2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

QueenJess

Long week at work this week, so no real time for decluttering.  However, things have been used up or gone as a result of day to day life.  I'm not sure I'm keeping up with the ins and outs of the freezer I'm trying to track, but the contents definitely haven't gone down, so it's probably not far wrong.

Digital:
2 - photos deleted
1 - app deleted
2 - text conversations deleted
5 - wish list items deleted

Physical:
1 - paper reused, then recycled
1 - necklace I never wear (charity)
2 - bathroom supplies used up
2 - cupboard overstock used up
1 - freezer overstock used up 

New total 4,925
Use it up total 356
Mini freezer challenge +5/-20
Big kitchen declutter challenge 118/150

D123456789

Hello!

Long time away but been slowly chipping away at things. Lovely to see lots of motivated posters getting stuff done!,

LO puts me to shame , with some encouragement she decluttered some toys - then told me off as the bag was still hanging around the house and “shouldn’t that have been donated by now mum?” ! 

She also let go of around 2 dozen books, which went to our local hospice shop. We buy a lot of books there so it’s good to re donate. 

Clothes and books for LO  we seem to have had more in than out, but she’s growing in height, and an avid reader. 

LO also reorganised DH clothes all folded in categories in his drawers. He thought the fairies must have come in the night which LO found hilarious.

LO said she can’t wait to grow up so she can be in charge of cleaning and organising. 🤭 I put my hands up and said please go ahead and take the lead 😂 LO loves art and outdoor activities, and of course it’s very early at 8 years to predict a future career, but something tells me she would make a good teacher. 

I lost some keys and have been looking for them since May…. I found them this morning in the most unlikely place when I went in the office to get something. This is my DH domain so I am blaming him. . After I found them I did some paperwork decluttering so that’s all in the recycling now.

whenever I lose anything I know it’s time to be more ruthless with the decluttering to keep on top of it.

We went to grandmas in the summer and look a boot load of CDs to the charity shop for her. She was delighted with her newly claimed space. She is Swedish death cleaning. I also listed some large garden stuff online for her and it was collected the next day by someone with a big van, so she’s reclaimed the garage now where it had all been stored. Grandma is targeting all the problem areas and at least I can help with logistics when I visit.

There is so much to do but we’ve been out and about enjoying the weather over the summer, perhaps with all the rain expected we will get a bit more decluttering done in the house.😊

regnbue

Ooh @CRANKY40 when you get a spare few minutes would love to see a photo of the kitten wearing her raincoat 

vulpix

 Hello chums, Nice to hear how you have all been getting on.

 I seem to have reached a plateau with de cluttering.I am just packing everything now and will be ruthless at the other end of the move. Speaking of which, no news.
 Our solicitor blames their solicitor and theirs blames ours. The buyers sold with an online agent and got schmoozed into using their solicitor who is in London.Our solicitor has had 7 documents about access refused. We are now on number 8 with a £280 odd insurance policy thrown in plus another fee for an unconnected solicitor to witness our signatures.It all rests on the unconnected solicitor having time to witness us sign the "statement of truth" next week. My solicitor is pulling her hair out. I think the London solicitor thinks they are brokering a multi billion pound deal not whether the neighbour can bring their bin round our gable end!!!!!!! All it means in the end is about an extra grand for us to pay and a very long delay. It is unlikely that we will move next week. Fingers crossed for the week after.

 In much , much better news my knee has suddenly improved from the meniscus tear in June. Not better but much less stiff and painful. Almost back to just the usual arthritis pain.

 dND, nice to see you, I was thinking about your torturous move the other day. How lovely to get to see your son. xxx

 Cranky, it must be time for another photo of your cat... please?

 I was wondering where you were Liverpool Anne. Strangely I have been looking online for period fire surrounds.It keeps me busy and the mind occupied. I don't know what would have been in the house originally. The pine built in cupboard is still there but I think the fire surround might have been oak or mahogany.

