2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution

Floss

@Florenceem I think you should try & make notes of when C has been unkind or unpleasant and send it with your complaints to your Division & Region.

Re: gifts to adult children, we do £10 Secret Santa for our family which now includes niece who's almost 18. No gifts once they turn 21 except for "0" birthdays.

TC77

@suzeesu2000 I do hope your sister is recovering well.

@deb4 good luck with the phased return.

Short day as I slept in. Tidied and mopped floors , love it when the hall is cleared and looks so inviting. Also took the doormat out to wack against the garden wall.

My 15 minutes was sorting out small drawers in kitchen , 2 items out and a few more put in the right place and old foil out .

Dropped off 5 items off at posh cs before walk with a friend and then a duvet and 4 large sheets from my dad's. Older sheets are so much heavier....also unsubscribed and some emails out.

14 to add

vulpix

broken laptop bag binned.DVD given away, Electrical lead given away. Butterfly bush given away. Bought a plant and potted it up with one of my ceramic pots for my DIL. Sharpening stone given to DS.

Had a couple of hours in the garden this evening till I was eaten by midges. All the stepping stones and reclaimed bricks are sunk in the soil. A few more plants in the ground. Pots identified to put strawberry plants in. Late I know. Builder J took much longer than either of us expected due to the weather and finding drainage problems. I do hope there will be a gap in the rain tomorrow so I can plant a few more things out.

Florenceem, I bet you are sick to the back teeth with it but C really doesn't seem to grasp diplomacy or have any understanding of grief. Every time he tries to talk to you he seems to put his foot in it. Unintentional I am sure but upsetting non the less.

Vx

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

Wednesday has been a dull overcast day with a high of 16°C (feeling 3° colder due to a WSW wind) & a low of  9°C. DH was busy in the front garden - he pruned ndn’s hedge so it is now the same height as ours & once DSis had finished her weekly diabetes phone course (1.5 hours 😦) he used the garden shredder which he had brought through the house. There was a heavy shower at about 15:30 & then stayed dry until 19:25 when the heavens opened again for about 20 minutes. The sun has finally come out & there are patches of blue sky & white clouds 😊 Dinner was a use up - finished a packet of bacon, fried up the last of the mushrooms, tomatoes & peppers, finished a bag of oven chips & fried 4 of 6 eggs. A couple more short showers before midnight & a couple after midnight. Wudupa

976 - 977 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans - recycled 

978 Kitchen detritus - binned

TC77, it can be very difficult to balance our desire to be eco friendly & to declutter 😔 Perhaps you can put a time limit on items that could be passed on/donated 🤔 If having advertised on free sites or tried to donate to CS, items are still in your home after a couple of weeks (or whatever seems reasonable to you) then you can give yourself permission to bin 😊 Good luck 🍀

Florenceem, so you still have plenty to keep young J occupied for a while ☺️ It does sound like everything is coming together. I had to look up Babouche - what a lovely yellow 😊 Pleased to hear that the blind is being fitted & that the sofa is arriving earlier than expected ☺️

vulpix, yikes 😦 

Brie, that sounds like me 😉

Nice to see you Deb4 👋 Congratulations on the sales & well done to your DS 👏 Fingers crossed that your phased return to work becomes easier 🤞

regnbue, I always intend to stock up on C puddings, but never quite get around to it 😔 Excellent use of the 15 minute method of decluttering/tidying 👏 Great work dealing with frogs 👏 & good luck with the HMRC frog 🍀

Excellent decluttering sillyme673 👏 Good luck with your dual mission to read more books & be online less 🍀

Brie, great news that both the Room of Doom & the car of doom are both emptier 👏

Great decluttering florianatwobob & well done on the sales 👏

surprisinglynice, wow you are so organised 🤩 The added bonus is that you are spreading the cost  👏

I really must get back to posting earlier in the day so that I don’t fall behind with the cheerleading 😊 Sleep tight 😴 

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

DH Awards: 🏅🏅🏅🏅⭐️

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2026: 978/2026

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £226.61

Green_hopeful

hi Mrs S-D. Thank you for my medal. I have been busy for a few days. Managed to start weeding the block paving. I think i have done 1/4 of it. Every time I have gone out in the last few days its rained. Not a fun job but at least it is just boring.

oceanspirit

Haven’t managed any decluttering for a few days. Did realise that a food order I had put in to SM wasn’t really necessary and I can use what I have so cancelled it. Emails have crept back up to 225 but I am ok with that as it shows I have more or less been keeping up with them day to day. Plan to get a bit more done over the next few days as still on the lookout for a new home - the sale of this one is proceeding so need something to turn up soon.

suprisinglynice

@Florenceem I'm so sorry for the appalling way that you have been treated, I think that you are well justified to make a complaint and to move your place of worship to one that suits you better at this point.

