2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution

Brie

@TC77

I was lucky to be made redundant at 64 1/2 as it meant I could collect my pension as well as having a free year's salary with no obligation to work as a payout. I did feel sorry for my much younger colleagues, those who were just starting families or had just bought a house etc and had no idea whether redundancy would ruin them. Fortunately they seem to have managed fairly well - at least the ones I liked enough to continue to talk to or otherwise track what they are up to. (not in a stalker sense….😁)

That said the first thing I did when the redundancy was announced was to start my job search and talking to my "network" one of whom pointed me towards a great part time job that I enjoyed for 3 years. Team leader of a debt advice team in a food bank. Suited me perfectly and meant I got to work with a nice new group of "mature" people. This was a major change as it seemed that as I got older my colleagues all stayed the same age (20-35) with all the issues and angst that comes with youth.

Now I'm fully retired and have been for the last year I am really very busy and it takes some organising to make sure I keep up with some of my friends and all the arty things I want to do. Fortunately I've been blessed with enough financially to be able to not worry the way so many do. I keep an eye on the ££ of course but have recently talked firmly to myself about not worrying too much about buying Lidl's Deluxe line of goods instead of their basic range! I admit I inherited my mom's drive for thriftiness but know that it's ok to enjoy oneself a bit too.

Florenceem

I missed being able to say - good morning. I had a really bad night pain wise and didn't get up until 8.15. I had breakfast, washed and dressed and my bestie arrived at 9.20. Bestie was preaching today and had asked me to read the Bible passage. It was such a long one - verse 4 - 42!

When we went to the car to come home after Church - I saw that a small boy had a stall set up in his drive. We popped along to support him - he was quite shy. Bestie got a couple of softies for her grandson. I got a picture for either my hall or my summer house. Bestie had a picture in her car for me that had come into the charity shop. She also bought me a key safe. Worried that I may lock myself out. She said to put it down the side alley. I worry about it being smashed open to get to the keys. What do people think?

Yesterday builder J arrived with a helper - he had given me a price for painting the back wall. I had said two coats as it was a lighter colour - mint green going on top of a dark mustard. The painting took much longer than J thought. He priced up the work so not my problem. The wall used 7.5 litres of masonry paint. J is going to get some paint mixed before he comes here tomorrow to do the second coat.

I weighed myself last night - first time for 2 weeks - I have gained 2lb.

This afternoon I went to a meeting at my old corps.

Brie

@Florenceem

Well you'll have to give a bit more detail on the Bible verse if you want any sympathy as to the length. Some verses are very short. Nice that she included you in the service though.

Key safe - yes it's possible to break in to them but it's not really easy. And the 3 I've had experience of have never been tampered with. 2 here in the UK - my inlaws which was practically visible from the road and ours which not much more hidden. Both right beside the door they will open. My mom's farmhouse in Canada has one too but it's further away from the door but easy to find if someone told you where. The location is a bit remote so someone could make a lot of noise breaking in but frankly it would be easier to break a window if someone wanted to gain access.

But I'd vote yes to a key safe as it means that if something should happen to you (at home or elsewhere) a friend would be able to get in to your house to help you, likewise emergency services would be able to as well. Our and the inlaws doctor's surgeries were given the access code for when there were nurse visitors and also carers had it so they could gain entry and do their duties.

Glad to hear you gained a bit, well overdue. Hope the meeting at your old corps went well.

GrannyKate

Evening all. @Florenceem - I'd agree with Brie that key safes are not that easy to tamper with. In fact there is an old one behind my porch for which we have no code or key. DS2 has been unsuccessfully trying to get it open or off the wall for some time to replace with a new one I have bought.

Late DH was offered redundancy at 64 and we agreed he should take it as he had worked since he was 16 and mortgage was paid. I started work at 19 and was a stay at home mum most of the time for 13 years (yes I know its work of a different kind). I carried on and then got redundancy and moved to contract work for a while. He was happy with his hobbies and I was doing most from home but might have finished earlier if I had known he would only make it to 70. I went back and did one short project after he had passed but then fully retired. I do some related things voluntarily and I am committee member at U3A and run one group. The last few years have seen heavy and unexpected involvement with care of 2 youngest DGCs but that has eased off this year.

I still keep falling asleep which means things don't get done although I did get out in the garden yesterday and I did some more wallpaper stripping etc in hall today. I also removed the remains of an old plate shelf which involved a hammer and brute force. Tomorrow I need to go to get tube and batteries for hearing aid and then I am going on trip to small local zoo in the afternoon. Covid jab has been rearranged for Tuesday and I have gardening club. Wednesday is committee meeting so some follow up frogs, hair apppointment Thursday then new bed delivery Friday. I was unable to order the bed I had seen on line so I went into the store where they have one on display and the assistant explained that the supplier is not delivering them as promised and one of their customers has been waiting 8 months. They have stopped taking orders and have removed them on-line. I went home and ordered a similar one from Mr Dun. which comes Friday.

