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2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering
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@Dizzycap courses have improved massively, I would consider what the Dr said about a course, always worth a go if it might help. I am a paraplegic, I have spinal damage, I cannot walk and also an amputee, allergic to a lot of meds, I have phantom limb physio which is amazing and hopefully will be learning some new pain management skills.
As the pain physio said recently, ‘when you really want me, you won’t need me, and when you need me, most people don’t want me!’ That just about finished off my brain right at the start, and i love the research challenges he gives me and his approaches, bec I can pinch them to use in the health work I do🙂
Decluttering has been limited as I am going away but
223) one big cuddly toy of DDs, finally gave up the ghost after being used as a cat bed. I would always find one cat splodged on top.
224)-226) sales on V x 3
227) one of Christmas bags set aside, being used to transport neutral items which friends will need to take to be able to get the neutral items home.
228) another frog sorted
Neutral items are finally going to smash the 300 mark.
Going away this weekend to meet up with friends. Taking 35 items with me for their fundraising
299 + 35=334 neutral items out.
Once home I then need to concentrate on my shoeboxes as items will be leaving the house much earlier this year and I still haven’t done an inventory for them yet.
Decluttering challenge 2023🏅⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Decluttering challenge 2024 🏅🏅⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️18 -
Hi all, well yesterday was planned to be busy and I was out of the house early to cake decorating. We actually decorated some biscuits 😂. A bit of piping which was useful and making our own piping bags and we did some embossing which was fun. The problem is everything we do seems to involve using a tool of some kind which I am resolutely refusing to buy. I have been down that road too many times which is why I have so much stuff I don't have the space to actually use any of it 😂 but I am enjoying learning so that's good. After that I went to the dentist. I have been grinding my teeth and I now have 2 teeth that are slightly loose and not sure if I can save them. The dentist was helpful and hopeful but only time will tell, I just have to be careful how I eat 😁. Then off to OH's house to collect mail and do a bit of a tidy in the garden. Chopped some brambles in the back and got a bag full into the green waste bin then started to tidy the front. Lots of wind blown rubbish picked up and binned and then a bit of a drama when the front door blew shut. So there I am locked out with no keys, no phone and no access. There is no back entrance to the property either 😐. I knocked at the long term neighbours, A, to see if they had a key, but no, he is a lovely man but well into his 80's and his wife is bed bound. He said one of his sons was due to visit and might be able to help but not sure when he would be there. We talked about climbing the fence as the back door was open but A said he couldn't do it so I said maybe I could. The fence near the house is 6 ft but further back it was only 4 ft so I thought I'd give it a go. Luckily there was something to stand on in A's side so one leg over no problem but it was behind the shed in OH's garden which was full of very overgrown buddleia so I was climbing into that with no firm footing. As I put my weight down the branches cracked and I ended up mostly over with my trousers caught on the fence and as I went further down falling slowly onto the back of the shed with one leg stuck up in the air 😂. A was trying to help to unhook my trousers which the lower I went I could feel being pulled off 😂. Eventually we got them unhooked and the last branch broke and I ended up on my bum next to the shed surrounded by buddleia 😂. Bit of a struggle to get up as ther was nothing solid to get a hand hold on but eventually made it upright. Then as I am standing there thanking A for his help a dog appears. A big black pit bull type with a massive head and he proceeded to try to knock me over while licking me to death 😂. Where did you come from I ask which just encourages him to lick me some more and when we eventually make it out of the undergrowth into the lawn he is bouncing around and generally being very friendly. We go into the house and while I am getting my keys out of my bag, not making that mistake again 😂 he's making himself at home on the armchair. Luckily he was very obedient when I told him to get off the chair and I headed to the front door. He runs up the stairs, no I say come on as I open the front door and he trots down and out to the front garden. There are only 2 places he can have come from, next door or over the back but he trots down the path to next door, newish neighbour so I knock and a young woman opens the door and the dog runs in. She apologises, apparently there is a hole in the fence he can get through, can't see it from our side through the undergrowth 😂 and we had a proper laugh about it and she said she will block the hole. Good job he was friendly and reasonably well trained though as he had no collar so not sure what I would have done if he hadn't wanted to come with me 😂. I needed a bit of a sit after that and had a cup of coffee then making sure to take the keys I went out to the front garden and did some weeding.
I was supposed to be meeting a couple of friends after they finished work but they had texted to cancel which was probably just as well so I headed home just in time to beat the rush hour. I had to have a lie down when I got in 😂.
