Hoarding - Springing Ahead

ginnyknit

Ames that is very expensive for a craft fair, the dearest I have ever done was £20 and that was inside a nice warm restaurant with excellent facilities.
Have a look on fleabay re- the leather jacket otherwise Pigpen is right, not much profit in clothes. Had a look biker jackets are going for a decent price and its the season for them. Good luck hunny, you are doing amazingly well x

IrishRose12

OMG why did I think that moving this room around would be easy:eek: Next time I suggest doing something silly like this please remind me not to, if all else fails, just shoot me and say I told you so!

Have had to take a break from the room before I throw myself out the bloomin window:mad: How can one room hold so much rubbish! :eek:

The sun has come out here and it's nice and warm so me and hubby are sitting outside having a well earned cuppa tea, before we head back in there. Kiddies are away to the beach with our neighbours so they'll not be back for another while, I gave her money to take them all somewhere for dinner afterwards, as a thank you for taking them, and also to keep them away that bit longer:rotfl: I'm glad it brightened up for them though

OK break time is nearly over:o Hubby is just going to check on the horse racing results then we are heading back in! If I'm not back by tonight you'll know I'll have thrown myself out the window:o

pavlovs_dog

MessyMare wrote: »

We (or people we love) are hoarders...but now I'm worrying I've gone the opposite way and I'm now getting thoroughly addicted to getting rid of things.

I'd agree that decluttering is something that gets easier as you get into it, particularly when you reach the stage where you can see the fruits of your labour. I tend to declutter in bursts (which usually coincide with the school holidays), and with each new burst I seem to find myself being able to let go of something which had survived the previous burst. I think it helps having the breathing space to realise that I haven't missed anything that left the building in the last decluttering cycle IYKWIM.

This burst saw me part ways with almost all of my uni notes, which have sat unused in a box since I graduated. Over the summer, my clothes will need attention, as will the CD, DVD and book collection (we are increasingly embracing all things digital as a means of reducing physical clutter).

For me, coming out the 'other side' also means that I am now a lot more mindful about what comes into our home. If I buy a new item of clothing for example, I try to make sure that an older item is rehomed. Our holiday souvenirs now tend to be little more than photographs, unless we find something that we truly love which will enhance our home. We never buy DVDs anymore unless it is something we absolutely adore, choosing instead to watch digital versions.

whitewing

I have just burnt 3 years of old business records, which were around a decade old. It was tough personal times and it feels good to be gone.

We also have chucked a pile of dvd cases into the next batch of recycling. They were 'just in case' about 3 years ago.

Saver-upper

Have done a couple of bits and pieces today.The house is keeping together,and each day there is a new area that has been decluttered or sorted or something,so really pleased with that.

I finished sorting the shelves of books and toys in older childrens' bedroom:culled a few books and toys for charity,polished shelves and replaced what was for keeping.It is sad to see things going that were never used-found a few toys and activity sets that had never been opened,so will re-gift those.

Mine and OH's room looks great,though on the otterman sits a plastic box containing papers "too be sorted".It has been there for about 6 months.What happens is every paper that ever comes into this house seems to land on the kitchen bench (the carp corner).Sits there for weeks and months,I get sick of it,so it is moved to front room for me to sort through of an evening.Never get around to it so I box it all up and put it in my room out of sight (even saw one of these boxes in the loft,which is the next step when I get sick of it in my room,but I know there is more :eek:)

So today I started on the box on the otterman:school newsletters(recycled),school reports (set aside to file when I next drag out my filing box),kids drawings (kept too many,but chucked alot),keepsakes or long-term keeps I hid in the otterman :rotfl:

Tonight I also worked through a similar box of papers in the front room(must be newer than the one on the otterman cos it hasn't made its way upstairs yet :eek:.)