I did cook myself a nice steak yesterday and today I had a baked potato with cheese and salad. DD is staying over Weds so I will get something to cook.

426 Mowed both lawns and decluttered a few more weeds

427 Wooden plate shelf down and outside ready to go with bag of wallpaper. Large collection of nails, hooks and screws binned.

428 Small frogs eaten up

429 Bed ordered

Floss

@Green_hopeful "The strange thing for me is how long it took me to destress. It was about 9 months after i had retired and i suddenly realised i wasnt totally stressed anymore and i felt like a could relax"

I completely agree - I finished just a year ago and would say it took me a good 9 months to destress. Mind you, it didn't take that long to stop thinking & fretting about work!

TC77

Thank you for all the comments and stories about retirement... and I have been following many of your adventures in recent years. I enjoy hearing about what all the declutterai family are doing and Mrs SD is a superstar.

I did want to work part time a few years ago having worked part time since 16 and full time now for over 40 years ( I was 63 early last month) but having worked full time and bringing my kids up on my own it seemed quite selfish to work part time for just me when I wished i'd worked part time when they were small. However I have been telling dds that when I stop working I will be having my 'gap year'. However, abit constrained by little and large cat!

I took up tai chi a year ago which is 3 times a week and done some short courses so know things i'd like to do. Also managed some travel recently and want to do more :)

Invigilating had never occurred to me so interesting to hear about that and othet jobs and volunteering. I will volunteer but taking a few months to decide what I want to do. Some organisations I've done bits of volunteering for before and also if I need/ want it i could do aome part time/ one off projects but will see.

The suggestions for setting specific times for activities including decluttering and treating like a job is a great idea

I will take inspiration from you all. Thank you x

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Florenceem

Brie - It was the Woman at The Well - verses 4 to 42 - the longest conversation Jesus has with one person and it was with a woman!

I have carried on with my knitting - have to sit for it so won't be burning calories. I am now on the second fingerless glove - a pattern that I used in the 1980s.

My daughter did the whole marathon but had to take it easy as her ankle was hurting. She rolled her ankle a few weeks ago and really shouldn't have run today.

florianatwobob

@Florenceem both I and my neighbour have a key safe down our shared alley at the far end from the road. It’s rare for anyone we don’t know to come down the alley (occasionally delivery drivers or the postie) so we feel quite secure about having it and it does help when it comes to avoiding locking yourself out!

Tomorrow the bath is being enamelled!!

Today has involved emptying the bathroom. It’s amazing how much you can fit in a room that’s no wider than the width of a bath and sink snug against each other and a couple of foot longer than the bath. It did give me opportunity to rummage through the bathroom cupboard and evict some contents I’ve taken the bath panels off and they are reclining on the garden table wrapped in an old shower curtain!

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Daily To Do List - written the night before
2. Sort out sleep patterns - initial targets: bed by 03:00, up by 10:30
3. Don’t put it down, put it away + deal with mini tasks as soon as they are noticed e.g. refill olive pourer or salt cellar, stitch up a hole in a garment etc.
4. Commence ‘Operation Financial Frog Tickling’ using the acronym - I.R.I.S. (Identify, Research, Implement, Sign Off) - One per quarter
5. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed
6. Plan & Execute ONE Major Project - 2026 New Bathroom
7. Target 2026 items out

Sunday was a dry bright day but not as sunny as it has been. High of 19°C (feeling 3° cooler due to E wind) & a low of 8°C. DH watched the MotoGP races. I carried on knitting the scarf being careful to keep an eye on the pattern 😉 Dinner was roast pork with crackling, roast potatoes, parsnips & carrots with cabbage, green beans & hm gravy 😋 Wudupa

766 - 769 Kitchen recycling, glass bottle, magazine, drinks cans - recycled 

770 Kitchen detritus - binned

Sleep tight 😴 

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🙏💐💐🌟⭐️❤️💐💐⭐️💐❤️ ⭐️🎖️🥇 

DH Awards: 🏅🏅🏅🏅

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2026: 770/2026

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £165.11

Wednesday2000

I thought about getting one of those key safes too, but I wondered how secure they are and that was what stopped me.

I have three classes this week so I'm going to take a donation bag of clothes one day to drop off. I have ordered a bulky waste collection for next week too.