2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

Brie

Floss said:

@Brie doesn't honey last for ever? Maybe you should buy another jar when you're in Canada, assuming it's their produce that is...

It's definitely their produce.  Locally sourced about 3 miles from where my mom's farm is.  

And I think I've said about trying to encourage a friend to declutter before his eviction early May.  I've told him he has to do at least 1 room a week before then.  Another friend has suggested that he just pack up what he absolutely can't live without and leave the rest.  

And a colleague who works for Shelter suggested this guide to see if you are merely messy or are actually a hoarder....Microsoft PowerPoint - cir pictures.ppt [Compatibility Mode]   Thankfull I'm at the merely messy end but my friend is likely a real hoarder.

It's a bit scary how extremely cluttered some people can get!!

QueenJess

A quick check in for today as work is quite stressful at the moment.  Managed to get rid of one more thing than came in, but I am massively cheating as I have a few parcels by the front door which I have not unwrapped and therefore don't count yet!  Once I get to those, they will be added to the in total and I'll have to find more bits to get rid of. +2 items in today as someone was giving away some really nice outdoor plant pots.. you can never have too many of those right?  At least it'll help me use up my seeds

Physical:
1 - candle used up
1 - DD top grown out of (Buy Nothing)
1 - DD jumper grown out of (charity bag)

New total 1,114
Use it up total 82
Net physical things in/(out) +78

Rootle

15/52 - tried to empty a packing box from a cupboard and had mixed success. A few random items including some plastic bits that I have no idea what they were intended for to the bin. A small bag of stickers to the bin. A few items rehomed to more sensible locations. The biggest success was putting the large packing box itself out to recycling. 

Thanks for my star MrsSD.

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

Wednesday: a cloudier day so the sun is struggling to show its face - high 16°C & low 4°C with a chilly breeze. Forgot to mention that I added another patch to the leg of a pair of DH’s jeans. Laundry day for me - 1st load is in the wm. See pic re scarf

Still cheerleading Monday’s posts:

Lovely cheerleading Dizzycap 😊 Pleased to hear that apart from her mad fruit loop periods babyface is continuing to recover & is encouraging you to get lots of rest ☺️ (deliberately written this way 😉) As to This “That reminds me, I was reading some article somewhere by some dog psychologist who presented a list of the 10 easiest dogs to look after. As I began reading through each dog; and had previously rescue owned the first 3 listed, I was thinking; Are you sure?🤔🫨. Then came dog 4. Dachshund, which is when I realised that this person had never owned let alone lived with a Daxie or any of the first 3 in their life! 🤪🫨😂🤣🫣🤥🤐” it wouldn’t surprise me if the writer had never owned a dog at all 🤣 

Lovely cheerleading Liverpool_Anne 😊 No wonder you were”knackered” after such a busy Monday 🤩 excellent decluttering 👏 & good luck with the listings & the alternate decluttering of the loft & the under-stairs cupboard 🍀 As to the loft insulation, why am I NOT surprised that you didn’t qualify for free installation ☹️ 😠 Now it is just a case of counting the number of calls you receive trying to persuade/bully you into employing them 🤨 I hope your OH is feeling better after his covid jab 🤞

Starting Tuesday’s posts now 🥳

TC77, fingers crossed that one of the watchers turns into a buyer 🤞This “Hoping dd2 will do a good sort out and help my numbers!” made me smile 😃 

Lovely cheerleading Moorviews 😊 Good luck with the shed clearing, cleaning & decluttering 🍀 Perhaps you can reward yourself with a bit of gardening in between sessions in the shed 😉 I loved This “Liverpool_Anne - somehow that ‘surveyor’ was never going to come good.” & so succinctly expressed 👏☺️ 

charlies_tribe, crikey that was quick re getting a skip 🤩 Hopefully your DGD will enjoy helping you fill the skip & maybe helping with the shed clearance as well 😉

Broke off to hang out the 1st load of washing & put 2nd load in wm. The sun has succeeded in coming out so fingers crossed that everything will dry 🤞