So hopefully in the next few days I will free up 2 plastic boxes (to go with the 15-16 I have already emptied mostly from the loft but also around the house :T)

I hope everyone has had a lovely Easter.
Carry on trooping,troops .

anirtak191

ok so im probably not going to come on here often, but i just seen this thread about hoarding, and i apologise now if i start rambling on as i have a bad habit of doing that.
i need advice, i dont think i am as bad as some can be definately not as bad as some of the programmes ive seen on the tv.
most of mine comes in the form of too much furniture and not enough rooms to have it in, eg, no dining room so squeezing enough furniture for 2 rooms into 1, the room is about 13x18ft approx.
i have a 2 and 3 seater settee, a large dining room table that seats 6, tv and tv stand, dvd unit a sideboard and a fish tank. and it is all starting to feel cluttered for me.
my bedroom isnt too bad, overbed unit, double bed and 2 wardobes. other than the dirty clothes in the basket, its usually kept fairly tidy.
but my main problem is my spare bedroom, its used more like a junk room. theres a double bed 2 wardrobes, a drop leaf table and a computer desk furniture wise in there.
i am also a crafter, cardmaking and quilting, aand all this is in there also.
aswell as all the stuff that may come in handy, or is too good to throw. i cant seem to get out of the mind frame, i have been trying for the past couple of years to declutter things,
my excuses,
someone bought me that,
its too good to throw away,
that might come in handy,
but its craft stuff i use it,
and the biggest one i think about is, where i dont have a lot of money, that cost money (sometimes a lot)and to me, its like throwing money out.
tonight i have been standing in my spare room for over an hour. picking stuff up and putting it back down cos i eiether dont know what to do with it or one of my other excuses come out. eg a pair of slippers i bought my gramps for christmas last year but didnt have the chance to give them to him, so i dont want to do anything with them, they were the last thing i bought my gramps being the main reason, but they are also new,and i dont think i could bear selling or giving them away for someone else to wear.
ive also spent time looking around wondering where the hell i start, even tho i felt i had made a decent start the other night, but it has now come to a standstill as usual.
i have a plan in my head, not being able to see children in our future any more, i decided to turn one of the bedrooms into a dining room, but also wondering if thats a good idea. my hubby thinks it is.
also knowing money we havnt got will have to be spent to be able to do it, makes me slow down in sorting through stuff.
i know im lazy,and that is probably part of the problem, but i dont know why i like to keep the stuff around and can only find reasons to keep it and not find reason to throw it out.
a little bit personal, but i had an abusive past and not sure if this could be part of the problem.
ive started not liking the clutter, and sometimes it feels a little claustrophobic, yet i still cant seem to do much about it.
i make up my mind not to go through bags and boxes that are squirrelled away, but when i get down to it i just cant seem to help it. i have to go through them. sometimes i have the amount in them, but it doesnt feel any different.
my living room apart from being furniture and animal (2 dogs, 3 cats)cluttered is usually fairly tidy until i get craft stuff out all over the table. and my kitchen is kept clean and tidy. altho my husband would say the cupboards are cluttered as i have a lot of baking stuff because i enjoy baking when i get the chance to.
i need advice and hints and tips that will hopefully help me get started in doing what i need to do. i am starting to feel frustrated not being able to do it, but then in my life failing is nothing new, suceeding is a very rare thing for me, and it doesnt take much to knock my confidence in things i can do. i was surprised i passed my driving test, took 2 attempts but i did it. since loosing my gramps and not having use of a car for a few months i have lost my confidence in that aswell now.
decluttering i think might be a start to maybe help me turn things around, but as usual im having problems with getting it done. wont say getting it started as i seemed to get it started the other night, but ive done slightly easy things. like go through gifts i bought for nieces and nephews for christmas, that i am going to sell, as i dont see why i should spend money i dont partucurly have, on children whos familys dont even acknowledge you when you try and do something nice, and even for those that turn their back on you and ignore you, when you ask for help for someone to look after the animals so that you can have your husband at your side while your caring for a relative and have to sit there and watch them getting closer to death day after day, doing things for them that you hoped you would never have to do.

