2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks
2. Concerted effort to sort out sleep patterns - Realistic targets: bed by 2:00 a.m. & up by 10:00 a.m 
3. Continue dealing 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

In the end I cooked broccoli & cauliflower from the freezer rather than fresh cabbage 😉 We left it about another hour & then finally had some Christmas pudding (cooked in DSis’s microwave 👏) but only because the Brandy Cream & Baileys cream had reached their use by dates 😅 Delicious 😋 Wudupa

P.S. The sleet started at 20:00 lasted for a few hours so there was a smattering of snow on car roofs & grass but changed to rain about 23:30

18 - 20 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, brochure - recycled 

21 Kitchen detritus binned 

Lovely post vulpix 😊 

What a brilliant start mehefin 👏 Perfectly OK not to bother counting, quite a few of our Declutterati family don’t count 😊 

Excellent decluttering Florenceem 👏 So pleased to see that you are celebrating your decluttering & tidying wins 🥹 Sorry to hear that MrF is still giving you cause for concern 😔 Hopefully you managed to get him to the SA on NYD & he was able to help you 🤞

Brie, thanks for the timely reminder that it is not only charity shops that can benefit from our decluttering 👏

tibawo, what a great way to raise monies for the 1p Challenge 😊 If you can, perhaps you could store some of the chocolate for treats over the next few weeks 😉 I confess that wouldn’t work for me as if I have chocolate in the house I have absolutely no willpower & will eat it as quickly as possible but without making myself ill 😂

Lovely post CRANKY40 ☺️ Perhaps you could rent out your empty loft 😉 - I believe it was a ‘thing’ a few years ago 🤔

Lovely chatty post basketcase 😊 I love the Snowball story 😅 All those NYD superstitions almost made me Not get out of bed 😂 The only trouble is that I appear to have extended into the 4th January & probably will extend further 🤣

Lovely to see you short_bird 👋 I hope that you are not on the waiting list for your gall bladder op for too long 👏 It would be nice to be back to full fitness by the summer (assuming we actually get one this year 😉) 😊

Welcome aboard the EDT time2change_2 👋 Lovely to meet you 😊 I have made a note of your 2 aims for the year & am looking forward to following your progress 😊 

TC77, I see you have started Spring Cleaning a bit earlier than usual 😉 Good luck 🍀 I hope one or 2 of our Declutterati family can come up with some ideas about refreshing the musty drawers 🤞

redofromstart, great to hear how much progress you have made on the 1st day of the year 👏 I do hope you didn’t overwork the shredder 😉

Brie, a very eco friendly way to remove smells 👏

dND, a bit of a sight to wake up to on NYD 😱 almost like you had a large magnet in your garden 🙁 It is time consuming enough doing your own decluttering & tidying without having to do do everyone else’s 😉 I like your idea that the cold weather has a silver lining in that it will keep you indoors & you will declutter more 😊 Hopefully it worked 🤞

Florenceem, so pleased that the rain kept you & MrF indoors on NYD 😊

BlueJ94, sounds like you had a restful NYD 😊 Well done on resisting the urge to open your new bubble bath 👏 I do hope that it was a gentle return to work on Thursday 🤞

QueenJess, so pleased for you that all your hard work has paid off & you are now in Maintenance & Use Up Mode 🥳 Sadly I think the reason that some people don’t recycle/donate to CS as much as they should is because they are either lazy or disorganised 😔 Well down on completing your first use up on NYD 👏

Welcome back Blue_Doggy 👋 I can confirm you signed up in 2023 & you were very successful earning 6 medals & 3 gold stars 🥳 Proof positive that you can be a successful declutterer 😊 Good luck with moving your study & perhaps decluttering a few/many books on the way to achieving your goal 🍀 Hopefully as you work around the house you will gain the space to retrieve items from storage 🤞 I am so looking forward to following your progress 😊 2025 is your year 😊

Two more pages caught up 🥳 I do hope everyone had as good a day as possible & that not too many of you  have been snowed in with Saturdays snowfall 🤞 Sleep tight 😴 

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🌟 ❤️

DH Awards:

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2025: 21/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00

Duchess2

@Florenceem and @GrannyKate so sorry to hear of your troubles. Life is so difficult at times. Hugs for you both.

Well been so busy with dog sitting for DS and other RL pulls on my time, that I’ve not made the progress I had hoped with my declutterring. Must remember what I would tell anyone else it’s a marathon not a sprint. Congrats to those of you who are doing well and to those plodding like me, keep going. You will get there. Snow here so hopefully not venturing out. Roast dinner on the cards and a good tidy round to start the week on a positive note. Stay safe and warm everyone

BlueJ94

Morning all!

OH still asleep, pup woke me up to go outside for a wee and to eat the snow

I've just put the dishwasher on whilst making my cuppa.

