Our New Home

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-vermont+south-107049445

Now, while there is many a slip, etc, I think I can announce that we are buying this house.  Unless there is a disaster.

I don't know how long the link will be up for.  Hopefully by the time it goes down I will have my own pictures to show off.

Now all we have to do is sell this place.  Oh, and pack :(  That has started.  George is doing his sergeant-major thing and pushing us to do everything ASAP even though it will be three or four months before we can move.  Books are being packed by the hundred.

It;s a pity I'm not doing the Decluttering by Numbers thing any more, I must have put about 300 books and magazines in the Op Shop pile yesterday!

Unfortunately in the last 12 months we have moved MIL into a new house; packed/unpacked/repacked my father's stuff; and now this.  So it feels like our third move in a year even though it isn't.  The last time I did that (four moves in 14 months) I collapsed in a heap for two years before being diagnosed with CFS.  (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) .I'm not sure how I am going to cope!  And I need to find a job as soon as possible after moving to pay the increase in the mortgage.

Wish us luck!

Decluttering by Numbers - The Last Post

Well, we are negotiating over a property that we LOVE, and we don't get that, there's another I fancy having another look at, and plenty more on the market too.

So we signed up with an agent to put our on the market last night.  Which means that Decluttering by Numbers has to come to an abrupt close, as a whirlwind of decluttering and packing needs to start right now.

Just for the record, this is Monday - Wednesday of this week:

IN


2 x exhibition catalogues
2 x trashy magazines
2 x craft magazines

TOTAL  6

OUT


2 x cooking magazines, recipes removed  RECYCLE
30 craft magazines  OP SHOP
1 shirt beyond repair and not interesting enough to reuse  BIN
1 x trashy magazine  RECYCLE
3 x photocopied bundles of paper  RECYCLE
2 x mouldy pillows (casualties of the Great Indoor Waterfall Affair)  TIP
1 x broken desk chair  (broken in such a way as to not be mendable)  TIP
7 x my father's books OP SHOP

TOTAL  47

47 - 6 = 41

We are taking a storage unit at the weekend and putting all of my father's stuff in plus anything else we can box before then, and presumably further boxed items afterwards.  It makes sense to box the majority of the books and craft materials right now, even if it is a few months before we move.

And other regular blog posts will probably cease for the time being.  I will continue to blog when I can, and when I have something to say or show, though.

PANIC STATIONS...

Decluttering by Numbers Week 4

IN


2 x craft magazines (subs)
1 x skirt
1 x top
1 x DVD Box Set (me)
2 x trashy magazines
2 x craft magazines
1 x pair shoes
1 x PS2 game (Wombat)
4 x books (me and the kids)

TOTAL  15

OUT


6 x decorative tins (OP SHOP)
1 x tray (OP SHOP)
8 x craft magazines (OP SHOP)
1 x craft magazine with two patterns removed (RECYCLING)
2 x trashy magazines (RECYCLING)
1 x Notebook magazine (OP SHOP)
1 x top (OP SHOP)
1 x very ugly bracelet (OP SHOP)
2 x cooking magazines, recipes removed (RECYCLING)
26 of my father's books (OP SHOP)

TOTAL  49

49 - 15 = 34

So Outs exceeded Ins again.  Not doing so well on the curbing spending but at least the decluttering continues slowly.

We put in an offer on a house early in the week and were turned down - that was why I thought I might have to abandon this and declutter and pack urgently.  We are continuing to househunt actively and declutter actively, and I will continue to document it until the urgency returns.

For what it's worth, I liked the house we put the offer in on, especially the kitchen, but I do not feel more than a mild regret about missing out on it.  I don't think it was truly meant to be and I never did.  There's quite a bit of property around and we will keep looking.  This weekend we have been inside two that were horrible, looked at one from the outside that we didn't like and one from the outside that we will definitely be going back to look at properly.  I will continue to post updates in my Monday post until something definite happens!

And thank you to all my kind commenters and their good wishes, it was all very well received and made me feel better about the whole thing.  I swing between depression and excitement (well, most of the time I just feel tired, to tell the truth!).

