2024 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD

wishus

My word the weather outside is nasty! Even so, two brave souls just came to my door to pick up supplies advertised on a local social media swap site. 3 bolts of fabric and a bag of stuffing now gone. Adding 4 to my signature!

oystercatcher

Wow! This is a busy thread. Yesterday I was very sleepy and not a lot got done but made up for it today by doing two bouts of over 20 minutes decluttering huge amounts of dog fluff. Christmas cards into recycling and various bits of rubbish put out. 
I'm not quite sure how I want to keep count of what I do, but think I will try the 20 minutes a day I mentioned originally, it's difficult to keep track of tiny bits and bobs done. 

GrannyKate

Afternoon all.  Lurgy slowing going but seems to be effecting lots of people.  Horrid wet day.  DGCs are back and in a silly mood.  Not saying much on here but it has been a pretty difficult couple of years with several curved balls so just tried to provide a secure environment for grandchildren. I hadn't planned to downsize for a few more years so I have lots of space but no longer as minimalist as I planned.  This does not excuse the tat and unsorted boxes of my own that I still have lying around so onward.  A plan and a list are needed.  DD (Queen of lists)reported 7 bags to CS shop so she is doing better than me.  As I speak she has just reported in that her spare room is empty for decorating and she has been to tip.  It was full of stuff when I visited recently.  I have a dog bowl and some candles waiting to be returned to her. 

7/8 Two bags of plastic to SM
9/10 Two bags to CS
11 Christmas decorations boxed and DS2 has returned them to loft 
12 Better packing of decorations meant 6 small cardboard containers could be recycled
13 Broken baubles binned
14 DS2 car insurance renewed - doubled despite no claims and nothing much cheaper available - I guess mine will be the same
15 Fridge cleaned out and some items binned
16 Large pot of random veggies waiting to be made into stock.  We have used up all last years and DS2 does use the pots of frozen stock from freezer for gravy etc
 17 January birthday cards purchased

DS2's car needs new brake shoes so not ready to collect until tomorrow. 

We have occasional mice visitors and stopped storing food in plastic in garage when they ate through plastic wrapping and bottles to flavoured water drinks in garage.  I couldn't understand where the sticky water was coming from. One Christmas I dropped boxed cheese behind a shelf - found it in June half eaten with tell tail trail left by rodent visitors. 

It's gone very quiet which my 52 years maternal experience tells me is not necessarily a good thing.  That reminds me I need to post DS1's 52nd birthday card for next week. 

Brie

Tip run done!!  Hard to believe how happy it makes me feel to see that room almost empty!!  We moved the bookcase from the hall in there so there's a clear run to the kitchen for when the actual work is being done rather than them having to negotiate past anything - it was always a bit of a tight squeeze for MiL's wheelchair when she was still alive.  (well still would have been a tight squeeze with her wheelchair if she wasn't alive but you know what I mean....)

Just need to check if the laundry is dry enough to be shifted upstairs, otherwise I might just move it to a different room so that all we need to do at 8 am tomorrow is open the front door and point.  Oddly - I discovered there's a TV in there - I'd forgotten about it but it was from MiL's lounge and when we rearranged some of the house it got buried behind the dining room chairs that were spare.  Need to think about what we will do with it - my vote would be to sell it - I don't like how the controls work and I don't think we need 2 TVs!!

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks + a weekly Jettison Junk in January

2. Sort out sleep patterns - target bed by 2:00 a.m. & up by 9:00 a.m 

3. Deal with mail & email on a daily basis

4. Don’t put it down, put it away + deal with mini tasks as soon as they are noticed e.g. refill olive oil pourer or salt cellar, stitch up a hole in a garment etc

5. Commence ‘Operation Frog Tickling’ using the acronym - I.R.I.S. (Identify, Research, Implement, Sign Off) - One per quarter

6. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed

DH has made a soup using most of the leftovers from the fridge (although we still have enough turkey for a sandwich 🙂) The wind is horrendous 💨 - one of our 6’ fence panels has come down although surprisingly the brackets that were holding it are undamaged 🤔 It would appear that the panel bowed & just fell out phew 😮‍💨 DH has laid it flat on the patio with the chiminea weighting it down. DH & I are so, so pleased that we got the olive tree pruned 🥳

Welcome back JingsMyBucket 👋 I think last year was just a practice to build up your decluttering muscles 😊 You have made a great start 👏 and I love the idea of Weekly Challenges 🙂 Good luck with the listings - hopefully lots of sales & lots of ££s 🍀

Happy_Kitties, sorry to hear that the last 3 years have been so rubbish 😔 Here’s to 2024 being a stellar year for all of us 🥂 I have made a note of both your overall goals & your specific targets 🙂 What an excellent start on your decluttering journey especially with regards to the Neutral items 👏

Welcome aboard the 2024 EDT peony40 👋 Hopefully your parents are in a position to offer advice on the paperwork when you come to sort it 🤞 What a  great start to your decluttering journey 👏 cardboard boxes take up so much space 😞 

Welcome back DundeeDoll 👋 Of course you can keep your 2023 Awards 😊 Hopefully you will add to them during the course of 2024 😉

Of course you can join us SuffolkSue 👋 What a wonderful start to your 2024 decluttering campaign 🥳 Such a wonderful gardener - worth her weight in gold not only because she does painting & decorating but also because she is helping you to declutter furniture & stationery 👏😇 

Nice to see you back ilovetea 👋 2023 was a practice run helping you to build up your decluttering muscles for a successful 2024 😊 I have noted your target & I can see that you have made an excellent start 👏 33 items on one day 🤩 

