2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

Organizing_Home

Loving this thread! I’m trying to declutter a little each week and it’s amazing how much lighter the house feels already. Excited to keep up the momentum in 2026!

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, busy day out of the house yesterday. First stop was the post office, 2 cards and cash sent to Australia and another gift and card to a friend in Scotland so more paper and wrapping stuff decluttered. Then on to the sm for a few bits, then on to the pop up shop organised by ex colleagues for the pupils to get some work experience. Spent very little but did buy a couple of things that can be used as gifts and some reindeer food that will find it's way on to the bird table soon 😁. Then a mooch around the local market and more bird food picked up, it's that time of year when they need a little help and I am seeing an increase in the visits from the little birds which I love 😁.
Called at OH's house to collect the post and while I was there I decluttered the front garden of the blown in rubbish but the front door etc needs a little tlc but it was raining so left for another day. 
Got home about 4 and went into ln for a quick coffee as we have not seen her since last week, she has been for a visit to see ggs so it was nice to have a catch up. Ln and OH decluttered some of the bailies after the coffee was drunk 😂. OH tends to be gifted things like this so it all helps with clearing the space 😂.
Annoyingly while eating my tea a tooth filling decided to declutter itself. Not sure if I have mentioned it but several years ago I was head butted by a child. The front tooth was ok but it caused a very fine crack on the enamel and this year the enamel has decided to fall off. As it's a front tooth I am very aware of it and it's very visible. I have discussed my options with the dentist but apparently we are still at the repair stage which would be fine if it didn't keep falling off. I have contacted the dentist this morning and have an appointment for next Thursday 🙄. 
I think I have finished the crochet stage of the baskets for the scarves etc on the top of the coat rack but need to line them so that will be fine as soon as I have the front room slightly more under control and I have a bit of room to work 😁.
OH is out for tea tonight and tomorrow so I can have some veg stew from the freezer which will make a little space in there.
We have also started a shopping list for festive food. We will be driving to OH's Dsis for the day so that is a massive saving of hassle. OH will be going back on boxing day for round 2 to see family not there on Christmas day but I have opted out 😂.
There are no current plans to put up decorations this year except maybe some lights in the porch, can't move in the lr as it is without adding decorations to the mix 😂 though it is quite nice to see some appearing. Some houses in my road have had them up for a couple of weeks already.
New neighbour over the road is starting be leave notes on people's cars that have parked outside her house. Honestly the parking is dire in our road but as nobody owns the road people can park where ever they want. I will be watching with amusement 😂.

@TC77, thanks for the encouragement, you are absolutely right, sometimes survival mode is all we can manage 😁. Think my mojo is starting to come back but not sure yet 😂. I hope the work restructure resolves itself in a way that works for you. I often wonder about these things, who decided that it is needed and why? Usually it's just a way of trying to save money so people end up doing more work in less time and then end up getting very stressed and then need time off sick to recover, not really productive but it seems to happen a lot.
You can get carbon monixide detectors that can have the batteries replaced, they are so annoying when they beep 😁

@Green_hopeful love the blind 😁

@Vulpix your porch sounds like mine, limited space but does help to keep the hallway warm 😁. If the butler's tray won't fit maybe the stool would work. 

@purplevamp it's not work stuff OH is messy with it's things like using the last of the foil and leaving the cardboard inner on the worktop rather than put it in the recycling bag literally 2 steps away 😡

@diminua I have tin envy, I have a bit of a thing about tins 😁 though I am slowly hardening myself to giving some away but it's hard 😂

@London_1 big hugs

Right time to do something, no list yet so it could be anything 😂

Hugs to everyone who would like one

1652 lr bin
1653 cardboard box
1654 cards posted
1655 parcel posted
1656 rubbish from OH's front garden
Take care everyone
1656/2025

diminua

Thank you for the lovely comments on my decorations. 

@weenancyinAmerica - yes, big Agatha Christie fan. There's another row of books behind that one as well - and most are Christies. 

@vulpix - I wish I could say I made it but the crochet snowflake was bought at Garson's farm in Surrey years and years ago. 

@Liverpool_Anne - I have to admit I did buy the panettone partly for the tin. And the chocolate as well - I think that was last year or the year before. 

canvascamper

I'm so impressed with everyone who has bought all their presents already. I have 3 kids to buy for and nowhere near finished.

Today I have only managed to declutter 20 photos from my online storage. 

