2023 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD

fritzie-65

Well I must say you guys are rattling through January to the extent I now have two cups of tea at breakfast time just to catch up with all that's happening. 

I am at day 14 NSD.
 
One xxl black bag of all sorts has been dropped off at the refuge centre this morning and a heavy box full of electronicals at the recycling centre.

I have had one pickup of books I listed for free and a couple of time wasters who haven't turned up for other free items... bah !
So will take my frustration out on breaking up cardboard boxes this afternoon.  

 

sumb7170

Hello all,

This is my first progress post of 2023 and we’re already on Day 14!

I have been reading all your posts (love and hugs to those who need them) and all your progress and achievements have been inspiring me.  Thanks so much for this, especially to MrsSD, you deserve a medal for keeping up with the bullet EDT!

I’ve been quite busy, trying to focus on sorting our two lounges (one used to be a dining room), but also flitting around the houses randomly decluttering, which seems to suit me best.  Sorted out 5 bookcases of DVDs, CDs and ornaments (ornaments not been through thoroughly yet), 1 cupboard, 4 boxes and 3 bags with most items decluttered from all these, nagged my son to declutter his wardrobe, and also got down and put away the Christmas decorations, although the tree is still lurking outside!  Progress against this year’s targets

Physical items decluttered or frogs ticked off - 14 items clothing, 32 Bath toys, 13 toilet bags, 290+ CDs, 425+ DVDs & 17 DVD box sets and 46 misc items to cs.  3 bags soft plastics, 12 large cardboard boxes, 20+ Pens, 2 pots cooking oil for recycling, 1 bag of tinfoil and 2 bags tetrapacks, 61 items clothing or textiles, 6 magazines, 5 lever arch folders and 16 misc items for recycling at the tip or special recycling points / clothes banks.  24 years tax paperwork, 120 wallets account statement folders, 6 folders nursery paperwork / artwork and 30 inches of greetings cards to paper recycling at tip.  Broken velux blind, fairy lights, head torch, car bumper and 14 misc items to tip.  Sold a window on FB marketplace for £100 (well my son did, split the money with him!).  Used up 9 out of date / old items including 4 opened bottles of soft drinks and wine and some items of food leftover from Christmas.  62 frogs / froglets.  Total 1235 / 2023 - woohoo!!!

Read a book every other week - read Murder at the Old Vicarage, and Love after Love (MK book group book) – total 2/26

Mend one item per week – DD1 dress strap, Xmas seal lights, 5 x pictures / paintings / frames mended and all rehung, new batteries in DD2 mermaid glitter globe - total 8/52

Weight goal of losing 24kg – no progress

One significant home maintenance or improvement job per month - total 12 (of my wish list of 20) – no progress with organising Jan job from my wishlist (no quote received from contractor yet) but started to declutter (including moving out 4 bookcases) and rearrange front lounge.  Having moved sofas around decided I don’t like it so will have to move back and have a rethink!  One bookcase moved into back lounge and looks fine, DD@ wants 2 of them and the other is waiting to go in the hall.

Sort out and use up old toiletries and excess cleaning products or donate / dispose of so only one of each - 14 toiletry items to cs and another 15 toiletry items uu, or thrown away as had solidified or liquified.

Operate a 1 in 1 out rule for clothes, books and ornaments, excess items in = a negative number - 1 book ordered on 3/1 - now read and gone to cs, plus 10 ornaments to cs!  I saw a lovely reduced glass lamp base but refrained from buying it.  I’m still wavering about a tablecloth and a Christmas patterned jug reduced in the online sale from Emma Bridgewater.  Maybe I should declutter my subscription to their emails instead!!!

Try mending or buying secondhand before buying anything expensive as new – nothing expensive bought although I’m thinking now I don’t like the sofas swapped around I may need an alternative storage solution to the one bookcase that was going to stay in the front lounge.  I'm try to find a space to put out my old manual sewing machine and my new (secondhand) electric sewing machine where they will be convenient so I'll use them more often.  I have sewing jobs that have been on my jobs list for at least a couple of years!

Keep up the good work everyone, but take care and make use of the lovely TLC carriage if you need to.

Love H x

2022 Decluttering Campaign 🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

QueenJess

A quick check in for today.  I think I've got the decluttering bug back again!  Went through a tiny proportion of DD's clothes.  Her room stresses me out due to clothes changes all the time (growing so much at this age!), probably too many clothes anyway and I've never got the layout of her room correct.  Going to spend some time in a minute online to get some ideas on how to tweak her current furniture (it's all Ikea, so can amend what I have) and hopefully eliminate a whole item to make it work better.

