2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

_Dolly_Rocker_

So done half of the bathroom! Actually never decluttered one thing but I'll finish it tomorrow. 

Did declutter an old purse. Got rid of loyalty cards I no longer use, bank cards that had expired and some old receipts. I'm going to make that my main purse now, it's a lovely Radley purse I've had for years.

I am so tired tonight so had dinner and I'm watching Lockerbie, will go to bed after episode 2 and try get a good night sleep - haha what even is that!?!

MrsSD - If in doubt always switch it off and on again. 

suzeesu2000 - My cupboards are also a nightmare mess.

Florenceem - How annoying are queue jumpers! Honestly just wait your blooming turn people. Good on you for telling him. Glad you got up to see Mr F.

mehefin - Sorry to hear about the horse, hope they feel better soon. Yeah litter louts are the worst, its so bad where I stay too. Yay to the recycling and the CS additions. 

Brambling - I'd say that's a win! Still decluttered the shoes so yay. I'm sure your sister would appreciate that. 

GrannyKate - Bet DGD4 loves staying over. I miss my Granny. Exciting news about the kitty!

charlies_tribe - Well done on the recycling. I really need to clear out my freezer, who knows what lurks in there.

Blue_Doggy

Welcome! to all the new Declutterati 👋 
Hugs to everyone who needs a hug ❤️

 

My declutterations since I last posted have been mostly of the routine sort, trying to stop the piles of toot piling up to tottering height. In no particular order:
- recycling to bin, and out for collection today
- also dead batteries out with recycling, but forgot to add dead cheapy-cheapo torch
- dead gift flowers to garden waste bin (sometimes they still look ok-ish and get kept on until they’ve become pot-pourri on stalks)
- envelopes from opened post went with the recycling
- advertising circulars went straight from letterbox to recycling bin (did not touch the indoors)
- new photos of Dgreat-nephews & nieces put into frames, old ones dated on the back & put in photographs cupboard (we won’t go there yet, it’s in its own cosy frog pool awaiting lots of time and a big clear table)
- actioned emails for two social activities deleted

Dizzycap

mehefin I hope your darling horse gets better soon

Well, crazy general clearing paper rubbish & emptying bins decluttering day. The postie bought no end of circulars this afternoon with the mail which all went straight into the recycle bin. Managed to get everything I planned to declutter done, except making it to the charity shop with a small bag of goodies. I ran out of energy and the temperature dropped too much to want to venture out this afternoon. I'll try again tomorrow.

Having dropped off a heavy pile of dead batteries into one of the Lidl battery collection towers a couple of weeks ago, I found myself having to change a round of batteries around the house today, so a new cluttering pile building up already

Well done folks on all the decluttering efforts

TC77

@Liverpool_Anne  I have 9 days to sort the room for decorator but working most days and up to birmingham tomorrow to see DD2 but can 't persuade her to let me bring things.
I have no-one to blame but me for the chaos on the dining table, the table (from dd1) I'm trying to sell and files on the floor and sofa and other chaos! I can't believe it was ok for friends to stay in Oct and then friends round before xmas.
5 household items adding to CS. The one that takes electrical items has been too full and closed early today so will have to wait until wed next week before I can get there.
Giant frog from last Jan - with ex has unravelled and need to apply to the court again
Moving other frogs along, can't seem to do frogs, and declutter/tidy and clean but its trying to move between them so not too out of balance.

Suffolksue

Brambling when I was in the same position waiting for my new hip last year Sketchers Slip ins saved me .
you can also buy sock putter onners ( don’t know the technical term !) hope that helps .

only decluttering today was two boxes of bottles and jars to the bottle bank 

TC77

Sorry, message saved from yesterday. Nothing done today although older slippers when in textile recycling with another couple of items 205. And decorator has asked to come a week later which helps me. I can focus on frogs and then finish clearing dd2's room.

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

Dinner was delicious - roast beef, roast potatoes & parsnips, honey glazed carrots, Yorkshire puddings, cabbage & the most delicious hm gravy 😋  Wudupa.

