Hoarding...not just on TV

lostinrates

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

How are you feeling, LIR? Hope things are being dealt with properly for you.

Pfft.
But thanks for asking
Sleeping pretty much all the time. Yesterday at the hospital seemed wasteful of nhs resourses and dh's time ( he worked from home to come with me). They just confirmed stuff we knew. Next week i have another appt and i should get the date for the lumbar puncture then i hope. I need more waking hours than i am having atm, but the extra hours sleep are having one good result.....my skin looks amazing!:rotfl:

sjprmc01

I may have had a slight revelation. I have a problem with shopping, especially clothes shopping, and especially for the kids. However I realise I waste too much of my time and money buying pretty stuff that barely gets used so there is not much point to a lot of the stuff I buy them if they aren't going to get the use of it

Not saying its going to immediately stop me spending but may help me think a bit before splashing out next time!

sjprmc01

Me again...another thing I threw out today....teeth! I had about 6 teeth in my jewellery drawers (seem to have lost 4 as eldest dd has lost 8 and middle 2)

Didn't know whose were whose or anything......does anyone keep teeth???

blossomhill_2

teeth in jewellry drawers? Ermmm ... yes I still have my own baby teeth ... in my jewellery box LOL! 40+ years!

sjp .... I was wondering ... if MIL buys excess stuff for the girls, have you thought of just folding it up and putting it away, for selling at a later date? Then if MIL asks, say "oh they didn't need it yet so I have put it away for when they do"

sjprmc01

Oh I give away as much of it as I can get away with! But obvs there are some things she gives directly to them or buys when she is out with them.

I don't think mil is the main problem as such, she just adds to it!

I did do well today! I was in primark and managed to walk out with not one thing! I was in a gift type shop and saw a mug I really really loved (wouldn't be everyone's taste). But again, refrained!

blossomhill_2

Morning everyone

I realised this morning how I had managed to change my thinking to stop saving tubs and other disposables, so here it is in the hope it will help someone else

My new way of thinking;

Standing at sink with an empty plastic container that strawberries came in ...

• this looks good, wonder what it could be used for?
• strawberries ... perfect for strawberries...just strawberries
• have eaten all of them
• haven't got any strawberries to put in it so it goes straight in bin
• (block my mind from thinking about it further and move on and do same with empty yog pot)
• will progress to just putting in bin as last strawberry eaten instead of putting with things to be washed

Previous thinking would have been

• this looks good, wonder what it could be used for?
• seed growing/storing things in/mini propogator
• hmmm not sure, better wash it up and keep it until I decide
  • wash it up
  • dry it up
  • leave it on drainer for days or weeks
  • move to greenhouse
  • trip over it etc
  • still not using it but storing it

A very key part of this is that once rubbish is in the bin, it stays there now, I do not let myself think about it/move it/reallocate it or anything that I used to do

I don't categorise rubbish either, rubbish is rubbish and I move on ... I don't check on whether it has left the property/been collected/been taken anywhere

GreyQueen

sjprmc01 wrote: »

Me again...another thing I threw out today....teeth! I had about 6 teeth in my jewellery drawers (seem to have lost 4 as eldest dd has lost 8 and middle 2)

Didn't know whose were whose or anything......does anyone keep teeth???

I kept a wisdom tooth I'd had removed for about a week to gross out a friend by showing it to them. Then I binned it once it had served its purpose.

Blossomhill :T I've had those "conversations" myself in the kitchen with containers. It's still a struggle but I'm getting there. My hoarderish Mum tells me that she can now throw away empty margarine tubs without even washing them up. I was astonished. Before, they would have been washed up and saved in stacks in the cupboard where the crockery lives. Until said cupboard became entirely unmanageable, even to the point where crockery fell out and broke.

There would be a periodic tub cull, then the whole thing would start again. And now she can just put them in the bin! I'm proud, I tell you, proud.

katep23

Blossomhill, that's a really useful tool, thank you.

I threw away two jars yesterday which I could have used for something but I stood there and thought, there's no room to store them and there will be more jars along soon and if not I can always ask on Freegle as they are often offered. Definite improvement!

Had a long chat with OH last night and we talked about my hoarding (in particular food) and how we can combat it. We have agreed that, apart from fresh fruit / veg, I will not buy anything. We do have some things we need such as flour but we will do an on-line shop together from a shopping list and not deviate from it!

We are gradually using up from the food stores / freezer - I doubt I will let it get really low but it needs to be managable as my walk in larder is no longer walk in!

He also has issues - he's an IT Manager and has a home network set up to test certain situations / solutions and he is not good at getting rid of anything, even if it is old / obsolete. So he has his own issues to work through.

As a result of our discussion I feel like he is really on board and understands how much this has been getting to me, it's such a relief to feel like I am not dealing with this on my own.

This morning he came downstairs and said we should get rid of the pouffe at the bottom of the stairs (which only serves as a cat bed!) completely off the cuff. Have wanted to get rid of that for ages!

Got loads done last night, we spent about an hour sorting things out - have completely cleared one shelf in the dining room, thrown out loads of rubbish, put the wood baskets out in the shed etc so feel really productive.

GQ - my mum's container of choice is Carte D'or containers - I think it's just an excuse to eat lots of ice cream!

GreyQueen

katep23 wrote: »

GQ - my mum's container of choice is Carte D'or containers - I think it's just an excuse to eat lots of ice cream!

She has those too, and those octagonal black Swedish Glace ones. And I have them and use them, but they are strictly rationed and I had a cull a couple of months ago. It was very very hard to put them in the bin (I'd tried Freecycle but no takers..........). Baby steps, baby steps.

short_bird

GreyQueen wrote: »

She has those too, and those octagonal black Swedish Glace ones. And I have them and use them, but they are strictly rationed and I had a cull a couple of months ago. It was very very hard to put them in the bin (I'd tried Freecycle but no takers..........). Baby steps, baby steps.

Ah. Swedish Glace tubs:just the right size to put under plant pots:D However, as I seem to have developed Black Thumb, I threw away the last tub with the most recently deceased house plant.:o