2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

Bananabreadyum

Mrs_Salad_Dodger 

Bananabreadyum, I am hoping you will PM me with your former identity so I can keep up to date with your awards 🙏 Love the new name 🥹 which conjures up a delightful image of you relaxing in the garden with a cup of tea (or a tall cold drink) & a slice of banana bread just watching the world go by ☺️ Sorry to hear that RL has been so dreadful 🥺 Your family home sounds wonderful & I am sure it will be snapped up very quickly & hopefully by a new family rather than a developer 🙏 Good luck with helping your mum sort & declutter 🍀 Sounds like you will have to channel both your inner Stacey & your inner Dilly 😉 Although the good thing is that it will build up your decluttering muscles & should make it easier to sort & declutter your stuff when you move next year 😊 Good luck with the listings 🍀 

Bananabreadyum, surprising/annoying in equal measure how many people can’t read or won’t read adverts properly 😠 Excellent decluttering of photos 👏 & wishing you every success in persuading your mum to declutter one of the big cupboards 😊 Cake will be an excellent incentive/reward 🥹

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

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’ ⭐️ 🏅 

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 1459/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £379.00

Hi Mrs sd, pm sent. 
Thank you or your lovely replies. You are a 🌟 And so lovely please have some 💐
Yesterday was stressful but did get a fast bit done. Plus the cream tea wash delicious 😜
Managed to work through a very large shelf and nearly emptied it. A huge pile of papers for recycling and a pile of books for charity and a huge stack of language teaching books listed online for free. Someone came back wanting them as soon as the post had been approved, so hoping they get collected today while I'm still here. Chipping away I've drawer / shelf at a time. My mums staminer is not great. But we are already making inroads. 
Someone on the forum suggested putting mums house on fb the marketplace so I did with links to the estate agent and this morning 2 people had msged, so 🤞🤞 they turn into viewings!

Today will be more of the same, another shelf hopefully in the big cupboard and going through the hobbies collection

CRANKY40

Good morning good people, 

Sorry that I've been AWOL, big decisions don't come easy here. It was only the car but still a big thing for us. My old car was 12 years old and I was starting to get twitchy about some of the noises that it was making. I did manage to part ex it and we now have a newer more up to date version of the same (better colour too). When ds and I were cleaning the old car out ready to swap it over we discovered that the spare tyre well was full of water so I wasn't far wrong about it being on it's last legs (wheels?). 

We brought 4 supermarket shopping bags of "things" indoors from the old car and now there is just the final half bag left to sort. Very little has gone back into the new car so I'm pleased about that. My declutter total for July was 175 and my total for August so far is 90 which includes the car junk. 

I was up early this morning but it took an hour and a half of kitten wrangling to wear her out so I'm just about to start doing what I got up early for. Best laid plans and all that. She's normally in and out of ds's room but he fancied a morning off from being woken up at 6am by having his toes bitten so he's having a lie in and I got to be the babysitter 😄 The kitten is still a floofy bundle of good natured fun.

Today has been designated as a garden day so hopefully I will be decluttering some grass cuttings and weeds. I also want to reorganise my bedroom furniture but I need to break that news gently to ds once he's awake. Wish me luck 😁 Take care all of you. 

Willowtree222

You know when you have those days when you have zero motivation, and others when you just get stuff done. Today was a stuf day. 
Two bin bags full of clothes, shoes and bags to the charity shop at the tip. 
Three small electrical items to the recycling point at the tip
Bag of used batteries
All bins in the house emptied
Two items listed for sale or free.
Kitchen items not used and not recyclable out in the bin. 
Sorted out the snack box and got rid of all out of date items and replaced the box with another that I had. 
Cases returned to the loft decluttering the spare room. 
Three drawers sorted and a bag of rubbish now in the outside bin. Still a lot to do, but so far today, a lot has been done. 

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

Sunday is another bright sunny day with a high of 26°C, low 14°C & humidity 47% After yesterday’s marathon catch up, I will be trying very hard to keep up to date with the cheerleading. 14:13 DH has gone for a walk & was back 14:45.

Lovely to see you Dizzycap 👋 So sorry to hear that both Babyface & Gorda are having health issues 😢 Hopefully there will be some remedy to Babyface’s allergy to grass as it would be quite challenging if this is a permanent thing 😞 Pleased to hear that Gorda is on the mend ❤️‍🩹Both of them seem determined to give you grey hairs 😉 I understand you are missing out on the sunshine but please try to get as much rest as possible as none of us want you to become ill as well 🙏

Bananabreadyum, thank you for my 🌟 & 💐 Some great decluttering by you & your mum 👏 Hopefully as you continue it will start to get less stressful 🙏 Loved This “Someone on the forum suggested putting mums house on fb the marketplace so I did with links to the estate agent and this morning 2 people had msged, so 🤞🤞 they turn into viewings!” I will join you in 🤞🤞that both people book viewings. Good luck with today’s planned decluttering 🍀

CRANKY40, 🤩 what a busy Saturday 👏 so much decluttering & tidying 👏 definitely worthy of a medal🏅 Excellent numbers for July & a flying start to August 🥳 Congratulations on getting the new to you car 🥳 such a big decision will & should take time to reach 😊 Good luck with today’s decluttering session in the garden 🍀 Also good luck ‘persuading/encoraging’ DS to help with the bedroom reorganisation 🍀😉

Willowtree222, I am very familiar with the first part of This “You know when you have those days when you have zero motivation, and others when you just get stuff done. Today was a stuf day.” although sadly not so much the second part 😕 An absolutely excellent morning of decluttering worthy of a medal 🏅 which is on its way 😊 Good luck this afternoon 🍀 but do remember to pop into the TLC carriage for a rest beforehand 😉

Well that took rather longer than I intended 🙊 serves me right for not putting a timer on 😅 Not sure if I mentioned that a few weeks ago DSis & I started seeing a very speedy mouse (now nicknamed Gonzalez - for those of you old enough to remember him) in the living room. I couldn’t find a mousetrap & DH was quite insistent that they had all been binned or donated 😞 I wasn’t so convinced so DH said he would ‘pay me’ £10 for any mousetrap he found 😉 Roll forward a couple of weeks & guess what………….. yes, several mousetraps found, 10 in all of various types & sizes 🤣 & today DH handed over £100 as he is a man of his word 🥳

I hope everyone is having as good a day as possible & I will see you later 👋 

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

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’ ⭐️ 🏅 

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 1464/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £379.00

Willowtree222

That £100 is worth a medal!!

