2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution

GrannyKate

Hi all. I have returned from DDs - great time but a bit exhausted. Car has an oil leak but hopefully fixed following call at garage on my way home this afternoon. DGCs decluttered until Thursday. The fires near DD (not far from Stourbridge) were really bad but thankfully DGD1's horse and his friends were safe although a field fire caused extensive damages just 200 yards from entrance to horse yard. Willpost more tomorrow once I've had a good sleep. Sox was pleased to see me home

Florenceem

Ironing was done. I had to take tablets as in a lot of pain. I decided to make the 2 peg bags that I have been asked for - in the hope that being busy would help.

Granddaughter A came round to use my computer. A got my new printer out of the garage - I bought it when Mr F was poorly. A set it up for me.

My ordered stuff arrived and A helped with setting up charging for the headphones and laptop.

I had a down day - it is coming up to the anniversary of meeting Mr F - 30 years on 24 August. We married the following August. It was lovely to have A's company.

Son and grandson face timed while A was here.

I want a cover for my printer - looked online but I think I will make one.

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82107177#Comment_82107177

a teatowel will do as a printer cover until you get something bespoke sorted. I love that you had family about to support you today. I suspect you might have been supporting them too as you seem to be very good at that in a very natural sort of way.

EnergyShifter

Dropped off all the wood and and board left over from the playhouse demolition to the tip ! It felt amazing to get rid of it all .

Spent the afternoon in the garden sorting out the area that the tip visit freed up - it was one of those jobs that takes ages, is really tiring but doesn’t look that much different when it’s finished but somehow feels like everything is more organised 🤩

I got DS onto “path finding” duty and he found and cleared another short path leading to the patio.

I’ve had a lovely bath & now I’m resting on the sofa to gather enough strength to get up the stairs to go to bed!

vulpix

Yikes Miss BaLu, I hope that someone takes some responsibility and soon.

I feel like I have achieved a lot of decluttering today. I rage searched for the Birthday gift and found it in a cupboard I had looked in twice. So lots of stuff chucked, recycled, given away, put in the big charity bag, probably 30 things big and small. I listed a garden table and 4 chairs on fb and they were sold within the hour.

Tomorrow I will drop the big bag off at the charity shop, a bag off at the baby bank. Will also drop off at DD1's 10 strawberry plants, 20 small terracotta plant pots and a plastic box they are in. I will also dig up the 2 wrong colour plants from the front garden and drop off for her.

I think I could do more rage decluttering, I was so cross, everthing I moved in the cupboards I thought, don't need that, don't need that! I have some frogs in hand and I will have a go at organising the kitchen cupboards better when I have eaten them.

I am loving the back garden without the pergola, It was in what I thought was an odd place. It will be less dangerous to peg washing out now too as the rope top edging has gone.

Mr V attended the wound clinic today. He has a nasty wound on his thigh from falling on and impaling himself on lilac stumps.( 6 weeks now ) It was treated with a honey dressing. He has been referred on to the complex wound clinic.

Wishing everyone a peaceful nights sleep. Vx

ionafan

@Florenceem Prayers continue for you, your son, and all your family x

@GrannyKate We live on the edge of Stourbridge - but not in the posh area where most damage was done. The wildfire got to within a quarter of a mile of our house; however, we were very lucky in that the wind direction was in our favour and the flames and smoke were blown away from us. The speed and power of the wildfire and the destruction it has caused have been a dreadful shock to the whole community, and most people round here know one or more of the families that had to be evacuated. We are all indebted to the fire service for bringing the fire under control in very difficult conditions, and to the farmers who ploughed fire breaks across the fields - heroes, every one of them! ❤️

@weenancyinAmerica I picked a couple of cookbooks off the kitchen shelf this afternoon to look for a recipe for marrow chutney. My well-used Good Housekeeping's Picture Cookery dates back to the 1950s, but my favourite is Ian Harben's The Grammar of Cookery - I remember buying it in 1964 after watching his TV series of the same name, and I read it from cover to cover. My copy is falling apart but I can't bring myself to put it in the paper recycling. You might enjoy this web page.

@Mrs_Salad_Dodger Thank you for encouraging our decluttering and redistributing!

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

Tuesday continued: we were on the road by 09:30 with the temperature reading 19°C feeling like 16° due to a brisk W wind. It was very overcast with some dark clouds but no rain. Although everywhere we went was drying out 😊 First stop was the International Bomber Command Centre Museum to take a photo of the model Vulcan that sways in the wind. A quick stop for petrol then onto the 2nd landmark - the  2000 Frampton Beacon located near the Greenwich Meridian Line plaque near Boston, Lincolnshire. Last stop was a Services where we had coffee & cake. We noted that there was one bin inside & no other bins anywhere else. Outside was a magnet for rats & in fact DH did see one 😱 The closer we got to London the warmer it got with a high of 25°C (W wind supposedly making it feel 2°cooler) & a  low of 19°C. We were indoors by 15:05. Whilst DH was making coffee I changed out of my motorcycling gear into a dress. DSis popped down to say hello & welcome back. 