I had taken a load of mail and gave it to OH and made sure it was dealt with so lr recycling bin was emptied 😁. Also A had told me another neighbour had died so OH found a sympathy card in my stash and used that and a stamp. OH decided a chippy tea was needed so took the card and posted it on the way to the chippy. I also dealt with my mail, new bank card arrived so old one cut up and binned 😁.
Just remembered I gave a pen to my friend at cake decorating, we have to fill in a booklet thing each week and her own died but I had a spare 😁
Well it's a bit chilly and cloudy here today but I need to do a bit more rose chopping so I am going to wrap up and get out there after another cuppa and a quick trip to the sm😁.
Hugs to everyone who would like one
654 garden waste
655 lr recycling
656 card from stash
657 bank card
658 pen
Take care everyone
658/202521 -
Morning all - had a productive bank holiday weekend of emptying the wardrobe and sorting through all the clothes. Well not all of them, there's still a massive pile on the spare bed that I need to try on and decide if I want to keep or not, but at least I don't have anything in random suitcases now 🥳
There is a big box of things to go to charity and another of things that I want to list to sell so won't count those until they have actually left the house.
DH did his bit and turned a bunch of old wood and decking boards into a massive raised planter. When I say massive, I mean you can probably bury 4 of me in there with room to spare 😆 Will need to buy some more compost as the homemade stuff hasn't even touched the sides.
Also tackled a few tadpoles before they turned into frogs - requesting things from the bank, booking experiences that we had vouchers for, buying and writing all the cards for the many, many birthdays we have this month. Just remembered that we need to send some flowers to a friend as well so will get right on that this morning.
It's been exactly 1 year since we came to view this house (and flew to South Africa the same day!) and I still can't believe that we live here and have made so much progress in the 9 months we've been here. Still so much to do, still so much to sort, still so much to declutter, but it's finally starting to feel a little bit like home.
Emergency Fund - £8572.39 / £10,000 :: Mortgage OP 2025 - £LISA 24/25 - £3200 / £4000 :: NSD 2025 - 2 / 150 :: Books Read: 1 / 52 :: Decluttering - 4 / 1000Engaged 9th December 2010 :: Married 29th October 2015 :: Bought a House 13th January 201719 -
Good morning evryone,
@Dizzycap how lovely to have seen the fox cubs at last. We had a silver one last year - I didn't even know that was a thing until I saw it. I hope that you have some decent rest/sleep breaks today.
@Florenceem how lovely that you are fixing your grandaughters trousers for her. It's a good feeling when you have a problem but realise that you know just the person to help you. I hope MrF isn't too sore after his fall
Ds helped me with some gardening yesterday. Just half an hour of both of us working gets so much more done than if it was just me. He's been feeding the birds for a couple of weeks now and he was delighted to see a baby starling being fed meal worms by it's mum yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon. The cat continues to be afraid of the starlings and runs into the house if they squawk at her.
Monday and Tuesday decluttering was just 5 items each day but I managed 10 yesterday. I'm just finishing my coffee then I shall get dressed and tackle the ironing mountain that is on the ottoman at the bottom of my bed.
Take care all of you 😊15 -
Good morning. Thank you again for the congratulations. I will say if anyone has any tips for keeping lavender alive, please let me know. DD3F (well I guess DC6 now) came back from grandparents with a lavender plant, it has mum's ashes mixed in to the soil. I am absolutely useless with plants and terrified of not looking after it properly.
We should have been fetching the car today but DH was too tired after his night shift so going in the morning instead, hopefully. Can't believe how much I've missed not having a car.
DH has continued on the garden and I've been still working on the bedroom. Yesterday was a box of DD1s things from school, she left in 2017. A pile of loomband bracelets in there had completely deteriorated. Just kept her leavers book, primary leavers tshirt and some plugs as other than the keyboard (which we have bought a new plug for already) i have no idea what any are for.
I have 2 loads of washing waiting to go on the line, a dog to shave and bath and a bathroom to clean so really should finish this tea and get my bottom in gear.