Excellent decluttering QueenJess 👏 A very pleasing total indeed 😊

YBR, This “It's very motivating to be giving a running commentary, Thanks” is brilliant 🤩 Taking a few minutes to post here on the Decluttering thread is a great idea & will be a record of how well you are doing with your decluttering & packing ☺️ Excellent decluttering 👏 

Muddy_Walker, beautiful photos ☺️ Pleased to hear that Rogan is keeping the garden clear of crows 😉 I see mum is doing her best to ignore him & just enjoy the sunshine 😊 Good work in the garden 👏

Excellent work cleaning & decluttering the kitchen suzeesu2000 👏 so I am awarding you a medal 🏅 However please remember that you are still recovering from illness so please have frequent rests in between bouts of cleaning & decluttering 🙏 

Florenceem, not surprised you were shattered yesterday, you were very busy & got such a lot done 👏 Chocolate cake AND chocolate orange 😋 Very pleased to hear that your V sales are ticking along 😊

Brie, I almost fell off my sofa reading This “Decided that asking the OH to do things like going to the dump with XYZ wasn't getting the results I wanted so when I came home from work I just told him he needed to drive me to the tip.  (cue the groan....) A short time later I was asked if I was ready to go and found him loading a stack of cardboard into the back of his monster truck.  I added the moushed drying rack and then a big trug of plant pots.  Only took us about 15 minutes total and that included me having to walk back and forth at the tip as I'd told him he didn't need to get out of the car (otherwise he'd have put on a nice outfit including a fedora or similar).” A brilliant workaround 👏 & worthy of a medal 🏅 The buckwheat honey sounds delicious 🤤 

I have an empty cup & have reached the end of a page, so it is a perfect time to post 😉 Hope everyone is having as good a day as possible & that you are enjoying the sunshine (if you have it) 😊 See you later 👋 

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🌟 ❤️ ❤️ 🏅 💐 💐 💐 🏅🥉🏅 🎂 🌟⭐️⭐️❤️ 🍫🐾 😍

DH Awards: 🏅 

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2025: 648/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £41.00

YBR

Yesterday my DD1 just gave me a basket of clothes she'll no longer wear - so maybe decluttering is infectious? So DD2's had her pick and the rest will go to a charity shop when I've removed some names. The bin men have been so I can get back to the garden shed sometime. 

In the meantime I'm having a go at the detritus on the bookshelves before I face the books themselves. Prize finds are a huge family bible with metal clasp (2nd hand nothing to do with my family), old plastic smurfs and "2 chains to the foot / 2 chains to the yard" scale rule which might have been useful 30 years ago. All allocated for  the yard sale but probably destined for the tip in the long run.

@QueenJess sorry to hear work is stressful - hope that it improves quickly.

daisy_1571

Yes ybr, ul find it's definitely infectious.  Do your own stuff, give them time and it's amazing how many partners and family members start to do a little tidying and decluttering themselves     


Dxxxx

weenancyinAmerica

@YBR - If there is any family information in the Bible (usually between the Old and New Testament), your local family history society might like the Bible or at least a copy of the information in it, along with a picture of the title page and a date page if there is one. Have you checked your family history first to make sure they really aren't a part of your family? The Society of Genealogists in London might like a copy of any family material also.

Brambling

No decluttering for me today,I just dealt with a financial frog (it's that time of year again!) 

Dizzycap

Muddy_Walker said:

Telling me allllllll about it 🤣

Evening Declutteri

Look at those beauties @ Muddy_Walker Would you mind if I use those gorgeous pictures to add to a personal homemade doggy calendar for next year?

@ Florenceem - Yes, thank you for asking xx All is well just had my rear end on fire for the past couple of days and far too tired to post Happy Birthday to Mr.F for Friday You've also reminded me to take back meds to the chemist which I didn't do last week and are still sitting in the hallway I will definately try to do that tomorrow

@ Mrs_Salad_Dodger - Love the scarf!

