Hoarding - Springing Ahead

lobbyludd

3 recycling centre/tip car loads and 1 to cs yesterday. Not all from loft - some was garden, and one car load was hidden hoard in that it was cardboard flatpacked behind the walls of the loft "room". insulation survey people are coming in late may so have some time and am going to do a few cupboards in the kitchen this weekend. ds was up most of night with asthma attack - calm now but watching him closely.

anyway - took some before and during photos of loft to where I've got to now - the right hand side that I haven't shown isn't touched yet and is christmas/camping/harder to sort stuff as I use most of it, but I've shown some of the fabric....

(nom de plume by the way, or perhaps nom de camera). Once this is cleared, insulated, the floor reinforced and proper stairs put in, this will become my bedroom, so that dd can have a proper sized room. baby steps

before

during - spot the floor...

some of the fabric

short_bird

lobbyludd: Hope you're going to use those Ike@ wooden storage units... I certainly could

Congratulations, sterling work. :beer:

GreyQueen

:T Wow, lobbyludd, that's a lot of stuff shifted. I can see the floor, I can, I can. You should be deservedly proud of yourself.

I've been operating at a much more modest level but have taken a donation bag to Hoxfam this morning, mainly books but a few other bits and pieces, plus a sub-bag of clean but wornout textiles marked as suitable for ragging only. Due to the books, it probably weighed a good 3 kg and it was great to leave it behind.:D

I trusted myself to have a quick snoot around Hoxfam plus a couple of other chazzers (book sections only) but wasn't tempted. I'm only buying secondhand books now if they're stuff I really want to read and I know that the library doesn't have them.

I didn't buy anything while I was out bar fruit and veg, some deodorant and a zip to replace the broken one in my trousers. All consumables, in their way. I also took some washed fruit punnets back to the greengrocer for re-use and dropped my recycling off as I left the block. Volume is going down, little by little.

The book I'm reading now will be finished in the next 1-2 days and then will form the kernel of the latest donation bag.

My spends for March, excluding bills and food, were £42.52 and more than half of that was archery lessons, which involved nothing at all entering the premises. I love this new way of living and don't feel a bit deprived.

Am presently cooking the last of a bag of rice for lunch and then the bag it came in can be binned. And I shall head off afterwards to play on the allotmentino in the sun.

Keep at it, and be sure to take time to admire a daffodil today. GQ xx

M.E.

Squirrels have been a catalyst in looking at stuff in the loft. They've now gone and the hole mended, but the mountains of stuff need to be sorted. Run out of umph, willpower, energy, motivation.

noelphobic

I've been AWOL for a while so am sure I have a lot to catch up on. Not much done in the way of dehoarding. Spent a fair amount of time applying for jobs and then sulking because I'm not getting anywhere with said applications.

Hopefully being back here will help me get my !!! back into gear. I did have a new brown wheelie bin delivered today. Finally my council are starting to collect plastic and cardboard for recycling. Luckily I haven't been hoarding any. :eek:

noelphobic

noelphobic wrote: »

Which reminds me, on the subject of post, my house insurance is due for renewal soon so i am getting letters most days from companies offering me quotes. I am going to find a folder to put them in until my insurance is sorted and then they can all go in the recycling.

um well, that WAS the plan. I've now had the renewal quote and think the first payment is due to come out on Tuesday so I can now either just accept the renewal quote or spend a few boring hours seeing if I can beat it and then get my current insurer to match it or walk off into the sunset to my new insurer. Exciting stuff!

Moved into this house on a Saturday in 1994, Grand National Day. I had a five year old then (child not horse!) Still the apple of my eye but don't see as much of him these days. :mad:

noelphobic

Patchwork_Quilt wrote: »

Well done, save-upper, and indeed everyone out there with decluttering victories!

Very little to report here, I'm afraid. Am sinking back into lurkdom.

I'm a bit behind with posts here (long visit to Lurkdom) and you have probably already come back from the dark side. If you haven't then join me and we will go towards the light.

noelphobic

softpad wrote: »

Hi

I would like to raise what nobody has talked about (I think). Hoarding and messiness often goes hand in hand with having the dreaded mice! I am fighting a war with them at the moment with traps and poison and have got rid of quite a few. It's really horrible to be woken up in the night with something chewing under the floorboards. I filled all the gaps outside so hopefully nothing new can get in, I just have to get rid of what I have got and am spending a fortune on poison. It does not help that I have an old house and have not got fitted carpets in lots of rooms due to lack of funds. We are getting things done gradually such as the windows replaced which were falling out, decorating is coming next but the lack of doors and gaps at the edge of skirtings make it so easy for mice to get around. It is horrible and frustrating and it's not as if I have food etc, lying around but they are still so hard to get rid of and I think the piles of stuff don't help this as its harder to really deep clean. I hope I'm not the only one.

I went mad at hubby as he actually threw some crumbs on the carpet in the lounge!!!! He said well its messy anyway and I had a big blow up as I am the only one that hoovers and cleans. I was so, so angry. The least he can do is try not to make more mess!! I had only vacuumed the day before and I do keep the lounge nice with no piles. I was so angry.

We went into three CS and I was so proud of myself for not buying a single thing. There were some things I was tempted with but I asked myself if I really needed them and the answer was no so I didn't get them. My hubby even urged me to get a couple of things but I said no. I really couldn't wait to post about it, its a bit like Hoarders Anonymous on here don't you think? It helps to have the support of the group, definitely.

I am gradually getting the wilderness of brambles sorted in the garden, too but its a really long job and I am going to make hubby dig it over when I have cleared the top. I don't see why I should do everything, he is so bloody lazy.

Got a huge heap of things ready for a car boot in a couple of weeks which I am determined NOT to come home with. I got rid of two plastic storage boxes because all I do is just fill them with carp, they are going to the car boot to be sold though instead of thrown away, might as well have some money.

I also have far too many coats and shoes and I think they need to be culled too. For some reason hubby buys me a new coat every year, they are all nice but its got to the point where I have to rotate them as how many coats can one person wear? I have told him not to buy me any more.

I also am making a huge effort to lose weight and get more healthy as I feel so fat. I weigh far more than I ever have done in my entire life and its partly because hubby is such a lazy couch potato. Before we got together I used to go for long walks in the woods and rambling etc, but he never wants to go out so now I don't. I find myself looking out of the window feeling a bit trapped and have decided enough is enough and I am going to go on my own this year. I can't waste my life and youth waiting for a lazy person to motivate themselves, I have to make my own happiness and live my life how I want to. Life is too short.

I really think that overweight, messy, feeling tired and overwhelmed and eating badly all stem from a similar state of mind and feelings of depression and having given up. They do for me, anyway. I am determined to change all this, this year and am working steadily towards it. I have had a long few years when I was just so worried about money and paying bills that it was all I could focus on and everything else just got lost in the process. I now need to sort that out. I have worked so, so hard.

Two more bin liners of rubbish out yesterday and there will be more today.

So sorry for such a long rambling post but I hope somebody finds it helpful as others' posts help me.

been lurking for a while and not read all of your posts yet. I have had 2 mice infestations and have a massive phobia. Ready to swap tips soon.

GreyQueen

Evening all.

Hi there, noelphobic and anyone else lurking in Lurkdom. It's OK to lurk and it's OK to post, just remember we're all OK and it isn't a competition to see how far/fast/ much you can get out at once. Be kind to yourselves.

Ummm, confession time. I went looking for my damask tablecloth in the airing cupboard and it isn't there. And then I remembered I'd decluttered it already. Doh! But I did find another white cotton tablecloth in there, a smaller one which I'd got from a jumbly and which was very worn and had a stain which I'd not been able to shift. So I sent it for ragging as I don't think it was fit to be offered for sale again. Plus a couple of small things from the airing cupboard went out, too.

I've spent a bit of time last night and this morning on the dog-and-bone sorting out my utility supplier as I was switching (have switched) and seem to have fallen into a silent zone where New Supplier says they've sent the closing readings to Old Supplier and Old Supplier says one of them hasn't come over. Which is exactly what happened the previous time I switched. So it was sent again. And I'll give them a few days and call them to get them to reverse the credit on the Old Account back into the bank account from whence it came.

It's under £30, but it is mine and I wants it back again.

Fiddling around with such things all takes time. I have aslo been onto the allotmentino and broke up some more of The Feral Strawberry Bed. Have been putting the clumps of couch grass to one side but will need to start getting them down to the tip, one IKEA bagful at a time, from tomorrow.

Plus I've unearthed some more glass and nails and misc ironmongery and a lump of concrete which I will take to the rubble section of the tip, too. It's neither useful nor beautiful and will only harbour snails if I leave it lying around.

The Rough (now The Potato Patch) is looking very good and giving me a lot of pleasure. Amazing how the absence of something can be as pleasurable as the presence of it (clutter).

Saver-upper

I am still here .
Work has stopped on the loft for now,but I know I must get back into it.
I would also like to start sorting out the piles and boxes of papers I have spotted around the house.Everyday I tell myself that when the kids have gone to bed I will spend 30 minutes sorting out papers.Then,by the time they are all settled(usually 9pm),I sit down,saying "I will see what me friends on MSE are doing......".Then I really can't get into it .:o
Now it is school holidays:I may be able to get abit or paper sorted because I will be at home with the kids.Or maybe,now it is school holidays,I might not be able to get any paper sorted because I will be home with the kids :rotfl: .
I had afew days off this week,so was able to do a really thorough weekly clean (love having full school days to do nothing except clean and tidy the house).Did a deep-clean of my (tiny) bathroom,and also did alot of decluttering of the tiny box-room that 7- and 5-yo share.Will continue on it tomorrow hopefully,but did get rid of alot,and tidy alot.
Thank you to all on this thread for the encouragement.
In general house looks ok.My partner and kids know I hate mess,and constantly nag them to tidy their rooms/living room,etc.The house does suffer because it is too small for us:it is a constant battle keeping ontop of it.
But I must start on messes like paperwork,and getting back into the loft.