The KonMarie method

Parisian

That's fab Polly - you must feel so satisfied?!
I've got 4 blue ikea bags of paperwork so far to take to the recycling centre on Tuesday - can't wait to throw it all in the air!

I'm hoping to buy my first property this year, so I'm using these questions for my general discarding:
1. Does this spark joy?
2. Would I want to move this with me to my beautiful new flat?
The second question helps me when I'm not too clear on the first/getting distracted somehow.

Igamogam

Hello Morganlefay and Parisian - welcome aboard

I have just popped in for a breather. Think I have reached 'kritikal konod mass' :eek: :rotfl: I thought I was being ruthless unitl I turned round and saw what as behind me ( I am shed clearing and its not stuff that should be in a shed!) Well its a 'garden office' really but ever since OH built it, I commandeered for 'storage' Sadly I have had a "death in storage" incident.....at first I was really sad, then cross when I discovered the damage but very quickly got over it and threw the lot in the bin - result

Right drink and a biscuit and back to it. Sausage casserole thrown in slow cooker today so I could't use the excuse I needed to stop to make dinner!

Knit_Witch

GreyQueen wrote: »

I'm 50 so probably not allowed to be eccentric yet, but have always had Isshews with Stuff.

Many moons ago, when I was very very poor, a friend gave me two pairs of very nice socks for my birthday. She explained that when she'd been very poor, socks were always in short supply. She was right! They lasted for years and gave me joy.

When I moved into this tiny flat, a friend asked me what I wanted for Xmas. After the usual demurring that I didn't need anything but, if she insisted, something very small and consumable would be nice.

Clever lady got me a calendar of lovely photos of nature, which gave me 12 months of joy, a nice bottle of bath product, which lasted several months, and a bag of chocolate-covered nuts which lasted.....ummm..... about half an hour?:rotfl:

I thought that was an excellent gift, don't you?

Much better than an ornament you don't really like

My family have taken to sending cheques, that way I can either replace clothes or buy a more expensive bottle of wine for Dr Witch and myself (basically something consumable that I would normally demur at getting!)

Knit_Witch

jue wrote: »

We are having an anniversary party later in the year, will definitely state in the invites no gifts, we don't need any more stuff in the house:)

We were invited to a golden wedding celebration and they asked for donations to a local hospice

Knit_Witch

jue wrote: »

Hi Maddiemay, strange that you should say this, DH suggested this just yesterday. TBH I am not sure how it would work with my family. Will have a think about it though, maybe have a chat with my mum, she is usually good at judging these things.

Hmm you could suggest that the family club together and get you an overnight stay at a nice hotel, or a posh afternoon tea, or a trip on a steam train - what ever you think but something you can remember and it won't clutter! (apart from a couple of photos maybe )

mummyjane

My copy of the book arrived and within an hour I'd read halfway! Love it and I'm excited to see where it leads me :A

Dolly_Mixture

Hi guys, I have just started Kondoing again after a bit of a break. I did my clothes in February, and although it was tiring, it was really worth it. I really enjoy seeing my clothes neatly folded and lined up. I also enjoy the extra space in my wardrobe and drawers. This week I started with books and DVDs and again it has been satisfying. My daughter and I have dressed the bookcases like something from Ideal Home magazine which has been fun. Now I have started on paperwork and it is a much less joyful task! We have a study with a lot of built in shelves and drawers for filing. I have a lot of confidential papers which have to be shredded which is time consuming. So far I have cleared 2 shelves, I had paperwork going back for a long time (NCT membership cards 2007 anyone!). I think the reason I have so much is that I don't "get round" to it. I regularly clear out clothes and books but paper work gets put off. There is also the worry with paperwork that you will throw something out that you might need - there are lots of horror stories on this thread! However, I have been very careful and kept anything that I might need. With my clothes and books, I had a clear idea of what I wanted the result to be, with paperwork, I'm not so sure. I had a reasonable filing system set up, it was just overfull. I think I just need to keep it clearer in the future; throw last year's out when I file this year's, which I don't do at the moment.

I also thought I have got to see paperwork as a project like decorating a room, which will benefit me in the long term, and also my daughter who won't be left with a pile of stuff to get rid of in the future.

Once paperwork is finished, I will be onto 'komono' which I think needs to be subdivided into smaller categories, eg linen and towels, make up and jewellery, bathroom 'stuff' and kitchen 'stuff'.

Good luck with the Kondoing guys. I will let you know when I finish the paperwork and how I feel about it then.

PollyWollyDoodle

I think you're right - I don't have a clear idea of what I want my filing to look like/do for me. I am toying with the ring-binder and plastic wallet idea that Jinny has suggested, but I think I have too much for that.

In the past all I've thought of is filing paperwork, I haven't really considered whether or not I needed to keep it and it's always been a source of frustration and worry because I couldn't keep on top of it. I'm hoping this is as effective as kondo-ing the wardrobe, which has been fantastic.

I'm going to give up for the evening as I'm exhausted (and so is the shredder, it keeps cutting out!) - I have found this very hard. Some of the paperwork reminds me of poor decisions I've made, some has emotional connections to places I used to live. However, it's been on my mind and it feels good to have tackled the discarding phase even if I'm not certain about storage yet.

caitybabes

Dolly and Polly (!) I felt exactly the same way about my paperwork when I was in the discard phase, but remember that MK says you should not even think about storage until you have finished discarding. I now understand why! You can't think about how you're going to store it because you don't know how much there will be. I had two fairly full filing cabinet drawers and I ended up with 12cm stack. I was really stuck with how to organise it as there's no point having a hanging file labeled 'insurance' if all the insurance documents can fit in a plastic wallet!

I split the paperwork into the following piles:
1. My personal documents (any certificates, passport, job contract, immunisation records, P60s, P45s etc)
2. Hubby's personal documents
3. Paperwork which is currently relevant (insurance, latest water bill, latest council tax letter, current mortgage info, etc)
4. Wills
5. Car number 1 (kept all service and MOT history, wasn't particularly ruthless here)
6. Car number 2
7. House purchase papers, correspondence and deeds, etc.

Papers for the first 3 categories are in plastic wallets grouped by similar papers, held together in their category by treasury tags. The rest are in plastic popper envelope folders as the info does not need to be accessed easily on a regular basis.

It all fits in the bottom drawer of our beautiful bureau which I am thrilled to be using for all stationery and paper goods, including notebooks.

Hope that helps!

So far have listened to the whole audio book and just finished reading the thread today. Thanks to everyone who posted, it's so helpful to hear how others have made it work for them.

Have sorted clothes (including accessories and towels and bed linens), books, paperwork, toiletries and DVDs so far. Feeling great about what I've achieved so far and hubby is being great about it. The initial mocking has turned to cooperation!

Loads still left to do, but I will keep going. Making loads on eBay atm and have a constant stream of people from Freegle coming to collect items.

Keep up the good work everyone!

Igamogam

I have promised myself a KM Easter so tomorrow and Monday I will be at it again:D Lovely and sunny today so doing a lot of the sorting outside, topping up the vitamin D. Storage boxes being hauled outside then dealt with out there - just a short walk to the wheelie bin:rotfl: Hoping for more sunshine tomorrow and I will have house to myself for most of the day so no interruptions Shed number 3 in my sights..............mind you still have shed 1 and 2 to finish but the 'discarding' has been done in those two so its just organising them better now and maybe have 'discard round two' whilst I do it;)