KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Picklepot

Thank you for your lovely replies. Sorry ive not got the hang of multiple quoting to thank you individually. I think ive got down to the hard core of stuff now that ive previously avoided. However i shall take every bit of wisdom you can provide and go for the less 'oochy ' stuff to tackle next

Pooky

I do love hearing others stories on here and seeing everyone doing so well....it's a great boost when you start to waver.

We had a few days away camping at the end of May and again this week. We take quite a bit of stuff with us to make it easier for DH (disabled) and our large car is always stuffed to the top (doesn't help that we have to fit it all around his large mobility scooter so always looks far more than there is). This time round though, it really got me thinking about what we actually "need" at home - we've fallen into the trap of having a decent sized house so have filled it with stuff.....I can't say no to a freebie and do like a good "upcycle" project so we always seem to have enough furniture around to furnish 4 houses. This is something I need to curb. I was given 2 dining tables and sets of chairs to do up, one lot of which will go with DDs when they move out soon but that currently leaves us with 34 places to put our bottoms. 4 dining chairs in the kitchen, 4 garden chairs, an arm chair in the kitchen, a 3 seater sofa and 2 arm chairs in the living room, a 2 seater sofa in the conservatory, 3 computer chairs, a single camping chair, a double camping sofa, 4 oak dining chairs for project 1, 4 pine dining chairs for project 2 and 4 folding chairs we've had for years.

34!!!!

I really do need a slap.

12months

Hi All

I've not been around for a while. Sort of Kondo'd myself out and needed to take a break. I've sold some of the things I sorted and made myself about £100 so far so that's going in the EF. (I've start Dave Ramsay's baby steps programme and am currently building an emergency fund.)

I sorted the house paperwork some time ago so that won't take much to kondo. The big challenge for me is kondoing work paperwork. I'm a teacher and tend to keep lots of books/notes/worksheets just in case I need it again. Not this time, this time I'm getting rid as I'm sure I'll be able to find stuff online. I need my house back So this week is going to be spent kondoing paper

Hoping to check in again later in the week and report some progress

12

MMF007

Forgive me for I have sinned. I bought a smart skirt in the sale at Sainsbobs for £4.80. Yep! It is a size smaller than I am at present but was too good to miss. However, I tried it on just now and it actually fits me :T yipee, I have Kondo'd another 1.5lbs.
I am not doing as well as GQ at the weight loss but it is coming off again after a little plateau. I want to lose the next 8lbs to take me to another big milestone so having something nice to wear will encourage me. The skirt will be fine with a slightly smaller me and when necessary my lovely friend will take it in for me ( I pay her in bottles of wine because she refuses money).

I also, er, hmmmm, er, bought another skirt that is a simple Jersey fabric in pale grey with a delicate design in white and pale green (almost yellow). Falls just below my knee and is lovely to wear in this heat. I already had a casual top in the same yellowy green so I have been sat in the sunshine feeling rather good.

Total expenditure £18.80 = joy!

I knew as soon as i tried the skirts on that i can definitely release a couple I had been hangjng onto until I dropped to the next size down. It is a pain being between sizes. I don't want the clothes that are a bit big, but i can't fit comfortably into the next ones down Anyway at least 2 can go now!

I have Kondo'd a bit of time trying to encourage a friend to start offering art classes to adults. He is a qualified art teacher and gifted artist. There seems to be plenty of demand for such classes so he just needs a plan, a suitable venue and, as the film said, if he builds it they will come. The initial outlay needn't be much and he can build up his offering once he starts to get clients. My fingers are crossed for him, he deserves to succeed in this venture.

Right, a couple of drawers of too big clothes are calling to me,

M

Slinky

We've spent some time today having a go at the contents of the shed. We cleared some a while ago, but there was plenty more still in there. I've got OH to agree to get rid of 2 large plastic sun loungers he has owned for 16+ years and we have never used once in that time. The cushions are in the loft still to be retrieved. I've taken a photo and offered them to our nephew and his wife, if they don't want them, we'll take them to the tip where they will no doubt find a buyer in their shop. Losing such bulky items has made much more space for the stuff we're keeping. I gave a garden game to our neighbour opposite for her visiting grandchildren, but in return was given a timed pet feeder. This may be useful when we move house. I'll try our cat with it, if she doesn't take to it, I'll take to the charity shop (pet based).

greent

200 items (ish) sold at a nearly new sale today and a further 25 donated to charity. And I have resigned from a Treasurer role

Fen1

Slinky: if your nephew doesn't want the loungers have you considered Freegle? Garden furniture is in high demand at this time of year. It might save you a trip to the dump.

