Hoarding - Springing Ahead

short_bird

yeah, we sent our Xmas visitor off with an additional book from the shelf and the box of chocolates he brought over as a contribution to the festive table... he didn't get his beer back :rotfl:

GreyQueen

short_bird wrote: »

yeah, we sent our Xmas visitor off with an additional book from the shelf and the box of chocolates he brought over as a contribution to the festive table... he didn't get his beer back :rotfl:

Nice one. And I perfectly understand about the beer......:)

Mum and I have just raided the button stash and have found 5 buttons which are needed to restore to active service a shirt at my home. It's a summer thing and won't be worn for months but I don't like to have things around unmended or I'll forget, put it on and then have a wardrobe malfunction in public.

Anyone noticed that if a shirt button come off it's always the one in the middle of your chest? And it ain't because I'm buxom, either. Button broke in the washing machine; snapped in half and ended up in the door seal.

Mum offered me a mug which she'd got as a freebie with tea, and I turned it down. I've been given a mug as part of my Xmas present, which replaced the one which cracked in the past couple of months, and any more would be too much clutter. If I need a second hand mug I can get them for 20p each from the chazzers near mine. No point in hoarding the blessed things.

I've also made a decision about something I'd been indecisive about decluttering, now that I'm away from my own home for a few days, I've been able to get some perspective and let it go mentally. Once that's done, the physical letting-go is just logistics.

Keep Calm and Don't Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle, as said by my new mug (£land). I like it lots.

whitewing

I gave my brother a mug that had come as an extra with a present I bought DS. I also gave him some extra chocolate from gifts I had bought others. In fact, he had a nice cluster of extra presents by the time we had gathered his gifts together, which was good as he was pleased with it all.


All packaging and wrapping from gifts is in the car ready to be disposed of at the next available opportunity. Family have obviously been listening and noticing this year more than usual (or perhaps they can just see better in our house) as we got useful presents to replace things that are worn or broken. So we have the pleasure of something new and the pleasure of getting rid of the old. An unexpected benefit of dehoarding.


The change in thinking is trickling through other family hoarder members. My aunt told me about something she was including in DD's present - it was given to her by a friend so lots of emotional attachment, and my aunt said, "I am including it and I don't mind if you pass it on when she has had it for a bit."


Another relative has made a decision to sell a big item. This is something that is worth much less than they thought it would be and they were very cross when I told them that (having discussed it with the auction house). It has taken 6 or 7 months for them to get over their crossness and separate the emotional value from it's practical/aesthetic value.


And I have already started making lists of potential presents for extended family for next year. They were really pleased with the quantity/quality of presents this year (strictly budgeted) and I pointed out that because I had a vague and flexible plan, I had been able to buy when offers were on. So, I jokingly said at yesterday's meal, what do you all want for presents next year, and was really surprised to be given suggestions of things (mainly clothes or accessories) that they knew would need replacing by then. It is sometimes easier to see how far we have come by noticing milestones in other people.


This year is also the first year that the house has stayed within 15 minutes of being 'guest ready' at any time. We do have hoarding hotspots that will need addressing but they are mainly contained in things. The nice thing about 'guest ready' is that it means also when we aren't having guests, that we can spend 15 minutes before we go out having a last minute tidy up and come back to a calming house. This is still a massive novelty and I am always surprised to come back to clean and clear surfaces.


Have a Happy Boxing Day everybody, whether you are lurking, doing or having a break from dehoarding at the moment.

ginnyknit

Just spent a happy hour sifting through craft stuff and half filling the paper re-cycling bin. So satisfying. Also have a shoebox of things to put on fleabay and a big bag for the CS. I have got my clearing head on so will go and do another box while Im in the mood.

GQ love that ' stay calm' idea :rotfl:

Bye for now all fellow de-richarders. This is our year coming up, we will succeed :beer:

lobbyludd

<cheat alert> all packaging from presents was dehoarded at mum's (where we spent xmas). hurrah!!!

I have decluttered the kids to paternal grandparents, and came back to a home that was much less cluttered than I had remembered (feared) I had left it as.

bins are out for tomorrow's ad hoc collection, and having decluttered a tank's worth of petrol and hundreds of miles of travelling time today I am limiting myself to getting rid of wine and cookies.

however after work tomorrow, I have a list of outs - that as GQ says - are just logistics now, my mind is set on them.

This is after being at my uber-organised mother's house, who only cleans once every 3 weeks/month. The place is permanently spotless, and ok, no kids or animals, and 2 tidy retiree inhabitants, but still - I spend an enormous amount of time cleaning, because of the JUNK I have to move and dust and clean - so...... much of the junk is going.

whitewing

DD got some new clothes for xmas so I have passed on 4 items of clothes to a friend today.

I have also found out 7 books to pass on to my mother.

Present wrapping and toy packaging has gone.

Not huge decluttering but it is surprising how much difference it makes.

Frugalsod

gentleorange wrote: »

I have some tins that date back to 2010. I'm afraid to open them for recycling in case they explode in my face. The local flies are loving what I have thrown out though. I tried to empty an old carton of almond milk and it just fizzed, but nothing poured out. I need a hot bath after this.

I have thrown out the contents of one small cupboard, no wonder I never feel there is anything in to eat. I'm tempted to google for lists of everything that should be kept in food cupboards and then order a shop, would that count as repeat hoarding? I am intending to cook more.

Unless they are bulging they should be fine. The only food that naturally comes in bulging cans is Surströmming but unless you are Swedish that is unlikely.

I have food that is well past its use by date and it is fine. At the moment I am decluttering the kitchen cupboard and have put everything that I want to use up before the next big online grocery shop into the crates that the supermarkets deliver in. Sometimes it might not taste fabulous but it will not necessarily harm you.

BigMummaF

I am BMF & I am a horr...hhhorrrr... *cough; ahem; little cough*... *ahem; sniff; shake out shoulders & stands straight* I AM BMF AND I AM A HOARDER!


My biggest issue is with newspapers; I only buy two a week but never seem to get the time to read the bits I want to, & I've got odd pages from (many) various dates all gathered up in slippery piles, waiting to be intellectually devoured. I love reading for both enjoyment & trying to improve my knowledge of the bits of the world I'm interested in but if I feed my brain, family moan because I'll feast for days at a time


I do try to have a sort out; I put things in piles, for example my stuff & the kids stuff, then someone wants something at that very minute so the sorted/unsorted stuff gets rifled thru & all mussed up again. Or the phone rings & I have to go see to muvva. Or an appointment. Or the washing's finished so go hang that up to dry while I'm sorting stuff. Or it starts raining so I get the washing off the line & hang that up etc etc etc...Or while I'm otherwise engaged someone wants something so starts moving the stuff about & my previous piles are no more


I know tizz my fault The Offspring are as un-house-proud as me, for it is by my example that they follow. In my defence, I must say I've always been a marvel at mess-making, right back to pre-school days. There are snaps of my (older) sister & I dressed in our Sunday best, & as much as she still looks like she's doing a photo shoot for Immaculate Infant, I'm stood next to her covered in mud, branches in my hair, national elf glasses a-skew & a my once-white socks dithering twix knee & ankle. We were dressed in beautifully laundered clothes at exactly the same time of day, went to exactly the same places by exactly the same modes of transport so please, Dear Reader, tell me, how it is/was always me who found the spot where someone's jam butty had leaked on the train seat after I had sat on it, the half-chewed toffee stuck in my hair & why the buckle on my shoe fell off


I am convinced that I am not genetically programmed to be tidy but I do wish I could move the arrow a little closer toward the minimalist end of the scale!

GreyQueen

:T Wow, whitewing, it sounds like your de-richarding is having knock-on benefits across both your life and that of your extended family. It's lovely when de-cluttering is contaigous, isn't it?

Interesting about how your relatives are now ready to release that big item. I think the Anteeques Roadsh0w genre of TV show has led to a lot of hoarding. Watch that, and you'd think that every single knick-knack and wotsit has some unique history and/ or is worth shedloads of cash. I wonder how may dozens of also-rans are viewed by the experts before they get the treasures which are fit for their starring moment in front of the camera? And how many tonnes of stuff are lurking in lofts, cupboards and outbuildings awaiting that big one-day cash-in which will never come?

It's so true about clutter making cleaning hard work. You can perform this as a mental exercise if you like.

Take one mantlepiece. How long to dust when bare? A second? Add a central ornament; how long now? Five seconds? How about some more ornaments and a few picture frames? A one-second job can quickly develop into a 5-10 minute fiddle-rama of removing, dusting the surface, dusting the items and returning them to their places.

Now multiply this across dozens of surfaces and tens of years of house-keeping and think what else you could have done with your time? Awesome thought.

I am myself sometimes tempted to have a vase of artificial flowers. Then I recall my encounters with them and their supreme ability to trap dust, cobwebs etc etc and decide I don't want them that much.

BigMummaF, can I just say how much I've always loved reading your posts? They crack me up all the time.

And what is it with newspapers and magazines? They breed, right? Only possible explanation. I get the local rag cast-off from a friend, but they arrive randomly, often five at a time. I like to give them a fast read, as I work for the local authority customer services and need to be a fount of all knowledge, so it's great to be able to have the info at the tip of my tongue. Plus a few papers about are useful for certain chores.

:eek: But oh! how they doth breed when one's back is turned. Worse than fruit flies, IMO. You leave one paper attended and before you know what's what, you can't get in your own home and they're making hoarding documentaries about you.

I'm staying at Landfill Villa, aka the parental home. Folks have been here since 1971. A household of chronic booklovers plus an online book-seller. Plus they have three of everything (minimum). Or can get if for you wholesale.

I'm getting my hoarder sense twitchy but it's not my stuff so mustn't be pushy. I might try the suggetion that some of the Xmas tree decs which go unused year after year, like the strings of beads, could possibly be charity-shopped, so someone else could have the pleasure. Will try that later on - wish me luck, folks.

lobbyludd

spurred on by your suggestion for your parents I have condensed 2 large tatty cardboard boxes of christmas decs into a clean large storage crate, and released the saved kids clothes (from ds, dd won't wear them) from the loft to go to cs. also cleared 2 crates of random wires from the loft and ta dah, I've gone through my wardrobe and got rid of the stuff that is too small for me - most of it I didn't like when I bought it (my weight has rocketted over the last 4 years) I had no idea what suited me, in this new shape, and had a sort of hair shirt attitude to buying clothes for a bigger me.

well, sod that. I am slowly losing weight, but I am not saving clothes that I don't like me in to slim into. I have kept the things that I liked myself in, much of it leggings and skirts that together can fit a range of weight and still look like "me". Which means 90% of my wardrobe has space to house clothes that I like that fit me. hurrah!

weirdly, although the wardrobe door was always shut (and is now), the fact that there is space in there has somehow lifted and decluttered the whole room! clearly that's psychological, but I like it

waiting for the recycling centre and cs to open so I can rehome the gubbins.

then i'm picking up a wardrobe for dd from the heart foundation shop (£20)- she doesn't have one, it will fit under her bed and I will be able to get rid of the chest of drawers which cost a fortune but which come to pieces constantly.

no idea if the children will need picking up today or tomorrow yet, which is a pain, as there are things that can only be done when they are not here, and take a while which I don't know if I can start or not. but hey ho.