wonder if I’m the same woman whose ex-DH claimed was too houseproud to live with! 

And fearful, following a burglary eleven years ago - if I get the house sorted I can have much needed repairs and refurbishments done, but that means having strangers in the house: while it’s a tip I can, for shame, keep them out.

I wrote a long post, but lost it (which is probably just as well!).

I haven’t got any decluttering done since I last posted, only the normal household stuff. 

 

Wishing everyone the health, strength, and courage they need to get through.

Happy Holiday, Mrs SD!

Suffolksue

Florenceem we had a wine rack like that ,DH used to worry it it dropped to half full .
Those were the days 😄

Florenceem

I got another suitcase out of the garage to sort through - I found the box from the undertakers which contained  Mil's ashes - they are in the sea. Put the suitcase outside for the tip. My black bin is already half full. Off to bed soon as I have a busy day tomorrow.

Soontobeoap

@gettingthrifty, I think you have taken the first big step by listing the reasons you want a more organised house. I empathise with the not wanting people round thing. When we moved away 10 years ago my biggest excitement was not having to keep up with the Jones'. We moved to an Island (literally and people have to ring and give us at least half a days notice!) 🤣. My friends are lovely but all have immaculate houses. Ones is like something out of house beautiful with lots of new stuff from Dunhelm and other popular furnishing shops. She changes her dinner service every 5 years and all of her walls are white.  I then have a minimilist friend everything is beige or green. Huge rooms that look like no one lives there. She lives alone and spends quite a bit of time travelling so I am guessing it is easier. Another admits that her cleaning routine is almost an illness and she cant rest until every surface is clear and crumb free which is getting harder to keep up as she gets older. I guess I am trying to say we are all different. I couldnt live in an immaculatly tidy house and definitely couldnt train DH to be any tidier than he is!  I often trail mud in after a session in the garden or find the dining room cluttered after a wonderful week/month of crafting. Knowing what we want to achieve is the first step and being on here with so many normal people who are all striving to do their best is a breath of fresh air. We are getting on with living our lives whilst trying to make life as easy as possible for ourselves. Go Girl, you have got this!

Anyway housework day big time for me today. Living room done and dusted. Magazines got rid of, lots of lists and the odd pen that doesnt work thrown. Kitchen cleaned more scraps of paper that had been doodled, written on put into bin bag. 3 takeaway trays that were used to stand flower pots housing tomatoe plants into bag too. With what I collected in the bedrooms yesterday I now have a full bin bag to add to my total. Onwards and upwards.
Hope you are having a lovely break @MrsSD thanks again for the thread. 

oceanspirit

Have a lovely time Mrs SD and congratulations Mr SD on the weight loss.

Started the annual filing cabinet clear out and lots of papers got rid of so far.  Hoping to find lots more.  Also started on the desk - this is the smaller one which replaced the big one two years ago.  Now planning to get rid of this too.  Thought there would be nothing in there to go, but found several items already.  Sooo satisfying and so much easier to find new homes for what remains when there is less of it.

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Quick post as the signal is rubbish 😉 Left home 08:50 - Good journey to Channel Tunnel, breezed through customs & train left on time 🙂 Fairly good trip to hotel in Givet. We were not the last to arrive 😉 Got changed & then joined everyone outside for a drink or several 😅 Lovely meal - lots of laughter & chat. There are about 30 of us. In bed by 10:30 English time 😉 Bit of good news - G had a really good day today & may be moved from ITU to HDU 🤞
I probably won’t be cheerleading until Sunday evening although I hope to read along 🤞

Nighty, night

MrsSD