Plan of action today:

Clean kitchen put away all items left on the side 
Put washing away as it's sat on the table 
Food shop 

Moorviews

@Florenceem - I am so sorry to hear about Mr F having further problems 💐 

@GrannyKate - my condolences for such a sad loss for your family 💐

@Muddy_Walker  - I look forward to hearing how it goes with the terrarium. I am rather rubbish with houseplants and don’t seem to have the knack. I feel that they survive despite me rather than because of my skills. 
Now someone has a DD star footballer in the family so very well done to her  🥇 I shall look back after posting and edit in the name. @gsdloopy 😊
@Mrs_Salad_Dodger  - we are still eating Christmas Pudding too!

Blimey, there has been such a whirlwind of activity in a lot of your households! Well done everyone for moving on anything at all, large or small 👏

It took us all day to deal with the Christmas decorations. Everything Christmas related was brought down from the loft and gone through. I now have two big boxes of nice decorations packed and labelled ready for donation to the CS in November. All lighting sets were checked and those not working will go into the electrical recycling. Once we had gone through the old stuff we took down and packed the decorations from the tree and around the house. There are enough Christmas crackers for this year so I need to make a note of that. I said this last year but obviously forgot and bought more! Finally took the tree down and packed into its huge bag. Not too much swearing from Mr MV trying to get that back up into the loft! The reason there is such an excess of decorations is the DC have deposited them all here after living elsewhere. They then move on and buy new because their tastes have changed. My decorations have been gathered over many years and are an eclectic mix, many being treasured gifts.
Absolutely foul weather here rather than beautiful snow. I am going to cull the magazines today. 

retiredinfrance

@Florenceem.
Thinking of you and Mr F.Having gone through a rough time with MrRif, I hope you can find some moments of calm . Look after yourself and Bon Courage.x

retiredinfrance

@GrannyKate.Such sad news . Sending condolences and hugs to you and your family.x

Florenceem

Morning all. No snow here but heavy rain all night and now.
Yesterday morning after getting Mr F settled I went to town to the post office - some people choose that system for their V buys. I had a few things for the charity shop so dropped them off.
On the way back home - nothing left outside the SA but I went in and sorted the bags that came in late on Friday evening.
When I got home Mr F was still not dressed. Then as he was getting dressed - he fell over but no injuries this time.
I needed to go out again as I had more parcels to post - also took stuff to another charity shop and ordered a pair of new distance glasses - chose different shape frames.
When I was in the shop that takes V parcels - was talking to the chap in there - he has been seeing Mr F since we started to do V in July. He was telling me how Mr F wasn't with it last time he saw him. 
I popped in the community shop and Asd on the way home but wasn't out for long.
I came home to find blood in the hallway. Mr F was upstairs bleeding from both his nostrils and blood all over his face.
He had fallen while carrying the old printer downstairs - I was going to take it down and it wasn't a problem sitting in the office but he had decided to do it. I cleaned him up - just nosebleeds but took quite a while to stop bleeding.
The really worrying thing was - he was unaware that he was bleeding. There was blood down his shorts and on the hall & kitchen floors plus his hands. 
Next issue was - I saw a text on his phone about the broad band bill needing to be paid. Mr F said that he was going to do this so went in the office and turned on his computer. After a while I went in - he hadn't done it so I asked do you want me to do it. No - he was able to manage it. Well, after he sat there a while I said to him - you can't do this can you? - he replied no. So he is losing the ability to use the computer.
I am hoping to take him to Church as can't go without him as he isn't safe to leave.

florianatwobob

Oh @Florenceem I’m so sorry to read that Mr F is having such problems and causing you such worry. I think I read that Mr F is being booked in for a scan? Can you speak to your GP and see if this can be pulled forward? I think it may also be worth speaking to your local authorities Adult Care service. They can conduct an assessment of Mr F’s needs and you can have an assessment of your needs as you support Mr F. If you haven’t already make sure you’re listed as a carer with your GP as that ‘unlocks’ other support for you. 

I know that thinking of yourself as a carer to loved ones can feel awkward or wrong because you’re supporting them from a place of love. However, getting the right support in place for you both helps maintain that loving relationship. 

QueenJess

Oops... so this morning I need to pick up multiple things from Buy Nothing.  Craft stuff for the kids (they love it when I get craft stuff), some gift bags for hm treats (I did run out and like giving hm treats away to friends and neighbours), a couple of towels that will be good for kids swimming lessons and a roll of brown paper (didn't want this one to go to waste and I would use it for parcels as well as decorating it for wrapping paper).  Unless there is something I need or really want, I am trying to only pick up things that would be consumed, but still seems quite a bit for 1 day!  Better get on and start using things up....

EcoIntent

@Florenceem thinking of you, you must be so terribly worried. I agree they need to move things forward and get to the bottom of what is happening with this big increase in falls.

Decluttering update from me, is we got all the Christmas decorations reorganised, packed into the loft and cleaned downstairs. That led to one small bag of bits and bobs for the charity shop and unfortunately a few bits for landfill bin . Then did the wrapping paper, decluttered six rolls I don't like anymore, two large Amazon gift wrap bags we have previously received with presents, and a cotton wrapping paper holder bag (as we now use two long plastic storage tubs, that live under the bed happily). I listed those on the free group, but only a taker for the storage bag so far. Anybody know if the charity shop would want new wrapping paper rolls? 

Today's job is to work on the spare room, which is currently looking awful!