120 - 122 Kitchen recycling, cardboard packaging, drinks cans - recycled 

123 - 124 Kitchen detritus, plastic packaging - binned

jacwins, after a very short lull, the EDT picked up speed & hasn’t really slowed down since 😉 Although we are still managing to ‘scoop up’ newbies 😊 Excellent & eclectic decluttering 👏 I especially like that your DD decluttered all her glasses & cases in one fell swoop 🥳 

Welcome back mhagster 👋 Lovely to see you 😊 Such a shame that the house purchase fell through 😔 but you did do an excellent job of decluttering as you only had 45 boxes in storage 👏 You have been working hard since then if you only had 10 boxes left before you were slowed down by having DD2’s boxes in the garage. Sorry to hear that she was flooded out - what a nightmare 😱 Since then even more excellent unpacking & decluttering 👏🤩 You have done such a great job that I am awarding you a Gold Star ⭐️  As to the wedding dress, Dolly_Rocker has already mentioned my suggestion - I think it is called “Dresses for Angels”

MadamMim2013, a couple of great ideas for a 2nd life for mhagster’s wedding dress 😊

foxandflowers, another great idea for a 2nd life for mhagster’s wedding dress 😊

Florenceem, another busy morning of decluttering 👏 Please take care of your thumb & make sure it doesn’t get infected 🙏

ruby_Eskimo, you sound very organised - temporary kitchen set up, old kitchen stripped out & all set for work to start on the new kitchen 👏 Let me think 🤔…oven, grill & dishwasher = one each, worktops = 3, tiles = 5, floor = 4 Total 15 + another 3 for all the bits & pieces you didn’t mention 😉 Grand total 18 ….. at least 😉

_Dolly_Rocker_ hopefully you got the bathroom decluttered in between working from home & the dog walking 🤞More great cheerleading 😊 & I did smile at This “I fear I am better cheerleading than I am at decluttering.” definitely refers to me 😂

Great decluttering Florenceem 👏 Good luck whatever decision you reach about your crafting stuff 🍀

Lovely post Siebrie 😊 A succinct description of what the Decluttering thread is all about 👏

Lovely post regnbue 😊 & a very apt description of vulpix’s writing talents 🥹

florianatwobob, This “…we are slightly bonkers so the train does go on detours but a more supportive bunch of people you’re unlikely to meet. Everyone here recognises the impact of clutter, physical and mental on overall health and wellbeing and that sometimes, even with the best intentions, life gets in the way and we get derailed. The good news is the EDT is always ready to slow down so new passengers can entrain” is a lovely way to describe our Declutterati family & the thread 😊

Lovely cheerleading vulpix 😊 & a lovely post 😊 I especially like This “Shops can keep my Justin stuff should ever I need it.” brilliant 🤩 

Brie, good luck with using up the chips & more importantly Good Luck dealing with the “well marinated toads” 🍀

Excellent decluttering of paperwork Duchess2 👏 Lovely 2nd post 😊

Wow you have been busy Spendywendywoo 🤩 Excellent decluttering of paperwork 👏 

Welcome aboard the EDT Fastfashioncoststheearth 👋 I love the name - true in two senses 😉 An excellent start to your decluttering journey 👏 Hopefully, with our support you can keep up the momentum 😉

Keep up the good work everyone 😊 Sleep tight 😴 

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🌟 ❤️ ❤️ 🏅 💐 💐 💐

DH Awards:

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2025: 124/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00

StickyTheStickInsect

We are finally under offer, the couple seem lovely and comfortingly normal, so fingers crossed we’ll proceed with as few hiccups as possible. We looked at two houses at the weekend, it’s a challenge as we love our current house and because the new area is so expensive, we are moving for a much smaller house and garden. We put an offer in on one of the houses from Saturday but there were 14 others who looked at the house the same day, so I’m not that hopeful. We have another house to look at on Wednesday.

I’ve dealt with some massive frogs over the last week, DS1’s DLA renewal and DS2’s application for a new school place for year 3, which has been harder because we don’t know how exactly where we will be living, so we’ve picked two schools on either side of town and hope we’ll buy somewhere in the middle!

I had a long awaited appointment with the Long Covid consultant who confirmed I have no permanent lung damage, which is a relief and is going to trial some steroids for the fatigue. Lots of other helpful suggestions too, I’ve had more positive help from her in 12 months than from the ME clinic in 20 years, so I’m very grateful.

I’ve started on sorting out the filing mountain of doom, I’ve organised the first avalanche into folders and am psyching myself up for the box of unopened post I found in the process 🤦‍♀️

Decluttering progress here has been slow as I couldn’t really sort through things, whilst keeping it as tidy as possible for viewings but hopefully we are done with that now, so I can start getting to grips with things again. I’ve sent 1.5 bags to Oxfam, 1.5 bags to the charity shop, 3 bags to the second hand book shop at our local hospital which raises funds for them, 1 bag of fabric recycling and some bits to our local freebies site but I’ll account for those at the end of the month when I’ve added them all up. So my current total is 7/104 bags.