i always said if i had the money, i would literally throw everything out no matter what it was apart from a few concessions, my teddies as i have spent years collecting what i got, my collection of fairy plates, dvds, and my unicorn and fairies ornaments collection. and i dont think i have many of them, just 2 shelves on the wall and the one tall unit. oh and a 3rd shelf with our wedding pictures on.
i also dont think id get rid of the tall unit i have, as its one of those really old, dark wood sturdy pieces, that you cant really find any more unless someones has shabby chiced it. and yes i am adding to the list, since i originally said that, i would also include the furniture in my bedroom, but that is only cos its only about a year old. and even thought as usual it was bought by someone else, it was stuff i had chosen, i was given the opportunity to decorate my bedroom and so i done it, thats probably why its tidy, its the furniture i wanted, decorated the way i wanted.
i would also probably keep the bits i know i got that i had off my gramps like my printer. but would try not to g over the top and say cant get rid of that that was off gramps with everything, only keep the things i consider the most important.

so as you can see, i seem to always find excuses why i should keep certain things, some are good, but others even to me i know are excuses, as if im just trying to find any reason thats even sounds good enough.
but i also know i cant keep ignoring it and not trying to do something about it cos it can only get worse in years to come.
any tips any one is willing to gve me would probably be better via pm. as like i said at the beginning im not sure how often i would come on here, i usually only come on when i see a link passed on in my craft forum. and if its not something i do on a regular basis i seem to forget about it.
sorry for rambling it seems to be something i do when trying to explain something.

GreyQueen

Morning all. Got back to my homestead late last night (bus was held up) and only had time to unpack and chill out with a book before beddy-byes.

anirtak191, you're being very brave to post about your hoarding issues and ((((((big hugs))))) to you this morning.

I guess there's very bad stuff in your past which a psychologist could trace your hoarding issues back to. But I'm not a psychologist so I'm not even going there. But even with a fast read, you speak of past trauma, recent bereavement of your grandad, lack of support from your family and money uncertainties. That's a heavy burden for one set of shoulders, isn't it?


Just picking up on one small bit of your post;

someone bought me that, Yes, someone did. I'm guessing that they bought it because they liked you and thought that it would please you? I expect if they knew that it had become a source of stress, unease, inconvenience, they'd feel unhappy because it was achieving the exact opposite of what they intended? Or maybe they bought it in haste, without much thought, because you were on their present-giving list, and they can probably barely recall it? In either case, I think you could let the item go, if you needed to, without hurting their feelings.

its too good to throw away, The alternative to possessing something isn't necessarilty thowing it away. Think positively about disposal. If you donate it to a charity, what can they achieve with the funds raised? Could they be contributing to research against cancer or heart disease, for the greater good of all humankind? It's a rare family which hasn't lost a member to one or other of those illnesses. Or could it get a lovely kitten or doggie to a vet? A well in a poor country to stop other women walking for hours every day across country carrying many many kilos of water?

Think of what an unwanted garment could do for someone in need of it. I'm sure most of us have shopped at charity shops and have gleefully dropped our hands on the perfect top, or bag, to fill a gap in our lives. Imagine the other person's joy as they bear your unloved item off in triumph. Imagine it out in the sunlight again, or dancing in a club, or going off on long walks and becoming a valued part of someone else's wardrobe. If it had emotions (it doesn't) I bet it would be happier.

Even with the hard things like your grandad's slippers, could it help to imagine some other grand-daughter or daughter out shopping for her relative and seeing them and thinking how perfect they'd be for her gramps? Would your lovely grandad have begrudged some other gent a comfortable pair of slippers? I expect he would cheer you on. Your love for your late grandad isn't in a pair of slippers, it's in your heart, you don't need to hold onto them to keep the love.

