The KonMarie method

GreyQueen

Have got a carrier bag of Stuff down to the chazzer this afternoon but only remembered on the way back that I'd forgotten to take the ink cartridge to the charity recycling bin en route. Never mind, hardly a large item, will do it another day.

I did come back with two paperbacks to read and am well into the first of the two already. And that then gets added to the next donation bag.

I'm a voracious reader and am on the 138th book of 2015. I also put a special request for Xmas for some particular titles which are part of a 14-strong sequence of books, to my brother, who sells books online. The latter titles in the series are available in the library but the earlier ones aren't.

I explained I didn't want to retain them, they should be secondhand, any condition at all, or even borrowed from his stock. He can't get 2nd book but has ordered it from the library in another county and I'll read it over Xmas. Two others I have already, some others he's pulling from stock to lend to me, and the latter ones I'll borrow from the library.

I'm chuffed as it means I'll get to read the whole set of them and not have to have any hanging around on the premises, this lot would run to 2-3 ft of bookshelf on their ownsome.

Might be a bit eccentric way of receiving gifts, but it gets me what I want (the experience of reading the whole series in chronological order) without the experience I don't want (having to keep them).

maddiemay

GQ - the book request sounds like a great idea, all the benefits of getting to read the desired titles and none of the hassle of owning them.

OH and I are retired and fortunate in that we "need" nothing and if we really do need or want something we can (sometimes after having saved) buy it. For a number of years we have just bought something inexpensive to give on the day. Having, with sadness, watched the awful flooding in The Lake District and Carlisle where we have spent so many happy holidays, today I put forward the idea of not buying those gifts, but donating the amount each to the relief fund, good man that he is he agreed and that means 2 less things will enter the house too:D:D

DawnW

maddiemay wrote: »

OH and I are retired and fortunate in that we "need" nothing and if we really do need or want something we can (sometimes after having saved) buy it. For a number of years we have just bought something inexpensive to give on the day. Having, with sadness, watched the awful flooding in The Lake District and Carlisle where we have spent so many happy holidays, today I put forward the idea of not buying those gifts, but donating the amount each to the relief fund, good man that he is he agreed and that means 2 less things will enter the house too:D:D

We do something similar - each year OH and I donate to the local food bank instead of buying each other Christmas gifts Like you, there is little that we need or want, and if we do we can just buy it, or save for it. The (grown up) children instigated a secret santa system for the family, so adults each get just one present from everybody (kids still get lots of presents obviously ) which we exchange on Boxing Day when we all meet up. I have let it be known that I only want to recieve as my gift something that can be used up, such as toiletries, candles, chocolate or wine, seeds for the garden, a plant or flowers for the house etc

mrs-moneypenny

Morning all
Another bag went down the CS this morning
Food shop done and put away
Got some sewing to do later so will get machine out on a bit.
Wet and miserable here
I hope everyone is ok.

Iqueen hope you are alright, haven't seen you post in a while

VJsmum

mrs-moneypenny wrote: »

Morning all
Another bag went down the CS this morning
Food shop done and put away
Got some sewing to do later so will get machine out on a bit.
Wet and miserable here
I hope everyone is ok.

Iqueen hope you are alright, haven't seen you post in a while

I have exchanged a message with Iqueen on Facebook - she is still suffering with the arthritis but also has a beautiful new granddaughter to distract her

MMF007

Lovely news about iQueen's little addition, thanks vjsmum.

Well the winter shop is done and finally put away (I have been busy with RL so it took a few days for me tidily put away the non-perishables!). I say 'winter shop' because I have a habit of slightly stocking up on things like washing powder and store cupboard food at this time of year so that i) I don't have to battle the xmas or sales shoppers, ii) if we are snowed or iced in we have all we need, iii) when we come back from our winter break in Jan we have no need to rush to the shops for supplies.

It is a nice feeling, that the relatively small amount of store cupboard supplies we need for a couple of months is in-house, neatly stowed, and no more major shopping is necessary for a
while. I pick up fresh fruit, veg, milk and sometimes bread (trying to make my own more often) at the local shop as needed.