A London meeting of the declutterarti sounds like a fabulous idea! New house will be in zone 9 but on the tube.

Nice to see you back @Willowtree222 😀 and welcome to everyone else.

Love to everyone xxx

sqwiffy

I've been at my mum's since Sunday and back home about 6.30 p.m so no recyling tonight. My lovely hubby had cooked dinner so I could just do nothing. 

 Thank you to all of you who have explained about your forum and given me some of your thoughts. I think I will stay since you all sound so lovely. I'm currently at page 30 but working back too so I can read all your posts and try to get to know you all. It might take a while!

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

I wasn’t sleepy so decided I would make a concerted effort to catch up with the cheerleading 😉

Spendywendywoo that’s one way to declutter 😥 Unfortunately it creates so much work clearing up & glass shards take forever to clear up ☹️

_Dolly_Rocker_ 😱

suzeesu2000, fingers crossed that all the craft stuff you are listing sells for top prices 🤞 

Florenceem, well done on putting the ‘queue jumper’ in his place 👏 Pleased to hear that MrF was a little bit better today 🥹 Although a bit puzzled as to why, having done so many tests, the doctors still don’t have a diagnosis 🤨 

mehefin, sorry to hear about the horse having to have an emergency vet visit 😔 I hope your horse is now fully recovered 🙏 Re This “Decluttered 2 full to bursting carrier bags of cans and plastic bottles dumped in the hedge along my road -  people are unbelievable sometimes!!” 😡 ‘unbelievably ignorant’ as far as I’m concerned 😠 If only we could catch them, put them in stocks & throw their rubbish at them 🤣 What a great use of nearly OOD puff pastry to make apple turnovers 👏 

Great work sorting out the shoe rack Brambling 👏 

Lovely post retiredinfrance 😊

GrannyKate, pleased to hear that you managed to attend the local history talk 🙂 even though you were so busy. I always think bacon sandwiches taste so much better when someone else makes them 😉  Getting exciting now with someone coming in to measure the kitchen 🙂 Excellent decluttering 👏 Hoping you fall in love with the kitty for rehoming 😊

Excellent decluttering charlies_tribe 👏 & well done to your DH for getting rid of the last of the pre Christmas recycling 👏

_Dolly_Rocker_ hopefully finishing the bathroom will result in some clutter going out 🤞 Well done on decluttering the contents of the handbag & bringing it back into use 👏 A Radley handbag deserves to be seen 😊 Lovely cheerleading 😊

Excellent decluttering Blue_Doggy 👏 Remember it is just as important to stop clutter building up 😊

Excellent decluttering Dizzycap 👏 Hopefully it will be warmer tomorrow & you can deliver the CS bag 🤞

TC77, look at it this way - you had friends to stay in October & December so you KNOW you are a successful declutterer 😊 Good luck emptying DD2’s room 🍀 although I am a bit surprised that she doesn’t want you to bring at least a few of her belongings with you when you visit 🤨 Very sorry to hear that the “Giant frog from last Jan - with ex has unravelled and need to apply to the court again “ 😔 I remember how much hard work & time you put into getting documents etc 😢 Good work moving other frogs along 👏

Excellent decluttering SuffolkSue 👏 two boxes of bottles & jars can’t be described as ‘only’ 😉

TC77, good news that the decorator has requested delaying the decorating for a week 😊 Steady decluttering with great numbers 👏

StickyTheStickInsect, great news that your house is ‘under offer’ 🥳 Will be keeping everything crossed that it will be a smooth transaction with as few hiccups (although preferably none 😉) as possible 🤞I will also be sending out vibes that you find your new home 🙏 Excellent work dealing with ‘massive frogs’ 👏 Such positive & happy news from the Long Covid Consultant 😮‍💨 Hopefully the steroids & other suggestions will prove a winning combination 🙏 Excellent work starting on the ‘filing mountain of doom’ & organising “the first avalanche into folders” 👏 Good luck with the box of unopened post 🍀 Not too sure I would class  7 bags of ‘stuff’ decluttered as ‘slow progress’ 🤨 I have added you to the list of Declutterati for a London meet up 😊 

sqwiffy, what a lovely hubby 😊 So pleased that you have decided to stay on the thread ☺️

Now dancing round my living room as I have caught up 💃 Ready for some decluttering now but will wait until I get up 😉

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🌟 ❤️ ❤️ 🏅 💐 💐 💐

DH Awards:

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2025: 124/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £5.00