Hoarding - Springing Ahead

sjprmc01

Hey hoarders!

I've been a stranger for a while! Been really busy with work and stuff! Am not quite so bad on the hoarding front! Although I've taken to purchasing loads of toiletries lately! I've been good with the clothes for a change, am getting really good at recycling those especially my own.....as I lost 3stones .

Have been struggling a bit of late, with Christmas and stuff, I've not been working as much! Being busy with work keeps me happy being in the house, even when I've lots to do, doesn't really interest me so I sit and eat and add to my hoard

BigMummaF

For cleaning wooden chopping boards etc, I'm pretty sure I heard mustard powder & a scrubbing brush was best. I think the mustard has antibacterial qualities & the texture helps clean deep into the grain?
Not very helpful if you're trying to find reasons not to keep them of course

ginnyknit

I sprinkle wooden chopping boards with bicarb then vinegar and it lifts all the dirt out - very satisfying fizzing action too:D

Am going to re-organise the bookshelves in the living room first today as they are half empty now :j When dgs is here I cant do much but was sat next to the shelves yesterday while he played and got rid of lots of bits and bobs. New pile of bits for fleabay all ready so they are second on the list, then if it warms up will attack the bedroom.

We bought a unit for under the bathroom sink at i*ea the other day as there is no storage up there so all soaps and baby bath (9p from last year) are now safely stored and a small cupboard in the kitchen is now empty - amazing what bits of junk you shove out of sight and mind. Room in there now for my seed box thus frreing up the work surface above.

noelphobic

Have given up on the great exam certificate hunt. We did find DS's GCSE certificates and his A Level result slips. He has never had the A Level certificates as he just never got round to picking them up from school, despite several reminders from me. I would have thought they would have posted them out if they hadn't been collected but they are just saying that they don't have them. If he gets replacements they will cost up to £100. I've told him to give the school another try. One of his friends picked his up in the last year or two without any problem. I can't see why they would destroy them if not claimed. All it would take would be an envelope and a stamp, or a phone call to ask for them to be collected.


I did find my A Level certificate that has been missing forever! The wall unit in my living room had all kind of paperwork on top of it. I got it down and most of it was from 2002/2003, bank statement etc! There were a few pieces of paper that I might need to keep but the bulk of it is going in the recycling.


So, now the top of the unit is empty but the rest of the house is still a nightmare! It looks worse if anything. Not stressing too much about it though. Got the dreaded job applications to finish this week plus a few voluntary work stints, including a new project. If I get one or more interviews for the jobs they will be between 5th and 10th February. If I actually get a job, especially if it is the full time one, then I need to make use of the time between the job offer and actually starting to get as much done here as possible. If I don't get any of the jobs then I have to put more work into finding and applying for jobs.

ModestyB

Re: bread boards, my DH made a working guitar out of my last one. I'll see if I can upload a pic if my laptop will allow it.

He's very good at making things from nothing, he's made several guitars but his main interest now is fishing so we have innumerable fishing floats all over the place.

GQ, I started collecting Don Aslett books over 20 years ago. They have helped me so much over the years and still do today.

Thank you all for your inspiration, I love reading this thread.

Hugs to all in need of one.

roundtuit

Just a quickie. DS has claimed the lappy - can't complain as it is his
Even though I had no access to the forum this morning I took a deep breath and carried on working through the hoard in the kitchen - one item at a time.
Progress is being made.... and.... I found a chocolate bar from Christmas (2013 ) . I ate it. Gone. If only it was all so easy!
Keep on keeping on everyone.
DS is going back to Uni tomorrow so I'll be back
Rx

Ames

My name's Ames and I'm a hoarder.

I'm not attached to the 'stuff'. If my flat burned down, I wouldn't care about 99% of what's in it. I am, however, addicted to the clutter. It's - literally - my barrier against the outside world. If no-one else knows where to put their feet to clamber through the hallway, then they can't get in to my sanctuaries, and they can't hurt me.

Twice now I've tried to sort it out.