788 Trainers
789 Slippers
790-792 3x work trousers- all ripped
793-798 6x coat hangers
799 Dressing gown
800 Plastic wallet
801 Colour by numbers
802-805 4x Bracelet
806 plastic Bag
807-809 3x dd1 school books
810 pile of small bits from box
ETA Liverpool_Anne, although I had to giggle im glad you managed to get back in relatively safe and that the dog was returned home quickly.LBM in April 17 - Starting card debt £33554
Mortgage@1 June 18 - £76350
Total debt @june 18 £102311
Debt Jan 25 £8282
Mortgage £51215. Total debt now £5949715 -
@charlies_tribe Lavender likes mediterranean conditions so find it a sunny spot and it copes well with being baked. Give it a hair cut after flowering as they tend to get woody and scraggy.Soil wise where I live is quite well known for its lavender (there’s a farm in the village next door so to speak) and some of the fields near my house used to be a lavender farm when I was little 40ish years ago. We just bung in the ground but it does like to be well drained (we’re clay over chalk) give it a good watering periodically and all should be good.✒️ Declutter 2025👗 Fashion on the Ration 2025 61/66 coupons (5 coupons silver boots)✒️Declutter 2024 🏅🏅🏅(DSis 🏅🏅)
👗Fashion on the Ration 2024✒️Declutter 2023 ⭐️ ⭐️🏅(and one for DSis 🏅)
👗Fashion on the Ration 2023✒️Declutter 2022 🏅 🏅 ⭐️ ⭐️👗Fashion on the Ration 2022✒️Declutter 2021 ⭐️⭐️⭐️🏅👗Fashion On The Ration 2021 (late joining due to ‘war work’)15 -
Just a small update mainly for more things used up in the kitchen. The cupboards are slowly emptying out.Physical:
1 - jeans that don’t fit properly (charity bag
2 - kitchen overstock used upNew total 1,297
Use it up total 117
Net physical things in/(out) +30
Mini kitchen challenge 23/502025 decluttering: 3,452🌟🥉🌟💐🏅🏅🌟🥈🏅🌟🏅💐💎🌟🏅🏆🌟🏅
2025 use up challenge: 289🥉🥈🥇💎🏆
Big kitchen declutter challenge 78/150
2025 decluttering goals Use up Challenge: 🥉365 🥈750 🥇1,000 💎2,000 🏆 3,000 👑 8,000 I 🥉12 🥈26 🥇52 💎 100 🏆 250 👑 50013 -
sqwiffy said: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!I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Debt Free Wannabe, Old Style Money Saving and Pensions boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
Click on this link for a Statement of Accounts that can be posted on the DebtFree Wannabe board: https://lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php
Check your state pension on: Check your State Pension forecast - GOV.UK
"Never retract, never explain, never apologise; get things done and let them howl.” Nellie McClung
⭐️🏅😇14 -
Oh Liverpool_Anne that had me laughing sorry 😆 especially the unexpected friendly new friend lol hope you are ok xxx
22: 3🏅 4⭐ 23: 5🏅 6 ⭐ 24 1🏅 2⭐ 25 🏅 🥈 Never save something for a special occasion. Every day is a special occasion. The diff between what you were yesterday and what you will be tomorrow is what you do today Well organised clutter is still clutter - Joshua Becker If you aren't already using something you won't start using it more by shoving it in a cupboard- AJMoney The barrier standing between you & what youre truly capable of isnt lack of info, ideas or techniques. The secret is 'do it'12 -
@ liverpool_Anne you have given me a giggle too. I hope you haven't hurt yourself. It reminded me of the time that I went to a charity furniture shop to buy some white plates for extra guests. The stand they were on was a tall metal wobbly one so I stooped gracefully and sorted some plates out from the huge pile. It was when I went to get up again that I realised that I couldn't use the rack for support without it all falling on top of me. Deciding that I was still capable of an elegant rise , I put my chosen plates onto the floor and pushing with legs that didn't seem to have as much strength or balance as I had hoped I began my gentle rise. For a minute there I glowed with pride. I thought the mission was a success but all at once I started to topple. In slow motion obviously! It took forever for me to land on my back with my legs akimbo ,skirt around my waist and knickers on show! I quickly looked around to see if anyone was looking. If they were they had run at the sight of a pensioners pins! I have convinced myself that no one saw but occasionally have a little giggle when I wonder if they had CCTV!
Any way today 9 bin bags of garden rubbish finally made it to the tipcraft stash 2023 =161, 2024 = 119 2025 = £25.96 spent, 128 made and 5 mended,
GC 2022 = £3154.96
2023 = £3334. 84
2024 = £.3221.81
2025 = £2043.99/£3300
Jan 413.77 Feb £361.32, March £192. April £438.06 May £261.66 June £204.54 July £172.64/ £250
Decluttering campaign. 2024= 75 and half/52 bin bags full. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🏅💐DH ⭐15
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