KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

pavlovs_dog

I've kept my payslips for now as I've heard awful things about the unreliable nature of the student loans company.

Slinky

I have Kondo'd a squeaky cupboard door! My 17 year old kitchen (which I love) has a cupboard door with what I think is called a piano hinge. This has always squeaked when opening the door, which given it's on a big corner cupboard, gets opened a lot.


Friday I squirted it with silicone spray (actually Turtle Wax Cockpit Shine for cleaning cars), and now it's silent when opening. Deep joy!

greenbee

I've been continuing my battles with garage and garden - the garage is now tidy and has very little in there that shouldn't be (the smaller bits of non-burnable materials from the building work e.g. MDF and painted wood). The kindling bit is full, as is a black plastic dustbin which is acting as the overflow. More floorboards/stairs etc have been cut into sensible lengths and stacked in the log store.

I will email the builder about the remaining bits of staircase plus some ply and MDF which won't fit in my car and need removing. I still owe him some money and he needs reminding about this and the snagging list...

I chopped down 2 HUGE branches of goat willow that were growing from below the graft on an ornamental willow, and dragged them over to the abandoned 'island' opposite me. And then started clearing the pile of tree roots/wood that my cousin had left festering after doing some work for me - he'd tried to burn them and failed.

I found a fire basket, got it going, and despite the rain am managing to burn quite a lot of the fairly large lumps of wood. Then I can clear that bit of garden, which will make me a lot less depressed about it.

dragonette

I tend to keep payslips for the 6 years then get rid, i do keep P60 etc for longer tho. I do try to avoid huge volumes of paperwork as it's such a dull task going through all of it

Only a little kondoing here, mostly in the right direction! Out: jewellery - some unworn to a friend and damaged pieces as materials to her partner who makes things; some untreated wood from my mum's into my back garden to provide wildlife habitat; and a printer which was stored here for a few days pending uplift from a diff friend; and enough weight to be able to see a difference in my clothes

In: a loaf tin and 3 tiny tupperware boxes from friend emigrating; a fushia and rosemary - repotted the rosemary into 2 pots and gave one to a friend, having a dilemma on where it should live!

My flat is starting to be a conduit for items to flow through rather than accumulate. I honestly feel that i am incredibly lucky and blessed to own so many joyful things, to get pleasure from making and growing, and to be materially extremely comfortable compared to the overwhelming majority of human experience over the last 60,000 years or so. I studied archaeology and practical aspects of history and you get a particular awareness of not just modern poverty (that experience was horrible) but of just how bad things could be. The konmarie approach to joy seems to blend very well with this to give a full, joyful appreciation of what I have

Anyway, that's enough deep thought for this time of night

Clutterfree

Morning all,
Not much proper kondoing here, just sorting and packing.
Hoping to exchange this week, but then I've said that for the past 3 weeks! :wall:

Oh mum received her birthday "advent"/countdown delivery box so kondoed a few happy tears.

Now you may have discussed this previously when I was AWOL..
I see Marie is now holding seminars on becoming a KM consultant.
At present looks like it's only in the US, but if it comes to the UK, I thought it would be perfect for Mav! What do you think?

Have a good day xx

GreyQueen

I think mavvymoo could probably teach KM by now!

It ended up about 3.5 hours in the workshop shed yesterday. I was rather baffled to find two banana boxes and one wine box full of videos. Closer questioning of the family revealed that they were slung in there last summer when the living room was partially-cleared to have the CH boiler changed over (the back boiler behind the fire taken away and replaced with a combi upstairs). No one had looked in there and noticed them for 12 months, give or take a week.:D I asked that they be removed and they are going to be taken to one of the two chazzers in town which still accepts VHS tapes. They'll be drip-fed in over the next few weeks. Should have been done before the CH work, imo.

Other than that, I found about two dozen Sains carboard coffee cans with the plastic lids, some loaded, some empty, hundreds of margarine tubs inc long-discontinued brands. Several containers of Chipboard Screws, which I consolidated. How often does one need to screw chipboard and why does a household need about 400 screws to do so?! There were two WTFs which Mum identified as the seed heads of a native tree from New Zealand which she won in a prize draw at her woodturning club, years ago. Each about the size of a pineapple.

I found several bits of wood which have been added to the bag they'll take to Uncle's when next they go as he has a woodburner. There was a large and tatty section of worktop which doesn't match their kitchen worktops and no one knows from whence it came - that's already in the car to go to the tip later today.

