Three weeks down - approximately eight to go - with my de-cluttering for 2013. That's two whole weeks more effort than 2012! While I'm still on schedule (17 down 38 left), the number of bags has reduced each week ... I think being ruthless is wearing off!I had more support and funny comments from you guys last week , including Missus Wookie who reckoned her friends were de-cluttering by sending their offspring to her house!
And do you remember Ladykis who was determined not to de-clutter, leaving her children with plenty to sort out once she was dead and gone? Well she relented a little and managed to give her boys a taste of things to come:
I was inspired by your determination and "did" the cutlery drawer. I then shared out the - wait for it - 59 medicine spoons. No wonder there was a fountain of plastic every time Mr M opened the thing. My two sons will be getting a very strange packet in the post in a day or two - a brief note that says "this is your share of the cutlery drawer booty, love Mum" and some plastic spoons. Wicked? Me? you betcha!I think our medicine spoon stash was dealt with in 2012 and we have since taken care to avoid storing them in pairs to stop them breeding.
So, what did I manage this week? I know you are agog to hear about the contents of two of my bedroom drawers! One was relieved of three unused sets of diary pages (2007/8/9), some out of date and unused tablets and several empty ring boxes plus four pairs of spectacles that went back to Specsavers for their charity bin. The other no longer contains several old hair-driers, a broken in two hairbrush, a number of un-wanted gifts (I hope Auntie M doesn't read my blog) and some left over Christmas gifts from when I was training to be a primary school teacher and needed 30+ presents for my Year 5 class! All bagged up now.
My utility room cupboards revealed that I never need to buy another bottle of Flash again ... ever! If money gets short I may open a shop selling Flash myself! I did dispose of four yucky sponges and consolidated several part used containers of detergents. This week's biggest surprises were two bottles of orchid food and one of ceramic hob cleaner - we don't have any orchids and we have had a gas hob for over two years now!!! Out! Out! Out!
My family are impressed with my dedication so far, but not enough to join in (yet)! I think the biggest problem is that not everything has a place to be put back in. Next week's motto will have to be "Put it away or throw it away". How are you doing?
I have consolidated all my "Precious Treasures" into the box my cousin gave me for Christmas the year before last and will be blogging about them on Story Telling Sunday. I have sorted two shelves in the cupboard in the bedroom and put away the Christmas tree and decorations. I can't do the decorations by myself as this means climbing a step-ladder and then putting the stuff on top of the cupboard on the landing.
ReplyDeleteI gave up climbing steps the year I turned 60 and nearly fell off them when painting a wall, so now my son-in-law has to do the climbing. I am considering the shelf of video tapes as we no longer have a working video machine but Mr M gave me "the Look" when I mentioned it so...
You can see why I am inclined to leave things alone can't you.
OH and this is NOT decluttering this is just making space to walk from room to room.
It's always useful to have some Flash on hand! though there were complaints here when I bought the Febreze flavoured one here when it was on special offer. Flash is supposed to smell like Flash, apparently :)
ReplyDeleteGreat work!
You are doing so well, Jemma :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not doing very well at all although I did think about you the other day when I was wondering if I should sort out my makeup (I don't wear it so why do I have any?
I'll get round to it :)
Great job! The weather has prevented me from getting to the dump & goodwill with my last declutter so I didn't get anything done this weekend. I have no room for hauling more stuff in my car currently & I need the boxes back that have the dump stuff in them.
ReplyDeleteHi Jemma - I had to go back and read all your posts after reading this one. Good on you. I have a husband that disposes of everything that is left in the same place (including cupboards/draws) for too long! He doesn't do clutter he tells me....we have to hunt down a medicine spoon when needed I could have done with one of those 59 lol!! x
ReplyDeleteI could have done with a medicine spoon as well....we can never find one when needed!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a sneaky suspicion that I have enough bars of soap to last til the next millenium.....I don't know where they comes from....as we always use liquid soap....obviously they breed somehow....unlike our medicine spoons!!!!
Well done Jemma I also found lots of well out of date medication today, and that was from one of the bedside drawers - the ones I don't really use - the one on the other side of the bed.
ReplyDeletealso found lots of cds which haven't seen the light of day for at least 3 years but I'm reluctant to get rid of just in case I decide I want to play music again.
Wow - you are doing a great job! Keep it up!!
ReplyDeleteI am super impressed with how well you are sticking to your plan. I am terrible at long term plans, I think it takes longer than my attention span to create a new habit so I never end up beyond a week. LOL We have moved 3 times in the past 4 years so there are some areas where we don't have any clutter. The same can't be said for my craft room :D (or hubby's shed for that matter!)
ReplyDeleteTold Princess about your spreadsheet - as a true geeky daughter her eyes lit up :) Looks like we have to empty most of our house over the Easter school holidays so decluttering will definitely be happening around here :sigh: Does the spreadsheet help? Should I create one or ask for a copy? Or just fancy a trip to London??? ;)
ReplyDeleteglad to hear there are others out there with the same problem! However, I have found that four house moves since 2001 (one from country to country) certainly helps to keep at least some of that stuff under control! And our last move - still fresh in my memory - was so ruthless that it, along with a concerted effort not to bring new stuff in to the house the last couple of years - meant that we definitely moved out this time with less stuff than we had three years ago when we moved in. I lost count of how often I went to the charity clothes container and my shredder nearly burnt out! But it feels SO good doesn't it?!? And I KNOW that I could still lose even more! Good luck and well done!
ReplyDeleteYou are doing impressively well with your clutter-clearing! Yes, finding a place for the things which are left is key to success in keeping things tidy and ship-shape, I've found... More power to that Flash-assisted elbow of yours!
ReplyDelete