Hoarding...not just on TV

Byatt

Jo-Jo, you're right about the vintage Pyrex, I have broken many pieces here as it's a stone floor, and I'm still picking up pieces...

Lost, that's exactly been my thinking, but there's just me, this place is too small to entertain and like Judi, I don't have any pets except a dog share with DD. So, it's going, some of it is plain white, most of it is from the last few years and I don't have anything of my mother's because sister and brother gave it away. Maybe a good thing in one respect.

I have just loaded a box into the car ready for CS, which has taken me hours, and the box is not that big, and now debating about the casserole dishes. I'm trying to persuade myself that someone will get pleasure from them. Once they are out the house it's fine; it's getting them out the house!

pink68

Hello there, fascinated by this thread and what you are all going through. I am a little bit the opposite way and throw out everything i can after having had to clear far too many other peoples houses out after they died. I always think when i pick something up 'would my kids keep this when i die',. if not, out it goes.

Mind you i cleared out some kitchenware the other day, mostly quiche dishes,(and i never make quiche!) then blow me if my daughter didnt come home from school saying we're making quiche next week at school. She had to make it in a casserole dish!

The my friend and neighbour pointed out I could have just borrowed one of hers....so back to throwing it all out now!

thriftwizard

Well, I'm just off to the Tip with a freezer that had been clogging up the end of our driveway for a couple of weeks - I was going to use it to de-frost ours, then Freecycle it onwards, but one look at it & I decided that not only was it electrically lethal, it was also probably harbouring germs as yet unknown to science... I've done the freezer in double-quick time using the steam cleaner, so they do have some uses! Round here, freezers are often in demand, even non-working, for people to store animal feed in, but this one is just plain nasty. It's being joined by two large display boards I took on a few months back when our Guild noticeboard fell apart; these were really nice ones, but I've never found the correct "feet" and joiners for them, so off they can go, as can the dog guard I'd stashed behind the freezer for drying whole fleeces on. I've finally worked out that I'm better off washing & drying fleece by the basin-load, then it can be spread out on top of the cockatiel cage to dry. So quite a haul going out imminently, then a car-load of fabric & trimmings going off tomorrow to a church that's taking them out to India to a craft workshop. I've also posted a few items on Freecycle; I WILL beat this mess eventually!

wannabe_sybil

Byatt - I really feel for you. It is so hard to get rid of stuff that has utility. I was looking at the box my father's father's day present of Famous Grouse came in and thinking - that is such a pretty box, sturdy, I bet it would come in useful...

It will be going into the recycling. But it will take an effort.

As for the cereal bowls, could you commit to not getting any more, put only what you need in the 'place for bowls' place and box up and hide the rest and see how you do? That is a tiny suggestion in a huge mountain of problem. Getting rid of something is such a big thing!

JoJo - thank you for starting this thread. It is being colonised by people who have the same hoarding tendencies as Her (good way of describing that person btw) but I hope we are nicer people who would not behave towards people the same way. I hope you are feeling better, and that the 'getting rid' is cathartic.

lostinrates

thriftwizard wrote: »

Well, I'm just off to the Tip with a freezer that had been clogging up the end of our driveway for a couple of weeks - I was going to use it to de-frost ours, then Freecycle it onwards, but one look at it & I decided that not only was it electrically lethal, it was also probably harbouring germs as yet unknown to science... I've done the freezer in double-quick time using the steam cleaner, so they do have some uses! Round here, freezers are often in demand, even non-working, for people to store animal feed in, but this one is just plain nasty. It's being joined by two large display boards I took on a few months back when our Guild noticeboard fell apart; these were really nice ones, but I've never found the correct "feet" and joiners for them, so off they can go, as can the dog guard I'd stashed behind the freezer for drying whole fleeces on. I've finally worked out that I'm better off washing & drying fleece by the basin-load, then it can be spread out on top of the cockatiel cage to dry. So quite a haul going out imminently, then a car-load of fabric & trimmings going off tomorrow to a church that's taking them out to India to a craft workshop. I've also posted a few items on Freecycle; I WILL beat this mess eventually!

Sigh.

I know there is something wrong with me. I see a faulty freezer as rat safe workshop storage for veg or animal stuff.

wannabe_sybil

lostinrates wrote: »

Sigh.