QueenJess - I hope your stress will alleviate soon Stress is a parculiar beast that often need heavy mental chains to keep it at bay. Easier said than done Your cake sounds absolutely delicious btw!

Babyface is absolutely full of it to the brim & beyond She finally went for what was suppose to be a gentle run around and ended up being fruit-loop mania chasing off a pigeon that looked like 'Bully Berty' twice from one end of a small field to the other and back again, and then Mr. Squirrel who teased her terribly for 5 minutes until she got bored She then played helper when a friend popped around this morning bringing a trailer to declutter the final outside clutter pile - Hoooooray! After the lowish trailer was locked & loaded I put her safely on the top so she could sit & play 'Queen of the Nile' in the sun for 10 minutes which she absolutely loved. This afternoon was 4 hours bed rest and sleep as she still needs it even though she's healing well. I've said another 2 weeks before she can go back to a full daily crazy agenda - foot down with a firm hand She's had a full usual portion of one of her homemade dinners tonight and a large spoonful of Mauka 780MG honey; it's like treacle and exceedingly rich, which is a relief as I know her stomach is healing correctly internally after 2 long weeks of waiting and with very little but often nibble habits. Presently snoring, grunting & running in her sleep with waggy tail after a short night walk and 30 minutes toy swan play

Tomorrow I hope to finish off long cutting the top end of the private area back lawn as I ran out of steam on Tuesday after cutting the bottom end and the lawn mower deciding to have a hissy fit just after the bottom cut, which I sorted out and now we're ready to go again tomorrow. I did manage to clean out all the birdbaths and refill along with the feeders but will have to do that again tomorrow and check / clean the water features. No doubt bonkers babyface will be helping It's very cold here tonight with freezing fog but there's expected snow beginning next week for a few days which doesn't come as a surprise as Spring bounced in far too hot and without the April showers the garden needs. Will be on full swan watch as I may need to intervene with some more thermal foil for the nest which I'll check on tomorrow morning but all going well with the crown jewels Foxes are taking & eating piles of food & eggs, so cubs are about and I've made out 3 on the CCTV night cameras, so can't wait to see them in the flesh playing and eating in the back garden No doubt Des O'Babyface will be voicing her opinions with crazy waggy tail - I'm sure one day she'll take off like a helicopter

HH decluttering has been limited to the basic HH chores; which are enough in themselves, with a few decluttered parcels still going out. There's still 9.5 large boxes from the mega wardrobe of doom to go; I certainly know how to pack boxes like my life depends on it , but as long as it departs, it really doesn't matter how long it takes I have restocked up on emergency animal meds, thermal foiled blackets, and medical bags as they're unfortunately always needed at some point during the year

It's getting late so time to declutter one last coffee before pottering off to bed ready for an early start tomorrow . Wishing everyone a peaceful night and restful sleep. Take care all & ta-ta for now xxxx

EDIT: Up again at stupid o'clock with chronic pain and a welcoming mug of coffee and came across this article. It's so easy to slip into when living in a materialistic world rather than valuing experiences :

The rise of the middle-class hoarder – and how to know if you’re one of them

Popping off to get the HH bins emptied and kitchen sparyed over while I wait for the kettle to boil & a load of washing to finish ready to peg out before I go back to bed and try and get a little more sleep as it's the usual 2.5 hours

TC77

Mrs SD, fabulous scarf! 
Managed to do a little gardening so thought one would be my total for today,  still managing to lose things around the house, have asked for new ones. Feeling unable to decided what to declutter when late this evening I spotted a file which I could dispose of nearly all the contents - for the car I no longer have - all MOTs, repairs , and road assist, 3 plastic wallets for stationery donation pile and 1 to the bin, some other paper declutter - counting as 7
DD2 had a friend round to help sort things out, think there's a laundry basket of rubbish and maybe one for donation, wit her saying needs to go through some things wth me.
484 - edging upwards but slowly