Even if things at home have become unusable, you still don't have to throw them away to clutter up landfill. Very many things are recyclable. Imagine their component parts being brought back into the materials stream, and preventing waste of new raw materials. Perhaps you could do a little research about where stuff goes and what it gets reborn as? Your local authority website could probably tell you. Or other interweb research. Imagine yourself as releasing stuff which is presently imprisoned in your life. It's going out into the great stream of life, not consigned to a backwater in your home.

that might come in handy, Yes, it might. A friend who had a camel saddle had this debate with me. It might come in handy in the completely bizarre set of circumstances which would involve her riding a camel in England. And if she needed to go to the Arabian Peninsula, she'd fly, and the saddle would be overweight on her luggage, so she'd leave it at home anyway. Plus countries with camels tend to have camel saddles, too.

Many things can, if you work your imagination hard enough, come in handy for something. You may possibly need a few spare buttons in this life. You're highly unlikely to need a few thousand spare buttons, but some people have them and won't part with them. Their relatives will curse when they have to sort them out at the end of their lives.

It's helpful to understand that things which you are storing aren't in a stasis box like in science fiction. They're not even being stored in optimal conditions such as a museum would be able to offer. They are subject to the forces of time. Rubber in your shoes and boots, adhesives, woodworm, damp, rust, carpet beetles, mildew, four-legged vermin, sunbleaching/fading/rotting. Vinyl cracks and flakes in bags, belts and shoes. Foam degrades and crumbles........stuff happens to stuff, whether you use it or not, and you may find it unusable in your hour of need.

If you let it go, it can escape to be used before it rots away and is wasted. Chances are, should you really need it again, you could get it fairly easily and cheaply.

but its craft stuff i use it, Oh, this is the killer one for a lot of us. I do various things of the crafty nature so am no stranger to this one. Is it still a current interest? I have, for example, moved on from my Patchwork and Hooked Rug Era. If it is a current interest, how are the quantities? Have you overshopped to the point of SABLE (Stash Acquired Beyond Lifetime Expectancy)? If you have, could you release more to help a crafter in need for materials? I let some stuff go which I'd been holding onto for 20+ years, via Freecycle. It felt wonderfully liberating and it was great to see the appreciation of the recipients.

Anyway, I must get my brekkie and get ready for w*rk. The trouble with Easter weekend is that it causes Friday and Monday's workloads to land on a Tuesday, which already has it's own load. I shall be a tired little bunny by bedtime, and no mistake.

whitewing

It may also be helpful to think about one of the definitions of hoarding; not being able to use a room for its purpose. So, a spare bedroom that you can't have anyone in to use (even if you couldn't currently handle someone staying, which wouldn't be unusual given your grief), a dining room that you can't eat in, a craft room too stuffed to use your stash.

suzitiger

Good morning everyone,
It's been a while since I posted but I have been lurking from time to time via my email digest.
How is everyone doing? Did we enjoy stellios' latest batch of programmes?
Spring is in the air and with the big travelling honeymoon booked for October there is some serious work to be done by then.
I have been re-bugged with the decluttering and feeling quite ruthless at present which helps.
Yesterday I parted with 2 pairs of jeans and about 100 songs from my iTunes library.
The computer is lacking in memory so I am going to go through a bit each day to free up some space. iTunes first and photographs after :-D
I will be here until wedding day so look forward to catching up with everyone

roundtuit

Good morning all :hello:


It's cold, grey and raining and I'm so glad I booked the rest of this week as Annual Leave . I love my job, but I just feel the need to chill at home for a few days - having said that my dad has just phoned to say his car has broken down and is going to be off the road for a few days - so I've offered my services as a taxi as and when required. :A


I'm going to have tea and toast, then clear the washing up and recycling mini-stash which has started to form - like I said old habits creeping back in . And I promised DS bacon sarnies for brunch so that'll be my reward too (when he finally surfaces - so it could be lunch not brunch methinks)


Hope everyone is having a productive day


Rxx