2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

Brambling

Hi everyone I'm back after successfully declutterring a dodgy right hip and I'm just getting back to normal (well as normal as I ever am! ) 🙂 I have skimmed through the thread but boy can you lot decluttering 😁

Although I haven't physically done much decluttering in the last couple of months my sister and a mutual friend tackled some for me whilst keeping me company, I sat in my chair and did a lot of thumbs up thumbs down and managed some small items whilst sitting supervising with my feet up. Not counting food items I reckon they cleared 60% of my kitchen if you include under the stairs and the airing cupboard which I use for storage.  My friend was determined it wasn't going to stay in bags waiting for me to drive and maybe change my mind so did tip and charity shop runs and got rid of stuff on freebay as well 🙂.  I found it surprisingly easy to part with stuff when I wasn't the one doing the clearing.  My friend also tackled my dining room so the table is cleared other than the sewing machine and a couple of small crafting projects, most of the stuff is gone from my desk including the large monitor left from wfh, I just need to work out where to move the printer if I want to get rid of my desk from the corner.  I still have some drawers to go through and I need to see where they hid a cat food bowl? 

I did try to sort under my bed today, I have storage under the mattress but lifting the mattress to access it twinged my hip so I quickly let it drop and will give it a couple of weeks, don't tell my sister! I have been crafting so a couple of WIPs have been completed and a lot of books read.

I've started back volunteering and managed to put back the two books I put aside at the secondhand book shop on Saturday. 

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

Monday continued: ended up doing nothing apart from partially clearing the dining room table - nothing decluttered but several bits & pieces put away 😔 DH went for a 2nd walk 17:00  Dinner was slices of beef in gravy, mash, carrots & peas. DH had a small plateful to take him to his 800kcal. DH went for a 3rd walk after dinner. Wudupa 

1725 - 1726 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans - recycled 

1727 Kitchen detritus - binned

Lovely to see you _Dolly_Rocker_  👋 Eek to the upstairs neighbour flooding your flat 😥 Fingers crossed the council get back to you quickly & also make the  necessary repairs quickly 🤞

Green_hopeful, This “When i was a student I was aware that i would do practically anything to avoid revision.” sounds like me with housework & decluttering 😉😉 Well done practising puttying & good luck dealing with the rest of the windows 🍀

suzeesu2000, 80 mile gusts 😥 Cleaning definitely counts as decluttering 🙂 Pleased to hear that sorting out & listing your freezer contents has already proved so useful 😊

Yikes Green_hopeful 😰 Now that your husband has had his eye operation, I wish him a speedy recovery 🙏

You have been busy wishus 🤩 Excellent decluttering & well done on the sales 👏 I especially like the bag of cut rosemary 😊

Lovely to see you Brambling 👋 Very pleased to hear that you decluttered a bad hip 😉 I won’t tell your sister about the mattress incident as long as you promise to rest up completely 😊 This “Although I haven't physically done much decluttering in the last couple of months my sister and a mutual friend tackled some for me whilst keeping me company, I sat in my chair and did a lot of thumbs up thumbs down and managed some small items whilst sitting supervising with my feet up. Not counting food items I reckon they cleared 60% of my kitchen if you include under the stairs and the airing cupboard which I use for storage.  My friend was determined it wasn't going to stay in bags waiting for me to drive and maybe change my mind so did tip and charity shop runs and got rid of stuff on freebay as well 🙂.  I found it surprisingly easy to part with stuff when I wasn't the one doing the clearing.  My friend also tackled my dining room so the table is cleared other than the sewing machine and a couple of small crafting projects, most of the stuff is gone from my desk including the large monitor left from wfh, I just need to work out where to move the printer if I want to get rid of my desk from the corner.  I still have some drawers to go through and I need to see where they hid a cat food bowl?” is brilliant 🤩 I am so impressed that I am making the following awards - a Gold Star ⭐️ for you, a Gold Star ⭐️ for your sister & a Gold Star ⭐️ for your friend ☺️ Congratulations to all of you 👏

All caught up so off to bed. I will try harder tomorrow. Sleep tight 😴 

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

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’ ⭐️ 🏅 🏅

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 1727/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £379.00

BlueJ94

Morning all, been awake since 4am. These early shifts are tiring, I was in bed asleep by quarter past 8 yesterday! 

To do today 

Remove black bins from spare room as bins have finally been emptied, although 4 days late!!

Take a photo of spare room to update you all.
Make work lunches.

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, very little to report decluttering wise. Sunday we got another car load to the tip which included all the cardboard from ln's from the Swedish shop squashed in on top. Got soaked unloading so I lit the fire for the first time this year when we got home to warm up 😁. I spent the afternoon watching footy on tv and after tea just did some crochet 😁
Yesterday we were out for the day. First stop OH's dniece who had just returned from a 4 day trip to Canada for a friends wedding. Very brave to make the trip with 2 young children. She enjoyed it but was very tired as the baby didn't sleep at all on the flight back and they didn't have a bassinet for the return flight so had to hold him for the entire flight. She was very happy to take the big bag of meals we took them 😂. Then on to meet our friends for lunch. The restaurant is next to and overlooks a fishing lake but there was some proper weather going on out there so I only had a short walk though it did blow the cobwebs away 😂. The meal was lovely and despite having the pensioner portion for a main to ensure that I had room for the renound sticky toffee pudding we were all stuffed at the end 😂. Lingered over our coffee and chatted and managed to get caught in the start of the rush hour traffic on the way home 😂. All we had for tea was some strawberries as we were both still so full 😂. Only did some crochet after tea 😂
Somehow I have managed to book up my week this week. Tonight I am meeting up with some ex colleagues for tea, tomorrow I am at the footy, Thursday we are out for tea with ln for her birthday and Friday I am going to see a school teacher who is doing a stand up show and is apparently very funny, Saturday I have another footy match. Somewhere in between I will have to sort something out as I am falling way behind with my decluttering 😂.