Minimal animal sightings - horses, cows, sheep, goats & today I saw a raptor (think it was a buzzard). I have put away my jacket & helmet, sorted out my accounts & dealt with my mail. Watched last night’s Mastermind as our friends’ daughter was on. She did well but sadly didn’t win ☹️ Cleared down a couple more programmes. We decided on Chinese for dinner but were disappointed - our Chinese is closed for a month 😔 DH went to the chicken place 😉 

1385 -1388 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans, plastic bottle, glass bottle - recycled 

1389 - 1390 Kitchen & lr detritus - binned

Florenceem, you had a busy day yesterday 👏 Nice of your granddaughter A to help out with the ordering of a new laptop etc. 😊 & I love that she phoned her brother in Tokyo 🙊 

I am enjoying the conversation about laptops & keyboards - very interesting 🧐 

Green_hopeful, what a great result with your husband decluttering so many shirts & then finding a few more bits of clothing to donate to the CS 👏 Sorry to hear about your little cat 🥺

SpikyHedgehog, thanks for sharing such useful information 👏 I had forgotten about Dana but now she is back on my radar I will revisit 😊 Good luck with your mission to create a focus for each room 🍀

QueenJess, thanks for the heads up about the “Space Maker Method” 👏 A new method for me to try out which I will investigate once I have caught up with the cheerleading 😊 Pleased to hear that your DD is back on the decluttering bandwagon ☺️

Floss, what a pity about your plants 😔

vulpix, excellent work by MrV 👏 although I did smile at leaving the bag on the drive for the 3rd trip 😊 Great decluttering of garden stuff 👏 Fingers crossed you find the birthday gift 🤞 Just a thought, did you check the airing cupboard 🤔 We did have a lovely time & the weather was perfect despite the little bit of drizzle we had ☺️ Although I am relieved that the proper rain only put in an appearance each day once we were safely ensconced in our room 🥳 I think he was just making sure he didn’t get stained fingers 😉

Thank you Miss_BaLu 😊

Florenceem, please do try to eat 🙏  My DH enjoys using his smart watch 😊 but seems to be forever charging it as the charge only seems to last for about 24 hours 😞 

A beautiful & thought provoking post dND 🥹

Enjoy your trip TC77 😊 I will keep my fingers crossed that DD2 might just tidy up some of the chaos before you return home 🤞

Miss_BaLu, I agree with the comments made by florianatwobob, Floss & Brie 😊 The housing officer is definitely the one who needs to sort this out with your insurers.

Excellent work getting your husband to clean the kitchen windows Rootle 👏

GrannyKate, so pleased to hear that DGD1’s horse & his friends are safe 😮‍💨 These fires are devastating & frightening 😱 We are currently smelling smoke from a 2nd fire at the Deptford Recycling Centre - 1st was on the 8th June. Sox is obviously getting used to your absences & is happy to see you 😊

Florenceem, sorry to hear that you are in pain, I hope the tablets helped 🙏 It is lovely to hear that you had family with you & supporting you 🥹 Gentle cwtches to you all🤗 

Lovely post Brie ☺️

Excellent work getting everything to the Tip EnergyShifter 🙏👏 Sounds like you might have overdone it the garden 😔 so I hope that you managed to to get a good night’s sleep 💤 

Just woken up mid typing so will post this & catch up with the last of the cheerleading later 😬 Sleep tight 😴

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🙏💐💐🌟⭐️❤️💐💐⭐️💐❤️⭐️🎖️🥇⭐️⭐️⭐️😇🏅💐🌻💐💐🌻🥇 

DH Awards: 🏅🏅🏅🏅⭐️ 🏅

DSis Awards: 🏅

Decluttering Target 2026: 1390/2026

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £297.61

Miss_BaLu

Thanks for the tips I shall get on to them today.

No water in again from yesterday and no flickering lights after the electrician replaced both hallway light fittings and checked the wiring.

Florenceem

I felt sad when I got up. Then upon finding I had no internet - I felt worse. My son text me EE's number - they were very helpful and sorted the problem for me.

It is raining here so I will have another day indoors - only my second in 9 days.

My son B phoned - the football season starts on Saturday - he is a season ticket holder along with his son F and brother. B said that he feels that he doesn't want to go to the match - I told him to do what feels right. F could go to the match with his uncle.

B said that his work has counselling for staff.

B is very happy with my young J's work. J has decorated the bathroom, painted the outside window sills and given the kitchen ceiling two coats of paint. There was a strip light in the kitchen - a modern light was fitted last week so the ceiling had areas that needed to be covered up. J has also trimmed the very long front hedge and trimmed a holly tree plus another tree in the back garden. The next job is to paint the guttering on the outhouses. They have planned a surprise for J on Sunday.

A has text me - she may come round here - her brunch meet up with a friend was cancelled.

I may have a go at the printer cover today.

QueenJess

Hugs for @Florenceem I can't imagine what you and your family are going through.

I am having a nightmare week at work and so I have little mental energy leftover for decluttering. I tried to close an unused savings account earlier and then when I couldn't login I eventually found the email where I had already closed it 🙈 So that's the state of affairs here!

I've been trying to motivate myself with some Space Maker videos and figure even if I do one thing or even tidy up one tiny thing it is all progress. So I am concentrating on the tiny things rather than the big picture. I do have a to do list in the mix as well and try to at least achieve one tiny thing a day in the hope the list dwindles to nothing. I am chipping away and can see some progress in everything bar my email account that's out of control!

Digital:
1 - Credit card account closed that I never use

Physical:

Kitchen stuff
2 - OOD packets (binned)
2 - kitchen cupboard overstock used up
3 - kitchen stock I don’t want (Buy Nothing)

Books and Paperwork
3 - paper reused then recycled

Bathroom stuff
1 - empty medicine box (recycled)

Kids stuff
2 - DD tat binned/recycled

Random stuff
1 - pillowcase (recycled)

New total 5,456
Use it up total 743