I know there is something wrong with me. I see a faulty freezer as rat safe workshop storage for veg or animal stuff.

That's the thing - I think the natural hoarder can always see a use for anything. That's the problem. Or at least, part of the problem. And it isn't really a problem as such. It's just that if the use isn't immediate, we end up with a backlog of stuff 'just in case'.

I could find a dozen uses for a broken fridge freezer, think that 'one day I will clean it and use it for x', then never get round to it and keep it lingering on and on. I'm working on it.

Thriftwizard - give yourself credit for getting rid of stuff. You must feel like you have lost some weight on your shoulders. On my blog I started Operation Clutterbust, and it did really well but ran out of steam, but last week I got rid of three non working irons and I feel really good about it.

Florenceem

I sorted out another 13 books to list on Ebay. :eek: I then moved stuff about as I had an empty shelf. I needed to make space on a deep shelf - want to keep my clear stamps in a folder on it. Emptied off two more shelves - our recycling bin is almost full! :eek: I found lots of things I had forgotten about plus more stuff to sell. Must get all the stuff I am keeping off the floor and back - tidy on to shelves now.

thriftwizard

lostinrates wrote: »

Sigh.

I know there is something wrong with me. I see a faulty freezer as rat safe workshop storage for veg or animal stuff.

Lostinrates, this one you wouldn't have, truly. I don't deserve any credit for parting with it; apart from the rust & broken wires, it was minging :eek: with multicoloured fur coats climbing up the insides, and def. not rat-proof any more as the seals had crumbled. An absolute health-hazard as well as a waste of space. It was a kindly-meant gesture, passing it on to me a couple of weeks ago, but pressure of work & filthy weather kept me from using it & passing it on in turn, and in the meantime it just slid further downhill.

Mayflower10cat

Jojo - I'm terribly sorry to discover that Oggy sadly didn't rally, despite your Vets best efforts and all your loving care. (I've wept harder for the loss of a good cat than the loss of an 'average' human being, I'm not ashamed to say).

Interesting and thought provoking thread here, thank you everyone. I have to confess to living with a hoarder, or certainly one in the making! He finds it hard to throw away old clothes/shoes etc even when they've been replaced. Also, if he goes out food shopping, he'll buy huge multiples of certain items; for instance, 6 bags porridge oats, 5 tins of tomatoes. But he'd do the same the following week. And not even on a special offer. At the moment he's buying up shiny photopaper from Poundland - ten packs at a time. (As far as I know, Poundland always has shiny photopaper.......!!!) Don't even get me started on the contents of the three (yes, three) sheds we have..... I keep sneaking in and throwing away dried up cans of paint/hard paintbrushes/rusted drill bits/dead lightbulbs (again, why keep them?!) plastic bottles of lemonade/shandy/tonic water with half an inch left and flat as anything......

Anyway, I now feel inspired to check the dark recess at the back of two of my kitchen cupboards - I know that I've hidden away some (horrible!) corporate mugs and glasses that my SiL (Massive Hoarder) brought over from the US when her employer updated their logo - they 'allowed' their employees to 'purchase' the unwanted old stuff........!!!!?! And, I'll have a clear-out of my cookery books; pointless to hang onto Gary Rhodes (even if he did autograph it) as I've only used three recipes from the whole book.

Keep up the good work everyone - not wanting to sound remotely new age, but Feng Shui principles recommend a good clear out and the release (and relief) you feel as you look at all that empty space is apparently all the Chi (good energy) whizzing around again, not impeded by mess. I had a very dear friend, sadly no longer with us, who was very interested in Feng Shui and I noted a few of her favourite recommendations. She also said that never leave piles of 'stuff' on the floor - put the pile up on a shelf or table, for some reason it's better that way. She also maintained that - 'you can't fill a cup that's full' meaning, getting rid of stuff that doesn't serve you anymore allows room for new and better stuff that does. (Thank you, Louise.)

cherie1122

When my freezer broke I phoned the council and they came to collect it (free) - I wouldn't dream of keeping one for storage.

I want to thank you all on here - you've just made me log on to Freegle and list some items to give away. I've already had two replies so hopefully three clothes airers will be heading off to new homes shortly. I really don't know why I had so many

Next I'm going to list a printer and vacuum cleaner. I don't consider myself to be a hoarder but I certainly have far too much stuff :rotfl: