Day 34: When Do You Throw Away Fruit and Veg?

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

More often than not these days, vegetables and sometimes fruit are arriving into the house without expiry dates on them. Whilst this is fine (as it stops them being thrown away before they are actually ‘off’) I like to know which order to use the refrigerated fruit and veg.

When the groceries arrived this morning, I used the back of the accompanying paperwork to write little tags with today’s date on and stick them onto each item.

Simple labels out of recycled paper
Dating your fruit and veg

This method will work better for me and the rest of the family as it will stop us all wasting things when we’re not sure how many days they’ve been there. No one in the house has to ask me either which is a bonus.

Anything I don’t use that’s really out of date or looks bad will go in the food waste caddy as normal.

Food waste caddy

That’s another little system put in place for my 2020 challenge.

How do you decide when to throw away your non-dated items?

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, recycling, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Day 33: Where Are The Cards When You Need Them?

Posted on February 2, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

A box of cards

It sounds simple doesn’t it – having a selection of cards readily available in case anyone in the house asks if I’ve got one? The cards are usually in a few different places around the house, but today I’ve moved them into one place.

Next time I’m at the supermarket, I think I’ll stock up with cards for some of the upcoming birthdays and anniversaries and put them in this box ready. This is something I haven’t done for a very long time. I’m usually in the shop buying a card the day I need to post it, thereby wasting my time and adding unnecessary stress.

I’ve just popped a note on my errands list to do this, which has made me feel a bit more organised.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, Time management, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

January Decluttering Reflections

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Today seems like a good day to reflect on what I’ve achieved in January and how I am going to tackle things in February.

How is the house feeling generally? A lot better, particularly downstairs and the main bedroom (although there’s still a lot to do behind the closed cupboards and drawers).

How can I get rid of more stuff? I’m doing well in all of the areas where things are exciting the house e.g. our recycling bins are always full, which means that our rubbish bins have less in them. The charity shop gets around 1 bag of stuff every 2 weeks or so (could up that to 1 per week I suppose).

Am I on track? Yes. Decluttering was never going to be a quick fix as I am making small improvements daily. I’m also not giving myself a time limit as I don’t need that kind of pressure. My only deadline is that I do something however small (10 mins max, but can do more) by midnight each day.

What am I going to do in February? More of the same. The daily habit is forming nicely and I feel that the pockets of clear space are motivating me to move forward quicker.

Some highlights over the past month…

Clutter is One of My Biggest Problem Areas

Declutter Your Mind… Take a Bath

More Weekend Decluttering

10 Minutes Away from Having a Clear Desk

Start with a Corner of Clutter

Looking for Something in a Box of Papers Has its Benefits

A Reason to Buy Beautiful Fresh Flowers….

… and the flowers are still looking lovely after one week

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Goals and direction, Inspiration, recycling, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Day 32: A Simple Fix

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

This kitchen breakfast bar stool has been sitting on its back for at least a week, and ‘find tool to fix stool’ has been in my list of things to do for even longer.

You see, it was wobbling for a while and getting a bit dangerous, so I kept moving it around in different parts of the kitchen/dining room and putting things on it so no one sat on it. Then I eventually took it out of action by lying it down.

Today whilst I was looking for something else, I stumbled across this…

Within a few minutes the stool was tightened and back on its base. I’ve also put the tool in a place where I will be able to find it next time I need it.

This may seem like a pretty simple one for today’s challenge; however, I’ve also been busy keeping the kitchen tidy so that it doesn’t go back to how it was looking before my decluttering day.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Day 31: File Tax Paperwork in One Place

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Sounds simple doesn’t it, to put all tax return paperwork in one folder so you know where it is? However, I don’t, and I can never find anything that I need.

And why do I always leave it until the last minute to do the return? I got really stressed yesterday trying to find all the last minute bits that I needed. I need to be more organised next year.

I’ve just filed my return a few hours before the deadline and paid my taxes. It felt good to get it done.

I have used today’s challenge time to put all the paperwork in my tax folder and will add to it when anything else comes in for the current tax year.

Just poured myself a well earned glass of red wine.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Day 30: A Day Off To Declutter

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I had the day off today with the intention of pottering about decluttering and sorting the kitchen area and utility room as it was getting a bit out of control. The goal was:

  • To feel more relaxed in the space
  • To be able to get to the washing machine and dryer without moving something out of the way
  • To get rid of things that have been lurking around in the utility room that shouldn’t be there
  • To put everything back in the cupboard under the sink (long story!)
  • To tackle anything else that needed doing

Quite a list.

