Hoarding - Springing Ahead

catshark88

Hoarders is an American show, shown on CBS reality 4-7pm Saturdays (& various middle of the night slots). It was the programme that gave me a real jolt, when I saw a woman unable to throw away anything that had belonged to her kids. It was a "there but for the grace" moment.

One of the chaps who does the actually cleaning on it, has written a very interesting book about the subject.

Am about to try to track down the "enough" book. Am a bit gutted that there's already a book about it, as I thought that was our own personal epiphany earlier this year, lol! Husband works in the City and has a massive daily commute, with all the ramifications on life that being out of the house from 7am to 9.30pm every day (except the ones with an earlier start) has.

We made a conscious decision that he's going to stop that at a date we've agreed and do something way more local and probably way lower paid. We have "enough" and whilst his sacrifices have been worth it for financial security, it would not be worth it for fancier cars, a flasher lifestyle and all the other stuff one just doesn't need. I am happy in Ald1 and I don't need Wa1trose... Except the gluten free department there - I never said I was perfect!

GreyQueen

It's gutting, isn't it, to discover that what we thought was our own personal quantum leap into higher consciousness was done by others, years ago. Or done thousands of years ago, if you wanna look at the classics.

Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.:rotfl:

Well done on planning an exit strategy from a heavy career for your hubby. That's too much lifetime to sell, isn't it?

I found it enormously helpful to understand that the price of something is time not money. Unless you have a private income, or income from a source which doesn't require the exchange of your time for money, ultimately everything costs X time to earn. Then there are what my friend the purchasing manager calls 'on costs'. You know, the servicing, accessories, consumables etc that the item uses over its lifetime. A lot of people haven't ever thought about the 'on costs' of ownership of items, but it's a big money seep on budgets. Such as dry-clean only clothes having an on cost in dry cleaning bills, car repairs and consumables.

What I intend to do shortly is exactly calculate my hourly net rate to the penny. So I will know how much life I have to sell to buy each item, and will be able to think rationally if it's worth it to me. I have a ballpark figure but want to be precise.

Your hourly rate is net income, divided by hours at work + commuting time minus essential costs (transport, special apparel etc) = actual earnings from paid work.

I bet in most cases, it's a lot less than we think it is.

So, future spends will be factored in True Hourly Earnings or THEs as well as £ sterling. I could say to myself; a fish and chip supper is 0.4 THEs; yes or no? A cinema ticket is 1.2 THEs, is that film really worth it?

I work in customer services. It's interesting but occasionally maddening, and some of my hours would be maddening if paid at double the rate, so I'm a bit skinflintish about shelling out the hard-earned on some things.

Oh, started to watch one of the two DVDs, decided it was carp after a few mins and stopped watching it and started reading a thriller. Which is from the library and can go back in a couple of days.

Righty, time to declutter some breakfast and then out to face the day. Have a good one, lovely peeps. GQ xx

RadioHorse

Feel very pleased today as we got rid of the white bookcase that's been hanging around forever. It was mine was I was a child, so it's done well. That's Ikea for you, though.

The woman who picked it up made me laugh, though. She came in the TINIEST car possible - and there was no way on earth it would fit in the back of the car whole. So she took it apart then and there on the curb! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Strangest thing I'd ever seen.

Still, it came apart well for a fifteen year old bookcase, so whatever. It's gone to be her new bookcase in her office and it's £6.22 in my pocket.

Opened an unpaid case against the other buyer who hadn't paid for their item. Still nothing, so sent an email giving them until the start of business tomorrow. We shall see. :mad:

Decluttered a worktop in the kitchen, found a whole load of brother's socks to donate back to him as he's run out and found a box of computer parts for him to take back to his place too. I also decluttered some phone calls to the solicitors and the surveyors - they're coming next week to the new bungalow for my grandparents! :dance:

I'm so excited - my first house that I'm buying and I'm getting to project manage. :eek: That's going to be interesting.

GreyQueen - your theory of working out THEs sounds actually quite interesting - be worth testing it out and telling us some of the results to see if it helps!

ivyleaf

Today we have the Shoebox Dilemma. I bought new shoes last week and now there's a nice sturdy box which I am inclined to flatten and put in the recycling, but OH is perturbed and says it might be just right for putting some of his stuff in when he sorts out the boxroom "which i really must do!"

GreyQueen

ivyleaf wrote: »

Today we have the Shoebox Dilemma. I bought new shoes last week and now there's a nice sturdy box which I am inclined to flatten and put in the recycling, but OH is perturbed and says it might be just right for putting some of his stuff in when he sorts out the boxroom "which i really must do!"

