Hoarding...not just on TV

mollythewestie

Just noticed that This thread has had a mention on the MSE weekly email - "old style thread of the week"

mollythewestie

I just tried to catch up, but there has been too many posts since I was last here! Had a busy week, followed by a slight RA flare-up so have been trying to take it easy (Doctors orders!)

I have started on clearing out the kitchen and have already had lots of positive comments about how much better it looks. I have thrown away a juicer, electric steamer and more jam jars than I care to remember. I have cleared the utility room so that it now has clear and clean worktop space

We have had a nightmare trying to sell things on ebay though – people either do not pay atall (I have had to open 4 non-payment disputes in the last 3 weeks) or they do not understand what they are bidding on. Out of the 2 “pick up only” items I sold: 1 winner is in Lithuania, the other lives 200 miles away and can’t pick it up for over a week, I wouldn’t normally mind but this is a very large item that is taking up loads of room).

On a more positive note, I am slowly going through all my cookery magazines and removing therecipes I want and recycling the rest. Ihave about another 25 to sort through. I am finding that I only want to keep 1or 2 recipes from each one; it seems such I waste, so I have decided to cancel my subscription next month.

On another positive note, DD has started potty training, and has really taken to it, she started last week and has been dry all day since. So I will hopefully be able to get rid of the changing table and boxes of nappies/wipes that take up so much room, very soon.

Lazy_Liz

Hi all, been doing a little de-cluttering here and there and keeping up the the posts, very proud of the progress people are making.
I got rid of a non functioning digital camera this week and all its additional bits, charger, connection cables etc. DH was inspired to rationalise the mobile phone boxes and we put all the spare phones plust bits into one box (I suggested sending the oldest phones to a re-cycler which got a grudging OK but now I willhave to do that myself, also have to check that all info is removed as the are BBerry phones for work and have e-mails etc. no idea what info is on them so I will have to do all this work and find a suitable re-cycler before they can be out of the house for good.)DH won't let me throw them away, they might be useful...the information on them could be confidential...they are worth something! But he won't make the effort to do the re-cycling so they sit in the box getting less and less valuable.:mad:
So I understand and sympathise greatly with those who find their OH is contributing to the clutter/hording problem.

mollythewestie

Forgot to add earlier, we did some decluttering in the wardrobe and got rid of a bin bag of clothes (some had barely been worn if at all) Must have been at least 40 items of clothes, a leather handbag and an ipod that was completely dead and would not charge at all, I did have to prise it from DH's hands as he wanted to "Take it apart and see what it looks like inside" :mad:

dumpy

Did you know that if you put so much paper through a shredder it can actually heat up and automatically cut off until it has had chance to cool down again.....:o:whistle:

Still shredding 2010 bills and I fear they go back a lot further but I refuse to build another pile next to the shredder so the small room will be left till the current shedding mountain is disposed of. I'm trying to do it a few at a time so it doesn't seem too onerous.

sjprmc01 I used to feel that everytime I went into a shop I had to come out with something however small. I stopped this by just not going into shops.

It sounds really simple but "going shopping/ to town" had become so engrained as a habit/leisure activity that it was quite hard to break but the bank balance improved dramatically when I stopped putting myself into the position of being tempted.

I now never "go to town" at a weekend and have lots more time to things I want to do. I do my weekly shop at lunchtime from work.


Small sucess to report - when I was waiting for the shredder to cool, I mucked out a drawer that had been getting more and more difficult to open.... Lots of junk out, including the "it might be useful one day stuff". Draw now slides open beautifully and I can see what is in it.

blossomhill_2

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!

LOL, I had actually decided that when I am nearly sorted I will ask for some of these on freecyle as I think they are a good design but don't eat ice cream!

If anyone is struggling with a particular brand containers, try buying another brand - the tub could be influencing you - I thought I loved spreadable Lurpack but switched to avoid the tempting tubs and found I prefer (cheaper) real butter in a paper wrapper!

Tip re shredding - it's rarely the whole document that needs to be shredded, especially if there are a couple of pages of T&Cs too

I just shred the bits with personal info, or key clues like what company I am dealing with - the rest I put in a bucket of rainwater and tip into the composter

Not spending is hard ... really hard ... I was feeling a bit more positive recently and thought I was getting somewhere then realised that actually I'd bought some things and it was the buzz from that - I am happy with what I bought and they enabled me to chuck out several other items, but I still feel I should be getting my buzz from activities other than retail therapy

Pre-war_babe_33

Oh yes Dumpy, I bought a new shredder this morning and it rapidly overheated and cut out - I thought I had broken the thing. I do have a lot of trouble getting rid of stuff that has my personal details on and junk mail with my name plastered all over it is a real pain.