@Mrs SD re the meal planning, could you start with a list of the meals that you all like and then look at what you and Mr SD like but can have an easy substitute for dsis, for example if she doesn't like pork when you do pork medallions could she have sausages so there is only one thing different but could be put in the oven so you are not juggling several things in different plans 😁 I know things are also complicated by Mr SD's 800 days atm but I notice he does stir fry on those days sometimes. With a little fiddling you could all have this. I remember when I had to be on a fat free diet due to gall bladder problems I used to have stir fry quite often cooked in soy sauce rather than oil so it was completely fat free but very filling. I will have a check through your posts to get a better idea and a ponder. If I come up with any other ideas I will let you know 😂

Right off for another cuppa and a look around to see what I can do 😂
Hugs to everyone who would like one

1281 &1282 tip run
1283 loads of food to dniece 😂
1283/2025

TC77

@Brambling, Hope you're well on the way to recovery. Sounds like you have a wonderful friend and sister, and hopefully makes life easier.  And @wishus amazing decluttering.
Dropped off CS bag yesterday, and as abit light added some items ,2 still in packaging hosiery and 2 items I can't recall!
Trying to remind myself that the decluttering is to help create the life you want (ie not trip hazards, and not taking all day to mind your belongings). 
Realise I have to tackle the next layer of things which are more involved in history/emotion/justin etc
At least the sun is out and the washing on the line

_Dolly_Rocker_

@Green_hopeful - Glad he seems to be feeling better and that's so bad they let him walk out like that last time!

@wishus - WOW smashed it!!

@Brambling - That was great of your friends! Be careful, the decluttering can wait. 

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger - Well done to DH, ask him to send some motivation my way will you! 

@BlueJ94 - 4am is early! No wonder you're asleep at that time. Looking forward to seeing the pic. 

@Liverpool-Anne - What a busy time you're having. Sounds like fun though. Yeah not sure I would have tackled that just myself to be honest so go DNeice!

@TC77 - It's hard to let go of some things isn't it. 

So update on the flood, neighbour didn't hear anything from the council so he called the emergency repairs people out, they came and had a look last night and the waste pipe was loose so that's all sorted. He very kindly offered to come down, plaster and redecorate my bathroom. It was identified and fixed in less than 24hrs so a wee wash of the walls will do it. Really appreciate that though, good to have a nice neighbour. 

Tidied up my living room and bedroom yesterday in between work and walking dogs so those 2 rooms look lovely. Today I am going to tackle the kitchen and I need to get into the habit of giving the whole place a wee once over every day. Here's to making new habits and having them stick!

vulpix

I have tried to take a photo of the bangle, it turns out that is a difficult thing for me to do. Anyhoo, the diamonds are all different sizes and are randomly placed all the way round it.

Mrs SD, when DS was a teenager he drove me insane one Saturday morning making stupid whistling noises. I kept asking him to pack it in, he kept insisting it was next doors parrot! They didn't have a parrot . Turns out next door were baby sitting someones parrot!

 Mr V was a very fussy eater when I first inherited him. I make most things from scratch and he loves highly processed food, but he is also lazy so he ate what I gave him and is now 90% Vegan. NEVER in a million years would I have predicted that! After about 15 years he tried hummus for the first time. Every day is a school day for him. I don't know what the solution is with your sister. It's no fun cooking separate meals all the time. I think I would just batch cook and freeze portions of stuff she will eat for the times she doesn't want what you have made.

Dollyrocker, I do hope you have managed to get somewhere with the flooding problem.

Greenhopeful, thank goodness that's all over with.x

Brambling, now there's a decluttering result. Loadsa stuff and an old hip.x

LiverpoolAnne, we had proper weather too last night! I love to hear rain lashing the windows. Only when I am inside,warm and dry though!

TC, nothing more satisfying than getting washing dried on the line. Keep chipping away at the decluttering. It must have made a difference for you, you have been very consistent with it for a good while now.

 Holes filled. Today before craft club I will sand and touch up with some emulsion I saved in an old jam jar. Finally, a case of Justin actually working.

 Vx

QueenJess

Not feeling great today (coming down with a cold), so I am going to post and run.  Will catch up with the thread later.

Digital:
26 - wish list items deleted
1 - app deleted
2 - notes deleted
26 - photos deleted
3 - files deleted
1 - bookmarks deleted
1 - emails deleted from folders
1 - text conversations deleted

Physical:
4 - shoe boxes (charity appeal)
5 - paper reused, then recycled 
1 - freezer overstock used up

New total 5,121
Use it up total 363
Mini freezer challenge -1/-120
Big kitchen declutter challenge 121/150

Pennypincin

Hi everyone.
I've lost my way with decluttering and seem to have had lots come in and not much go out.
I think I am hopefully turning it around though.
I've taken apart and paid the council to take a table away, I've re-homed my maths stuff, the whiteboards and pens are waiting to be re-homed along with a small slow cooker and 2 carrier bags of bits for the charity shop.

Wednesday2000

I have felt quite stir crazy being indoors so much after having this cold. It feels weird not even going out for a daily walk so I think I will go for one tomorrow. I rearranged the pet food cupboard and moved the winter indoor boots downstairs into the understairs cupboard as it definitely felt more Autumnal the other day. I cleaned my summer sandals too.

I have called up to book a bulky waste and have made up two donation bags to take to the local charity shop. I thought my husband would take the bags today, but he decided not to visit his brother in London in case he passes my cold onto him as he has a chronic condition.

I still need to book a flu jab. I'm going to call up now.