I have continued. Three drawers sorted through and tidied and another bag if rubbish left the house. Anything I didn't know the purpose of, got put in the bin.  Three items now listed for sale or free. 

Tempted to do another drawer but also going to my parents tonight for a few nights. They have moved to North Wales. 

QueenJess

I ventured out into the garden today (another area needing to be decluttered), but it's a bit overwhelming, so I am doing it in parts.  Anyway, cue lots more things gone.  I'm so close to filling up the final largish box for charity now, after which I only have 4 or 5 very small boxes (and only 7 plastic mailing bags).  I wish I could declutter everything today and start afresh, but little and often seems to be the way to win for me.  I can't see what needs to be gone until I've decluttered a little bit more and then I can only see the next 10 items.  All I know is that we have less than the average household, but I still feel we have more than we actually use and need.  So I shall continue to chip away at it when I can.

Tomorrow I start my new contracting job, so will have way less time.  However, maybe being back in the office will make me see my house through different eyes and be able to declutter more.  In any case, I will be using the commuting time to get through my stash of books to read and will be ruthlessly ejecting any I don't want to re-read.

3 - freezer overstock used up 
1 - cushion (charity bag)
3 - books/magazines I won’t read again (charity bag/Buy Nothing)
6 - DD/DS tat binned
1 - puzzle book recycled
1 - box of envelopes (charity bag)
1 - DD tat (charity bag)
2 - clothes saved for DD she doesn’t like (charity bag)
1 - DS paperwork recycled
4 - DS tat (charity bag)
8 - garden pots not needed (Buy Nothing)
1 - broken pot (binned)
1 - seed packet used up

New total 3,958
Use it up total 338
Big kitchen declutter challenge 112/150

My cleaning session today was the window sills and windows in the living room.

vulpix

Ariba, ariba Mrs SD

Enjoy your new job, Queen Jess.

Dizzycap, my friend has a  daxy with a grass allergy. He has to wear a coat to help him when he is on walks. She has tried many things but the most effective is some cream, I think it's called stinky stuff.

I am another who has had a productive day. DD1 came and we emptied the loft. Not a lot up there but more than I thought.Some broken down moving boxes, the TV box, 4 suitcases and some hard plastic storage boxes, one containing Susan my life sized baby doll.My Grandma got her for me when I was about 6. Her friend had a wool shop and the dolls used to model knits in the window. There were 2 off cuts of carpet which Mr V was going to use in the studio. I will post them on thrift tomorrow.
 We then walked to the event which Mr V was working. He played "our song" when he saw me.Met lots of people I know who I haven't seen for years, mainly because I only go out in the village every Preston guild!
 Didn't sew the skirt when we got back as I was a bit squiffy after having a pint of elder flower cider.We did empty the under sink cupboard in the kitchen and DD went away with 6 cleaning materials and a garden sun shade sail thing.
 She was going on to see my Mum so sent her with 2 food items for her too.

 I did take a photo of the cushion but I will have to post it again as I am on my laptop just now. I WILL sew the skirt tomorrow and put the machine away. Step son is coming to ferry furniture. We need to reorganise the boxes in the shed to make room. Mr V also needs to finish packing the studio. Now I have boxes I can start to pack things in the kitchen. Ooo, chucked some folder things away which I have saved since I left work 11 years ago. If I haven't found a use for them in 11 years I don't think I ever will.

 Vx

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

Sunday continued: Tomorrow the 3 of us are finally going to visit DH’s DNiece G (the one he & my DSis did the canal boat trip with) in her new bungalow. We are not going empty handed as DH & I have just made 2 batches of orange rock cakes 😊 After all we wouldn’t want to play favourites with DH’s nieces as S had some when she visited last month 😉 (That just leaves DNiece M 😉) 2nd batch of rock cakes is baked & cooling. Dinner was chicken & chips for DSis whilst DH & I had lo cottage pie with peas. Wudupa

1465 - 1467 Kitchen recycling, drinks can, small plastic bottle - recycled 

1468 - 1470 Kitchen & office detritus, 0.25” shredding - binned

After dinner I had a lovely relaxing bath 🛀 

Willowtree222, it was a nice surprise as I thought he was joking 🙂 Excellent work with the drawers 👏 Hope you have a wonderful time at your parents 🥹

Excellent work in the garden QueenJess 👏 & more excellent decluttering indoors 👏 Congratulations on your new job 🥳

vulpix, perfect ariba, ariba indeed 😂 I just need a bit of that with my decluttering 😉 Great info for Dizzycap 👏 Great work getting your DD to empty the loft & well done on decluttering most of the contents 👏 A medal 🏅 is on the way + 💐for your DD 😊 This “Didn't sew the skirt when we got back as I was a bit squiffy after having a pint of elder flower cider” brought a huge smile 😊 although I find it quite difficult to imagine you being sqwiffy 😅 Good luck with the furniture ferrying 🍀

Sleep tight 😴 

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

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’ ⭐️ 🏅 

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 1470/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £379.00