KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

x_raphael_xx

I showed my cleared wardrobe and tidy pants drawer to my BF the other day when I was finished. He pretended to be interested (bless him he tries to be supportive of my whims), but it seems to have had an effect.
He came out of the bedroom earlier with a pile of socks, he had sorted through his sock drawer.
It's not folded in the proper kondo way, but less bulging at the seams and the drawer can actually close properly now.

Siebrie

I am lying on the sofa, comfily under a blanket, in a clear living room, and a biscuit tin I know is in the study filled with komono is disturbing my peace of mind......

Foxfriend

I'm a long time "lurker" on this thread and but I wanted to tell you all how much I enjoy reading the posts and following everyone's progress. It inspires me to keep chipping away at my own clutter xx

Siebrie

I caved in and took the biscuit tin from the shelf; it was sitting in an empty box (huh?). I did a quick check and rehomed a few items such as pencils and screws, and threw away an old eraser and some yukky paperclips. Only a few items to be decided, and then biscuit tin can go to scrap container.

Tip: I have a small lidded box for old jewellery, where I put odd earrings, mangled back pieces for earrings, broken necklaces, etc. I take this box to the jeweller's about every five years, to sell the contents.

milasavesmoney

Gave the margarita glasses to a friend. I've used them once is 15 yrs. she is tickled pink.

PollyWollyDoodle

I think that for me, the reason MK works is that nobody else IS deciding how long you keep something/how many items you keep - it's always your own decision. I still have many, many books because they absolutely spark joy and I know I'll reread them one day- they have a long 'shelf life'. Others on this thread have proudly recounted that they hardly have any books in the house. Horses for courses, I have reduced my shoes to a very small number that I can actually wear rather than having a wardrobe full of beautiful shoes that I couldn't walk in, some of you would doubtless be horrified at the thought of so few choices.

For me, the idea that someone else can benefit from what I'm disposing of has been a real help; it gets me over the 'this cost a lot and I haven't had the benefit of it' hurdle. I don't feel guilty about keeping the stuff I love but I'm glad that my cupboards are no longer full of unused stuff that never saw daylight and was likely to 'die in storage'. I know we keep coming back to this, but anyone who's had to clear a relative's house will know what I mean! If everything in your home is loved and wanted then you're in a good place.

Charly27

I'm enjoying reading everyone's post from the daily email. I have just Kondoed all the daily digests in my in box dating back to Christmas Eve. Life is not long enough to catch up on your posts I've missed and hopefully in that mysterious 'woo woo way' it'll will make room for the posts I need! Like paper.:D

Pooky

All of our paperwork fits into one a4 document folder - it has 50 fixed poly-pockets in and I work on the system of one in one out. I only keep the most recent of anything so as the New Years council tax bill comes through, the old one will be outed and added to the fire and so on and so forth.

Bank statements - we have them all online so no paper clutter and we can ask for up to 10 years worth to be printed off for free if required in branch.

Pension papers - the most recent forecast letters are kept, everything else goes.

Utility bills - mostly done online but again just the current period statement.

Credit cards - we closed all old accounts and only have one that gets paid as soon as it's used (we only use it for the points). That one monthly statement gets added to the fire pile.

Tax/work paperwork - DH hasn't been I work since his accident 9 users ago so no paperwork from him. My self employed paperwork gets bundled up into yearly bundles when I do the accounts and filed in a large Manila envelope in the back of the folder.

We have a separate box file for passports, birth certificates, wills etc and that lives on the "things to grab in an emergency" shelf. In that we have a small book with account numbers, passwords, policy numbers etc so that we can have all the information to hand if needed.

When the girls were still at school, any daily paperwork for trips, permission etc were auctioned as they came to me, I'd fill in the slip, write the cheque, write it on the calendar and dispose of any bits I didn't need to keep. Those bits of paper breed....must be the school photocopier ink.

I have a notebook that sits on the side in the kitchen that acts as my daily reminder, banking, shopping list, meal planning book. So no floaty bits of paper flying around.

[Deleted User]

PollyWollyDoodle wrote: »

I think that for me, the reason MK works is that nobody else IS deciding how long you keep something/how many items you keep - it's always your own decision. I still have many, many books because they absolutely spark joy and I know I'll reread them one day- they have a long 'shelf life'. Others on this thread have proudly recounted that they hardly have any books in the house. Horses for courses, I have reduced my shoes to a very small number that I can actually wear rather than having a wardrobe full of beautiful shoes that I couldn't walk in, some of you would doubtless be horrified at the thought of so few choices.

For me, the idea that someone else can benefit from what I'm disposing of has been a real help; it gets me over the 'this cost a lot and I haven't had the benefit of it' hurdle. I don't feel guilty about keeping the stuff I love but I'm glad that my cupboards are no longer full of unused stuff that never saw daylight and was likely to 'die in storage'. I know we keep coming back to this, but anyone who's had to clear a relative's house will know what I mean! If everything in your home is loved and wanted then you're in a good place.

Excellent and well thought out post. We are as we are and are all different. This is the way I am trying to be. It can be different for other people, each to their own, no personal way is wrong

pooky, I sort my paperwork same as you but passport etc are in that one file. I too keep a daily to-do list on a pad

mrs-moneypenny

Morning all
Sone great posts recently, especially the brilliant one by pollywolly which sums up perfectly why kondoing works for me as well.

Kondoed a large bag of rubbish from ds2s room yesterday, why does he hoard sweet papers empty pop bottles and pizza boxes GRRRRR!!

Going to my first mindful meditation class tonight so looking forward to that.