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 was a dark miserable day with a high of 11°C (feeling 5° colder), low 2°C + rained on & off all day. DH went out for lunch with an ex work colleague. Left at 12:00 & back by 17:00. I finished the laundry & another hat. Dinner for just me & DSis - pulled pork for me, quiche for DSis  & both had boiled new potatoes. Wudupa.

2239 - 2245 Kitchen recycling x 2, newspaper x 2, drinks cans x 2, cardboard packaging - recycled

2246 - 2248 Kitchen detritus x 2, lr detritus- binned

Apologies for not catching up with the cheerleading……….yet. I will make a concerted effort over the weekend. Sleep tight everyone 😴 

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

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

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 2248/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £569.00

TC77

@Liverpool_Anne , love.hiw yiu and others are so creative. Sorry to hear about your tooth and hope the dentist does a good repair.

I'm waking up every couple of hours and.will get up.but unsure where to start with chaos.
I think work impacting me more as had been told would be consultation in the Spring and trying to support my team. 

Will hope to report progress even if small!

CRANKY40

Good morning good people, Sorry that I went AWOL in November. It was a bit chaotic here. After complying with all of the info etc that university wanted in year one, ds has discovered that none of his tutors had been informed of his disability and just thought he was being lazy on the days that he didn't show up. He has changed personal tutor and the new one is doing their absolute best to get help for him and to support him but that comes with it's own heap of admin to wade through and it still feels like "too little too late".


Anyway, decluttering - I didn't manage to stick to my five things a day every day but the November total was 135 things which I think is is ok. December will be similar I think with the added bonus/chaos of my sister visiting and removing some of the items that I have gathered together for her since her last visit. The most notable thing is that my 6 year old great nephew has only asked for one item for Christmas - it was suuposed to be released on the 5th of December and now release has been put back to between the 23rd to 31st of December. Ds has managed to produce from the room of doom (his bedroom) a very similar item in which we can reproduce the contents from the missing present (we have almost all of the things needed to do this). As my sister said yesterday, ds has saved Christmas.

I went to knit and natter on Wednesday and managed to rehome a whole bag of items with various ladies. I came home with a free bunch of out of date flowers which are opening up nicely. I need to press on with tidying/cleaning ready for my sister's visit now as I purposely left the weekly cleaning until today and tomorrow so that I didn't have to do it twice.

@vulpix I had similar to you during covid. I had pain after eating which gradually became worse and worse until I had to lie down after eating and could only manage tiny meals. I had a small gallstone lodged in my bile duct. I ended up being admitted to hospital when the pain didn't stop one day (gallstone dept was closed so no outpatient appointments) and the removal was ok. I was sedated enough not to be aware of any of the procedure and a device was used to hold my mouth open. The doctor used an instrument to open up my bile duct and drop the stone into my digestive system and it was all over very quickly. It was also painless.

Mrs S_D your knitting is lovely. I've been admiring it as I read along. I just haven't had the energy or brain power to write a post.

Take care all of you 😊

vulpix

Hello Organising_Home and welcome. Looking forward to hearing all about your de cluttering.

TC, I am sorry for your job stress. It really doesn't help with life. Channel your frustration into some de cluttering. x

Even after all this time hearing about others de clutter journey spurs me on and sometimes gives me an idea of a category to tackle when some one else mentions it.

Liverpool Anne, ouch for the tooth. My Nephew threw his head back as a baby sat on SIL's knee and knocked her front teeth out! Hard things, heads! Glad your mojo is warming up again.

Diminua and Liverpool Anne, I am a sucker for a nice tin too and a nice box, you never know when you will need a good box!

 Bought some stuff from FB yesterday, a massive plant for the bathroom, a plant stand a new curtain pole and a mirror. The grand sum of £20 spent. I don't spend much on stuff as I will undoubtedly get rid of it in the future. I do like to ring the changes.
 Mr V is just about to collect an artificial tree. Expensive for me at £50 but it was over £200 new and looks lush. Or it will be lush in the bay window. Just a small matter of taking the window seat out now.

 Lots of little jobs completed yesterday. More for me today, Mr V is at work from 2 so my plan is to finish the fill in the plaster channels from the re wire, use the scraper tool on the sticky varnish on the dining table and have a rejig in the kitchen cupboards to try and unpack the last 2 banana boxes. I would like to clear the breakfast bar of all the tins of paint and DIY stuff. My intention is to put a small Christmas tree there. I will post a photo if I manage it.
 
