2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

Brie

Oh and I did my bit yesterday......realised it's 2 weeks until we fly off to Canada for a few weeks so I know I need to do better than my usual "throw random items in the suitcase the night before".  So took the time to go through some of my stuff and ended up with a full charity bag in the car ready to be dropped off.  Shocked at the waste of having bought 3 pairs of jeans, on sale, in Canada, on 2 different trips, that basically have never been worn.  And won't be because they are just so wrong for me.  The real skinny leg type that have to be peeled off.  I was obviously overwhelmed by the fact that they were a "bargain".  You know - end of season 50% off, on the sale rack so another 20% off and today only 50% off everything that's already been marked down.  But even if you save that much it's not a saving if you are never going to wear it.  I shall try to not do this on this trip.

Florenceem

More old B/W films watched - "Shadows in the Night" and "Cast a Dark Shadow".
Yesterday we were walking into town - I was in front of Mr F - his rollator is too wide for me to be beside him. Sometimes I walk behind him. Anyway I heard a noise and Mr F had fallen - into the road - he had been going up onto the pavement and tipped his walker so fell. Thankfully there was no traffic at the time. People helped me to sit Mr F on his walker for a rest. He was unhurt but I expect bruises to appear.
There are roadworks here so we had to catch a different bus home. Mr F got on first and I followed then a woman fell headlong onto the bus. I think she may have slipped off the curb into the gap between the pavement and bus platform. She was a very large woman and badly shocked. It was a struggle to get her to her feet - the bus driver got out of his cab to help. I got her sitting down and told her to attend A & E if she felt pain or was unwell when she got home.
We watched a Tony Curtis film in the evening - "The Midnight Story".
Today we have been to lunch club at SA.
Lots of donations to sort plus I was short of volunteers again.

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 is a brighter day with a lot of sunshine but still quite cold with a high of 16°C & a low of 6°C. DH was up at 07:00 having a bath & then taking the car to the local garage for an 8.00 a.m. appointment to get the air-con fixed. He walked home & has just left to pick up the car (14:25) DH is feeling a lot better today but DSis & I are still feeling bleugh 😕 Resuming the cheerleading with Monday’s posts:

YBR, shame that your long weekend got ‘redirected’ but what a great job you did 👏 I loved This “My younger daughter did her homework quite quickly when I let her know that she could have a new sleeping bag before Guide camp if her homework was done. Parenting is all bribery and threats around here!………” 😂 Good luck writing your sermon 🍀

Florenceem, pleased to hear that you are still enjoying watching films 😊 As I had never heard of either Nightfall or Without Warning, I googled them & have assumed you watched the 1956 & 1952 versions 😉 😄

QueenJess, it looks like you got off quite lightly from your parents visit as I see your nett figure only went to +26 😮‍💨 Hopefully you managed to get a good night’s sleep on Monday & your kids calmed down on Tuesday 🙏

charlies_tribe, great work by both you & DH 👏 Although I do hope that your DH hasn’t overdone the gardening work 🤞 I had a rueful smile at This “…. id saved the washing for tomorrow when its a bit warmer and DS1 and DD3 have both just been to ask for trousers for tomorrow so now waiting for the washer to finish. They both have more but can't find them.” ☹️ 

TC77, steady decluttering 👏 Good luck dealing with frogs 🍀 I decided against swapping out the winter duvet but did put away the extra blanket 😉 although if it continues to be this cold I might just have to get it out again ☹️ 

weenancy, what a lovely way to make car journeys seem shorter & more interesting 😊

Lovely chatty post Dizzycap ☺️ Not at all impressed with This “6 decluttering parcels to go in the morning, although I'm taking them around the corner to send from the delivery office as RM have decided in their lack of wisdom, to charge an extra 30p per parcel to collect, not on my watch! 😆 I would have swallowed 30p per collection, but then my parcel collections are perhaps a little large at times! 😆😆” presumably a sign of things to come with the new owner of RM 😡 I bet your postman will miss his daily chats with you & babyface 😞 

My concentration is flagging so will post & run or at least amble off 😅 I hope everyone is managing to stay warm 🤞When DH got back from the garage he advised that the car had been serviced but the air-con wasn’t fixed (as the mobile repairman was immobile due to his van having broken down 😞) See you later 👋 