Onwards and upwards for more decluttering!

Teddy Bear Tuesday

Would you believe, this is a teddy bear turned into a rock by enchantment?  It is waiting for the spell to be broken by Gandalf the wizard but he is too busy with some ring or something and keeps getting teddy bears confused with other small creatures with furry paws.

In the meantime he is 2.5 cm tall and 4cm wide.  I think he was asleep when the spell was cast and was lying down, otherwise he would be somewhat short and portly.  I can't remember the type of rock he was turned into, I thought it was malachite but looking at it closely I am not so sure.  He lives in the display cabinet with the other teddies and creatures waiting for the day...

In other news - yes, some of you made wise guesses, we may be moving house.  The indoor waterfall of ten days ago convinced us that the house was, indeed, not worth saving (it is crumbling, leaking, sinking, etc, and sadly, though only 40 years old, seems to have been built under almost no building regs at all.  IT would cost more to save than to rebuild, and after doing the sums we have decided that rebuilding would be overcapitalising and selling it as a development block and moving on is the best thing to do).

I really don't want to move because I love this house, and because moving is such a PITA when you have done it as many times as I have in my life.  (I counted it once and it was enough for most people three or four times over).  However we have been looking for a little while in a desultory way and have realised that there is plenty of decent stuff in the same suburb that would suit us and allow the kids to stay at their present school, which is important to all of us.  Baby Bear only has a year to go - a year in which we definitely should not be distracting her by moving, but she will just have to cope!

Trouble is, once we find the right place and buy it, we will have to sell this IMMEDIATELY.  Which means that Decluttering by Numbers will become Decluttering and Packing in a Total Panic, with no time to record things.

I will keep my half a dozen readers posted.

Decluttering by Numbers Week 3

IN


3 x craft magazines (sub)
1 x book (Wombat)
1 x magazine (Wombat)
4 x pairs shorts (Wombat - he hadn't had any new ones in three years so he needed them very badly!)
2 x trashy mags
3 x manga (Wombat)
2 x craft books
1 x DVD box set (Waking the Dead Series 6 - me - obsessed)
1 x set Maryoshka measuring spoons to match my measuring cups
1 x hoodie (Wombat)
2 x DVD box sets (Wombat, pocket money)
1 x pair cheap shoes (me - glittery!)
1 x craft mag
1 x Australian Women's Weekly
1 x DVD set (me)
1 x Decor cake box

TOTAL  26

OUT


58 x craft mags in massive clearout OP SHOP
1 x Notebook mag, recipes removed RECYCLING
14 x my father's books GIFT (to someone who will apreciate them!)
2 x trashy mags RECYCLING
2 x cooking mags with recipes removed RECYCLING

TOTAL  77

77 - 26 = 51

Yay!  Sort of winning.

It is just possible that Decluttering by Numbers may cease rather abruptly in the near future, but if that is so it will be because (good) circumstances may be about to force a decluttering of a speed and magnitude that won't leave me time to record it.  Watch this space. 

Decluttering by Numbers Week 2

So here goes again.  Remembering that my main goal was for the Outs to exceed the Ins.  I also thought it might be a way for me to curb my spending!


IN
3 x underwear for Baby Bear
2 x trashy magazines
1 x DVD (Toy Story 3) for the kids
1 x craft knife to replace the many that I own but cannot find!
1 x lime green nail polish (yes, for me!)
1 x craft magazine (subscription - actually I thought the sub had lapsed, I think they are trying to encourage me to resubscribe but I can't afford it)
1 x magazine from my old University College (subscription - a life-time one)
3 x pairs cheap and cheerful shoes (all on sale)
1 x DS game (pre-owned) for Womat
4 x food magazines
1 x DVD set (Dragonball Z Series 9) for Angus - late spending of birthday money
3 x CDs (Baby Bear)
2 x DVDs (Baby Bear - all of these five using her pocket money)
1 x craft magazine
1 x cook book


