Hoarding...not just on TV

wannabe_sybil

Elona - it is good that your daughter isn't stressed. I have always found in a medically quite eventful life that it is easy to go with the flow if it is happening to you and not to someone else, and quite often it is only after that the impact hits. Sending prayers

Byatt - hugs

hugs to all I have forgotten in skim reading.

Last night OH and I decided to break into one of the bottles of wine that I had dragged out when clearing in the dining room, the ones that hadn't seen the light of day for a decade. The first one was allegedly white wine, but when it came out brown and smelled of sherry. We poured that away. Then the next one that was also white wine didn't taste quite right, so we ended up on the recently purchased Sambuca. I may just pour away the stuff that we found rather than risk it and keep giving it space. Then we will once again be at the recycling tipping in loads of bottles. I should have just junked them.

I am considering junking a tray of Bob the Builder sweetie eggs that I got from AF in the last order. Little bear doesn't like the sweeties and the other contents of the plastic egg are trashy toys and stickers of which we have lots. If I had space in my bin then I think they would have already gone. I feel I have made a great progress in that thought.

Gingernutty

So.

I dumped the batteries and the light bulb from the wardrobe light in the bins at Sainsbugs carpark before bringing the bin bag of stuff to the CS, and going on to Boots to leave opened, out of date medicines at the pharmacy.

I caught a bus to the dump and, going in the OUT gate again, dumped the wardrobe light and an adaptor with plugs into 'SMALL ELECTRICALS' before catching a bus back into town.

I went to McDonald's (I know, it's junk but it's a once in a while treat) for a chicken nugget meal before hitting Sainsbugs before they shut at four.

And there's still time to do my Maths homework and sew a couple of hooks and eyes onto an M&S blouse that gapes awkwardly at the neck.

Byatt, like that L'Oreal ad says - Because You're Worth It.

That's the point of doing it. You deserve to live somewhere nice. Somewhere you want to come home to. Somewhere which doesn't stress you out whenever you look around it. Somewhere which doesn't leave you anxious about what visitors might think.

It's not somewhere you live - it's your home. Looking after it means you're on your way to looking after yourself.

Edit: One thing came in and it's annoyed me no end. A small LED torch. My house is covered in scaffolding for some insulation work and the porch light has been taken down.

With the front door shielded from the street lamps by the scaffold boards and no light to see by in these dark evenings, I tried to find one of my FOUR torches. Could I find one? Nope.

Not even the FSS branded Mag Lite given to staff in a goody bag. They aren't by the meters, aren't under the sink or the stairs, they're not hiding in the tool box or around the bedroom (in case of emergencies).

So I had to buy a tiddly little LED torch to put in my pocket or bag until the work is over. :mad:

I can't think where they've gone......:huh:

yellowdots

Hi

I probably wont post in here very often but wanted to log in to say what an amazing thread, I have read most of it and think there is some wonderful support and advice in here.

I don't think I'm a full blown hoarder, my rooms are fairly clear and clutter free but my garage, under the stairs cupboard and some other areas have stuff which I put there years ago! I'm tryng to go through it this year but keep halting and I don't know why.

I also realise I have a problem letting go of things, again I don't know why but I do know for some reason I have to be able to give it to a good home (whatever it is) or charity shop. I find it very hard to throw something away which isn't broken.

Currently I am struggling with birthday cards, sigh. I am ok with christmas cards I put them straight in for recycling. I find birthday cards more personal, its weird isn't it!

Also struggling with a pile of maybe 30 kids comics like Beano, Dandy etc, which look too worn to take to charity shop.

Good luck everyone with the sorting through all the stuff

Oh and I hope you don't mind but I did have a bit of a giggle at 19 duvets xxx

When I sorted through all our spare bedding last year I thought blimey why the heck am I keeping all these duvet covers!

valk_scot

No progress to report today...it was sunny again so I went to the allotment. oh wait...I did evict five cardboard boxes of plastic punnets and ice cream tubs etc from the shed, they'd sort of accumulated in there over the years. I put them up at the gate and they'd magically vanished by the time I left two hours later.

lostinrates

Dericharding two of dh's clothes drawers now....wish us luck!

Gingernutty

lostinrates wrote: »

Dericharding two of dh's clothes drawers now....wish us luck!

Fingers crossed. :eek:

lostinrates

Gingernutty wrote: »

Fingers crossed. :eek:

Hmm. Not as promising as i had hoped. About half a dozen items for CS, but an alarming number of nice things moth eaten. A lovely jumper than needs darning even though i think its only been worn one week.

Dh wears 'smart' casual for work, which is a PITA because it means dressing ina a whole range of clothes he would never own normally, and it gets quite competitive. He likes a 'loud' shirt and cords, which is the cheapest way to do it, but then jumpers which he would never normally wear and a few blazer type things. Also, some people seem to note how many jumpers you have :eek: so i try and keep a good half dozen 'fresh' looking combinations to recycle for him.

Its worse than girls' clothes, honestly i think it is. He had two beautiful wintwr coats, both of which met unpleasant accidental ends (including a beautiful cashmere american one) and its going to be pain ful buying a replace,ent for those this winter, but has to be done.


So,
Ots more money to be spent lots more waste.

He is nopt reay to part with two dress shirts he got from his grandfather, even though they are thin and imo horrid. They might have some vintage clothing value?

Edit: he has two dozen trousers of summer and winter weight which don't fit, he has put on two inches in the last couple of years, which i don't mind ...i have put on more...but is a oain for clothes and they worry him a bit. He used to lose weight very quickly but is finding that now we are in our thirties the lbs stick firm. So i also need to see if i can get a neutral pair of trousers he can wear in winter till he has slimmed a bit. (he goes to the gym four or five days aweek now and is very physical at home, some thing has to work eventually).

The moth damage is still making me furious.

whitewing

*peeps out from behind piles of cards*

Because I scrapbook, I keep the bday cards as there are always bday photos. If I am doing a 12x12 inch page, I cut the same size square out of each card. I stick on nine squares to a page. If they are handcrafted cards or really, really nice ones they get scrapped whole. I also cut out personal messages, signatures and arrange them all on a scrapbook page as I like the handwriting styles and names changing as we go through life. This means that the bulk of the card can be discarded.

If you don't scrapbook, could you use the cards to make other cards, by cropping and putting on another background?

Otherwise, I also try to make sure we have a photo of the cards when they are on display as part of the birthday celebrations. Then the cards can be recycled rather than kept.

Cards are lovely, but a pain to keep because they are awkward sizes and slippery, I find.

Or could you get some nice plain bags and use the birthday cards to transform them into birthday gift bags?

Byatt

Thanks for the hugs guys. :A

Ginger, your sentence, "It's not somewhere you live - it's your home. Looking after it means you're on your way to looking after yourself."

is a slap my head moment, it's just so true. :T

lostinrates

Byatt wrote: »

Thanks for the hugs guys. :A

Ginger, your sentence, "It's not somewhere you live - it's your home. Looking after it means you're on your way to looking after yourself."

is a slap my head moment, it's just so true. :T

Whoch makes me wonder...how many hoarders feel their environment is pleasing aesthtically to them? Without the clutter i mean?

I think part of de richarding is beautifying, the penulitmate stage, decoration the end stage....maintaining.

Living in a wreck has beenfits and drawbacks. The wreck has made me relax about carpets......they are not here 'forever' but i relise to late i am training my dh and myself and parent to walk through the house with boots on...no good long term.