 I didn't get a lot of packing done yesterday, I felt too ill. I am raring to go today. First I will do some ironing. Summer shirts from the past few weeks. I have also brought the hoover upstairs. Our buyers are buying the bedroom furniture so I will hoover it all inside, Where does grit inside a drawer actually come from?

 Vx

GrannyKate

Morning all (3 minutes left as I start to post). Plasterer arrived hooray.  Decided he did need to strip ceiling in bedroom 2 and re plaster - he has taken my new door off as he says it's a pain if you get plaster on the wooden doors.  I gather the plan is prep today then plastering Monday.  Sox is 'helping' him - luckily he is a cat person.  I had a very busy evening tidying and sorting bedroom 3 to fit lego from bedroom 2 in and find a temporary home for bedding which belongs in bedroom 2.  Vacuumed and generally tidied. Tried to renew English Heritage but ran into problems because of change of address, gave up on ringing them so I have sent an email. 

813 Bedroom 3 cleaned and tidied 
814 Stuff from bedroom 2 stored away rather than just lying around!  I think more bed stuff will go eventually. I found some unused bedding storage bags when I sorted garage the other day. 
815-830 Large collection of outgrown school uniform to school for their next sale
831 Two frogs completed this morning
832 Electronic declutter of emails etc
833-4 Two old mirrors up for sale.  Rather old fashioned style for me but very good quality.
835 Two bags of tomatoes to church hall table sale and four more bags to DS2 for cooking - I have an enormous glut of yellow tomatoes. I did buy a couple of bits off the church table - jam, potatoes and cooking apples (I will confess to also buying a jigsaw - DGS4 loves pandas and this is a 1000 piece panda picture which he and I can do in the winter). 

Right think I need to go to tip before the school run.  

TC77

Found my stretchy bandage, clearly n area I had dwcluttered as looking for a shoe box and found the much culled collection in a corner of a drawer.
But had to find documents from 2021 for dd1s accident and x Ray of ankle to take to consultant  on Monday.  Five folders taken apart and lying on the floor and  a few sheets of paper to copy. Not optimistic that anything can be done but she's hoping maybe taking pins and plates out may be possible but more surgery:(
I have busy out of house weekend so will make a plan to add to the list I started!

CRANKY40

@regnbue One kitten in a raincoat



 

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

Friday: Good afternoon Declutterati Family 👋 It is a lovely sunny day with a forecast high of 21°C, low 12°C & humidity of 58%. DH was up early, had a quick bath & was out of the house before noon (when I got up) to go to the dentist - hygienist then dentist for the first part re getting bridges 😣 13:15 I phoned DH - apparently he left early by accident so is sitting in a café nursing a cappuccino until 10 minutes before he needs to arrive at the dental surgery 😬 I might have got up late but I have dealt with a couple of emails which could have turned into frogs 😉 Now settling down with a cuppa & starting the cheerleading: 

TC77, how lovely to find a forgotten top ☺️ I will keep my fingers crossed that the weather stays warm enough for you to wear it 🤞Pleased to hear that you are feeling more positive 🥹

London_1, it is great when good habits like ‘stretching meals’ can be passed on although I have a feeling that all your DGCs have already learnt this from you 🥹 It sounds like the under the counter freezer is a boon 😊 Good luck tackling the wardrobe 🍀 

Window cleaners turned up just as I was finishing posts dated the 3rd. We had a lovely chat about their holiday in Kendal & about my family wedding - nearly 2 weeks ago & I am still ‘buzzing’ 🥹 

BlueJ94, shame about the rain but hopefully that means you will successfully complete your list for the day 😉 I am hoping the £50 from swagbucks was a surprise 😉 Re This “Thanks for the support so far everyone who cheers me along, it really does motivate me!” we are so lucky to have such a lovely ‘family’ 🥹 I remember ‘a slob comes clean’ 😉

