2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

ruby_eskimo

Morning all.  DH started sorting through his pile of stuff at the back door last night; he likes to leave things there that need to go in the garage / shed / bin / recycling / tip and they just make a new home there rather than going to their intended resting places.  And in the pile he found a small wicker basket that must have come as part of a hamper for an anniversary present or something last year which he started to put in the pile to go to the dump.  However I have swooped in at the last minute and suggested that we create a hamper for his mum's birthday in a couple of weeks using some of our leftover Christmas goodies and a couple of nice bottles of wine.  He loves the idea and I love that we've saved something very useful from going to landfill.  She'll probably reuse the basket either for a hamper of her own making or as a basket for the dog toys.

Have a new utensil holder arriving today for the kitchen.  It combines a knife block and two pots of different heights for the various implements we will need to use while cooking.  Will take the opportunity to rationalise exactly how many wooden spoons one household needs as well as helping to visually declutter the worktop 👍

Liverpool_Anne

@Vulpix 're unwanted gifts, I think it depends what they are and how often the gifter is likely to see them. Could you find somewhere to hang the picture? I am visualising that bit of wall you see as you go down the stairs in my house, but I don't know the layout of your house. I think I would try it but if it doesn't work then just take it to the cs and if questions are asked just explain you tried it in several places but it just didn't work. The cats is a hard one, maybe have a discussion about them not giving you joy after trying them in a few places? Hand made things are a hard thing as you know someone has spent time to make it. If they really are not suitable or useable them pass them on to somewhere suitable. I have the same problem with gifts from OHs sister. I now have 2 mugs still in their boxes that will never be used, a necklace I will never wear, both from last Christmas a  cardigan I will never wear from my birthday and a jacket I will never wear from this Christmas. I have procrastinated about these things for ages. When I was working I would have taken the mugs into work and they would have been used by someone but I can't do that now. Luckily I don't see her often so although normally I make a point of wearing clothing gifts when I see people in this case I can avoid it and I have made a decision to take it all to the cs. Probably not much help but it is all I can think of.
Take care everyone

Keiths_Mum

Anyone got any Ideas as to what meal I could make with lo turkey bits and assorted bits of fancy cheeses ? Nothing too difficult to make but any ideas will be welcomed.

Turkey pasta bake, I've made these with all sorts of different cheese in the past and they've always been good. As turkey is quite a bland meat you could even use a strong cheese or a mixture of different ones

CMD79

Fantastic work everyone!

To those who mentioned feeling a bit down and that they haven't made such rapid progress - It is moving quite quickly for some, and others piece by piece. But, we're all individuals with our own unique set of circumstances, so don't compare your efforts to anyone else. 

My own decluttering, following on from 41.kgs being removed from the house yesterday - today I have bought into work several kilos of.....wait for it.... Ryvita! I had bought loads of loads last year when they were on offer and I was clearly thinking about healthier lunches, but they have remained in the cupboard for a loooooooooooooooooooong time. So I am adding the following to my total which is getting copied and pasted straight into the Take Your Lunch To Work challenge elsewhere on this forum! 

2kg Ryvita
2kg Picked beetroot
2.5kg various leftover Christmas chocolate
1kg leftover Christmas cheeses
2kg assorted recycling 
12kg of dining chairs sold to a neighbour
3kgs documents to shred at work!

23.5kg for today.... 

Bringing my total to 65kg 

Full disclosure, I am rounding up and for some items, just guessing what they weigh roughly because I can't weigh some things!

Foofoopuppy

Out - 1 large suitcase, 1 beard trimmer, and 1 tea strainer (from my tea advent calendar).

Hopefully out today - 1 iron and large mirror, but will see if they get picked up. Few other bits listed but no interest yet - will tip if nothing by end of the week. 

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger good idea re combining trip to drop off with looking for furniture, although does mean we need to travel to the next town over as no furniture charity shops in my little town.

Will also be looking to donate Mr Puppy's wardrobe and replace with a lighter one. It is a lovely wardrobe, but heavy wood and doesn't seem to like being in our bedroom. Will see how that goes.

