KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Slinky

I've inadvertently Kondo'd my football programme for the last game I saw West Ham play at their old stadium. Managed to knock a cup of tea over when shifting the sofa in our sunroom when I suddenly realised I had a plague of small flies in the window. Oh well, I suppose it stop me having to store it forever or feel guilty about throwing it away.


Only upside was I didn't break the cup.

MMF007

Today I was forced to re-visit a tiny category - tea towels! This came about because I happened on 3 lovely tea towels that are perfect for my kitchen. I bought them, came home and released 4 from my neat basket full. I think that is allowed?

I have also pulled all mugs out of the cupboard and from mug tree and the 2 with no home at all, so we can finally kondo them properly. DH does not want to part with any, because they were, a) gifts, b) bought as souvenirs, or c) too good to throw out. We have 16 mugs. There are 2 of us and we rarely have more than 4 visitors at any one time.... I am minded to keep 4 Denby ones that match our crockery which we use every day. I also want to keep 2 very big mugs because they ensure I drink enough fluids each evening to keep properly hydrated! I would like DH to keep only 2 of his 'collection'. Wish me luck

M
I suspect I shall only be able to give you a mug update after the weekend because tackling this emotive subject will not be appropriate after a hard day at work :rotfl:

milasavesmoney

So here is an OS Kondo question that I'm sure there is more than one answer to.... When do you get rid of still useful items that no longer are joyful but would cost money to replace? Is there such a thing as OS Kondoing? I'm thinking of all the old towels I have. OS would say keep- KM would say dump. This is one of my snagging points. I always lean toward keep because I'm more of a tightwad type than a spender. (I wonder in the world of Konmarie whether that's considered unhealthy?)
I grew up using things down to threadbare and when I married and got a little money I pretty well stopped the Use it up mentality. Now that I've become more mindful of not wasting resources, I sort of struggle. For me it may boil down to an Ilona Richards solution...which is what is more important to me when I spend money. I guess I'd rather have my scruffy towels and use the money to save in the EF fund, travel to visit the kids etc.
Do any of you wrestle with my dilemma?

p.s. My tea towels are so stained that I've been asking the children for these for birthday/ Christmas. But I haven't been able to release the old ones as although not pretty, they still have life.

Matody

I've had dilemmas, for me I decided that I don't actually have the money on replacing every thing that doesn't give me joy... so going to do it bits at a time. I also have tatty tea towels but they still dry the dishes, wish does give me joy as I like coming down to a clean kitchen each day - so keeping them is functional.. and in a way helps with the joy...

On my own konmaire house... I stop as it's pointless until my ex moves out, it was just too frustrating doing it.. his stuff is all over and I was going to do it better when he leaves, so I'm just plodding on and counting down the days.. I shall be starting it from the 12th September!

I am using up kitchen goods and beauty products, as I can't throw these, again money.. I've actually enjoyed using up stuff in my cupboards, coming up with new recipes.. also my food bill has being reduced

MMF007

Mila, I also asked for replacement things as gifts. After all, the givers were buying for me anyway so I thought I might as well get something I wanted, iyswim.

I have things that are on the 'would like to replace' list. The items are still useful and if I have the money and find the right replacement I shall donate the still-useful items. I would never just chuck them! Conversely, I don't want millions of, say, t-shirts in the drawer that are functional but don't spark joy! It is a balancing act, isn't it? Not to waste, keep the joy and not to keep things just because they are not completely beyond use.

M

greenbee

MMF007 - maybe he can use the mugs for something else? Like keeping all the gibble on his desk tidy or something similar?

MMF007

Oh, great idea, greenbee! We have very limited space in our bijou home but there may be functions for them. I'll have a think about good uses.
thank you!
M

milasavesmoney

MMF, yes I can do that with clothes that are still good enough to to go to thrift. It's just some categories I struggle with and hang on to because I can still use them (until they die a slow death). I do think I could move several ratty tea towels to the rag box and start using the new ones. Baby steps with towels in general I guess. Heavens! Why towels?

Matody, I like your plan of a bit at a time.
As MMF says, it is a balancing act >>>>all the way around.

Serendipitious

I only own 7 mugs - 6 bone china mis-matched floral ones, which provide a riot of colour in my monochrome kitchen, and a solitary mug for soup which lives in the cupboard.

And my teatowels are all ancient colourful and robust cottons, most of which say 'Made in Britain' somewhere on the edge and which resolutely refuse to wear out. I did buy some new 'modern' waffle ones last year, thinking I ought to, but after a couple of washes I can see they'll have no real stamina!

Not much left to kondo in the kitchen except for The Drawers of Doom which are jam-packed full and really need a free winter afternoon to explore fully.

My inbox is now junk-free, hooray, and gets cleared daily instead of being left to build up, so that is a small win.

Even the Heap in the Hall now has a plan. 6 things a day must be inspected for joy. Some of them are failed relics from my previous Ebay enthusiasms, but I think the c/shop might succeed if I can only just let them go...

PollyWollyDoodle

Um. I have about 20 mugs (can't be bothered to go and count) and there's just me. Some are large (first cup of tea of the day) some are medium sized and some are slightly smaller bone china (herb tea at bedtime). I do sometimes have six or seven visitors at a time, but also I like to fill the dishwasher before I run it - I re-use the same mug for tea but I often use three or four during a day - add a visitor or two and I soon get through them.

Sheds/garages are magnets for 'not sure what to do with this but it might come in handy'. I Kondoed mine last year, or tried to, but I know it still contains several cardboard boxes, the plastic inner from my old kitchen bin, a broom head with no handle and a CD rack that I don't think I want but I'm still not quite sure about.

Mila - MK would say get rid of the towels, but OS says hang on - it really is a balancing act. Can you cheer the towels up and make them all match with a Dylon machine dye? I think it depends how much you loathe them/how much new ones would cost. I have expensive taste in towels so I buy them infrequently and expect them to last!