Well done, AuntieE!
I bet you'll have have a stress free, organised Christmas.
Well earned.
Did you manage to do at least one thing every day during that year?
Have anyone ever hesitated to get help at home because of not much reassurance
It’s that time of year.
Who is looking to get rid of extraneous items and declutter their houses ready for winter and associated upcoming festivals?
I have two boxes of books waiting to be collected on Tuesday, and hope to add a few bags of clothing before they get here. My decorator is coming to do various bits and bobs, and I need to clear the decks ahead of that, which is my motivation for starting now.
I also need to clear out a huge kitchen cupboard which will become a walk-in larder if the carpenter ever gets back to me.
What’s on your declutter list? Record your successes and difficulties on this thread and support one another.
No lectures on why we shouldn’t need to declutter, please? We know
. Start another thread about people who are disorganised or who shouldn’t buy too much in the first place and we can choose not to engage with it. This one is for support, encouragement and celebration of clearing ‘stuff’ from our lives.
Well done, AuntieE!
I bet you'll have have a stress free, organised Christmas.
Well earned.
Did you manage to do at least one thing every day during that year?
Lisaangel10
Took all my clutter to charity shops today. Several are full to bursting and are not accepting donations. Some kindly took a few bags at a time so I got rid of it all.
I then went and bought 30 new slimline coat hangers with a velvet effect non slip coating.
I am going up to swap all the odd coathangers for lovely new spacesaving ones. I had about 20 of these already.
A job well done this weekend.
50 hangers!!! Just how many clothes have you got, Lisaangel10?😱
And I don't suppose you want to hear that I did my decluttering over the entire year, as I have been re-decorating the better part of the house, finishing with the kitchen.
I have just finished washing the sitting-room floor - the entire floor, which entails rolling back a heavy carpet, first one end, then t'other, as it is too heavy for me to roll the whole carpet.
Christmas cleaning nearly finished, baking is finished, so I shall write e-mails and cards tomorrow.
Do as much as you can be bothered with each day, but don't accept any excuses from you to self for shirking it.
Put them in your shop, though, Petra, and hopefully they'll fetch some funds in, ans someone will enjoy looking at them.
They'd be lost amongst the other stuff, here.
My nana's ashes are in the grounds of the church.
Ooh I recognise those landmarks. 
MissAdventure
Oh the floor must be a nuisance to try and work around.
I seem to have run out of steam here, just when I could do with it.
Too much to do, have to rely on others' for lifts, need to get a covid jab, "appoinkments" left right and centre.
Oh and the washing, the washing, the washing!!
I could do with a team of staff just to deal with teen washing and drying.
Sorry got "the hump" today,in case you didn't notice
This morning I unpacked these. Any takers before someone can’t resist them. There are 6.
I know! People have had extensions built in less time than this has taken, and it's still not finished.
To make matters worse, I can't get into the kitchen to prepare any food, and the packets, jars and tins are in bags on the dining room floor, so I can't just grab a bag of pasta and a tin of tomatoes - everything is a chore, and I'm sick of it.
Oh for goodness sakes!
It's so hard to just get someone to do a job these days.
I feel your ire.
Well, the man is here.
The drawers etc are all done, so it should have been a couple of hours' job to fit them and wax the doors. But no. He didn't measure properly, and is going to have to fiddle to get the doors to fit. This will take 'another couple of days', and apparently is all the fault of the chap who built the original cupboard 25 years ago. Or the fact that it's an old house. Or something. It's not that didn't take time to measure from all angles - oh no.
So on it goes. I am out tomorrow, so won't be able to get on with sorting it all out until Thursday at the earliest, and that assumes that he'll be finished by then, which is not a given.
If I knew any rude words, I would swear😡
Oh!
My grandsons are painting my kitchen.
Well, ones painting, ones wandering around with a roller in his hand.
Thank you.
I totally understand what you said.
Yes, perhaps you're right. 
MissAdventure
So I find myself thinking I should get them a few bits and bobs, too.
I really am a misery today.
What a horrible person I've become, to resent treating people who have been kind.
I think you resent the need for kindness and feel you should be stronger - you need to accept that you can’t do everything then you will appreciate the help/kindness. I prefer giving to receiving, it is so nice when the recipient realises that they are appreciated.
That is a bit muddled thinking, sorry
So I find myself thinking I should get them a few bits and bobs, too.
I really am a misery today. 
What a horrible person I've become, to resent treating people who have been kind.
Me too.
I only buy bits and bobs for the grandsons, but my neighbour has been very helpful this year, and I have a friend too.
I got some foil drawstring bags from Amazon a while ago. They make 'wrapping' so much easier, and are reusable. I just collect them all up when everyone has unwrapped, and put them away with the decorations until the next year. They have been used three times now, and are still going strong, so are relatively planet friendly.
I'm tight fisted, so recycle everything.
I don't use cards or labels though (too tight even for that!)
MissAdventure
Are you going to make labels out of them?
My mum used to do that, bless her.
She enjoyed it.
I used to but we recycle the bags from one year to the next now.
Not being tight-fisted, trying to be eco-friendly. 🙂
Are you going to make labels out of them?
My mum used to do that, bless her.
She enjoyed it.
MayBee70
My daughter is currently having a new kitchen fitted which includes having all the floor tiles replaced. I haven’t heard from her for ages so I would imagine she’s pretty stressed.
Oh dear, that will be me in the New Year.
Meanwhile, just recycling last year's Christmas cards which had been carefully stored away in a box - why, just why? It wasn't me!
Oh the floor must be a nuisance to try and work around.
I seem to have run out of steam here, just when I could do with it.
Too much to do, have to rely on others' for lifts, need to get a covid jab, "appoinkments" left right and centre.
Oh and the washing, the washing, the washing!!
I could do with a team of staff just to deal with teen washing and drying.
Sorry got "the hump" today,in case you didn't notice 
My daughter is currently having a new kitchen fitted which includes having all the floor tiles replaced. I haven’t heard from her for ages so I would imagine she’s pretty stressed.
Today’s the day for the pesky cupboard! The dining room is full of the contents of the old one, and the carpenter is coming to fit the shelves and drawers in an hour or so🤞.
Obviously it will all be to put back, which will be a pain in the proverbial, but a lot went out when I cleared the cupboard and a lot more might follow as it goes back in. I just hope he turns up, as he hasn’t been very reliable up to now. Wish me luck.
DH took another boxful, old glassware, some could be worth something, to the charity shop when I was out this morning.
I'd actually packed it all up carefully to put back in the attic in case any DC want it.
Not worth worrying about it.
I’ve ordered several pairs of Marigolds and can’t believe how much I’m looking forward to receiving them. I’m fed up of the cheap rubber gloves I’ve got being a nightmare to take on and off. I’ve even ordered some special black Marigolds gardening gloves. Now going to sort out my collection of cardboard boxes to put the toys in. Might even go through the wardrobe and dig out some dresses, many of which probably came from charity shops in the first place. Odd job man is coming to see me tomorrow about putting my coat hooks up. Woohoo! If I ever get on top of this decluttering I won’t know what to do with myself…I’m also sending away for some compost bags I’ve seen on Facebook that are fully biodegradable but don’t leak after a couple of days. I hate lifting them out of the compost bin to find a brown mess underneath.I even put all of the dogs bone collection in the brown bin and the dustmen took them away.
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