Whilst I was in the car I deleted a huge amount of photo's and videos. I have plenty more to go through.

 We went to "big Tescs". I got a double fitted sheet for the spare bed. It currently has a king size sheet well tucked in. There are a lot of bedding options reduced atm. Also started buying Christmas bits of food. Chilli jam. I always used to make it but you can get it everywhere now a days so saves me making everything in the kitchen sticky!

 Vx

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, so so day yesterday, OH was in and out causing distractions 😂. Another annoying pen binned, the kitchen recycling emptied, a moisturiser uu, this had been lurking for far too long and a mini stash of soap unearthed by OH finally used up. I have had a sort out of my lotions and potions and have the items to be used first coralled in a small bag, hoping for some quick wins as I empty the last dregs from these 😂. I can't seen to bring myself to just dump these, anyone else do that?  Also a t shirt into the cs bag. I love it but it's too small and I have decided not to beat myself up by looking at it and telling myself I should lose weight so it's got to go. Will be counted when the bag is taken to the cs 😁.  Today I am going to have a look at some other clothes to see what can go. I did have a sort out a few months ago but I have noticed there are things I still avoid wearing even though I know they fit me and I do like them so I need to have a think about why I am avoiding them. I also need to do some ironing 🙄
As OH was out last night I decluttered some things from the planner while doing some wrapping, more paper stash used 😁 but still got loads left 😂
I came across a decluttering lady on u tube that I like. She works with people and shows the whole process not just the before and after and it shows how long it all takes so that made me feel better. I expect lots of you already know her but in case you want to have a look it's called the space maker. She loves containers and labels 😂.

@TC77 try not to get too stressed about the work situation. I know it is easy to say and hard to do but try to switch it off when you are not in work, especially at night. Things are always much harder to cope with when you are sleep deprived, big hugs.

Right time for another cuppa and an assess of what I will do today 😁
Hugs to everyone who would like one

1656 moisturiser
1657 soap
1658 pen
1659 kitchen recycling
Take care everyone
1659/2025

London_1

Hi chums feeling slightly better today, although my arm is still achy and my hand can't bear hot water without it stinging, but the anti bios are doing their job.
I'll be glad when I can pick up my knitting needles once more as I do miss it when I'm sitting down, as I like to keep busy, but another side effect is that they make me feel very sleepy and I'm not a sleepy person
I just sit thinking of all the things I should be getting on with, I feel like a clockwork mouse that needs rewinding  

I've been sorting out my Talkmobile account on my new laptop and for some reason it wouldn't accept my password, and kept locking me out .
I had a very long chat with a delightful young lady at the call centre, and she was very patient and helpful and took her time, and between us we fixed it
Bless her she was so nice, and extremely patient with me as I'm not the most technically expert at these things I usually get my DGS Jack to fix things but he won't be over until Christmas.

Its blowing a hooley outside at the moment so I'm glad I'm indoors in the warm, but no decluttering physically to do but have decluttered quite a bit from my laptop that was unnecessary 

My DD thinks I am slightly OCD as I do like to tidy things up but I've been like that all my life and I doubt I'll change now. In my previous house, which was smaller than this one I used to 'Think Caravan ' as my late husband would say, as having less room meant unneeded junk and surplus rubbish was got rid of
 
Even since moving I still look around and have a tendancy to put things away fairly quickly. I guess I'm just a compulsive tidy-upper whereas DD having had a house with five children is slightly more lax and laid back.

Still we get along OK, and both her and I have compromised in as much as we can to each others habits. My son-in-law just smiles and says nothing bless him .
But after almost 18 months here we haven't fallen out as DD is very like her late Dad.
 I did make a tip run booking and she did get rid of the old broken microwave that we had replaced as I said you have to do it as its booked in, and she actually found some rubbish in the spare room that got tipped as well, no good getting old if you don't get artful They have both gone food shopping so I'm dog-sitting until they come back.

Right well it seems time for a cuppa  so the the dogs may even get a rich tea biscuit as they have been good , its their treat,:)  and both Stan the greyhound, and Ted the little Westie see me in the kitchen, and sit hopefully by the door hoping I might open the rich tea biscuit box that holds their treats.

Onwards and upwards chums, keep warm and dry if you can

JackieO xx