2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution

GrannyKate · 7 February at 11:18AM

Morning all. Glad COL went ok @Florenceem. Take things easy now although the paperwork mountain will take a while to climb on top of. I haven't done much - felt a bit 'anyhow' yesterday - not ill just a bit fed up for no good reason at all. I still have frogs to do but just didn't fancy it yesterday.

On the positive side I did open a new bank account and initiated a swap - it wasn't as simple as is sometimes suggested but think I've done it right and I should get a nice bonus. It's not my main everyday account but one I use for annual payments and most of my monthly direct debits funded from widow's pensions from late DH. The old bank were the most unhelpful when DH died and I have been meaning to bin them for some time. I am pleased with myself for tackling that on my own. Many years ago this bank (or their forerunner) closed my DD's account with them for suspected money laundering. She was at uni and her dad paid her termly rent into the account and she took it out almost straight away to pay the rent. They said this was unacceptable - I've never reasoned out why. I need to pay some money into the new account within 45 days and use it for payments 5 times which I can do.

Because of the postal delays (US and UK) I decided to post dsis's card for early March yesterday - this involved 4 PO visits 1) no parking available anywhere and pouring with rain 2) got parked at first place but till broken so no money transactions possible, 3) close early on Fridays 4) finally posted at third place I'd tried. I have bought several March cards and all February ones have gone (only 2 but both in US). Plasterer has contacted me so I hope to sort out some dates next week.

Right I need to get on with things.

185 February cards all posted plus first March one

186 Decluttered random food things to DS2

187 New bank account opened and switch initiated

vulpix · 7 February at 12:49PM

Good morning, Nowt to report for yesterday. I was full of good intentions to start decorating and DD1 phoned to say she was coming over to see us and her Grandma. We had a lovely lunch and then all I did was knit for most of the day.

When DIL and family were here I handed over a couple of jumpers I had knitted for the boys. She said how her two Mum friends admired her boys knitted jumpers. I gave her one to take that I had knitted from my Ukraine donations. She also took some of the hats Mum and I had made.I have decided to knit all the boys Dennis the Menace jumpers,including the friends due baby. I thought it would be cute, hope the Mum's think so. 5 jumpers in all.

No decorating today, we are about to go to Sheffield. DD1's Birthday. We will be in the pub watching the rugby then to a fabulous Indian restaurant for a meal. Just a big box with a Birthday rice cooker in ,out today.😂

I am glad there was a good turn out for Mr F, Florenceem. I think he touched a lot of peoples lives.

Vx

Yorkie1 · 7 February at 1:19PM

So glad that the COL was so well attended, @Florenceem . Things are bound to be flat now, do just take care of yourself and pace yourself.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or be appalled @London_1

A fab baking and cooking shop near me texted me to say that the quarter trays I was after had come in, so I shall pop down there before opening up the allotment association shop this afternoon.

And I resolved that yesterday's takeaway container would go straight into the recycling (after being washed up), rather than into a Just In Case pile!

oceandreamer · 7 February at 1:58PM

The COL sounds lovely @Florenceem with so many people to share their memories.

Another two kitchen drawers sorted, a carrier bag of assorted bits that didn't seem to even belong to anything thrown away and all washed, sorted and put back. At the start of the year I thought I could declurter the whole house in a year - I am already thinking that was very over ambitious. At this rate I might have finished the kitchen!

Florenceem · 7 February at 3:04PM

The Celebration of Life was streamed so if anyone wants to pm me - I will share the link.

Brie · 7 February at 4:06PM

@London_1

Some companies can be quite stupid, or at least some of their employees.

When FiL died I rang up the bereavement team of his credit card company (which was the bank I actually was working for at the time) to tell them to close his account. Talk about ridiculous!

She: Yeah? (i.e. not a hello, you're talking to Barbie or anything like that)

Me: Hi, I need to close my FiL's account as he's died.

She: Nah, you can't do that he'll have to call us.

Me: (in disbelief) Um, no, he's dead so he can't call you.

She: Nah that's the only way he can close the account.

Me: But he's dead.

She: Well he could come into a bank branch and close it.