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

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’

DSis Awards: ⭐️ 

Decluttering Target 2025: 804/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £116.00

TC77

Been trying to open a bank account which seems overcomplicated and rescuing an email account which DD2 wants to send a link too as say gmail best. I so hate techie stuff. Have deleted large items to bring my old emails down from 94% to 90% of storage but reminded how many years some frogs are taking as I ordered by size and how someone keeps sending stuff to the email although I ask them not too! 
I was going to take something back to a shop but know I'd just wander round other shops for an hour so made myself stay at the table after work and do digital decluttering and frogs. Can't wait until I can delete the other 90%!

TC77

around 1000 emails deleted,  possibly I should wait til major frogs dealt with and move those I want to keep. Aim to have sorted by the end of the year!

QueenJess

TC77 said:

around 1000 emails deleted,  possibly I should wait til major frogs dealt with and move those I want to keep. Aim to have sorted by the end of the year!

Good work - digital clutter is the worst!

More baby steps, although I undid some of my net total by picking up 5 pillow slips on Buy Nothing for free.  Mine are over 10 years old (some might be 15) and every time I put them on the pillow I feel like my hand is about to go straight through them.  Now I have backups!  They also came with 2 bits of packaging, so that's 7 things back in.  I really want to get back to negatives by the end of the month.

It'll be interesting to see how many more kitchen things I can use up.  Originally I guessed I only have about 25 items to get rid of, but set the target at 50.  I'll have to get right to the back of all the cupboards to see what else I have to use up or get rid of.  No cleaning out this week as it's mad at work, but hoping to get back to it next week.

1 - kitchen supplies used up
3 - paper reused then recycled

New total 1,294
Use it up total 114
Net physical things in/(out) +31
Mini kitchen challenge 21/50

Dizzycap

@ Happy_Kitties - I'm by no means offended in the least - Thank you for your suggestion which my 2nd DR has suggested to me once again this week. I do try to work along the lines of the Spoon Theory, but it's frustrating when 4-5 days are at the lower end of the spoons chart and also isn't helped by the fact that I've now become intollerant to most meds or they effect my blood count far too much after taking anything for more than a day, so I have to be at crisis point of not being able to cope before I have to take meds to keep myself mentally sane. I can't have med patches & I've tried pain pysio & pain clinics & courses up to my eyeballs which sometimes work but again, there are a number of other health factors that may hinder the benefit(s) including not being able to sit or stand longer than 5 minutes to be able to get to the nearest pain clinic etc by car, that's unfotunately when I'm taken in to hospital by ambulance, but I try to avoid that at all costs unless I feel unsafe both physically & mentally

I did manage to get an hours sleep this afternoon but know I'm going to suffer with a lack of sleep again tonight which makes 8 nights in a row, so it's really no wonder I feel so fatigued Off to get another mug of coffee before I go and at least lay down and try to get a comfortable(ish) position to watch the iPlayer while I try to drift off. Babyface is already in bed on her back & snoring and grunting her head off Please, no grunty singing in her sleep tonight as I can only take so much of that!

sqwiffy

Queen Jess, I laughed about your DH being unable to see it in front of his face. Yesterday my DH said he'd had to order a new knife as his favourite one had disappeared. I then opened the drawer and said "what, this one?". Sorry if it offends any guys on here but I call it man-looking! Loved your creative book.

Muddy walker, sorry about your worries about DH. Hopefully the scare will get him looking after himself better.

Jellybaby, sounds like you've done a lot. Well done you!

WeeNancy, Probably a life saver! You are so lovely. So pleased your sisters are helping now. What's a familysearch center? You've answered in a further post. Fascinating. I always thought these would be online things. I'm stuck on my tree and could do with spending more time on it really. I've spent lots on documents that were red herrings!

Charlie's tribe, congrats on the new addition to the family. Yes, probably mad but teens can be such fun as well as frustrating!

TC77, yes you've got to love embroidered tableclothes! And bedding too.

Diminua, I'm envious. Maintenance seems so far away.... And I echo Brie about the music sheets.

