Hoarding...not just on TV

Jettycat

Byatt wrote: »

Jetty, maybe freecycle? Or ask at the CS, as they are unopened they should be happy to receieve.

Thanks I probably try the CS as I can't seem to get back onto our local Freecycle. I keep trying to re-join but I have to be approved by the moderator and don't hear anything at all when I try to join ...

greenbee

Jettycat - have you tried freegle? Most areas have that as well as freecycle.

Jettycat

greenbee wrote: »

Jettycat - have you tried freegle? Most areas have that as well as freecycle.

Unfortunately, Freegle here is not very well used, just a few posts a month, so Freecycle was always much better in the past

Byatt

lostinrates wrote: »

Ladies (are we all birds?). I had a very successful incident this morning. I went to put on my sunglasses (pfft has anyone sent he weather in the Sw today?) and they were loose. I removed them, looked at the fittings on the side and saw they were irreparable, so......I threw them a way.

No 'maybe dh will fix them'. (they weren't fixable) no picking out sparkly bits for craft projects or trying to put them on a branch of a tree....I threw them out.

Missed this earlier, yes, well done LIR! :T

365days

Evening,

I've been chipping away at my goods and chattels. My weakness is tins, biscuit tubs etc. Filled with surface lying tat when I 'tidy up' and left to fester. So although it looks 'tidier' nothing actually gets thrown away it just gets put in a tub/box/tin. So I have been taking a tin/bowl/box etc a day and have managed to halve the number. I am now also the proud owner of a 'nail and screw' tin!!! I have donated and sold various bits and pieces too. Now I have my 9th square, anything that doesn't belong in my living room (the room I'm currently tackling) goes to the spare room to be dealt with at a later date.

Thankyou for whoever advised to tackle from the inside out. It is true that the things actually away in cupboards and drawers are the least used/needed. It's the stuff floating around that is being used. I now have empty drawers and shelves of cupboards and am taking my time to actually see what i want to put in there.

I had a interesting tussle with an item. It was a bag and box which a silver bangle i bought with my 40th birthday money, from a reasonably up market shop. I told myself i didnt need them (I wear the bangle everyday) but then thought if i come to sell it I would get more money of i had the box and bag, then thought that i would never sell it anyway. The paper bag was creased anyway. So they both went in the bin.......I went back later and got the box back out. But the bag has gone into my absolutely heaving bin this week.

Onwards and upwards.

alec_eiffel

Kind of o/t but I guess it's an illustration of how I now have time to do what I want to do instead of firefighting.

Inspired by Fruball I am making a door curtain out of a sheet that was in the charity bag. Quite pleased as I've turned 2 things I was going to chuck out into 2 things I was going to buy this week. I had the idea and did it straight away so nothing was hanging around Thanks.

GreyQueen

:T There's some thoughtful stuff going on, isn't there?

Waaayyyy back down the thread, we were remarking that it's not about the stuff. Well, ultimately, it's about the emotions behind the stuff because you can shovel it out to your heart's content but if you haven't healed the emotions, it'll come back in as quickly as it went out.

Due to needing to be at home for the workmen all week, and not feeling 100% well, I have been doing little pottering-type declutterings. Have just made a further pass through my file box and re-organised and culled a few things into the recycling and the shredder.

I just adore the feeling of being able to put my hands on anything in seconds, it's so calming.

Lookin forward to Crimble as I have some presents taking up drawer-space which is badly needed (my tribe like books) and every inch counts in this micro-flat. Will hope not to get anything bulky as a present but I think most people who know me well enough to give me a gift have seen how small this place is and have an idea what I'd like (choccies are great ).

Quick Q, do people think that hoarding is on the increase? Some of us have multi-generational hoarding in our families, or have seen it in others, but do you think there's more of it about?

I'm interested because of the sheer amount of stuff we have available to us, very cheaply, compared with the generations immediately pre- and post-WW2. I can recall Mum marvelling at the cornucopia of a large bootsale near our former village home. When she and Dad set up home in the early 1960s, there was very little second-hand stuff about and what there was, was absolute carp. So, even people like themselves, on very low incomes, were forced into new purchases.

Compare and contrast with now, when you can earn the price of a set of crockery in just over an hour at minimum wage....... be interested to hear your thoughts.

blossomhill_2

It's not o/t though is it alec, as it illustrates the benefit of being able to do what you planned - how often do hoarders buy what they already have but can't find, or forget they have? So to hear of someone being able to save on a purchase by repurposing something is great, 3 cheers for you!

I've discovered quite a hoard of paint so have been painting up various items and putting them either into use or to be sold on charity stall. I am now looking at things and instead of thinking hmmm I could reuse that someday, am repurposing it in a logical way straight away

I have also used up a mountain of ribbons saved from choc boxes over the years, by making them into wired "Deleted_User" to go into plants for the charity plant stall, so plants, pots and ribbons will all be leaving together = more space

The mediocre but sound towels I was vaguely saving for dog have been washed and bagged up for Crisis and I've cut up a very good but tatty bath sheet into hemmed dog-sized towels - they all look the same (garish!) so there will be no pondering whether any towel is dog or human now. And it would feel wrong if dog had better towels than I donate to humans anyway.

I tipped a glass of water over yesterday and guess what happened - nothing just spilt water and broken glass, no domino effect as it tipped the next thing over/next thing over/soaked the next thing/sprinkled glass over everything - just normality!

The one thing I am finding a hard habit to break - doing everything on my lap! I have nice worksurfaces and a half clear table to use ...

alec_eiffel

Hi GQ,

I forgot to answer your question about freebies the other day. I try to not accept them if I can. It's easy with some things like cosmetics but other things that could be useful I think twice about. I generally accept chocolates and drinks though!

In terms of hoarding being on the increase I'm not sure. I think reporting of it is certainly on the increase and that means that we're along the road of talking about it in terms of mental health not just being messy which is a positive thing. I think people have more stuff in general and there seems to be a declutter - rebuy cycle going on where people buy something, sell it, then buy on ebay/at the carboot so there's never really much space regained but it's all about the collectable/bargain/one of a kind/individual mindset going on so we can allow ourselves to believe that it's not really consuming because it's second hand.

alec_eiffel

I still work a lot on my lap blossomhill, I know if I do that the stuff will be put away, if I do some work at the table then I tend to wander off and leave it. It's still there at tea time so then I have to deal with that and setting the table etc. I do have a couple of two minute tidy sessions a day just to check I've not done this too much though. I doubt tidying as I go will ever feel natural to me but it makes more sense than it once did.