KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

VALM

greenbee wrote: »

Let me know if you spot them - I have a mini spiraliser and want a proper one. And I'd quite like a nutribullet, but as I already have a blender and a juicer can't really justify it. But it would come in handy... will have to keep an eye on freegle :cool:

If anyone sees any really cheap deals on nutribullets will you give me a shout? My daughter is hopefully off to UNI next year so am thinking about putting together some essentials for her and as she loves making smoothies this would be one of those.

mavvymoo

Popped to my Dads yesterday and chazzered all the pictures that Bro and I found lurking on top of his wardrobes Dad has COPD and I decided to check out the dust on top of the wardrobes which is where it started :shocked: Bro got up the ladder and got all the carp pictures down then I lifted the hoover up while he stood at the top of the ladder and hoovered :eek: You have never ever seen so much dust and fluff Bro and I were covered in it it was all stuck to our hair and clothes :rotfl:
The pictures had to be washed to get the dust off they were that bad.


So job done now all dust fluff gone and all tidy and dust free(ish)


Then we were talking about running as I had just done a 5k park run. Dad said you know that lady you follow so I thought he was talking about another runner so said No which one ? Then he said the declutter lady :rotfl:then it dawned on me.Our great leader Marie Kondo.Well he said I have decided to do that this year can you help me ? :eek: As I am sure it will be easier to keep things tidy and clean


So I now feel I am going to be following in our GQ footsteps with the stories of the parental home :rotfl:So any tips GQ would be much appreciated


Mav x

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Mavvy, gawd knows if I have any tips for decluttering parental homes. At various times I have fantasised about a can of petrol and a match, or getting a truck backed up to the house and connecting the loft to one of those airplane escape chutes and just whooshing it all down.

Clutter has been one of the defining factors shaping my life. I can see a lot of the causes, in my mother's tortured early life (wretched childhood family background, would give a misery lit memoir a run for its money), in family poverty, in lots of things.

My parents are in their early and mid seventies and Mum has just been diagnosed with a serious, degenerative neurological disorder. The decluttering was always postponed to some future point. Typically, she was going to get to grips with it when she retired and had more time. Retirement is more than a decade in the past.

But, as every retiree can tell you, despite not having to spend several hours per day at the beck-and-call of an employer, you mysteriously do not seem to have more time. The days slide past with ever-increasing speed and suddenly it's getting harder to do stuff, due to aging. And there's more Stuff overall.

Several times recently my lovely Dad (the non-hoarder) has remarked that when you're young and don't have much money, you tend to hang onto Stuff because you think you'll need it in the future. Only the future is Now, and the Stuff is still there, unused. And, in some cases, now unusable due to having died in storage/ become obsolete/ requiring parts no longer made etc etc.

In my job, I am partial witness to a lot of problems caused by excess personal belongings. I'm not talking Mr Trebus levels in most cases, but council homes where people have turned down brand new central heating systems, new kitchens, new bathrooms, replacement windows because they would have to Move Stuff.

And the Stuff is too much, they have held on too long and their physical and mental strength has dwindled, as it will for just about all of us before we're done. The insanity of allowing your possessions to stop you having the energy-efficient and comfortable home your landlord wants to give you, free of charge..............!

I find myself looking askance at many items in the physical world, as I can see that they would very easily take more from my life than I would receive in return. Like the lovely garment which is joyous to wear but miserable to care for. Such as the temporary Ooooh of a wonderful object, which would fade in days or weeks, leaving the physical remnant behind.

I find very few items joyous in the acquistion but many are deeply joyous in their donation. I even love putting things into the recycling bin, how sad is that?

Righty, quick spin around the forum, then off to do some more tidying and decluttering. Will be checking in at various points during the day to see what we're all up to. GQ xx

Icey77

maddiemay wrote: »

Womens refuge often desperately need clothes for babies and children. If you don't have one near you and can stand the cost of postage have a look here http://www.carolinehirons.com/p/give-and-makeup.html

I don't have children, but I am sending a parcel of unwanted toiletries soon.

MM

Perhaps I'm missing how to find a refuge to drop clothing etc off to - I assume they don't advertise their addresses?
I'm happy to pack up some of the underwear etc and post it off, I'm not sure I can afford to do it all the time, but the odd time I can when I have a little left over budget

Thanks for the link xx

GreyQueen

Icey77 wrote: »

Perhaps I'm missing how to find a refuge to drop clothing etc off to - I assume they don't advertise their addresses?
I'm happy to pack up some of the underwear etc and post it off, I'm not sure I can afford to do it all the time, but the odd time I can when I have a little left over budget

Thanks for the link xx

Refuges have an address via another organisaton - I've known a branch of CAB to be a refuge's maildrop and also a local authority's main office building. There are ways and means and if you make contact via the web/ a phonecall, the individual refuge will advise you.

greent

Icey77 wrote: »

Perhaps I'm missing how to find a refuge to drop clothing etc off to - I assume they don't advertise their addresses?
I'm happy to pack up some of the underwear etc and post it off, I'm not sure I can afford to do it all the time, but the odd time I can when I have a little left over budget

Thanks for the link xx

A telephone number can usually be found possibly for the local refuge or the domestic violence team - you can possibly post things to a 3rd party point/ PO Box number or drop things to a 3rd party point. Or there may be (secure) offices where the DV team is located where you can drop things.
x

Karmacat

I love this thread. I love the posters here

I'm getting ready to go out immediately it stops raining - I *will* be bringing back some half price Christmas cards for next year, but I'll also be taking to the same chazzer a berghaus rucksack and half a dozen books. And throwing out a broken bucket ...

mrs-moneypenny

Morning all
Local churches or cab could act as collection points I know the women's group at our church used to collect bits for women's refuges.

silvasava

Thanks for the posts regarding refuges. I have 4 bags of perfectly clean nearly new and new knickers from Auntie that seemed sacrilege to dump but couldn't find anywhere to donate. Will find out during the week if they can be taken.

MMF007

GreyQueen, I agree with every word of your post this morning (I'm not copying it as a quote to save space on thread. How MK is that??). Yes, I too want to just get a builders cute and whoosh everything into it from parental home! My home is not as full of stuff as theirs but it has been too full, iyswim. And yes, it is crazy that some of us have put off home improvements or declined visits from friends because the Stuff is literally in the way.

I am so thankful that the magic of KM reached me because it's made such a difference to our home, to my stress levels and ... ... to the local charity shop :rotfl:

Have done domestic chores (* whispers - still in pjs ) , off to get better attired and then I can sort clothes for washing and packing for hol. NB, DH has gone out for the day so it will be easier to get on with things, as others have noted :rotfl:

Have a great day everyone, M

Oh, I should have said sooner, it's nice to 'meet' the newbies and decloakers - both star trek and pride and prejudice ones!