2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

vulpix

Hello my lovelys, was that Charlie Drake?

Got back on Wednesday morning brrrr. A lovely time was had. 

 Loads of washing done, cats collected from the cattery. Fomo is still very upset, stuck to me like glue. 

 I am on a roll with de cluttering. Gone to chazzer or via thrift:- slippers, Christmas hoody, 2 pairs of massive curtains, 2 garden chairs and matching table, 3 glass light shades,2 single duvet covers, a mobility walker. Probably more that I can’t remember. Ah, the big dining table going tomorrow through thrift. 

 I bought a second hand pair of curtains for £7 for the sitting room. I want just one room to be presentable for Christmas. I will never get round to adding a piece to the bottom of the others before then. I am not overly keen on the new curtains but they fit properly and will do for now. 

 In, a mobility walker with a seat from thrift. A Christmas table cloth from the charity shop. Just bought some earrings on holiday. 

 Electrician finished for now. Bathroom guy coming Monday but it will be months before he can do the bathroom. Double glazing guy just been. Replacing some blown units, re sealing leaks and adjusting the badly fitted front door. Plumber coming next week to see about moving and fitting a new radiator. Builder threatening to do the shed bases soon. DD1 coming tomorrow and we are wallpaper stripping in the sitting room. …and breathe. 

Mr V out doing some sound desk work, I intend to find homes for the contents of some boxes stacked up in the kitchen. Ad infinitum.

 Got loads on next week so not much will get done. Pleased to have got rid of some big items though. 

 I bet your parcel guy will deliver your parcels with care from now on Mrs SD. 

Gotta get on. Trying to hang some curtains at the front door before tackling the boxes. 

 Vx

Brie

vulpix said:

 I bet your parcel guy will deliver your parcels with care from now on Mrs SD. 

 Vx

I quite agree!!  And how lovely of you to have offered him something that you had made.  You saw him as a person which can be a rare thing these days.

There was a mention on Women's Hour on Friday that they wanted to ensure that during the "black Friday" events that people remember that all those customer service/sales people, in person or on line or phone, are people with feelings and that we should treat them so.  And further they were looking for stories of those of us who stop and speak to those in shops, smile at them, thank them.  Or stories where we were the ones working and were treated especially well or badly.  It reminded me of the time I worked the till at a supermarket and was subjected to truly nasty behaviour by some young women (very privileged uni students) - basically they had already opened their ice cream tubs and were eating it with their fingers and smearing it everywhere and if they could have reached me I know they would have tried to dab me with it too, all the while making snide comments about how I must be stupid to have such a stupid menial job.  I have never managed to think of a good retort to them - all I could do was maintain a dignified silence.  

So I had this in my mind when I was in Sainsbury's and needed to get money back due to the OH having forgotten his Nectar card and ran into a brick wall with 2 women on customer service who said they couldn't do more than give me the Nectar points and not the extra £9 he'd been charged.  Some smiles, a bit of charm, a bit of banter about how silly men can be especially if they have man flu and I have foolishly allowed him out on his own and the £9 was credited back to his card.  We all walked away with smiles on our faces.  

purplevamp

Just wanted to pop in and say hi.  I've been busy (not sure on what though) and not had time to read the thread.

I've been decluttering very little.  A few sales on Ebay, Etsy and Vinted have moved some things out of the house.  Went and saw Adam Ant at the beginning of the month  and saw a comedy show last night at my local Komedia.

Trying to get the house ready for Christmas decs which are going up tomorrow.  Most of my Christmas presents have been bought, just one son to buy for, but he doesn't know what he wants so it'll probably be money.

We've taken our house off the market as the EA was rubbish.  4 viewing booked, 2 showed up and we knocked the price down.  We're going to see how we feel about it in the New Year.

Hugs to those who need them and to those that don't 

Green_hopeful

I have been away driving my mum back from France. My husband was left with an adult step son to mind the house and pets. He noticed that the white plastic chopping boards were stained and looking rubbish so I kondoed the chopping boards. Three white plastic boards, two wooden ones and two meat type ones out. No one would want them so they went in the bin. I thought we would have to buy a replacement one but found a dunelm one in the cupboard, still in its wrapper so thats a win. 

He asked what I would get to replace them (I don’t think he was paying attention when I found the new one). I said the plastic ones had lasted 20 years so probably plastic again. He said he wouldn’t want plastic. I said what else? I don’t mind wood for bread but not onions or meat. He couldn’t say just not plastic. Good job we have the plastic one then. Some sort of man logic going on there. 

Green_hopeful

Oh and I decluttered my flip flops. In early 2014 i bought them for €2.50. Last week we were camping in Southwold and I wore them to the shower block. They were quite mucky from the mud so picked them up to wash them. I noticed the bit that goes between the toes was coming out. I thought I should be careful walking back. I got about two steps from the shower block and the right one fell apart. The next step the left one fell apart. What are the chances of them both breaking at exactly the same time. I walked back looking very strange trying to get to the campervan without injuring myself and chucked them away. Not done too badly considering they are 11 years old. 

Completely unrelated picture of my cat wearing her upcycled Laura Ashley jumper enjoying a rest in a cafe. She sits on top of our cat stroller because she gets grumpy with the other cats. 

suzeesu2000

Green_hopeful said:

He asked what I would get to replace them (I don’t think he was paying attention when I found the new one). I said the plastic ones had lasted 20 years so probably plastic again. He said he wouldn’t want plastic. I said what else? I don’t mind wood for bread but not onions or meat. He couldn’t say just not plastic. Good job we have the plastic one then. Some sort of man logic going on there. 

I don’t like plastic for chopping boards, micro plastic getting into foods. We use a big wooden one for most things but have 3 smaller bamboo ones for meat/fish/onions. 

Soontobeoap

I have decluttered another bin bag full whilst searching for the cards that I made a few months back for crib group. Going through cupboards and my craft shed I picked up bits that were no longer of any use to me. Also the roof has been fixed on craft shed but there was still a lot of bits and pieces that were ruined so they went in the bag too. Still haven't found cards though so I obviously tidied them well.

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

Saturday: Raining early a.m. & continued raining on & off until 11:00 & then started raining properly. High 13°C, low 8°C I didn’t go to bed Friday night as I needed to go out this morning to pick up a few bits for DH’s birthday dinner - onions, mushrooms & tomatoes to accompany the steak & chips 😉 DH had jokingly mentioned that he felt left out as he never received flowers 🙊 so I also popped into a florist called The Flower Shop & bought him a red rose with some gypsophila. I left the house 09:10 & was back indoors by 10:30 - no-one noticed even though I had left a note 🤷‍♀️ DH was surprised & a bit embarrassed about receiving a rose but was also quite pleased & amused 😊 Whilst he was opening his cards I made him a bacon sandwich. As expected, I spent a lot of the day asleep in between knitting & watching TV. We set the table for dinner - steak, oven chips, roasted tomatoes, fried onions, mushrooms in a creamy sauce & green beans. Very tasty it was too 🤤 Shop bought chocolate cake for afters about 1.5 hours later. Yes, we did sing Happy Birthday 😉 Wudupa. 

2209 - 2212 Kitchen recycling, cardboard box, drinks cans, paper packaging - recycled 

2213 - 2214 Kitchen & lr detritus - binned 

Nice to see you QueenJess 👋 Excellent decluttering despite being so busy with paid work 👏

I will catch up with the rest of the cheerleading later as I am off to bed. Sleep tight 😴 

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

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’ ⭐️🏅🏅⭐️😇🏅🥇 

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 2214/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £569.00

Moorviews

Happy Birthday for yesterday Mr SD 🥳💐🎂 It sounds like you made it a very special day for him @Mrs_Salad_Dodger 😊 That delivery driver will remember you forever for your generosity too. 

@Brie - I can never relate to people being rude. Hopefully those students look back on their behaviour with a sense of embarrassment. 

@Vulpix - glad you had a good holiday. It sounds like you have come back to the house with vigour and a clear mind. 

@Green_hopeful - what a beautiful cat 😍 and you got good value from those flip flops!
@purplevamp - it isn’t a good time of year for house sales. At least it will give you a chance to relax over Christmas as being on the market is quite stressful.
@suzeesu2000 - I have separate plastic boards for different foods and would like to change to wood/bamboo, unfortunately my husband would chop onions or meat on them all. 

@Soontobeoap - hopefully now that your shed has a new roof there won’t be any more ruined craft materials 🤞

I feel like I am cluttering up with the buying of Christmas presents. Everyone is coming here so I am stuck with them until the day itself. I need to get some sort of organisation going instead of tripping over them all the time 🤔 

mehefin

Just popping in...
1 VHS recorder - on curb - gone within 30 minutes
smelly soaps gifted to me by neighbour - sent to school for raffle
Brand new scarf rack think... ditto..
Brand new tablet stand cushion thing... ditto.
Clear out of china cabinet - chipped,cracked stuff all binned
Commemoration mugs etc for Queen's various jubilees, Charles and  Diana wedding, his Prince of Wales ceremony all put aside for DS who for some reason 'wants' them - he's welcome.

I have forgotten the rest lol but there is much more.
Mehefin