TOTAL   26




OUT
11x knitting booklets OP SHOP
1 x plastic chopping board that looked as though it had a skin disease BIN
3 x trashy magazines RECYCLING
I did over another two laundry shelves and chucked 4 x empty bottles that had been there for several years RECYCLING
and 9 x ancient dead things BIN
4 x pairs boy's shorts, outgrown OP SHOP
1 x cooking magazine with recipes torn out RECYCLING
3 x outgrown girl's clothes OP SHOP
1 x food magazine (duplicate) OP SHOP 
2 x CWA magazines (I get them when my MIL has finished with them) OP SHOP
135 x my father's old books OP SHOP (Yes, that does say 135!)


TOTAL  174


174 - 26 = 148


I'm very pleased with the overall number of Outs, even though in a way getting rid of those books is relatively easy.  However there are so many boxes of them (loads have already gone before I started this) and they make up a very major part of the clutter that needs dealing with, both physically and mentally, it is important to have the incentive to work through them, and to record it.


I am spending way too much money.  And this isn't even including Christmas present spending, though I am reducing that this year.


Now on to next week!!

Decluttering by Numbers Week 1

So here goes.  Remembering that my main goal was for the Outs to exceed the Ins.  I also thought it might be a way for me to curb my spending!

Ins
1 DS game (pre-owned) for Wombat
1 PS2 game (on sale) for Wombat
3 trashy magazines
1 food magazine
2 craft magazines
1 DVD box set (Modern Family) for the children
1 dress worth of  dress fabric

TOTAL  10

Outs
1 pair boys dressy black pants, outgrown OP SHOP
Large piles of redundant paperwork, equivalent to approximately 5 magazines worth in volume RECYCLING
1 duplicate bead magazine included in Bead Expo entry OP SHOP
4 of my father's old books OP SHOP
Clean out of laundry shelf not touched for about six years yielded 4 empty bottles (would normally count as consumables and not in this list, but as they had been there for so long they were clutter!) RECYCLING
1 kids' party cake magazine supplement OP SHOP
Big magazine clearout and tidy up - 9 magazines OP SHOP (and many more shelved)
1 Australian Women's Weekly, recipes removed RECYCLING
1 trashy magazine RECYCLING
1 ugly stuffed frog from my father's things OP SHOP

TOTAL 28

28 - 10 = 18

Good, outs exceeded ins last week!  But that spending didn't go down much.  I need to work on that.

Decluttering by Numbers

Inspired by Taphophile I might try to do some decluttering of our hideously cluttered place of abode and hold myself to account for it.  Let's see long I can do this for!

I will post, on Mondays, what I have brought into and turfed out of the house.  I have set myself some rules.  As a lot of the current clutter is the crap from my father's place, that most definitely counts.  What does not count - consumables (food, drink, toiletries, cleaning products, medicines, and the sort of stationery that is bought to be used fairly promptly, like staples and printer paper).  (I am also excluding Christmas altogether from this list - both what I buy and then give as presents, and presents received.  That's just too hard). Also not counting stuff purchased by other family members off their own bat.  Or The Age, which we get home delivered, read and recycle (and the local paper, likewise). What does count - IN -clothing (for me, and also for other family members if I chose it and pay for it), books/magazines/other newspapers no matter how they arrive in the house (except for library books), stash items of any kind, any other STUFF that I acquire in any way. OUT - anything from the 'In' categories that goes out to (a) the rubbish/recycling if it cannot be used by someone else, (b) op shops or other charitable institutions if it can be used by someone else, (c) any gifts that I might make from stash items.

I am not setting myself a target, though I guess aiming to have OUT exceed IN would be good.  But it might help me to keep track of things.  So I am keeping count as of today, and will report weekly.

Repurposing may occur.  I will blog about it if it does, but it will not be included in the numbers.  Let's stick to a simple equation!

Oh, and when I list something as going to the op shop, what I actually mean is that it goes into a designated box or bag which, when full, goes to the op shop.  That's the way we have always done it, and the system works.

Wish me luck!