GrannyKate, I have everything crossed that the plasterers turned up 🤞 Screaming might not help in making them turn up but it could release a bit of tension 😂 As to This “Long chat with sister in US yesterday - things in US are really too awful to contemplate.  She was at a clinic yesterday about some back issues and the doctor suggested a test and said shall we do it now as we know medicaid are covering this appointment.  She does have insurance cover but you never know what will happen going forward.” it is frightening 😱 A certain person & his cronies have a lot to answer for 😡 Good luck dealing with your frogs 🍀 Such a great idea to intersperse frog munching with more pleasurable activities 😊 Crikey doesn’t time fly - all 8 DGCs now in double figures 🤩 Poor Sox 😞

Excellent decluttering TC77 👏 Fingers crossed that only one trip is needed to the CS especially if it is raining 🤞 As to This “Also trying to sort our council's new parking system - each time they upgrade causes everyone more grief and is less intuitive.” sounds like an absolute nightmare 😱 especially as driving around Lewisham is now so difficult 😣 I imagine it is all to do with the council trying to pad its budget ☹️ 

YBR, thank goodness the loss was discovered so quickly 😮‍💨 A special thank you to the Good Samaritan who handed the phone straight to the bus driver 😊

One page caught up 🙂 Will post now & as I am struggling to concentrate I will find something to do 🤔 I hope everyone is having as good a day as possible 😊 

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

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’ ⭐️ 🏅 

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 1645/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £379.00

Willowtree222

Decluttered a huge frog today. One I have been procrastinating for a while now. Feels much better having done it. 

Didn't do much when DD went back to school deckuttering wide, just had a couple of days ti recharge after surviving the 6 week holidays! 

London_1

Good evening chums , gosh Ive had a busy day today. I went to my coffee morning at Northwood just outside Cowes.
Its sound odd but its held in a cemetery .Well there are two chapels there plus the Family History centre so the Friends of Northwood cemetery hold various event there to help raise funds for their work Its a beautiful 17 acre site and the amount of wildlife and squirrels there is amazing.

 Lots of volunteers help keep it looking absolutely gorgeous, and its not a sad or creepy place at all, every week there is a coffee morning usually on a Saturday, but also there are two day events laid on where, as today it was a jigsaw sale
People donate them for sale, and the proceeds help out with funding. If you google the site you can see how brilliant, with the help of some lottery funding plus lots of local community help its turned the place into a place where folk meet, chat or have a wander around the amazingly beautiful gardens and the flora and fauna is stunning. It's won a Green award for 8 years running.
 
Anyhow I decluttered some cash, had a lovely cup of coffee and a home made cake and a nice natter with a couple of ladies and brought home four more jigsaws for my 2025 winter collection.I enjoy on a cold winters afternoon getting stuck into a good jigsaw. I have a new stash of 10 altogether at the moment so hopefully it will while away the winter afternoons when its too cold or wet to go anywhere.

I've just filled the calendar up with things that I'm doing in the coming months and I shall be really busy as there is so many things to do and go to over here. I've rejoined the local U3A and next friday night I am off to a quiz night at Osbourne House, Queen Victorias place in East Cowes. DD is coming as well so we should have a good evening.

I also have two more coffee mornings to attend plus the knit and natter group .One of the coffee mornings is the MacMillan one which I always enjoy plus its a great charity

I did drop a box of stuff off in one of the charity shops in Cowes as well then popped into Aldis on the way home for a little bit of shopping. 

Finally got home around three and did a deep dive into the socks and scarf in my bedroom so another box started for decluttering

Just going to have some dinner then a feet up tonight as I have done a good bit of rushing about today so I'm taking the night off 

DDs ma-in-law and her OH are coming over tomorrow for the day as they are in Lymington on holiday so it will be busy tomorrow I think 

Have a good weekend chums

dND nice to 'see' you back again 

Cheers chums 

JackieO xx