I am also slowly working through my candle stash again - have stockpiled tea lights as can be difficult to find the ones I like, but my stash of scents is going down. Now I just need to make sure I don't go hog wild again...

@nannywindow if you have pasta could you make a cheesy turkey pasta?

Blue_Doggy

Wow! Forty-one pages already! I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up 😄
@Mrs_Salad_Dodger  you must be some sort of superwoman to keep on top of it all!
 

I’m in awe of the amount of energy some posters have: I think I’ve got the wrong batteries in 🙂
 
I managed to declutter yesterday morning by oversleeping massively, and then the rest of the day I was running several hours late.
 

However, I did also declutter the last of a dry and disappointingly under-marzipanned stollen which I had made into a sort of Osborne Pudding with marmalade and ate with the last of the Christmas cream. Yum.
 

Today I have decluttered some social business by writing and sending some birthday cards.
 

Also tackling a frog by writing up a talk I have to give to my History Group tomorrow - it’s been put off for ages, although the research was done months ago! 

wort

I had an urge to go through stocks so out is
a small bag full of very ood medicated creams and ointments, the box for a travel first aid set, contents put into larger box.
 Bottle of cough medicine,
another bag of toiletries that I won’t use or almost used but not liked.
2 pairs of prescription sunglasses.
9 necklaces and similar amount of earrings.
3 watches
2 broaches
2 purses
I made sure everything was in its place and in the correct order / order I received it, ready to use up. 

donna73

Brie said:

A slight change of plans for me - top of my list now is to declutter myself of the ratty cold given to me by someone who's too grumpy to name.  

This means I need a lot of sitting down time so when I'm in the lounge I'm decluttering my Netflicks films to watch list.  When I'm on the pc (like now) I'm clearing out emails.  Other things I'm trying to do in very very small bursts.  One thing will be to pull out some of the frozen mystery dishes to see what redeeming qualities they may reveal for dinner otherwise they'll be binned.

Reminders to others....in case you need them....

Don't forget the 2 Fs!  Foodbank & Freegle.

• If you are decluttering your cupboards or sorting through Christmas leftovers the foodbanks will love almost anything you have.  Same for all those packs of smellies received as presents.  Some like to have things well within BBD by a few months.  Others will be happy to take stuff as long as it's unopened.  The local one puts the really short dated stuff outside it's front door so that people can help themselves as extras to whatever they might actually be given by the FB.
• Freegle allows you to advertise/offer things for others for free.  This can be helpful if you are less mobile/without a vehicle and have larger items to shift.  The down side is that some people will say they want something but never show up to collect.  I get around this sometimes by agreeing to drop stuff at theirs - but that's because I'm able bodied (well mostly!) and have a tiddly car.  If they aren't home I say I will leave it on their doorstep and then it's up to them to deal with it.  Usually works.

Also look for Nextdoor where there's a lot of offering of items.  I like Nextdoor as this keeps me up to date with neighbourhood stuff as well as traffic/roadworks but there's also a lot of notices of charity events which inevitably need contributions of things.  I spotted a request for coffee mugs today which turns out to be someone setting up a slimming world group who needs to have a few spares for new members.  

And Gumtree.  Usually only works if you are selling nice items cheaply that are too big to ship/post but might be nabbed by someone local.

Here endeth the lecture!!  

Can I also add Olio to those suggestions Brie? It’s a brilliant free app , where you can list food and non food items, for people to come and collect from you for free. I’ve been using a lot over the last few months , both giving away and collecting . It’s a great way to help reduce waste of all sorts of things.

donna73

fishcakes said:

Hi, count me in please. After a really difficult 2 years, I’m hoping this year, will help me to declutter, not only our home but my overactive mind. . Looking forward to seeing all your posts. 
Take care.x

Welcome aboard @fishcakes 😀 hope 2023 is a much better one for you ! I think getting rid of physical and digital clutter definitely helps my mind churning so much , hope it helps you too x

Brie

@donna73
Of course you can add Olio!  And community fridges too as a matter of fact!!!  I don't have either near me so tend to forget!!

We have so many wonderful ways to both recycle and help others and it's great that people are able to take advantage of the ones that help them most.