I think that with regards to the gifts for grandchildren, could you speak to them all and explain that under the circumstances you won't be buying gifts for the older ones? If you don't feel able to just cut it off, maybe buy a small gift for them so that they have something to open (with perhaps a £10 limit per gift?) It could be as easy as buying a few small items and a nice box and making a mini hamper? I do this with a friend and put in things like candles, shower gel, chocolates etc.

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger lots of children and grandchildren (and a strict budget) has made me the organised person I am! I buy smellies in the sales and pick up lots of other bits as I see them. The money goes straight from my wages by DD so I don't have to worry as much as I used to.

Florenceem

Morning all.

I walked to town and took a bag of donations to the charity shop.

I went to the blinds shop and decluttered money. While there I asked if I had chosen a design for the guest bedroom - I had back in February, No chance of it being fitted yet.

I walked to Ald. as I had 2 bags of soft plastic recycling for there. I was told Home Bargai.. do lampshades but they only had two and they weren't suitable.

Just had a phone call from a soldier who has transferred to my new corps - worried about me as I was so upset when they rang yesterday. This soldier moved corps because of lack of pastoral care from C.

I am having a pot of tea then I will go out again to look for lampshades at The Rang. and then get my shopping at Lid.

QueenJess

I'm currently trying to find one thing a day to use up, get rid of or remind myself needs using up and start using it! It's pretty easy during the week as I think on paper so am always using up the back of scrap paper for work. Just helps me feel slightly more in control as I know there are things that I need to use up - my work is stressful at the moment and I cannot do anything about it, so it makes me feel better to have control over something.

DS has also been finding the odd thing whilst he's been tidying his room, but sadly this requires me. Everyday I tell him to clear X small section of his room after school before he can do what he wants to. His room is tidier and less stressful to be in, but if I stopped telling him, then it would revert to a tip. I am still trying to teach him to close drawers and doors… who takes clothes out of a drawer without automatically closing it? It boggles the mind.

1 - puzzle book completed (recycled) - now I only have one on the go!
1 - DS tat binned
1 - DS paperwork recycled

New total 1,357
Use it up total 418

GrannyKate

I probably need to change gift giving as everyone gets older but first small change already planned for this year. DD buys 'experiences' for everyone like restaurant vouchers for her brothers and in-laws. Last year she bought me the visit to the Albert Hall. I just posted my second June birthday card - I have 7 altogether this month. Weather is awful here so no gardening today. I did see DGS3 as I took him into school mid morning and I asked him if he would like to do some fence painting once he has finished his exams (3 GCSEs to go) and I can pay him. He seemed quite keen.

I have got on with quite a few admin jobs and have cleared the inbox. There was an email with the link to my MrA gift card as part of reward for changing bank in February - I got the cash reward straight away but have had to chase the £50 voucher. I also renewed my Railcard going for online this time, dealt with several frogs and responded to some messages.

I often buy old postcards when they have pictures of places that feature in my family history and I spent some time hunting down the bundle I bought about 6 months ago. If there is a message on the reverse of the postcard I will do a little light research to see if the names and addresses are distinctive enough to potentially find a person on Ancestry who might have links and would like a copy. Someone I contacted 6 months ago just came back to me and said please could he have a copy of one. The recipient in 1905 was a young boy who was a relative of his maternal grandmother and who sadly died at Ypres in WW1. I photographed that one and another 12 which I got at the same time so pictures now saved in my research/places folder. I also found two with personal memories which I scanned and sent to my sister in US - the pond opposite our great aunt's home in Harpenden which we paddled in in the 1950s and the Surrey hillside where we walked in carpets of bluebells and primroses. The latter is now spoiled by the M25 thundering through the valley below.

I may check out the rest of those cards for names before I attempt some housework. School run to do today.

580-582 Various frogs dealt with mostly U3A committee stuff

583 Railcard renewed using up Mr T voucher to get £5 off. App downloaded so on phone now

584 Birthday card posted for DIL - 4 more purchased ready to write

585 Amazon voucher downloaded and saved to account

586 Historical postcards photographed, photos moved to research files and one sent to another researcher. I have a small box with the originals in.

587 Random items found whilst searching for post cards and filed in their correct place.

588 On line address book updated with some changed mobile numbers

After a wander round outside at 5 am Sox is now staying curled up on his fleece on bed.