Make Do, Mend & Minimise

YorksLass

@Cherryfudge - Yes,my machine has expensive tastes too so I use my cheap thread for tacking garment pieces together. An aunt taught me how to machine sew and one piece of advice I've never forgotten is to always use quality thread in the machine. Others were: use the right type of needle for the fabric, clean/oil the machine regularly, always use stainless steel pins and press as you go.

It's been almost two months since I last posted on here, not because my decluttering journey has finished, more that there's less to part with. 😆 However, I do have to be strict with myself about not bringing stuff in, My motto now is One In, One Out and it does seem to be working, plus it's so much easier and far less stressful to find things.

Pleased to say I've managed to find a home with someone else for the gifted bathroom storage cabinet, I have three items in the CS bag that will be leaving the house this week and this morning DS has returned four books to the Little Free Library for me (less temptation to borrow more). The day to day minimising of junk mail, soft plastics, things for the recycling bin and paper shredding continues on a regular basis, as does putting things away where they belong when I've finished with them. 😁

On the using up front, this morning I've put the very last bottle of shower gel from the toiletries stash into the bathroom (a gift from Xmas 2024, not bought by me) and a bottle of kitchen cream cleaner is almost finished. This came from my late DF's house no less than 16 years ago! 😳 And yes, it's still fine to use. I was amused to see the price - just 59p.

The recent hot weather has enabled me to wear summer clothes that haven't seen the light of day for quite some time. Most do still fit but some will be going to the CS and others will join the mending pile for alterations. @Green_hopeful - Thanks for the shoulder seam tip, I shall be using this!

Food wise, my last grocery delivery came with a substitute of turkey meatballs that I'm not keen on but won't waste so I'll use them to make a meatloaf. Sadly, I had to bin half a tub of yogurt that had been hiding at the back the fridge for too long so not everything is a success.

Cherryfudge

Thanks for the sewing machine tips, @YorksLass , I need all the help I can get! I was amazed how quickly dust built up in my machine after just a few short seams, so I will try to keep on top of that. Now I know I need to investigate what the right needles are, though I think the place where I sent the machine to be 'looked at' could probably help me there.

I feel there ought to be a thread along the lines of the one where people have paid off their mortgages, but this is for those rare people who have reached the end of the shower gel stash! (Or shampoo, conditioner, nail polish etc.) You might be the only one on it - so many of us have toiletries lurking in odd corners. I'm trying to use up unsuitable shampoos to clean the bath (works well and smells nice) but was surprised the other day to find the remains of a tube of hair mask in a cupboard that I thought contained soap, nail varnish remover and grout whitener! I've cut said tube open and it still smelled nice so I treated my hair to half the remainder. I also found an old hair conditioner that wasn't really suitable for my hair but makes good shaving lotion for my legs!

YorksLass

@Cherryfudge - It's surprising how many toiletries can be repurposed for other uses, that's how I've succeeded in using up my stash. My liquid hand wash bottle in the kitchen contains all the dregs rinsed from shower gels, shampoo etc - does the job and smells nice. I will confess to having several bars of French soaps dotted around in bedroom drawers and my wardrobe but that's because I buy them once in a blue moon when I can get a cheaper deal on them. They make clothes smell nice and it hardens them up so they last longer and don't swizzle away so quickly. The only toiletry 'spares' I have now are a bottle of shampoo and a tube of toothpaste, both bought by me, and a tub of body butter that was a gift. Little wonder I'm feeling smug. 😁