Hoarder needs help.

modgit

aliasojo wrote: »

Yes definitely. If I could have 2 dozen people standing under my loft hatch today who would want my stuff, I think my loft would be empty in no time. I'm not tight in any way, I'm happy to part with things if others can make use of them.



Lol.........get thee back to that opticians now! :rotfl:

Just think about another little boy the same age as your son who can't see properly but you're standing in front of him with glasses that will help him but you wont give him them.

Your son is saying 'Mummy that's a shame, why can't that little boy have my old ones, they don't fit me anymore, why wont you help him?'

You say ' I want to keep them so they can collect dust in the cupboard for years'.

Your son starts to cry because he feels so sorry for the little boy.



How do you feel now? :rotfl:



See....I can throw other people's stuff away. :D

Guilty!

but enough to get me back to the opticians?!

Told DH about this thread and he started moaning that I'd kept DS's teeth told him it was a drop in the ocean space wise!!!

Caroline73_2

This thread has made me feel soooooo much better! I feel positively minimalist!

aliasojo

Well we've just had a mini crisis in our house. Stuff was all over the top landing and on every step going downstairs. Daughter has just tripped over something and has fallen downstairs from maybe 3/4 of the way up. She's got a sore chest, don't think it's anything other than a thump from the step iyswim and she'll live but OH is getting very tense and uptight now about all the junk.

On a more positive note...the teaset, mirror, sewing machine and a birch shelf unit that was up there too have gone to the local charity depot.

I'm about to sort through the umpteen Xmas boxes I have.....I still have silver milk bottle top mobiles that my Mum made when I was a kid as well as all the salt dough models my lot made at nursery.

I'm being tough. Are you all proud of me? :rotfl:

Errata

:T :T :T :T

With a bit of luck you'll have it all shifted before the whole family finishes up in hospital :eek:

nearlyrich

I am proud of you go girl! Hope DD is OK by the way...

Primrose

The sentimental issue is a hard one. For over ten years after my parents died, I kept two things for ages because I had good intentions about doing something with them - my mother's old Singer sewing machine, and a huge box of ancient cine films which my dad had taken of our family when we were kids during and after the war which I thought I would get converted onto a CD "when I had time". After ten years, I forced myself to face up to the fact that the Singer hand machine would never replace my electric one, and that if the films had been important enough to do something with them, I would have done it long ago. I took the sewing machine to a Charity shop, and took the box of films to the Council tip. And to be honest, I've barely given either of these items a second thought since. Once the "chucking out" moment has been overcome, it's plain sailing.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

pandas66 wrote: »

Why can my 2 boys sell their 2nd and 3rd guitars but their 1st learner guitar (and 3/4 size) gets stern looks when I say shall this go to the charity shop....

That's normal for musicians. Nothing beats your first musical instrument. If they look at it, they get little flashbacks to the lesson where they first realised that their fingers all co operated and played something like 'Polish Dance' perfectly for the first time.

And the smaller sizes are cute, as well as providing a challenge for larger hands trying to get more accuracy for the lead guitarist stuff.

The trouble comes when Mum has a bunch of musical instruments, DD1 has some and DD2 is getting even more into music than the previous two;

We currently have;

5 guitars in various sizes and styles
2 keyboards
3 Djembe
2 Tambours
Cow Bells
Maraccas
Castanets
Recorders by the crate
2 Fifes
1 Flute
Snare
2 Hi Hats
1 Bass
1 Music Stand
25 different books
Box full of sheet music
Roisin from double bass lessons
Packets of strings
Lemon Oil
Spare cases
1 B flat trumpet
2 laptops used for music
Various home made percussion
Sleigh Bells

DD2 wants the brackets for hanging her guitars on the wall.
DD1 wants drum lessons, as she had to leave her steel band due to college being 15 miles in the opposite direction.
I want a bass again.


Everyone else is eternally grateful for the soundproofing I put under the flooring in their room.


BIL is musician. He has a room filled with gear too, including his first guitar and his late father's first one too.

See - perfectly normal behaviour!

oystercatcher

This thread has made me feel strangely upset and uncomfortable as I know I should be getting rid of loads of stuff but it so hard to do!

I have all sorts of kitchen bits hoarded in the loft that I thought the boys might want when they left home. Of course they just want nice new things. I was really glad of family cast offs when I was starting to set up home but times have changed. I wonder if the recession will change things back though?

I have a garage packed full of camping equipment. DH and I have agreed we will never camp again but I can't bear to part with it as I so enjoyed buying it all and looking forward to happy holidays. Some of it hasn't even been used

At the weekend two of the boys swapped rooms and they sorted out 17 carrier bags of books for me to check and then take to the charity shop. I daren't look as I know I will want to keep at least half of them. So I now have 17 carrier bags of books sitting in one of the bedrooms !!

I feel so envious when I visit people with lovely tidy houses though!

aliasojo

oystercatcher wrote: »

This thread has made me feel strangely upset and uncomfortable as I know I should be getting rid of loads of stuff but it so hard to do!

I have to say, it gets (a little!) easier the more you do, I feel a bit better today than I did when I first started clearing. Maybe by tomorrow it'll be better still (it's turning into a longer job than expected).

I have all sorts of kitchen bits hoarded in the loft that I thought the boys might want when they left home. Of course they just want nice new things. I was really glad of family cast offs when I was starting to set up home but times have changed. I wonder if the recession will change things back though?

OH made the very same point to me when I was dithering over certain things today...having thought about it, I'm certain none of mine would want my cast offs and if I'm honest, I'd probably want new for them myself.

I have a garage packed full of camping equipment. DH and I have agreed we will never camp again but I can't bear to part with it as I so enjoyed buying it all and looking forward to happy holidays. Some of it hasn't even been used

Ditto. We have a once used 3 bedroom family tent, 1 used 3 person tent and 3 brand new 2 person tents. We also have all the gear...toilet/cookers/wind break things/special camping cutlery and all sorts of other 'essential' camping accessories. We've been camping once . I haven't reached that area of the loft yet. :rolleyes:

I've just found a box full of duvets and pillows. I think I might have kept them for spares. But I already have spares.......who have their own spares.

They're clean but smell a bit odd with being in the loft for so long.....so peeps, what do I do with them.......bin or charity shop?

aliasojo

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

The trouble comes when Mum has a bunch of musical instruments, DD1 has some and DD2 is getting even more into music than the previous two;

At least when you all play everything together your house will look tidy. :rotfl: