Hoarding...not just on TV

mollythewestie

This morning I walked the entire length of the high street without entering a charity shop - there are 5 that I walk past. :j

I got a few outstanding appointments made in the Drs and opticians and bought only what was needed. I also cancelled my daughters magazine as I found a pile of them in her toy box that hadn't even been looked at.

I went through daughters toys yesterday and threw away a few broken toys (As well as the pile of magazines that I found)

I am going to sort through her wardrobe again later and I will HAVE to start getting rid of things.

kitschy

I posted this on the Preparing for Winter thread, but thought I'd mention it here as it is helping me declutter....

For those of you who have things with a "value", but who want to get them gone quickly, see if you have a local Facebook group for buying and selling (mine's called Basingstoke Facebay). I've offloaded an old slow cooker, a few coats, half used tins of paint etc. It saves paying eBay fees or the hassle of posting, as people come to you to collect, usually the same day. On ours you just take a quick pic, upload it with a very brief description and the price you'd like (or say open to offers) and let people comment on the pic if they'd like it.

I'm making it my mission to try and list a few things each day. I am mostly lurking, but I think you're all doing wonders!

GreyQueen

greenbee wrote: »

put the lids in the bin NOW GQ, and stop buying pringles to avoid the problem recurring...

I've binned them. And I've taken the anti-pringles pledge (my hips will thank me for it). Thank you - sometimes in this life we need a little boot up the derierre.......

Have been in my hanging file box this morning doing some long-overdue personal admin. Have closed one bank account and moved the spoils (heavy irony) to another account, and dragged out misc paper carp related to various other bits and bobs like a load of stuff from the ISP I quit in February. I thought the box was getting a wee bit weighty.:p

Weather's rough so I shall do some more decluttering of the paperwork and then have a shredathon and take the shreddings to the allotment Dalek to be added to the compost.

I had a thought the other day. I wouldn't describe myself as morbid and am just past the halfway mark of a normal lifespan, so hopefully have lots of years ahead of me, but I suddenly recalled the term bus crash test which I think is used in the context of is your job so organised that if you were suddenly taken away from it, could someone else easily pick up the reins?

So, I thought, what would happen if I suddenly fell off my twig and someone had to sorth thru this stuff? I know all about it but for them, each extra piece of paper would have to be scrutinised to make sure it wasn't important. They wouldn't know that X account was closed years ago, that the utilities are no longer with Y provider. They'd have to pick thru this stuff to get to the important bits and that would be a grade A pain in the ........

And, hopefully, they'd be all upset because I wasn't here any more and would be coping with grief as well as clutter.....would I really want to do this to anyone I loved?

:question: Sooo, have you had to clear up the home and other affairs of a relative and friend, and did the clearing cause you to have changed feelings towards that person? I know I could have killed my great-uncle whose sudden passing left such a muddle that I feared the stress would drag my beloved Grandad (his older brother) into the grave with him.

Jinx

Greyqueen you are soooo right in what you say re leaving your clutter for your relatives to sort out. A relative of mine settles estates for a living and has been to some houses which are incredibly cluttered. She often finds the 'relevant papers' then the whole house gets emptied by house clearance peeps, of course this costs a fortune as well as being time consuming - leaving less monies for the loved ones.

GreyQueen

Jinx wrote: »

Greyqueen you are soooo right in what you say re leaving your clutter for your relatives to sort out. A relative of mine settles estates for a living and has been to some houses which are incredibly cluttered. She often finds the 'relevant papers' then the whole house gets emptied by house clearance peeps, of course this costs a fortune as well as being time consuming - leaving less monies for the loved ones.

Yes, that sounds about par for the course. The family solicitor who met us at the hoarded house of great-uncle told us that solicitors make a lot of money out of people who don't have wills or leave their affairs is a disorganised state.

Impoverish a lawyer today; have an up-to-date Will and all your paperwork in order! *

We've had some classics in our extended family. Mum was on her way to her club when she dropped in for tea and chat with great auntie (in her early eighties and who'd been in chronic ill-health for years). G-A was speaking about getting her home "sorted out" less than an hour before she dropped dead of an anyuerism in front of Mum. There was no will, no relative closer than the nephews and her OH was in a care home with dementia. Nightmare sorting that one out. Great Uncle's home nearly caught fire as the TV was too hot to touch; he'd gone into the bathroom and had a fatal heart attack and was found by the milkman who was concerned that the pinter hadn't been picked up from the step.

Most of us aren't going to hear the fateful words you have 6 months to live and have time to get ourselves together. We'll check out between one breath and another. Anyway, if you were given a terminal diagnosis, would you want to spend your last days decluttering? I don't think I would.


* No offence to solicitors, or spouses or kinfolks of same. One of my friends is one (true).

Jinx

GreyQueen wrote: »

Most of us aren't going to hear the fateful words you have 6 months to live and have time to get ourselves together. We'll check out between one breath and another. Anyway, if you were given a terminal diagnosis, would you want to spend your last days decluttering? I don't think I would.