Went into DS's room and asked him what t-shirts, long sleeved tops and jumpers he wanted.  I held them up one by one and got an immediate "no" or "yes" for each one.  Under 3 mins done and another 12 items to the pile of stuff to store for DD.  At the age of 5 he is already a decluttering hero!

May be back later if I can find more to declutter (there's always more)..

448-57 - kids clothes too small (school charity bag)

458 - plastic bag used up

mfwin2019

Hi Everyone
Lots of fantastic progress going on. 
Braved the rain and wind to go out to charity shop again - here goes

54 - 60 clothes to CS
61 - 63 shoes to recycling bank
64 - 69 childrens books to CS
70 Disney princess mini case to S
71 - 72 wooden model cars to CS 
73 new Nerf toy (free gift?) to CS 
74 Christmas cards turned into gift tags
75 - 78 out of date meds to pharmacy
79 old t-shirt turned into rags 
80 - 81 broken books binned
82 photo album to CS 
83 crossword dictionary to CS
84 contents of coat pockets mostley in the bin (receipts, tissues, tickets etc) 

Now going to have some lunch and clean the bathroom - its all party party here 🤣🤣🤣

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

Friday’s pottering consisted of emptying the inside of the bathroom cabinet & clearing the top. Then climbed up my 2 step folding ladder to inspect & clean the top. To my shame - it was caked black 🤢 & sadly obvious that I had only ever given it a cursory wipe once in a blue moon 😞 It took over half an hour to clean 😬 then I wiped down the various bottles & tubes & returned them to the top. However, it was so disheartening that I stopped, retired downstairs & knitted for the rest of the day 😉 Completed a 3rd ear warmer headband & started a 4th. I also took in a parcel for neighbour G across the road & when I took it over we had a nice chat. He has not managed to meet up with the church     organiser of overnight homeless shelter to donate the scarves & beanies I have knitted, so we agreed I should donate to CS instead 😉 Another small thing I managed was to deal with my post completely including filing & shredding 🙂 & putting up the New Year’s card I received from my ex colleague friend. DH visited M who is definitely on the mend as for the 1st time in a fortnight she has managed a very short walk & to concentrate & do some knitting. The new tentative date for discharge is Tuesday. Dinner was chicken, mash peas & sweetcorn. Wudupa.

Saturday I am back to late rising - 11:00 a.m. No plans other than to catch up on the cheerleading & to finish cleaning & restocking the bathroom cabinet 😉

84 - 87 Kitchen recycling, empty sweetie tub, paper packaging, drinks cans - recycled 

88 Kitchen detritus binned

Lovely post vulpix 👏 - I especially like the tale of the bus 😂 Hopefully the renovation work won’t take too much longer 🤞What a great expression vulpix “an elegant sufficiency of pens” 

bit_by_bit, great idea for Moorviews re excessive paperwork 😉 Sorry to hear that DS1’s marriage is in trouble - the last thing he or you need 😞 The other family drama also seems to be rearing it’s ugly head after a mere 24 hour respite 😞 I am sending huge hugs to both you & your OH 🤗 Hope you have a great day decluttering & tidying the parents-in-law’s house 🍀 

QueenJess, sorry you are feeling so overwhelmed 😔 The thing is I think you are being too hard on yourself ‘wagging finger emoji’ You have two little ones & a DH who is more of a hindrance than a help 😉 & you are working as well. Just remember you are a ‘super declutterer ‘ 🥳 as evidenced by the great work you have done in the living room 👏 You have also found the method that works for you - Rounds of Decluttering 🙂 Good luck with the buy nothing listings 🍀 - hopefully lots will be claimed & collected quickly 🤞 One small point - please try to find a couple of 10 minute slots to give yourself some TLC 🙏🙏 Excellent decluttering QueenJess 👏 You got a second wind & ploughed through several areas - deserving of a medal 🏅 which is on its way. Lovely reminiscing about your school days 😊

Sound like you are definitely SABLE in pens TC77 😉 which reminds me of yet another task to add to my To Do list 😅 Everything crossed that the pencil extender puts in an appearance 🤞Well done on participating in the Christmas Tree Wrestling championships 😉👏 Excellent decluttering 👏 Sorry to hear that DDs lives along with yours are so stressful at the moment - I am sending lots of hugs & good wishes that all stressful situations will be resolved sooner rather than later 🤗

