Hoarding...not just on TV

katep23

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Do people think the question we should ask of every item in our homes should be:
'Does this make my life better right here right now or does it get in the way of the life I want'?

That's exactly it :T

I know it, I just can't seem to follow the principle

Oh crikey, found a few more food items in the woodshed - 5 bottles of squash (Oh did ask if we had more before I stocked up at Costco and I was adamant we didn't), a huge bottle of ariel, 24 sachets of black bean sauce, 12 sachets of red curry paste, 12 packs of naan bread mix and 4 x 800g tins of kidney beans

On the plus side, I did my meal plan for the week and needed a few bits towards it and went to Sainsbugs yesterday and only bought what was on the list! So Alice-Mary I can understand your feeling of triumph,

GreyQueen

It's actually kipple not kibble. Hope you're not offended by the correction..........stolen from Philip K !!!!!!'s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which is a SF classic which was filmed as Bladerunner.

And which lost a lot of it's depth in the process, IMO. Anyway, kipple is the little stuff which creeps over all surfaces and multiplies when your back is turned. Kipple will take over the world if it gets a chance.

I was musing on clutter the other day, wading thru the detritus on surfaces and thinking that most clutter is formed of postponed decisions or postponed actions.

Y'know, we don't put something where it belongs because we're busy, or idle or distracted, and it forms the start of a pile of clutter. This could be important stuff and unimportant stuff all jumbled together, like that pile of old shopping lists, supermarket flyers, free newspapers and your insurance documents and the receipt to summat you want to take back to the shop.

Because it's all jumbled together and some of it is/ may be Important, decluttering isn't just a fast swipe into the recycling bag or the bin but a protracted and anxiety-inducing process which gets worse the longer it is postponed. And then we may die and some poor soul has to pick through our carp and examine everything to determine if it is Important whilst grieving and stressed. And starting to wish we were alive again just so they could wring our bliddy necks for being so disorganised.

Other things are on the premises because they represent postponed decisions; things we meant to remove, gift, sell, refurbish, re-purpose etc etc but never got around to dealing with. Because we only have 24 hours each day and we have to sleep, eat, wash ourselves and do chores, never mind all the other stuff.

It's almost impossible not to end up innocently taking on more commitments than one life can handle. We're not bad people, we're not hopeless fantasists imagining we're going to be more leisured at some future point and that all this stuff will be dealt with then.

I find myself aware that I'm already past the half-way mark of what will probably be my lifespan and that there isn't an infinite amount of time to do stuff. And that the government seems to want to move my retirement date ever closer to the point where if I get a retirement at all, it'll probably be at an age where I'm armchair and slippers not round the world tripping.

Soooo, I'm pre-decluttering and going to concentrate on socking experiences into my life, not Stuff. I've grown up enough to understand what makes me happy; time with family and friends, time in nature, seeing new places, learning new skills, new books and just wandering around thinking about things.

I don't get joy from shopping for clothes and accessories, having my hair done, nightclubbing, faddling around with various bits and bobs or watching TV. But that's OK, each to their own.

So, feeling some more decluttering coming on, inc some things which have been sticking for a while.

This is a very small home. The less I have in it, the better it looks and the easier my life is. So out it will go.

short_bird

While we're talking about kibble...:D
http://www.freekibble.com/default.asp

alec_eiffel

I agree with you GQ, one day the point will arrive that there is no "later" to deal with the stuff or live the life we want. Do a good mixture of what you have to do and what you want to do and life will be ok.

blossomhill_2

All too true GQ, too true - I know I am in my "later" so am doing everything now or never

I've been musing on the fact we hang onto aspirational clothing without admitting that we've moved on - I've pictured the oldest lady I know, talking about how she used to go dancing. But wearing slippers, not tap shoes. A lovely serene image. Then picturing her in black gothic or rocky clothes saying "I can get into my favourite clothes now I've lost some weight"! - I know which I want to be!