A few years ago a couple of MSErs came round and helped me get sorted. I'm utterly ashamed that their hard work all gradually came undone.

Two and a half years ago I paid £250 for a cleaning firm to come. The pile of black bin bags in the garden was about 5ft high when I ran out of money and they finished. They'd piled up loads of stuff in the bedroom and bathroom, which as I needed anything from the lower layers became a mountainslide that engulfed the rest of the flat. I did have a cleaner for a couple of months, but I had an emergency which meant I had to cancel ten minutes before she was due to arrive. She didn't turn up again. I didn't chase it up, because having someone in the flat for two hours at a time was too stressful.

Now, though, I've hit crisis point.

I'm going to move house soon. I've got the highest priority band from the council, and I've been bidding on properties for a few months. If I were offered one tomorrow, I'd have 7 days to move.

I bought a load of packing boxes this week. But to pack them I need space. There isn't a box sized space on the floor anywhere in the flat apart from the route I cleared from the door to the shower room so that workmen could get in for a repair.

The repair (which didn't get finished and seems to have been abandoned) led to me being reported to the council. My flat is a fire hazard as I wouldn't be able to get out. (Yet, only having one person sized window in the whole flat that actually opens is fine... but that's another story).

So for a couple of months now I've been dodging the tenancy inspection. I've passed my support worker's details on to her, but as my worker says we have a few higher priorities right now.

I just don't know where to start.

When furniture wears out, I buy new. But I can't get rid of the old. I physically can't get it to the tip, and I always have to chase bulky waste removal - it takes reporting something three times on average to get them to take it (I think they get lost). In the meantime neighbours are having a go at me. It took me six months to get the above mentioned black bag mountain taken. So it's easier to just keep everything in the flat than face the neighbours.

For instance, last year the mould that riddles my flat got into the wardrobe. The wardrobe is still there, and my clothes (most of which are dirty) are scattered around in bags. I got a clothes rail and squeezed it in to the living room (I almost have to pole dance to get around it into the room), but the wardrobe is still festering in my bedroom.

I'd love to just hire a skip and get everything chucked out, but there's no private area for it to go in and it'd be filled by other people as soon as it got here.

I've no idea what, if any help is out there. I've no money to pay for it anyway.

I want to change. I'm determined that things will be different when I move - I'm going to make sure I find a cleaner who's willing to come for an hour a week instead of two hours a fortnight. I'm going to invite people I trust round, so I have to keep up to things. I just don't know how to get from here to there.

whitewing

Hi Ames.

I've lost my post, so I will just say that I am pleased with today's progress. Half a bin full out, never to be churned again.

5 A4 cardboard boxes into recycling.

2 theatre programmes into recycling.

Time for a coffee.

lobbyludd

very little progress made, went to buy the littlies some new shoes, the clarks shop we went to no longer do ds's size in kids (he's 10!), so only dd got some, but old shoes were recycled there and then, and no shoe box back as dd wore them out of the shop.

but in good news instead of buying a new roller to paint ds's wardrobe I went through the diy box, and found 2 and am using paint I already have (blackboard). Will get him some liquid chalk pens. Have persuaded him this is a better idea than how he wanted it painted so that he can decorate with his fad du jour and wipe off when it's no longer his thing, so it has some longevity. 2 complete coats done (it dies really quickly which is another bonus), so I will have used things up rather than bringing things in: every little etc.

whitewing

Ames,

Take photos of the inside of your house.

Make an appointment to see the GP.

Take the photos -and maybe a printout of your post - to your GP, tell them that you are a hoarder. Tell them that you need help to deal with the hoarding on both an emotional and practical level.

If and when you do get practical assistance, get the old furniture out first. Don't think about the issues with how to move it, the helpers will be able to work it out for themselves.

Other point to start with is an exit so that you can quickly and easily get out of the house in an emergency. I know about using stuff as a barricade. I did that as a teenager and as a lone parent in my early twenties. You are not alone in your coping strategies.