Dealing with someone else's clutter!

Hi everyone!

That someone else in the title is my youngest daughter. She hasn't lived with us since Christmas but the house and loft are full of her stuff. She stays with friends and calls herself 'homeless' even though we have a spare bedroom here and her bed! The fact is that she doesn't like living with us (even though her beautiful baby is here) and really doesn't get on with her sister now. She can't afford a flat (done that before and failed) because she is totally greedy with money and just spends it as she gets it. I musn't grumble, as she came to visit for the afternoon this week and bought Daisy a bottle of baby juice and some snacks that are too old for her (in the cupboard for when she's bigger now). Last time she came she bought her some bedtime nappies. We have simply asked for her to start paying back what she owes for Daisy's shopping, little by little. We both know that we will never see a penny from her, sad and very selfish.

On a happier note, Daisy is crawling!!! Exciting, but hard work because she is into everything... now the house needs sorting fast!

So far...

 I have sorted a kitchen drawer that contains my linens and Daisy's bibs, muslins, face cloths and cling film etc. It's much easier to find things in there now and I have kept it tidy.

I have emptied, scrubbed and decluttered my fridge, grouping items logically so I don't have to search.

I have tackled my huge pile of ironing and done about a third of it while Daisy was sleeping yesterday.

I have started on Daisy's room - it normally looks beautiful, but I have stored most of her mummy's things in there because she told me she was going to collect them the next evening. She never came and there is no new house, so the stuff is still waiting for removal. She has no space where she is staying, so we are stuck with it. I am hoping that my OH will put it in the loft where the rest of her c*ap is, so Daisy can have her room back and we can finally move her cot in there and make her nursery beautiful once more. Yesterday I looked at Daisy's old clothes and sorted two boxes to be sold. I battled with my hoarder instincts because every item reminded me of her and what she was like back then. I coped... I have photographs of her wearing these beautiful clothes and my other children don't want me to save them for when they have children, so they are going to the carboot sale in September. I have still kept quite a lot... all of her premature/tiny/early baby clothes to show her just how small she was. We bought everything for Daisy's arrival, so we can sell it. Any cash raised from this will go towards our home improvements. We want to live in a calmer environment, surrounded by nature and wildlife and our our animals. We want Daisy to be able to enjoy this lifestyle too. Hopefully when we move, she will come with us and her mummy to start fresh and build a better life and a better future. So, I will keep some memories for Daisy, just not everything! We are keeping the moses basket, bedding, bath and stand etc for any future grandchildren we may have, but not the clothes now. It's a start...

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Taaleedee - Thanks for your advice, I will look into it again. The doctor didn't sign him off work anyway and he's getting better, thanks.

Alex - It was actually a pack of 4 eclairs! I only ate one though. I agree with you about budgeting being like dieting. Don't worry about rambling, I love reading the comments, although I don't get many now, just like before the lovely Frugal Queen linked my blog. I do have more page views than before, so people are still reading!

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My shopping arrived on Tuesday evening and a pot of single cream was split. It was refunded and I kept the cream. The driver actually refunded both pots, so the other was free! The shopping this fortnight cost a lot less than normal but I would still rather shop instore to pick my own fruit, veg and salad stuff.

Today we (Daisy and I) are off to continue sorting her room. She loves sitting on her blanket and playing with her toys, having the freedom to crawl and explore. My lovely hubby took the bed apart and moved it into the spare room last night, so we have space to move things around now. All the movement in there had disturbed a huge spider which had probably been hiding in the mountain of bags, and it appeared while I was in the shower (my daughter warned me before I left the bathroom). My lovely hubby hero removed it! I am scared of spiders and wasps...this time of year is an ordeal for me. Spiders like dark places to hide...another reason to declutter and tidy up!

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x