I wrapped the last of the xmas pressies, some will be delivered on Monday so that's them out of the way:D

Dawn, you are the second person who has mentioned doing secret santa as a family. Wish I had thought of that years ago. Many of my in-laws have very little money yet they skint themselves every xmas to buy umpteen presents and although I really appreciate their kindness, especially in the circs, I ALWAYS wish they had put their money to better use, i feel so guilty that they spent their limited money on a gift that, really, I could manage without.

I mentioned secret santa for the family to DH when I read this just now and he said, 'good luck with floating that idea!' In other words, no chance that MIL will accept it. Surely the adult siblings will? I will suggest it to SIL, she's not so emotionally hamstrung by xmas. Even if we confined it to the adult kids and upped the amount we spent on the one thing, it'd save a lot of money. (Maybe I could float it in relation to our drop in income next year rather than be seen to relate it to anyone else's circs? Sorry, thinking aloud, as it were.

Anyway, lunch break over, must get on and assist DH with the chores, he's busily cleaning the kitchen floor atm

M

M

maddiemay

OH and I have had a lovely Kondoing session in the garage utility today. Started with my Armageddon cupboard where I store shopping which came via Approved Foods or special offers, all neat and tidy and should be easier to find things and make sure that they are used up. Then to all the pet stuff, we only have one dog now, having always had 2, somehow we had kept enough bedding, towels, collars, leads, grooming equipment and toys for several:rotfl: I large bag packed and a whole load of balls and toys to be washed then off to the local dog CS on Monday for them to sell or use in their re-homing kennels as appropriate. Had a break for lunch, now off to sort the wild bird food cupboard and collect all the feeders and fill them.

We have a small kitchen and we bought with the intention of extending the kitchen into the garage and creating a large kitchen/utility room), but after settling in decided I couldn't face the hassle. OH fitted kitchen base and wall units so there is plenty of storage now. It houses washer and dryer, 2nd fridge and freezer as well as a couple of bikes and all the outdoor coats and boots, so not pretty, but practical and suits us:).

I have previously mentioned illness and low energy, but like others have found this is all so freeing and energising it is amazing:D:D

Congratulaions to iQueen on the arrival of the new little person.:)

milocat

I'm halfway through the book and I can't wait to get finished because TBH I am drowning in useless stuff. It feels like I get rid of a bag to charity every fortnight and somehow still have too much junk.

The only positive thing I've done since I started reading the book was organise my actual books! I now have a bookshelf of "to read" and "keep because I adore them more than oxygen". I got rid of 3 black bags of books! And now when I finish reading something I review it on Goodreads, and then 9/10 I get rid of the book. It's only taken me 10 years to start doing so!

GreyQueen

Evening all.

Am smiling at the joyfulness of people giving their gift money to charity - what a lovely bunch of people you meet on MSE.

Hello and welcome to milocat, well done on making inroads into the books. I'm a mad keen book-lover but if I kept even a fraction of what I read, this tiny flat would be a book-cube with crawl-space only.:rotfl:

I was cream-crackered yesterday so decided to sleep without the alarm clock, didn't even wake until nearly 9 am, then spent 10-2 ish doing some deep cleaning in the kitchen alternating with reading chapters of my latest book.

I'd like to tell you what I decluttered from under the cooker but there were a couple of wizened bits of probably-organic Stuff which weren't identifiable unless you worked for CSI.:p

I finished the charity shop book I got yesterday afternoon and had it straight into the donation bag. I then nipped up to the central library to offload some books and OMG, the city is heaving. People shopping and carolling and hideously-overcrowded.

Two weeks before Xmas and this one of santa's little elves bought two starters for fluorescent lights*, some coleslaw and a pkt of biscuits. I exchanged a sympathetic wince with one of the friendly cashiers up at the mini supermarket; their employer has got the chrissy songs on a tape loop already.

I've always been a bit rubbish at consumerism, one of the if-it-ain't-irrepairably-broke-don't-replace-it school. But, mid-kondo, I'm getting even less interested in Stuff, unless it's strictly consumable.

* I haven't really bought these for myself, I'm running an errand for a pal and will get the money back next week.

silvasava

Congrats to iqueen on the new addition - lovely news
MMF - think that's an excellent way to I introduce the idea of a secret Santa, sometimes people don't like to be seen as being stingy when really their finances are limited so they may breathe a sigh of relief at your suggestion.