I have decided to get all my Christmas presents bought and wrapped
by the 2nd week of December and then dispose of all the other wrapping paper either to the bin, or if sealed, to the CS while they still have time to sell it. I am sick of storing Christmas wrap for 11 months of the year when we don't need it! Because I make a lot of my gifts anyway I tend to use tissue for them, so will still have tissue for any last-minutes

alec_eiffel

blossomhill wrote: »

All too true GQ, too true - I know I am in my "later" so am doing everything now or never

I've been musing on the fact we hang onto aspirational clothing without admitting that we've moved on - I've pictured the oldest lady I know, talking about how she used to go dancing. But wearing slippers, not tap shoes. A lovely serene image. Then picturing her in black gothic or rocky clothes saying "I can get into my favourite clothes now I've lost some weight"! - I know which I want to be!

I have decided to get all my Christmas presents bought and wrapped
by the 2nd week of December and then dispose of all the other wrapping paper either to the bin, or if sealed, to the CS while they still have time to sell it. I am sick of storing Christmas wrap for 11 months of the year when we don't need it! Because I make a lot of my gifts anyway I tend to use tissue for them, so will still have tissue for any last-minutes

Yes yes yes yes and yes :T

I have been sucked into that whole thing of buying wrapping paper and cards in January because they're cheap and it makes sense to buy them then, only suckers buy in December etc. I do it and I hate it. I don't really have anywhere to store rolls of paper. So I buy it and spend the entire year moving it from one place to another trying to find the right place for it. By the time I come to wrap gifts half the roll is scrunched up anyway and is pretty much useless. It is not worth the couple of quid I save to go through all the aggro every month or so to have to extract it from one cupboard and shove it somewhere else. NO MORE!

blossomhill_2

Ok, it's time for a game ... everybody can play ... even lurking hoarders

If you family/friends/victims could have just ONE wish, (to do with your hoarding behaviour), what would it be?

Could be "I just wish you'd let the kids rip open their presents without you saying "open it carefully so we can save the paper"

or "I wish you'd just throw stinky milk cartons away"

or "I just wish you'd use all our bags for life, there's more than one lifetime's there"

First one to say "stop B****Y HOARDING" is OUT! That's a given

OK, i'll start, mine would say
"I wish you'd throw out cellophane packets that greetings cards come in, instead of using them to store receipts, coins, buttons ... "

alec_eiffel

DH would say "Don't put things on the floor".

If something went on the floor, there it would stay, if something went on the bed/table/worktop then it would be dealt with as a priority. The floor would most likely lead to the thing staying there until I stood on it or a rabbit chewed it. Then I'd be really upset that the thing was ruined but not upset enough to not do it again!

savingqueen

GQ - as ever wise words from a wise woman! thank you. I used to seek pleasure from most or all of the things you do not but gradually over the years this has changed/is changing to the things you gain pleasure from.

I managed to throw away my 'one thing' last night - an out of date and no good to anyone toiletry item. Today I have tackled the other pile of mags and 3/4 are in recycling, couldn't part with the craft ones I found (and have only ever looked at, nuff said!) but that's fine for now. Also opened a stuck drawer crammed with mag articles and recycled about 90% of those. Nearly forgot am recycling all the wrapping paper from DS2's birthday - there were lots as had a party and pass the parcels. Usually I would keep it all and then try and salvage the decent/unripped paper for future use. I will dig out another bag of previously kept wrapping paper and do the same. Can't bear to throw out new rolls though - maybe will follow other people's lead and not buy any more paper til the current stash is used though.

Its feels both freeing (sp?) and mentally exhausting at the same time getting rid of stuff. I realise my increasingly thrifty lifestyle is overlapping with the hoarding side as most items to my overloaded mind "might come in handy later". I aim to get rid of the obvious stuff first like old paperwork, mags, unwanted clothes etc and try to keep on top of incoming stuff at the same time - and then I can work on the other stuff. I need to work out exactly what things are useful to our household and what are just taking up valuable space.

Its recycling day tomorrow and boy do I have a lot of bags!

onwards and upwards!
sq:)

ellie99

blossomhill wrote: »

Ok, it's time for a game ... everybody can play ... even lurking hoarders

If you family/friends/victims could have just ONE wish, (to do with your hoarding behaviour), what would it be?


OK, i'll start, mine would say
"I wish you'd throw out cellophane packets that greetings cards come in, instead of using them to store receipts, coins, buttons ... "

Following on with the greetings card theme, from my children -

"I wish we were allowed to write the name on the envelopes"

Well, I can re-use the envelopes if they leave them blank!
I've got a huge stash of envelopes.