The KonMarie method

MMF007

GreyQueen wrote: »

This made me grin a bit.

A few months ago, I was chatting on the phone with Mum. She was telling me that she and Dad had been shopping in another town and had got soaking wet.

This baffled me as they had recently treated themselved to very good quality Goretex jackets, to replace existing waterproof jackets which had lost the function and wouldn't stand up to a good soaking. So I asked why they hadn't been wearing the New jackets?

Ummm, because the Old jackets are still on the premises, and they are the same colour as the New, and on the same pegs. So they are easily confused with the New, and thus the Old were worn, and the folks got soaked.

Being of a logical persuasion, I discussed that perhaps the Old jackets could be chucked out, as they were clearly unfit for purpose. But they are effectively Good Enough in modest rain, or dry-but-chilly weather, so have to be kept. Or that would be Wasteful. And each excursion will have to involve a calculation of the probability and severity of precipitation, to select correctly between Old and New, with the perennial risk of getting the hold of the wrong one in a hurry.:wall:

GreyQueen, do we have the same parents??? Mine are exactly like that! And no matter how gently and logicallly I point out the obvious there's no taking any notice. My DH says they are just getting their own back for all my teenage years of completely ignoring their sound advice. Still, I will keep enthusing about KM and pointing to improvements I am making, hoping the magic flows.

GreyQueen

MMF007 wrote: »

GreyQueen, do we have the same parents??? Mine are exactly like that! And no matter how gently and logicallly I point out the obvious there's no taking any notice. My DH says they are just getting their own back for all my teenage years of completely ignoring their sound advice. Still, I will keep enthusing about KM and pointing to improvements I am making, hoping the magic flows.

I think it's a generational thing; they were brought up in very austere times, are now in their early seventies.

I shall be with them over the Bank Holiday weekend. I may be able to finagle my way through the coat mountain, which has constricted the narrow hall to half its width. I'm sure there is stuff on the underneath layers which hasn't seen the light of day this millennium, lol.

Once upon a time, the folks had to keep stuff that wasn't satisfactory, because they were so poor that replacing it wasn't possible. Now they can replace stuff, the old, unsatisfactory stuff has to be kept to avoid Waste. And therefore the money spent on the new items, which is effectively what economists call a sunk cost, is in danger of being wasted.

It drives be barmy, particularly when I catch myself doing the same thing!

Mind you, when the got-soaked-because-had-wrong-jackets scenario replayed itself for the second and third time, I joked that I had no sympathy, that it was their own fault for keeping the old, leaky jackets. I'm a terrible daughter, aren't I?:rotfl:

mavvymoo

Morning Kondoites

Just wrote a long post on my experience of a lady who was a horder( her words not mine) in a big way and lost the post :eek: As it took me about an hour :rotfl:This is the very shortened down post !

I helped her clear her hoard no one had been in her house for 6 years.
She was part way ready to letting 'stuff' go.
I was there for about 4 months in total and never in my life had the feelings I did in there.
To me it was a prison with high walls and barriers and just the feelings of not being able to breathe Or even move around freely.No windows or even curtains open. Sometimes I had to go and stand in the garden even in the rain just to get out of there.( My excuse to the lady is that I was going to put rubbish out)

I never judged or told her how I was feeling as she trusted me to help.
When I finished with her the house was not Kondo'd but so much better and the more we sorted and cleared the more the weight lifted from her shoulders and you finally saw snipets of who she used be.rather than being trapped in a cage she had started to fly freely

She had 2 friends in for a simple lunch on the last day I was there and she was like a child waiting for a Birthday party

She then put the house on the market which was why she had me in to help and she wouldnt let estate agents in before.The house held really bad memories for her.

It sold and she flew free to her new life :j
I often think about her and now realise this story is why I was further down the line of Kondo than some of you were

So thank you Mrs x You helped me much more than I helped you and it was nice knowing you

Mav x

VJsmum

Hi all

We are starting to plough our way through paperwork. Whilst i acknowledge that bank statements and personal finance statements need to be kept, does anyone know if we need to keep house insurance type documents for anything except the current year? What about fuel bills or council tax and water?