My husband did suggest earlier this morning that I do something for myself on my day off rather than cleaning. I told him that I wasn’t going to be cleaning, but decluttering. He understands that decluttering clears my mind, and rang me at lunchtime to see if I was feeling happy and making progress.

I didn’t feel like I was making progress until around 3.30pm, when I sat down and had a well-earned cup of tea! I was nowhere near finished, but I could at least get to the washing machine and walk around the kitchen without tripping over things.

It’s amazing how long it takes me to make decisions and go through everything – putting away, throwing away, recycling etc. We’ve also had air in the pipes under the sink lately so the cleaning stuff has been living outside of the cupboard which has been annoying.

Today I put it all back and left a small bucket in there to collect the water if it comes out the pipe. This is until we get the right tool to sort it out (weekend job!).

I feel exhausted, but happy.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Goals and direction, Household chores, Inspiration, Wellbeing, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Day 29: The Overcrowded Sock Drawer That Winds Me Up Daily

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

All paired up

As I reached for a pair of socks this evening, I remembered that I hadn’t got anything to write about for today’s blog. And there it was right in front of me – the annoying sock drawer that I do nothing about whenever I open it because I’m usually in a rush.

Unorganised sock drawer

I set the timer for 10 minutes and decided to sort it out, keeping in mind that I don’t have a ‘bigger’ drawer space for socks (yet!). For now, they will have to live in the small drawer.

My intention was to throw out odd socks if they weren’t newish, which is so unlike me as I tend to keep odd socks around the house in bags as I come across them. However, I can never find the odd sock bags when I need them, so today I’ve decided to stop doing that.

As well as 6 odd socks, I also found a glove and a belt! The belt just happened to fall into a number 6 position – it wasn’t intentional 😀.

Odd socks and other items found in the sock drawer

… and 32 pairs of socks are going back into the small drawer.

32 pairs of socks

A couple of questions for myself:

  1. Why do I need 32 pairs of socks? Some are in the wash as well so I’ve probably got more like 35-40.
  2. What happened to my Tuesday, Friday and Saturday socks 😂?

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, recycling, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Day 28: Can You Find a Fluffy Hot Water Bottle When You Need One?

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Just look at these lovely looking fluffy hot water bottles. Don’t they deserve a dedicated place around the house? I think so.

So, why do I find them in the kitchen, spare room, bedroom, lounge and various other places? Sometime they are sitting there undressed with the covers nowhere to be found. We all use them so there is no one person in particular to blame. It’s just one of life’s minor annoyances when you are looking for one to cuddle up with.

The airing cupboard used to be the place to go for hot water bottles, so I opened the door to see if there was room to store them and it looked like this…



No chance of stacking them tidily on a shelf in there unless I get rid of some sheets and towels. I’ll save that joy for another day!

Calling All Hot Water Bottles

So, to move my challenge forward for today I’m just going to gather up all hot water bottles from around the house, marry them up with their fluffy covers and keep them in labelled bag in the airing cupboard until I get some time to tidy it. I really can’t think of any other cupboard space or drawer that’s free right now.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, Miscellaneous, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Day 27: Bacon Sandwich and Admin Over Lunch

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

At lunch time today, I rushed home to make a sandwich, make some calls, do some other admin online, and empty the bins around the house ready for the Tuesday collection. It’s amazing what you can fit in around the working day! There’s also something good about getting rid of the rubbish after decluttering.

I forgot to take a photo of my yummy bacon and lettuce sandwich, so I’m afraid this blog will have to make do with a photo of my lunchtime ‘to do’ list instead.

As I’m up to day 27 of my challenge, I decided to reward myself with one of these delicious Lindt chocolates…

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Day 26: A Reason to Buy Beautiful Fresh Flowers

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Sometimes life happens and you are on your feet all day attending to everyone else’s needs, giving you little or no time to focus on your own projects – in my case, my decluttering/improving challenge.

As this happened to be one of those types of days for me, I just decided to go with the flow to see where it would take me. My daughter needed to draw some flowers and other items for her Fine Art GCSE which isn’t the sort of things we had around the house, so I suggested a walk to the local supermarket to buy a bunch. We had a lovely stroll and a chat and came back home with a beautiful variety of flowers, a few of which she arranged with other items to take some fantastic photos (much better than I’ve added here). I’m looking forward to seeing which ones she chooses to paint tomorrow.

When she finished the photos, she helped me arrange the bunches into different vases and they looked beautiful. We cleared some spaces in the lounge, hallway and kitchen to display them. We bought this lovely ‘love’ jug (below) as well which looked great in the hallway.

The rest we put in the lounge…

Although I’m slightly stressed about the rest of the house being a mess, at least I have some beautiful flowers to look at.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

 

 

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, Miscellaneous, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments