Hoarding - A New Start

scot88

WOW..what a fantastic place this is:beer:

I sooooo need help to declutter.

have bought some really nice new clothes in the sales. Now I need to get rid of the old stuff...otherwise I will continue to wear it.

I spent so many years not being able to buy new stuff, that I can't quite bring myself to chuck stuff in the bin..and it really is only fit for the bin.

I will motivate myself this coming week to sort out the carp from the good stuff.

decogecko

WW the mobile is almost 5 years old, so those companies would offer a very small amount so I'd rather that small amount went to the local hospice (the cs I donate my 'stuff' to). Thanks for the suggestion though, I will bear it in mind next year when my current contract is up.

Well done on everyone's progress today, it's encouraging and inspiring.

Deco x

nearlyrich

I have thrown out last years Christmas cards today and this years, I don't need them, bit of a milestone throwing them on 6th Jan though. I have got rid of a few other bits and pieces too including my meeting notes from a job I did 10 years ago.

Brighton_belle

espresso21 wrote: »

Doing this also made me realise that I really need to stop buying things.

Spot on espresso and that is something all of us on here at at differnt stages of learning too - there are two vital stages to decluttering, and one of them is to stop buying 'stuff' - it's a whole different skill set to getting rid of stuff.
It's bit like dieting and getting to your goal weight, and then learning how to stay there.

whitewing

scot88 wrote: »

I spent so many years not being able to buy new stuff, that I can't quite bring myself to chuck stuff in the bin..and it really is only fit for the bin.

into a bag marked 'rags' and into the clothes recycling bin then.

I am very impressed with us all. Well done for the new thread, Jojo. I would not have renewed my efforts but for a shiny new thread.

For anyone feeling overwhelmed - it has taken me about 12 years or more to get to a stage that I am chucking out the storage furniture as well as the stored!

I chucked out some notes from a redundancy course today. I was last made redundant in 2008.

JayneC

Evening,

well I'm finding this all quite emotional, but I need to hear it. Although my home is not so bad you can't reach the windows and stuff doesn't quite reach the ceiling, there are certainly places where you have to watch where you walk and what is it with AVON boxes, they must attract 'stuff' On list for tomoro - throw away all AVON boxes...They will not 'come in handy'. Have listed some stuff on Freegle - said jiffy bags, weren't quite as many as I feared but did have much more bubble wrap that I thought so that's ready to go too. So 2 huge carriers reduced to one small one. Also offered a piece of worktop that's been gracing my dining room for several months now and a bike that was too big when I got it and I've never even used....
Also sold a couple of things on e-bay, gone is the child's bike seat, also never used, another aspirational purchase - visions of happy sunny days with DGS and DS going on bike rides together, never been on bike rides together or apart since I got it about 3 years ago!!

Have realised I'm also a procrastinator as well which does not help when trying to address these issues. I recognise what I need to do and that things would be better if I just got on with it, but 'I don't have time' 'This other thing just needs doing first' etc, etc... Need to sort this out!!

Catriona_P

nearlyrich wrote: »

I have thrown out last years Christmas cards today and this years, I don't need them, bit of a milestone throwing them on 6th Jan though.

After Christmas I take the cards I've recieved and cut bits out of them - like nice images or the 'Merry Christmas' words, and use them with a bit of ribbon as tags on presents for the following Christmas. I keep them in my decorations box. It means I don't need to buy any from the shops and stops me from wanting to cling on to old cards, instead I find myself looking at them wondering how many tags I can make!

Goldiegirl

GreyQueen, brilliant post about the clearance of deceased parents house.

My dad died in 2004 and my mum died in 2008. However, she had Alzheimer's, and when my dad died, she went into a care home.

So I dealt with clearing the house in 2004' and recognise all that you say. There was a brief period of anger for being left to cope. That passed quickly, I'm pleased to say. There were the good bits, like finding the tin of buttons that I played with as a child. I also found some letter that my mum had written to my dad during their courtship. She wrote exactly the way she spoke, and as I read the letters I could hear her voice so clearly in my head. I was also thrilled to realise she was the same person that I always knew, even before I was born, if you see what I mean.

But there were also the moments were I was deep in the cupboard under the stairs, or a wardrobe, wondering why they had kept all this cr*p!

At the time, I didn't know what to throw out and what to keep, so a lot came home with me. But over time, I had parted with a lot of the stuff, although there is still more to be done in that area. This year I'll be sifting through the boxes again.

Incidentally, I kept the letters, but the buttons went ages ago.

I just don't want someone(I don't have children) having to struggle with my possessions after I've gone. I want to make it easy for them!

Goldiegirl

whitewing wrote: »

into a bag marked 'rags' and into the clothes recycling bin then.

I am very impressed with us all. Well done for the new thread, Jojo. I would not have renewed my efforts but for a shiny new thread.

For anyone feeling overwhelmed - it has taken me about 12 years or more to get to a stage that I am chucking out the storage furniture as well as the stored!

I chucked out some notes from a redundancy course today. I was last made redundant in 2008.

Good thinking about the redundancy course. Just reminded me about the paperwork I still have from when I was made redundant in 2009. In fact, my 3rd anniversary of starting my new job is tomorrow.

I think it should be safe to get rid of the redundancy stuff now! I'll do that this week::T

babyshoes

Jo jo, that description definitely does sound at least neglectful of your basic needs, such as clean clothing and regular baths or showers, or possibly even abusive, despite being clearly unintentional. As a TA in a school, if I became aware of a child living in such conditions (perhaps by picking up on the bullying and trying to find out the reasons behind it) I'd definitely flag it as a potential child protection issue. That wouldn't mean that the child would be immediately removed by social services or anything drastic like that unless there was evidence the child was in immediate, life threatening danger, but it would be passed up the chain and in theory (though I'm not familiar with the practicalities of the system) could result in calls or visits to the parent to provide advice and support to the whole family as needed.

I have a 'training day' at work tomorrow and we have to re-do our 'child protection' course every few years, which is basically training to help us spot any signs which could point to neglect, abuse of various types, drug/alcohol issues etc. and a reminder not to get too involved when talking about the issue with the child as it could compromise later investigations, but rather to simply tell the next person up the chain, who is more highly trained to deal with such issues, who would then decide whether to deal with it or pass it on further, depending on severity.