Thanks for your help..

maryb

I don't keep utility bills but I do make a note of usage so that I can estimate accurately when comparing new tarrifs. Now I'm on paperless billing, it's just a folder on my laptop.

I'm never sure about insurance - what would happen if, for example, you had a problem with subsidence? Chances are the problem had been developing for a long time and if you have changed insurer whose liability is it? So I tend to keep buildings cover policies but not contents - once the period of cover is over that's it. Motor insurance you need to be able to substantiate a no claims bonus but I don't think you need the actual policy for that.

Water bills I do keep because I had a friend who was able to dispute a suddenly much higher bill because she could show what her usage had been for umpteen years and her circumstances hadn't changed. Turned out that they had connected the supply of a new house next door to her meter so she was being billed for theirs as well as hers. But again, scanning them would be enough, I don't think you actually need hard copy. I only tend to keep them because now that I have so much paperless billing, I sometimes struggle to get something that shows my name and address for ID purposes

VJsmum

Also is it bad that i am thinking of ditching my wedding cards?

I have been married for 24 years, happily so, I haven't looked at those cards in all that time. I have the gift tags and the acceptance letters too. I don't really know why. if OH makes a fuss i'll keep them - but i'd sooner let them go.

PollyWollyDoodle

Look at it this way ... when you choose and send a wedding card to someone, do you imagine them looking at it in 24 years' time? Cards are ephemera - they are to celebrate the moment, to be enjoyed and then put away as you move on to enjoy married life, rather than the wedding. So no, don't feel bad - look at them once more, recognise the names and have a happy thought for the person who sent it, and then dispose of them.

I found some items in a cupboard last year (before I started Kondoing) that still had the wedding gift tag attached. I've been divorced for 26 years! :rotfl:

Icey77

Today I bought a wedding present for some friends whose reception we are attending on Saturday ... I'm sure you'll be proud of me! I chose a voucher for a restaurant chain in a nice town near their home and a bottle of champagne.
All fully kondo-able :beer:

It's thanks to this thread that I didn't but them a JL voucher that'll likely be spent on "stuff" because it needs to be spent but rather a gift that will (hopefully!) be enjoyed but doesn't clutter up the place :j

Edited to add, I haven't blatantly ignored a gift list or specific requests etc from the couple concerned, there wasn't any mention of gifts and when I asked I didn't get a response so I made an executive decision

Pooky

maryb wrote: »

I don't keep utility bills but I do make a note of usage so that I can estimate accurately when comparing new tarrifs. Now I'm on paperless billing, it's just a folder on my laptop.

I'm never sure about insurance - what would happen if, for example, you had a problem with subsidence? Chances are the problem had been developing for a long time and if you have changed insurer whose liability is it? So I tend to keep buildings cover policies but not contents - once the period of cover is over that's it. Motor insurance you need to be able to substantiate a no claims bonus but I don't think you need the actual policy for that.

Water bills I do keep because I had a friend who was able to dispute a suddenly much higher bill because she could show what her usage had been for umpteen years and her circumstances hadn't changed. Turned out that they had connected the supply of a new house next door to her meter so she was being billed for theirs as well as hers. But again, scanning them would be enough, I don't think you actually need hard copy. I only tend to keep them because now that I have so much paperless billing, I sometimes struggle to get something that shows my name and address for ID purposes

I just asked hubby (ex insurance guru) - if you've been with your current insurer for less than 6 months then your previous insurer would be liable for subsidence claims. If you've been with your current provider for more than 6 months, but under 1 year then your current provider will cover and claim back half from your previous insurer. If you've been with your current provider for more than a year, they will cover it.

In all instances you only need to know the company you were insured with last time as they will have your policy numbers on record based on your name and postcode.

Hope that helps.

iQueen

Thanks for your post, Mav.

I'm not surprised that you got kondoed in super-quick time, after dealing with a seriously hoarded house. Nor am I surprised that the lady trusted you to help her gain her freedom again - you sound very empathetic.

It does illustrate how bad homes can get, when one unconsciously builds a barricade of Stuff against unhappiness.

My home isn't that horrendous, but bad enough. I still let the meter reader in 4 times a year!

So what tips have you got to offer to Konverts, who may over-stuffed homes? Any advice that runs with MK, very welcome.