Excellent decluttering short_bird 👏 Hopefully you got your washing done today without the need to fish things out 🤞😉

Welcome back TC77 👋 You have made a great start to your 2024 decluttering journey 👏 Some great advice re not keeping stuff for best or ‘Ron’ & very well said “and remember it can feel like 2 steps forward and one back, but chipping away is ok, and spending time in the TLC carriage” a timely reminder at the beginning of our 2024 Decluttering Campaign that perseverance will pay off 😊

charlies_tribe, you are too hard on yourself 😔 After clearing the pantry shelves you deserved a reward & doing a jigsaw puzzle sounds perfect 😊 Don’t forget to make a note in your calendar about getting the garden waste bin emptied 😉

Lovely to see you back basketcase 👋 I think there are quite a few of us who are glad to see the back of 2023 😥 I have added the ‘Wagon Car’ to the back of the EDT & am currently hanging on ……. just 😂 The speed awareness course that I sent our driver on seems to have been a waste of money 😉 as she is currently travelling at about Warp 6 🤣 Congratulations to your DD on becoming an homeowner 🥳 & once her ‘stuff’ starts leaving your home your numbers will shoot up 👏😊 I have made a note of your targets & am looking forward to following your 2024 Decluttering Journey 😊 I fondly remember our chats in 2018 about weighing washing machines 😂 Also good luck with your joining 24 threads 🍀 What a brilliant start to your decluttering campaign - I love the numbers “For curiosity I counted and weighed them and there were: 12 bags containing 187 items weighing 290 lbs” already half way to your January total 👏🥳🤩

Well the wind 💨 is still gusting 😱 I am so pleased that DH is not out on the motorbike 😥 Another page of cheerleading caught up 🥳

Off for a short break with the observation that the EDT is travelling so fast that there is no chance of the wind derailing us 🥳🥳🥳

MrsSD:

DH Awards:

Decluttering Target 2023: 4/2024

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £

bamboo_socks

I finished working my way around the visible bits of the kitchen today. I had to stop for a little cry as I started taking the art off the fridge and the painted handprints were getting smaller. I have filed them, feeling too emotional to be brutal.

The Christmas decorations are down. I found my box of things for December 1st while I was putting stuff away. We're very lucky to have decent outdoor storage but it has become a bit of a dumping ground and stuff gets lost.

I've also been through the downstairs loo and bathroom. I've gathered together all of my toiletries from various dark corners. I'll be decluttering them by using them!

QueenJess

I'm easing myself into my decluttering and first up is the continued sort out of my clothes (still to be continued over the next few weeks) and tackling the pesky digital sort out.  I have around 5,000 photos left to go through on my laptop and 2.5k on my phone (I am also ensuring multiple backups and automated backups at the same time).  As a nod to one day getting to inbox zero, I am also sorting out 10 emails everyday.

Some work done, but so much left to do photos wise.  Want to get through it so I can make sure I have downloaded and sorted any work stuff I need to take with me before I leave (e.g. payslips etc).  I also want to be able to see all my lovely photos displayed on a digital frame.

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger I can't be bothered to count the decluttering of the TV recordings, but I have been working on this for a very long time and probably the whole of 2023!  We were down to 20% free space, but are currently at the dizzy heights of 67% free space.  I would love to get them all onto a single page, but it's unlikely as apparently we "have" to keep certain items on there *shrug*.  It's always a work in progress and trying to make sure we don't get quite as behind as before!

Digital:
1 - favourites removed from wish list
3 - emails deleted (from permanent folders)
45 - photos/videos deleted
1 - documents deleted

Physical:
4 - clothes (charity bag)

New total: 63

dND

Today I decluttered some more cat food to the cattery as they were running low on food for my cats and some money to Mr’s H & B for supplements for the next few months.  They had what I wanted on BOGOF or on buy-1-get-one-half-price with additional savings for using the app and a special 24% reduction for 2024, oh, and I had points to use up.  I didn't quite get to them paying me though. 🤣🤣

I also tackled a tadpole – I had 2 of the above company’s accounts so I finally got round to phoning customer services and got the points combined onto 1 card.  I now have an old plastic card for use as an ice scraper or for spreading filler.  We can’t have it being a single use plastic can we.

In all seriousness though, while keeping the old card might seem like adding clutter, I know from previous experience how useful a disposable bit of stiff plastic can be when doing a lot of DIY.

I also can’t believe how fast this train is going all ready.  Well done everyone and thank you again Mrs SD for all your hard work.

flamingo747

Had a nice visit with my sister, and the car passed the MOT needing only 1 headlight bulb for £10   very happy with that. My new to me organiser has arrived, and I'll be decluttering my brain into it! I don't have anything to add as today's been a bit busy with socialising and prepping for Mr Fs new job and Junior F's school return.

I tell a lie, Mr F broke down a massive old Edwardian era bed that noone would take, its its huge wood and spring base. Now it is ready for the recycling centre, but it is a job that has needed doing since October. So I'll count his as a donation to our declutter, +1

Muddy_Walker

Hello everyone! Very wet and very windy here got drenched twice today. Once walking dog1 and the other going to the chemist…… stroppy mare behind the counter couldn’t find my stuff, threw her hands in the air and exclaimed “I’ll have to look through ALL of these”. I just leaned against the counter without saying a word - she found it within a minute and then blamed a colleague for moving it. 

First day back at work….i swear blind it took a week to get through 🤣
todays decluttering:
A very old and “ungentle” epilator 
A read magazine
An empty plastic tub of chocolate known by Q and S. 

Im not counting stuff for the bin as to me that’s normal rubbish.

hoping for a dryer day tomorrow 😊