I am currently saving bath water to use in the garden. I have my morning bath, let it cool during the day, then use it to water the plants in the evening. Ye gods, how dirty am I? The bath is now grimey with a nasty ring, not something that happens when I let the water run straight out. OH says it's worse because of our very hard water, but still. Do the no-scrub foam/mousse cleaners work? I cannot scrub the bath due to a bad back, and desperately need something to keep the bath respectable between visits by my cleaning lady. I've tried cleaning the bath with mops on a stick but hurt my back as it still required bending. The 'sitting in the bath whilst cleaning it' option is feasible but not desirable.

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Been a bit MIA due to being busy about gardening and social life, but am awarding myself a few pottering hours at home before gardening later on. Didn't get out of bed until two hours later than normal, funny how getting up at about 8 am can feel like a real treat, hey?

MMF, the weight loss reversed slightly from October-March as I comfort-ate. Then I passed that need and got back on track and it's slipping off steadily. Quite amazing to me that there is such a close correlation between eating even a small amount of sugar and the weight-loss stalling or even reversing. It's the very devil.

I have now slipped below 13 st for the first time in years. Want to shed about another 20-30lb and should be able to do that.

Carb-avoidance is the absolute key for me, but that's not hard when you've been told you've got celiac disease. I'm not faffing around with these free-from non-wheat breads etc, I'm just eating stuff which is naturally carb-free like salads.

Due to disorganisation, I still haven't got that skirt outta here (will do it tomorrow) but have a cunning plan to inventory my clothing. It's contained in the following spaces; a small wicker hamper (jumpers and winter things like hats and gloves), a 3 ft hanging rail, a 5 drawer COD and some baskets.

I guess that I have more clothes than some people and fewer than others. I feel that I have plenty of variety and plan to keep what I have in most cases, and allow things to dwindle through natural attrition. I detest shopping for clothes and like what remains, you see. I don't give two hoots for fashion and have things of classic cut, so them being old isn't really an issue.

I'm concentrating the wear on a few examples of some categories, like undies, socks, pyjamas, with a view to wearing them out and ragging them. The idea will be not to re-purchase until the inventory really is depleted and its necessary.

:o That day is many many years hence, kondo-istas, many years hence.

OMG, I think I need to take a break from inventorying and have a cuppa. Have got up to 90 items on just tops (exc knitwear), coats, jackets and jammies. How embarrassing. Haven't even counted trews exc jammie bottoms. On the joyous front, I have found two summery silk shirts which, when I last tried them on, were indecently tight and which, blush though I admit it, I could barely get back off again.

That latter item, a lovely short-sleeve fitted silk top (chazzer bargain, very pretty) is now on a hanger and will be going to the office tomorrow, with another silk top having an outing later in the week.

So joyous to have 'new' clothes.

Karmacat

greent wrote: »

200 items (ish) sold at a nearly new sale today and a further 25 donated to charity. And I have resigned from a Treasurer role

:j:j:j Fantastic! Good for you

I've been focussed on kondoing in the garden - cutting some *very* long grass growing up around the sacks of bark chippings I bought but haven't been able to get onto the soil

I did manage to start to unload both the topsoil and the bark chippings - got rid of the fruitless gooseberry, plus a tiny bramble, and then realised I had two sets of self sown sorrel and a self sown lemon balm hiding, so dressed the topsoil, watered it well in, and covered it all with chippings. Am very happy about that

**Not** happy at 6am this morning. Woke up happy, and then saw a huuuuuuuge spider on my bedroom ceiling, biggest one I've seen in the house in years. Got it in the vacuum cleaner, dumped the vacuum outside the front door while I recovered from my heart attack, and I've just emptied it (bagless) onto the grass of the rec ground over the road. The spider runs free ... I'm happy again (once I recover from adrenalin poisoning), and so is it.

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GreyQueen

Just updated my clothing inventory and deleted some things which have been given away/ worn-out and ragged. My total wardrobe inc footwear cost me £1,234.72 ............ not exactly the last of the big spenders and it's even more amusing if you realise that there are a handful of big-ticket items taking up the lion's share of that spend.

Nipped out with the skirt and caught the chazzer on one of its rare Sunday openings so that has finally gone and I also returned a library book which I finished with last night. Nothing came back with me other than some foodstuffs which will be eaten shortly.

Nice work on the sale and giving up the Chair, greent, I know you'd posted about wanting to do it. I resigned from a committee a couple of years back and it was such a weight off my shoulders.