I did a fair bit of Kondo-ing last spring, but paperwork had me stumped (there's so much I need to keep) and it all fell apart.
I've decided to go by what badly needs doing. We have a small house, and over the last year our living room has actually been overspill space for groceries. I buy the kind of things you are supposed to eat, then ignore it in favour of instant crap because the kitchen is so cluttered I can never find what I need. I have actually found a bag of mouldy fruit in the living room before, that's how bad it's been! I am also a sucker for good deals on multi buys. I found 6 tins of expired tomatoes that I was so pleased with when I bought them for 30p for three.
Even after throwing out the expired stuff and filling two bags for the food bank, you could not fit another thing in my food cupboards. Everything is finally in the kitchen and grouped together. I can see my counters again! Jars of jam and boxes of tea will have to live on the counter till I can make room (might put the jam in the fridge actually) but eventually I want everything put away. We have soooo much food. I counted over 20 tins of soup, and I'm the only person who eats it.
I've organized things by date to try to avoid half-filling the recycling bin again in a year, and I finally solved the problem of the annoying top corner cupboard where food goes to die. Only kitchen rolls, bulky easy to grab things and non-perishables in there from now on. And tonight I'm going to work out some meal plans to make sure I get on with using things up. I may even stick some wipe clean sheets to the inside of the cupboard doors with expiry dates to make sure I keep on top of things.
I'm so happy with my organized cupboards! And instead of being depressed about the waste, I'm going to be pleased that I don't need to buy much more than bread and fruit and veg for at least the next month!