There were frustrations, such as the 5 litre container of white spirit with a tiny dribble in the bottom, which displaces as much volume empty as full.

Overall, you can now stand on the floor. Can't work on the work-bench, but it gives me something to do next month when I visit and it was marvellously satisfying throwing placcy containers out the door and onto the patio.

I also accidentally decluttered the old wooden step leading up from the patio to the shed by putting my foot through it.:rotfl:

mavvymoo

Thank you for the vote of confidence on the KM front.:)
I think it maybe a case of do as I say not as I do

I was thinking about the areas KM has helped me the most and I think the biggest thing is I really no longer care what anyone thinks :rotfl:I just dont even try to justify anything anymore. I cant listen to anyone making excuses for anyone either and will always pull them up on it and then change the subject

I no longer waste any time on this type rubbish


My head is far clearer then its ever been and if people dont like me then so what I am not going to lose any sleep over it.

I can always find things no matter what it is or when the last time I saw it was.

I do now find the joy in the small things a butterfly going past,the colours on a dragonfly, The chickens digging up the flowerbeds making dust holes and the sheer bliss on their faces as the dust scatters all over them.

I never worry about the things I cant change but do change the things that worry me and I can do something about. So therefore never worry about anything no matter what
Thank you iTwin for this one you were so so right

Its like I have peace in my head (how strange does that sound):rotfl:


So thank you all of you for your thoughts and actions on KM you can get here but I truly think you never get to the final station along that long line as its never quite finished you get off the train have a wonder round whatever place you arrived at and then get back on again and keep repeating this over and over. But everytime you get off you learn a bit more about yourself :T

Mav x

lilian1977

Morning all

I have accidentally Kondoed £185 by paying my CC bill twice Ah well - it clears the balance so I'll just have to be extra frugal this month! Unfortunately it has put me about £60 in credit which I'm nervous about especially as I no longer have this card - I think what I will do is order a new credit card, buy a T3sco gift card with the overpayment, then cut up and cancel the card once it's at zero balance. At least that way I have food shop funds.

A massive clearout of old birthday etc cards yesterday along with books and a few more clothes - and the house is still full of cr*p. I honestly don't know how I'm ever going to get on top of it before Christmas! UGH. Still. Onwards and upwards.

Have happy KM days all.

greenbee

I managed to keep the fire going nicely for several hours last night, checking up on it occasionally. A significant quantity of tree roots and branches have now been burnt.

Some of the bits of tree out there would in theory be burnable on the indoor fire if they were cut up smaller. However, yesterday's sawing of floorboards was quite enough - my arms were so sore by the time I went to bed they kept me awake! They're fine this morning, so no excuses not to work...

I've got a small but significant car load of stuff to take to the CS this morning. Once this is done I'll refill the boot with all the bits of the old staircase that are small enough to put in there and drop them off at the tip. It's nice to see the place finally NOT looking like a building site. Although it'll be back to being one again soon.

ETA - my preferred CS (preferred because it takes everything and has an out-of-down warehouse I can drop off at) has started being picky about what it takes. So when they started saying 'we don't accept this anymore, we can't take that' I took the whole lot back. Which may have been childish but I'm not interested in dividing things up. They can have it or not have it, but can't start going through things. They've made a LOT of money from my donations (I have the evidence) but someone else will be benefiting from now on.

Bit fed up though... means I need to work out where to take stuff in future, which will mean storing it for a bit longer. Still, it's only a small amount.

pavlovs_dog

In an act of anti-consumerism, I've 'shopped' my wardrobe and have found an outfit for a wedding I am attending this week. I am very surprised to discover that I fit into a certain dress given my end-of-school-year-blubber fortunately as it is the same colour as a different dress I wore to another wedding, I know I have a bag to match and a white pashmina will keep me warm if the weather dips.

I could do with a better footwear option than the 2 I have available (since a nasty ankle injury a few years back, heels of any sort absolutely cripple me), but my shopping list is considerably smaller and cheaper than I feared it would be!

I would like to publicly set the end of Sept 2016 as the latest date for kondoing my wardrobe. I've put it off for at least 18 months with the excuse that I was going to declutter some lbs so that stuff actually fits me again. That still hasn't happened (if anything, the reverse is true ) Too proud to buy clothes for my current size that I don't wish to be, I am in the ludicrous situation of having a wardrobe busting at the seams with clothes I cannot wear. No more! 8 weeks to shift the lbs, or clear out and start again for the weight and shape that I am.

Anyone wish to join me (and hold me accountable ?