Def not! Might throw out a few choice items though!!;) (not considered clutter at the mo lol)

Brighton_belle

Gingernutty wrote: »

So. This last couple of weekends, I've ruthlessly gone thorough all my clothes.
I've taken out the clothes I've worn for work but don't actually like wearing, taken out the 'souvenirs' like the T-shirts I wore working at Summer Camps over 10 years ago, taken out the stuff I've bought from CSs on impulse but never worn and all the stuff that I've avoided wearing for whatever reason.

:T:T It is amazing why we keep clothes we don't feel good in and therefore never wear, or occasionally wear out of some sense of guilt that it never gets worn:rotfl:. I gave up cs clothes shopping a few years ago - I realised I rarely got something that went with anything else I had. And I now own so few clothes I know exactly what I have,like everything and know I don't need any more for this season. I have enough.

blossomhill wrote: »

If I do the maths on mine; I am 50, there is actually a couple of decades of clearing to be done (if I continue at the curent pace of considering each item individually) - when I am older I may tire more easily/be less able and actually I don't want to spend my senior years doing this. So I am clearing categories of stuff now, rather than item by item

I am also aware age wise, that ill health and disability can stike at anytime and I don't want to be faced with all this when less able. Who knows when we might have to move house if not able to cope with stairs, or be unable to get on the attic anymore. I don't what the problem of too much stuff to be added on top of everything else.
I have also updated my will and included all details of bank acounts/utilites/passwords/ are.

blossomhill wrote: »

LIR, We fitted my parents some metal pull out drawers in the bottom of their existing cupboards when they became less able to reach to the back ... were a godsend, could even be yanked forward with a walking stick to reveal ...all the lurking tins of lentils

LIR - I am the same, and don't use 2 of the 3 of our 'below worktop' cupboards. But the 3rd one, we added pull out metal drawers and they are brilliant.

Brighton_belle

wannabe_sybil wrote: »

Anyone else think that one sign of hoarding is the belief that better storage will be the solution?

Nearly spat my tea all over the keyboard here as I have spent the last two days coveting a delicious piece of storage furniture on fleabay:rotfl:.
You are right though, and I have got rid of cute storage solutions as I have decuttered.

I think sometimes different storage can be an improvement, rather than more. i.e. if you need more, then really you need to possibly get rid of stuff. But there have been times I have got rid of storage I had and replaced it with something that was more efficient storage, (e.g shelving that stretched the whole length of the alcove, rather than a shelving that left a foot space either end of it in the alcove). Or shelving that I can alter the height of the shelves rather than fixed shelves with lage gaos between them taking stuff of small height.

But generally, yes, really think twice before buying new storage.

imataloss wrote: »

My DH finished decorating the bedroom yesterday (which looks lovely) and needed to move the bed. It has four storage drawers. My two are full of handbags and books. He couldn`t believe the amount of bags and books that were in there. He put the books in the drawer a couple of years ago and I have to admit I haven`t read any of them since they have been in there.
Classic example of having more storage = hoarding stuff you don't use and and loive happily without. We need a new bed and I briefly fancied an ottoman bed, but ahve decided, more stage will encourage keeping more stuff. Its bad ebough hving an attic
Now that room is looking lovely I really want to keep it that way. I was ashamed of the dust and dirt in there when we cleaned it yesterday. The only thing that needs to be done now is serious decluttering and doing something with the books.
And this is the first step:T. Dont feel ashamed, other than to use that as a motivation to delutter. Once you reaslsie the please in a lovely room, there is no better motivator: keep that image of th room in your mind.

mollythewestie wrote: »

This morning I walked the entire length of the high street without entering a charity shop - there are 5 that I walk past. :j

:T:T:T

One of my short comings is actually getting the 'it's going' stuff out of the house. Had a good day Saturday, resorting it all into differnt piles for loading in the car (full load:j)and did a cs and dump run. DH actually suggested a few things that could go of his...without prompting where's the fainting smilie when you need it?:D
Slowly getting on with my own stuff is rubbing off on him.
Itching to tackle the hall cupboard - 15 coat are his (12 raely/never worn) and 3 are mine, constantly used. But it has to be the right time and when he is ready.

grousescot

Jumping in here, but this thought has occurred to me too and I don't see it as morbid, just practical and considerate. I'm 33 and I really don't fancy my parents and sibling having to sort through my chaotic living space on top of everything else. This was partly a motivation to make an effort to clear things up. After a few weeks it's still very much work in progress but the first couple of days I actually managed to fill my wheelie bin. This almost never happens as it's just me here and I don't generate that much rubbish over a two week period. I've been reading this thread off and on for a few days and it's most encouraging.

snookey

Iv just cleared 16bags of clutter from my cellar as it was ruined by damp. Iv not done a carboot for ages and the stuff was ruined. Iv now come to the conclusion that its better to let things go and give someone else the use and pleasure.
Holding onto stuff just makes everything harder to clean,keep track of and takes up space in your home and your mind.