I know this Dilemma, I do this as well. At one time I was so desperate for shoe boxes I went to a shoe shop and asked for them - and received them, no problems.

A sturdy shoebox is an object of great potentiality, and thus must be treated with respect. Once it has put down roots it will be very hard to move. I would suggest that if you really thing OH is kidding himself about using it as part of the resorting of the boxroom, that it could perhaps suffer some unforeseen accident.

Perhaps a cup of coffee gets slopped on it, or someone accidentally drops something heavy on it or stands on it?

I do keep some shoeboxes myself, for storing small things by type on the shelf of a cupboard.. It's very active storage and used all the time. If I get a good new shoebox, I will trade it out for the tattiest of the existing ones and recycle that.

That works well until you get several perfectly good shoeboxes all at once..........in which case, wish me luck in parting from them.

mcculloch29

Whilst I was cooking tea, I went in hunt of a spare trolley token as mine vanished last week - think it's in a pocket, possibly. I hope so as I've had it years!
I found the spare token in one of the kitchen drawers that holds 'useful' items but tried to look at the 'useful' stuff with new eyes.

Most of it went in the bin.

Why was I holding on to an attack alarm 4 x the size of those currently available, or a dictaphone not used in 8 years? I unpacked a lot of items still in retail packaging. The plastic on a pair of nail clippers was so brittle with age it shattered, and a single gold decorative pen released from a festive duo pack now takes up a fraction of the space.

I will go through that drawer again as there were items in there that was useful, - no wonder I couldn't find a comb in the bathroom or a pen by the phone - and obviously the going through stopped when I found the trolley token.
I am idly wondering if this change of mind was a result of my new and very strong painkillers. (Severe arthritis in left hip). If so, woo - hoo.

Happygreen

ivyleaf wrote: »

Today we have the Shoebox Dilemma. I bought new shoes last week and now there's a nice sturdy box which I am inclined to flatten and put in the recycling, but OH is perturbed and says it might be just right for putting some of his stuff in when he sorts out the boxroom "which i really must do!"

If OH asks me to keep something I put it on his desk if I don't have room for it or really don't need it! If you do that maybe your OH will get on with putting his stuff in, so your don't have to ,lol....
Last thing mine asked me to keep was a coffee tin because it seals perfectly. I agree but it says "COFFEE" on it and it smells of it, too, so I really hate putting anything else in it...He says, I'm weird ....

Happygreen

Hello again

I'm so proud of myself, my room has never been in such a lovely state EVER! I want to vacuum that lovely rug from my late Gran every time I've been in there, lol (OCD, here it comes). The strange smell has gone, it was the disintegrating 25 year-old carpet!! I know from a cleaning point of view it doesn't make sense but what's left to do is the top of the wardrobe. I only now found the ladder, OH had put it OUTSIDE because it annoyed him behind a door!!!!! It's drying off now in the boiler room...Then I have my eye on an overflowing shoebox in the hall with gardening and poultry items, like gloves, cleaning stuff, secateurs, old newspaper, ice grips, blabla. I found a lovely narrow but high plastic box I can stack the staff in rather than layer it like at the moment where I never find what's at the bottom! Then I'll clean the 3 doors....take it slowly now, woman....;)
I'll work my way through the house, even if it's very slow indeed but it feels so good! Just thought I want to share with you all as you're all part of it

catshark88

This weekend, I am going to tackle the "too many spare duvets" situation.

There, it's in black and white. It Will happen!

(Hopefully....)

GreyQueen

catshark88 wrote: »

This weekend, I am going to tackle the "too many spare duvets" situation.

There, it's in black and white. It Will happen!

(Hopefully....)

As a matter of curiousity, how many spares do you have? And what are your plans to do with them?

I have a bag of c.s. donations prepped and ready to go, most of the stuff came back with me on Tues night from a family visit, joined by some stuff already on the premises.

I'd intended to take it to the chazzer on Weds after work but it was raining heavily and I didn't do it, ran late today and very tired, will aim to donate tomorrow as part of an errand elsewhere. Good to get rid.

I have also ceremoniously changed out the smooth cotton duvet cover for the brushed cotton duvet cover, which is the sure sign that winter is on its way. Looking forward to snuggling up in that tonight.

Hokay, time to crack on with something. I can't take my eyes off the wall unit - there are gaps on shelves where books used to be - gasp!