I mentioned this earlier in the week and decided to go ahead with the very first book club for My Frugal Adventures. I have always wanted to do something like this because I absolutely love to read. I thought it would be fun to tackle some more challenging books that might be educational or focus on self improvement.
Sometimes with the more challenging stuff it is nice to have support from a community, ask questions and hopefully motivate one another! So the first book I thought we could tackle is The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
This was a massive best seller last year and continues to take over my Instagram feed and Facebook and there is even a follow up book just released called Spark Joy.
The book details a methodology for purging items in your home to create a peaceful atmosphere without the burden of clutter and stuff that you don’t love and that doesn’t bring you joy. Initially the premise seems simple- toss stuff out- but in reality it really is a huge task.
The book walks you through the process- just note it is written from a Japanese author so there are some cultural differences to take into account. Overall I really do think this process makes sense.
In the beginning of the book the author asks you to visualize the life that you want to lead. The idea is that by organizing and tidying, you create more room in your life for the way you really want to live. The author of the book claims that if you really follow her method, you should only have to do this once in your life. You will cut down on the constant need to organize and tidy because you have purged the stuff you don’t need and you have designated space for the things you do need.
My vision is of having a fresh, clean home. I don’t want junk piled up on every surface. I want a light, bright and airy home where you open cupboards and closets and they are neat and organized. I don’t want to trip over kid’s backpacks and soccer cleats and open drawers to find a mountain of junk tumbling out at me.
I can tell you when my husband and I bought our first home (before kids) we did live this way. The closets and drawers were neat and clean and tidy. I want to go back to that lifestyle again and I really want to teach my children a way to live life joyfully without suffocating under piles of stuff. I really do believe that too much stuff takes away joy and in lots of ways it deflates you bit by bit in your home.
So the author breaks the book into five sections and I thought we could break the book club into five sections as well. I do think this will get you a great start but as Americans, we probably have a lot more stuff than she takes into account in her book. The author writes from a Japanese perspective- most likely her clients all live in small, apartments in large, urban areas. Those of us in larger single family homes will still have garages full of lawn items and Christmas decorations and other things to take into consideration.
But her book I think gets a really great start and teaches the system to tackle all our stuff, step by step.
The order of purging is Clothing, Books, Papers, Komono (loosely translated as misc. items) and lastly sentimental items.
I created a printable checklist to keep track of the tasks in the order she outlines. If you’d like to join the book club, I thought I would do one quick weekly post discussing each section. The things I did and learned and chat in the comments from you guys. The posts will be up on Sunday for the next 5 weeks. I will also be doing a weekly Periscope* on Tuesday morning at 10am PST or 1pm EST.
So the first task to get started is clothing. We actually finished the clothing section already and moved on to books and papers this weekend. You might want to pick up the book and read through page 85. That details the overarching method and walks you through the process of tidying clothes. If you can get through about 17-20 pages per day of reading you will be ready to start tidying next weekend! (I listened to the book on Audible and it was very quick so don’t let 85 pages overwhelm you.)
Are you in? I hope so! Who has already started this program? Any thoughts or tips?
*Periscope is a free app you can find in the app store. You will want to download it, register and then click on the three people icon on the bottom right. That should bring up the search bar to search “frugal adventure” (me!) Click follow and then the app will give you a cute little whistle when I broadcast. If you are able to jump on, you can add live comments for a virtual discussion. Fun! If you can’t log on at that moment, you have 24 hours to go back and watch and then the video vanishes. If you watch the replay at a later time you are able to give hearts (basically a thumbs up) but you can’t leave comments.
Sheila says
So I started reading this book, and in finding it hard to use this philosophy for my belongings. Obviously there are many items that one wouldn’t expect to “spark joy”, such as household items. But for practicality, not all of my clothing items “spark joy”, it just seems too difficult, overly restrictive and confusing to actually put into practice. Particularly with 5 people in the house! I’m all for purging though, and am on board with that!
clark says
Nice post you done here
Charlene says
Hi Sheila, I completely understand. I heard Marie Kondo speak and someone asked about that and she said to try and focus on the item and really make it something you love. Lol. I am not going to take the time to talk to my iron and my daughter’s soccer ball so again I think there is a little bit of cultural differences to negotiate in the book. I tried to take as much positive from it as I could and just sort of sweep away the stuff that didn’t make as much sense. Like bringing your handbag inside and emptying it daily isn’t terribly practical but I can certainly go through my bag in the car line at school and empty the receipts and things to keep it clean and tidy. That is a totally do-able habit and only takes 5 minutes away from mindless Facebook scrolling anyway.
When we went through our clothing I was really strict with myself and gave away a lot of things. Anything worn, shabby, ill fitting or that just didn’t suit me I gave away. I only kept the things that really do look good on me and that I wear often. I also think she makes a great point that we often keep lots of old and ratty stuff as “loungewear” and to just get rid of it. I don’t look good in old, oversized t-shirts and sweat pants so I don’t own them. I don’t feel happy when I wear things like that anyway- I feel sad and if I catch a glance in the mirror I will feel worse 😀 I can still be comfortable in brightly colored and properly fitting pajamas or leggings and t-shirts. With that being said though, I did still keep my one size large college sweatshirt that I have had for 20 years and never wear but still love 🙂
K Crew says
Ah, I would love to do this! I already have the book, but my life is crazy right now, and I am not sure I will have time. I am so interested though. I love the checklist you made as well! I will do my best. If nothing else, I will be reading your posts! Thanks Charlene!
Charlene says
K Crew- I really do think this is an all or nothing program. You could take super small steps- like not do the clothing but just do tops right now. And even break that down to Mom’s tops and tackle kid’s later. I was telling my husband I did all the books in the house but that is a lie 😛 I have to pull down a big box of old photo albums from the garage and sort through those and then I will be done with books. I don’t think it is fair to her method to not give it 100% if you do decide to do it, because a year from now you will be in the same boat trying to purge again.
For me, someday never comes and we seem to be busy all the time so I know if I procrastinate things I will just never do them. She does say in the book for some people this is a week and for some it is 6 months. Whatever pace you can manage 🙂
Mindy says
Yay! Made a trek to Costco this morning and got my book and the Honest and Co. hand repair lotion you posted about a week or two ago. Looking forward to starting!
Charlene says
Oh I hope you like that stuff! I have been using it all over the place lately- it is greasy but works so well!
Jill says
I went through my tops this weekend. Got rid of three garbage bags full! Yay! Cant wait to tackle pants next weekend.
Carrie says
I’m looking forward to giving this a try. I read the book last summer on a road trip, but then I got home and school started and things got crazy so I never started cleaning out. I agree that the method might not be totally practical for me, but I do appreciate the overall idea.
Jen says
Just wanted to mention….I got a digital/audio version of the book for free online through my local library. I had to download a free app called “OverDrive” and sign in with my library card for our local library. I had no idea this was available. I’ve been listening to the book while driving (I live in the country and drive A LOT!). Thought I’d share this new found info with your followers.
Sheila says
Thanks for the periscope! That was my first time using it. Seems like a good format for an online book club.
Charlene says
Thanks so much for participating Sheila! Good luck with the next section 🙂
Charlene says
Jen I think I tried that once and couldn’t get the thing to work for me. I’ll have to revisit 🙂 I love audiobooks in the car too.
Sheila says
Just reading your comment about old photo albums, that seems like the last category to me, sentimental stuff. So you DID do all your books, in my book. 😉