Me: Perhaps you didn't understand. He's dead so he can't go to the branch or ring you up.

She: Well if he's died he'll have to bring in his death certificate to prove it. (click, hung up on me!)

greent · 7 February at 4:29PM

This reminds me of when I phoned the TV licensing people after m-i-l died - I told them of her death and was advised (by a young person, clearly reading from a script) that I needed to provide a reason for cancelling the license. I repeated that she had died and that she lived alone and was asked whether I was sure she no longer needed a licence(!)🤔 - to which I replied that, yes, I was sure, as dead people can't watch tv!!😐️

Declutter 2026

112 - 113. 4 more tealights used (again, counting as 2 due to size and burning 2 at once)

114 - 115. DS1 and DS3 pants to bin (holey - honestly, they never look at them!)

116. bamboo fork to bin - no-one in the house likes the texture of them in our mouths, so it's never going to get used!

117. face cream UU and replaced from stash

118. dead drill battery (would not recharge)

119. piece of handmade mulberry paper (at least 20y old) used on friend's bday present, along with a recycled ribbon

120-121. 2 non-working pens to the bin

122 - 124. takeaway tubs and lids to DD (with food in!)

Digital Declutter 20026

1102 - 1106. Old videos deleted from phone that were taking up quite a lot of storage space

1107 - 1254. Emails deleted

Includes 11/26 unsubscribing target

Declutter 26lb

Another 1lb gone! (Running total 6/26) 👏

Next weekend is the start of a week's half-term. I look forward to getting more achieved then! (although today I did try on 4 blouses/ shirts - all too big, so ahve moved them to the V1nted pile and will count them when sold/ donated to CS if not sold)

diminua · 7 February at 4:59PM

Trying to set up a system - currently all my recycling goes in a big cardboard box and on the day I intend to shift it I empty whatever I'm taking for recycling into a shopping bag. New system is that there are bags set up in the box for the different sort of recycling (pots to return to shops, mixed glass and metal and hard plastic or soft plastics) and I before I head out the door for any reason I simply grab a bag and go. This ought to make me do it more regularly. We'll see if it works. One recent barrier is because people have been dumping stuff by our bins (not just in the bins either - a mattress turned up from somewhere and it's definitely no-one in the block) there is now a bike lock on the gate and I haven't memorised the number yet, but it's only five digits and we used to do it for phone numbers all the time so it shouldn't be that hard.

I've also emptied out my food cupboard and given it a clean. Cocoa powder was best before 2022 and custard powder 2024, but both actually seem fine and there's not much of either left so I will move them to the front of the cupboard to use up asap. Chai powder smelt musty though, so that's gone in the bin.

Florenceem · 7 February at 6:50PM

oceandreamer - I plan to declutter the whole house plus have it decorated this year!

I popped to SA to collect the bags that were left there yesterday.

Another wet day here. I walked into town with a loaded shopping trolley. Popped in £lan to get some tablets - you have to be authorised to buy them.

Then I unloaded a bag of donations for the charity shop.

I got the local paper and went to the bus stop - it was really windy by the harbour. A different bus arrived and it said that it was going where I wanted to so I got on - better than waiting in a draughty shelter. This bus went a strange route and only went to the top of the long high street - I wanted the building society near the bottom. It was raining hard - my glasses were wet and I felt miserable as I headed towards the sea - blowy again.

I trudged back up the hill to a bus stop and waited nearly 20 minutes in a shelter that didn't stop the wind getting to me.

I took tablet blister packs to recycling in Boo.. then went to collect a bra from M & S. I also had to return the ones I bought in error. I was impressed - the refund came through very quickly - well done M &..

I nearly forgot that I needed to buy milk but remembered when I got off the bus so headed to As..

This afternoon - I emptied the last stuff from shelves in the office. I found a book of Mac's cartoons - Mr F's South African cartoonist grandfather - 1908. He was a political cartoonist.

daisy_1571 · 7 February at 7:23PM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8CpeEdrne6Q

Just watched this little film. I think there's a lot of good habits I've forgotten about that used to be second nature. Going to try to reinstate them

D xx

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2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution

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