I find that if a catalogue comes through my door I put it aside to look at later and rarely do so before I know it I have piles of them cluttering up the place, mostly unopened. I can`t put them straight into the recyling box because they are wrapped in plastic and have my name and address all over them too so that causes even more delay in getting rid of them.

Since starting to read this thread a week ago I have offloaded almost two recycling boxes of catalogues so I must just keep going now I have started.

Thank you so much Jojo for starting this thread - I haven`t got a serious problem - mostly junk mail and paperwork but have a few boxes of stuff in the spare bedroom that need to be sorted through and disposed of.

Food storage is well under control as I make sure I use the perishable stuff first before going onto the stuff in the freezer and also keep a close eye on dates on tinned goods too.

SpikyHedgehog

short_bird wrote: »

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

I miss the old vitalite tubs - perfect for under plants, food storage AND turning into musical instruments ;-) ! I had so many stored at 1 point because they were going into preschool for turning into drums, that was fine as they went & were used. But mum & my sister kept giving me more tubs...

I've only got 1 swedish glace tub right now, under a prayer plant in the bathroom. The last tub we had was the larger neapolitan, & I don't like that tub so much. We did get ice cream from MrT express on saturday, & kept the tub, but it's already in use as DS2's hama beads needed a new tub (the Ice cream tub they'd been in had lost it's lid) & the old tub went straight into the recycling bin.

I got some clothes for myself from a few different CSs the other day, but I'm not sure what to get rid of - I really don't have too many clothes. Saying that, my socks & tights drawer is full so must need thinning out. & my wedding dress is still in my wardrobe.

I was thinking about storage again - we have built in cupboards in each bedroom, but mine is the only 1 with a rail. Errant husband didn't want to buy a rail for the wardrobe in the 2nd bedroom, ' in case we move'. Well, we've been here 5 years, & the HA aren't going to tell me to take out a rail that turns a cupboard into a wardrobe, so we're going to put 1 in so DS1's clothes can go in there instead of my wardrobe. DS2 hasn't got a proper wardrobe, as the cupboard is built over the stairs & doesn't go down to the floor. But I realised I could get a towel rail & fix to the inside of his cupboard & make sure his coat hangers have got hooks that turn round, so his few clothes that need hanging can go in there.

I didn't give blood yesterday as I'm on antibiotics from being bitten by a bug in the garden on Sunday :-( so haven't got rid of the now 3 bags of stuff for CS. (I know, I managed to go into them & come out with stuff... But I didn't want to lug 3 bags on the bus into the docs for a blood test before dragging onto the CS.)

I did put a full recycling bin out last night with a bag full of textiles in it, & have finished DS2's curtains, so they're no longer sitting on a chair in the sitting room.

skipsmum

blossomhill wrote: »

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

That is exactly how my conversations go (the first part anyway). I've printed it out and stuck it up in the kitchen. If I really need a margarine tub I can use one of the ones I already have

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Heavens, Infamy!



I have decided that I don't like recycling. Having opened the outside food scraps recycling bin this morning to put something in it. I won't go into too much detail, but let's say they expect all cooked foods, including meat and fish to go in with the usual peelings. And it's been very warm. _pale_

I liked it in previous years where you just stuck everything into the one bin and they came and took it all away one morning every week. No faffing around, being told to keep and wash out bits of plastic pot, separate lids, bottles, and their tops and cans, and then have to put them all into the same box.




Anyhow, I've put 5 items of clothing into recycling, thus keeping the items brought in < items put out rule, cleared all the washing, folded everything, changed the bed and not done a great deal since popping out for some milk. All small bursts of activity - oh, and a few moments taking a couple of bits upstairs for the bathroom and popping them into the drawers under the mirror.

It almost matches an animal's activity patterns - a few minutes of busy, followed by much longer periods of not doing anything much at all.



I've got just over five minutes before Grimm starts on Watch (about the only thing I watch on TV at the moment), so I've got time to clean the mirror and table before it starts.

See you all soon!