Hoarding...not just on TV

Byatt

mymerrywidow wrote: »

i could/would never run my supplys down this low. what happens if you get ill/sick and cant get your supplys? do you not stock up when items are on offer?

each to their own

Yep, each to their own.:cool: if I'm sick I'm not going to be cleaning any time soon, well, even when I'm not sick.

When you hoard you have to make choices that others' may not have to make, and it's what you feel comfortable with, not someone else.

blossomhill_2

Byatt wrote: »

I have to have a survey done for the loft insulation and the company keep calling to make an appointment, but there's no way in hell I'm letting anyone in right now...

Byatt, I had the survey done - fitter man (bit of an aggro type)duly arrived and wouldn't do the work because there was stuff in the loft -- 10 neat boxes apparently, we don't use the loft so pressume they are from previous owner
So unless you are sure you can get your loft completely emptied for the fitter ....

oldtractor

Well Done Smileyt
my decluttering continues. I tackled under the stairs today also a set of draws and 3 kitchen cupboards.
I decided if we hadnt seen it or used it for ages then we didnt need it . So 9 bin bags and half a wheelie bin full. other stuff to charity shops/given away to neighbour/sent to second hand shop to sell.
theres also a broken printer to go and an old coat of DH and a boiler suit to go and a coat of mine. Its a great feeling.

Byatt

blossomhill wrote: »

Byatt, I had the survey done - fitter man (bit of an aggro type)duly arrived and wouldn't do the work because there was stuff in the loft -- 10 neat boxes apparently, we don't use the loft so pressume they are from previous owner
So unless you are sure you can get your loft completely emptied for the fitter ....

Oh, thanks BH, I never go in the loft but was told when I first moved there were loads of empty boxes up there. I guess because it's a shared loft, someone put them there for security. I may answer the calls now and tell them! I am not going up there. :eek:

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

mymerrywidow wrote: »

i could/would never run my supplys down this low. what happens if you get ill/sick and cant get your supplys? do you not stock up when items are on offer?

each to their own

That's how hoarding starts. What if.....happens, what if that bargain multibuy is missed, what if that thing is The Key To Solving Everything...


The supplies stockpiled rarely if ever get touched in hoarding. The piles just get bigger and bigger and bigger.


Whereas someone without hoarding issues would think a) I'll use one of the other items to clean with, b) I'll send somebody out to the shop if something must be replaced NOW and c) I'll order it online if it's that important or d) stuff it, I'll be too busy being Ill to be worrying about filling the cupboards.

Or e) worry about it when I'm sick, not fuss around cluttering the place up when I'm not sick and perfectly capable of nipping to the shop if I run out of something.

sjprmc01

Grr! I feel like I'm going crazy! I keep losing stuff that I've put down seconds before and it isn't really coz of the mess (entirely).

I've piled some of the stuff I pulled out today into a corner so there was a proper, clear walkway! But I now have it to deal with in the morning!

And I have a pile of dishes to do coz ive been tackling other stuff today (although I have done some dishes coz I start a million things and never finish them)

Except now I also have a very sore back coz I've been messing about with 'stuff' all day!

On the plus my wheelie bin is now almost full (or is that a plus? It doesn't get collected till Mon!) I'm not entirely sure what I've chucked but it was just all junk!

Mil dropped off yet anther school cardi so now youngest has 3 x green, 1 x grey, 1 x black and a green sweatshirt and 3 grey tank tops! Far too much and I can't give to the same lady I gave to yesterday as her dd is much bigger and the stuff I gave her was my older girls stuff

thriftwizard

The supplies stockpiled rarely if ever get touched in hoarding. The piles just get bigger and bigger and bigger.

Hmm - like the two shelves-worth of stainless steel saucepans & cast iron casseroles I "noticed" today in my porch? TBH I need to be sensible & reduce that to what one offspring might be interested in taking on, not all 5, two of whom have actually more or less left home already! And on the other side is a tall set of shelves full of "stock" for the business - except that most of it was there when I took the shop on, and it's still there now I've handed the shop over to someone else - 10 embroidery hoops & frames are hardly going to sell piled up in my porch, are they?

But I was good today & gave away about 50 cross-stitch books & booklets of patterns, a spare printer, a small set of shelves, and a few other bits n'bobs in response to a plea on Freecycle. I know by now that cross-stitch doesn't sell well down here, and all my plans to car-boot excess stock have been de-railed, so better just to get them gone.

Have to admit I do have a stockpile of food, but in my position I'd be daft not to, given the number of people I'm feeding & that I'm quite a long way from any cheap supermarkets, so I stock up on tins & packets when I can & especially when they're on special offer. It also makes good financial sense, and I have the room to store them. I'm fanatical about rotating stocks so nothing goes out of date - except stuff that was that way when I got it! - so I don't think it qualifies as hoarding, unlike the saucepans & embroidery frames...

blossomhill_2

mymerrywidow wrote: »

i could/would never run my supplys down this low. what happens if you get ill/sick and cant get your supplys? do you not stock up when items are on offer?

each to their own

You'd think this would work, wouldn't you - but we are dealing with those of us whose brains work differently here - and those brains need retraining!

If we stock up when things are on offer then we are at risk of the items actually coming at a cost - because they hide other items and we then have to buy emergency ones at top price when needed urgently because we can't find the stashed cheap ones under the other stashed cheap stuff we have also been tripping over ...

Once I had got my brain working better (it's not fixed yet!) I stopped supermarket shopping as I was too vulnerable to their clever marketting. So if I run out of something I mainly just go to the local OneStop and pay a bit more but save a fortune as I only come home with what I went for

One tip for stopping hoarding things like cleaning products is to keep one spare behind the one that is in use. Then when you are out at the shops, you will find it easier to picture whether you need a new one or not. And you can always find the new one

And actually it is a little bit helpful for us to run out of things sometimes and realise that the world doesn't end - lately I have been able to see that some things don't need replacing at all, as I just use them from habit

Apart form the major glitches, most special offers are on rotation anyway. I will buy half price but not BOGOF.

[I took advantage of a major glitch last year and have a lifetime's worth of washing up liquid, liquid soap, washing liquid and loo cleaner so can't quite keep my spare behind the one in use, but have it all organised in plastic crates on shelves just used for the products, in one of my many sheds ]

mymerrywidow - you say "supplys" - part of my changing thinking is to come to terms with the fact that I am not a business, not running a hostel, not a shop, not a small farm, not a craft industry, not a wholesaler, I am just a very small household that would like to be welcoming to spontaeous vistors. So I have stopped using terms like supplies and stock, it's just shopping to me now, the food in the cupboard is just enough for a couple of meals

I was complimented on my changed thinking yesterday, by a friend who doesn't know the scale of my problems or that I am trying to tackle them, but even they could see a change and I was so proud when they said "we don't have to worry so much about you now as we know you are going to be ok"!

valk_scot

SpikyHedgehog wrote: »

Thank you, Val! I didn't know that, so will pass that onto mum. We've not got awnings near us, but I've just told the boys to all be careful. I'm guessing it's the same for canvas tents too? 1 of mum & dads big tents is canvas. (The DSs & I estimate my parents have at least 4 tents...)

Basically it's for all cotton canvas or polycotton canvas tents. If you have to clean a tent you use soap based products which rinse out fully but detergent never rinses out, there's always a residue and this residue will breach the waterproofing effect of cotton canvas at that point. So if you get bubbles landing on the roof of your tent, next time it rains you'll get little round leaky patches...

I personally think bubbles should be banned on campsites. Ovr the years I've felt a right killjoy asking kids to take their bubbles far, far away from any tents, especially mine, and the parents don't always understand either. But my big cotton canvas trailer tent would take over £1000 to replace the canvas if it got damaged, so I think I'm quite justified tbh. We wouldn't be able to go on holiday if we didn't camp and there are plenty of other things kids can do while camping than blow bubbles around.

wannabe_sybil

sjprmc01 wrote: »

Grr! I feel like I'm going crazy! I keep losing stuff that I've put down seconds before and it isn't really coz of the mess (entirely).

This happens because too much is happening in your head. You are thinking about so many other things that when an item leaves your hand you hardly notice it and have no chance of finding it. Bitter experience here. It is also why people can't remember locking the front door - you aren't thinking, 'I am locking the front door.' You are thinking things like, 'Will I be in time for the bus,' or 'Have I remembered to pack the tissues?'

For me, I keep my keys on a hook behind the porch door. It is not recommended by crime prevention but I can always find my keys and I am really, really uppity about always being able to put my keys away before anything else - not easy to stay focused when you live with three males and an evil cat. I always keep my purse in my bag - no exceptions. If I get the purse out eg to use a card for an online transaction it always goes straight back. If I delay for a moment - it's lost!

What worked for me was identifying what I really, really needed to always find, and then identifying where that item could live - and throwing tantrums if something prevented that!

But I so identify with the 'but where did I put it?' feeling. Darling father insisted on giving me his medals 'to keep for little bear' when I had my hands full with little bear who was playing up. That was several years ago, and we still haven't found the medals. I was too focused on little bear to think about where I was putting things. :(:(

Edited to say to elona - thank you for the hugs! I have been to the doctors about this before, and he wants to send me to counselling. I have had bad experiences of counselling, and to be quite honest, have not had the physical energy to get there. It's been going on for years and I feel a bit fed up, but if the doctor won't do anything, he won't do anything. I am getting the results for kidney/thyroid/liver function as well (asked for by another doctor) on Friday, so fingers crossed that there will be a clue there. I take berocca every day. I dread to think what I would be like without industrial amounts of vitamins.