Decluttering : Two boxes of shrub cuttings, 30 unsubscribed emails and 300 other emails, 1 make up bag, some china pots, 3 mugs, 3 pillowspair of shoes, sorted out two underwear drawers, 3 books, my hair has been shorn at the hairdressers, then I have continued on my coffee table by taking everything else out ( oh dear, the photo showed what's left on the table after more going into the bin, and some being put in better places.) Now, I've just got to do the same for the rest! I've now made my kitchen table messay again as I dumped all my art bits from last Thursday on there and started making a t-shirt before I had to go to my DM's again. Just found that I've been putting plastics in my recycling bin that you aren't supposed to for years! Thing is, you used to be able to so we're going backwards!! And the crazy thing is, recycling in the area I live is in terrible but no wonder if they don't advertise it well enough as I'm passionate about doing it and I was doing it wrong. They need to make it easier for people.

Dizzycap

Good early morning all

@ Brie -  You've reminded me with your magazine post, to drop off some issues of the Good Housekeep to one of my elderly neighbours who just love reading the magazine, which I get free every month and have no interest in! As for buying unnecessary / inappropriate items; and boy do I hate those tight fittig drainpipe jeggin jeans in 50% off sales because we think it's a bargain, I think we've all been there at one time or another That is, until we discover the great bargains of often quality items to be had in CS, but only when really needed. The only time I go into a CS now is to drop items off whilst saying "I'm leaving & I'm not looking" to get myself back out before I clutter up on things I know I really don't need.

After 2 hours sleep I had to get up at 3am leaving babyface to snore, grunt, & sing away in bed! I've managed to declutter 2 large mugs of coffee, all the HH usual bins with a recycling sack now full to the brim and tied up ready to put outside a little later and 2 washing machine loads of babyface bedding all now hanging out on the line. I was hoping to attempt a shower but I'm feeling far too tired to even think about it, let alone entertain it! I was also hoping to go and collect some more free Mr. Sains flatpack boxes today; not that I'm particularly desperate, but again common sense screams, it's a PJ day. On the plus side, I seem to be exceedinly good at going through the daily mail thats delivered and decluttering any junk as soon as it arrives, so the office desk is looking very tidy & organised, even if it does need a clean which I may get around to at some point in the day, probably before I pop off back to bed again soon! I've put the heating on low for a couple of hours over the past 2 evenings and the house is now warm & cosy on another grey & miserable morning , although it does look set to brighten up with some sunshine at around 8am, so enough to get HRH's washing dry! Temps set to go up as from tomorrow onwards with lots of lovely sunshine on the way

Ok coffee decluttered so off to put babyface some 'If it's not fresh, I'm not eating it' breakfast out before I go back to bed for a couple of hours. Wishing everyone a lovely peaceful & rewarding decluttering along with cluttering up on all the things needed Sorry if I'm missing any posts in between posting but this board always moves fast - Toodle-pipsy-do for now xxxx

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 continued: another lazy afternoon - I did a bit of paperwork & cleared down a few more old programmes from the TV planner. Dinner was sausages, mash, baked beans & tinned chopped tomatoes - real comfort food for a cold day (the wind was very chilly 🥶) Wudupa.

805 - 808 Kitchen recycling, newspaper, glass bottle, drinks cans - recycled 

809 Kitchen detritus - binned

More excellent work in the garden Liverpool_Anne 👏 What a lovely gift for your ln 😊 I can almost smell the roses 😊 Excellent decluttering of jam jars & jar covers 👏 Hopefully OH can get a doctors appointment & find out why he is sleeping so much🤞

oceanspirit, sorry to hear about the messing around with medical appointments & family stuff - so time consuming 😞 Very inconsiderate of your neighbour 😠 

Dizzycap, I will keep an eye out for babyface’s  name when the next National election comes up 😂 Excellent decluttering 👏

Good luck with the latest ‘zip’ frog, Florenceem 🍀 Turkish Delight & Liquorice Allsorts yummy 🤤

 Steady decluttering QueenJess 👏

Paid the milkman & should have gone to bed but ended up watching a few episodes of Law & Order SVU 🙊  Sleep tight 😴 

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

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’

DSis Awards: ⭐️ 

Decluttering Target 2025: 809/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £116.00