That is what I call an MSE trip to the dentist Florenceem 😉 I am Not going to tell you off about your ankle but I am going to ask you very nicely to take some rest, put your feet up & give your ankle a chance to heal 🙏Btw Excellent decluttering 👏

Excellent work Karamac 👏 The good thing is that you are aware of your stash of food & your pile of books which is half the battle with clutter 😉 Nothing gloomy about making new plans due to changed circumstances - just proves that you are flexible & pragmatic 👏😊 Good luck finding the ‘Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning’ book 🍀 

2Scratters, yah boo to inconsiderate people 😒 & I bet they weren’t even polite enough to contact you to apologise 😖 Great work with various tasks & what a nice bonus that the ‘drying-room’ heat will mean you can get dressed in the warm 😊

Pennypincin, no one every really falls off the decluttering wagon - they just get a bit lost 😉 So welcome aboard, lovely to see you 👋 and Good Luck 🍀 Just a quick reminder - decluttering is a marathon Not a sprint 😊

Millie2008_2, sorry to hear that you have had a bit of a meh day 🫤 but well done on both the TLC of having a nap & the great decluttering once your batteries were recharged 👏 Please try very hard not to feel guilty about keeping an item - you were obviously not ready to release the coat to its new life until yesterday 😊 

Excellent decluttering Happy_Kitties 👏 Definitely something very satisfying about a Tip/Recycling run 🙂

nannywindow, a reasonable division of labour - DH plastering & you taking time away from decorating by cleaning & decluttering 👏 Shame about the hoover & the extra expense of replacing it 😔 I also have an upstairs & downstairs hoover - more due to laziness - I wouldn’t hoover upstairs at all if I had to lug a hoover up the stairs 😂 Great work emptying the freezer 👏

Floss, now that is what I call multitasking - decluttering whilst on a call 👏

Only 3 pages behind now, so will pootle off, get dressed, wake up DH & finish cleaning & sorting out the bathroom cabinet 😉

Wishing everyone a good Saturday whatever you are doing 😊

MrsSD (a superwoman) 😇 🎖 💐 🤩 🏅🦸

Decluttering Target 2023: 88/2023

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00

Brie

@vulpix
if your mom needs a bit of a push to a care home why not make a pros and cons list?  That's what we needed to do to get my mom into assisted living. 

Pros included all the benefits to her as well as to all of us.  Cons included (obviously) all the negatives as well as the things no one wants to say....too too expensive for her to stay at home, she'd be out of money in 2 years and have no choice but to go someplace really nasty at that point, plus the fact that is she fell at home and there was no one there she'd be in real trouble (she's had a few very narrow misses in the past including 15 years back slipping on ice outside and falling breaking her arm when she went out to scare the squirrels away from the bird feeder - really close call as she was in her dressing gown and it was a sub zero Feb, it was just real determination that she manage to drag herself back inside).  Frankly, knowing our mom, it was more the fear of being broke than falling that was the significant factor but whatever works.  

~FlowerPot~

Happy Saturday folks!

not nice enough to be outside today, its so wet. So I've decided to tackle the airing cupboard. DH pulled everything out and fiddled with the door frame and Ive started to declutted the bedding and a whole host of items that are not not needed.

So far a bin bag for rag and another for charity.

Now to clean the shelves and start putting it back, hopefully will remove a few more things as I go.

I also decluttered the saved up pennies into my bank acc 1p, 2ps and 5ps = £9.00 into my savings account, yippee!!

(these have been sitting under the stairs for at least a year, more like 2!!

Keep going everyone

short_bird

175: 50 emails deleted
176-177: communal hall tidied, flyers to recycling and post redirected.
178-187: stuff to recycling
188-206: items to bin.
Off to the high street to run errands...

vulpix

Thank you Brie. I really appreciate advice from a veteran. This is all very new to me. My Mother has always been very independent and self reliant, she has always been the capable person to offer help but never asked for any. 

 My Mum’s mind is made up. She will have given it a massive amount of thought. She said the other day that she should have moved to a smaller house 25 years ago. It is only since she dislocated her hip last summer that she has admitted that she needs help. Going to the home she is in has allayed her preconceptions and she is ready to walk away from the responsibilities of being a home owner. She will never be the type to join in and do activities etc but she is happy that the staff understands that. Her house sale would fund a care home for a good while. MIL on the other hand is massively bothered about having to spend money on her own care. However it all turns out I know it will be a trial. 

Vx

Floss

@vulpix, maybe your MiL will revise her thinking when she learns of your mum's decision?