Hoarding - Springing Ahead

flanno_2

Good morning I am a long time MSE member but more of a lurker and reader than poster but I have just finished reading through the old and newer thread on this topic and would love to join in. I myself do not have a hoarding/decluttering problem as such although I have seen and heard that guy Justin Case a bit in recent months. Possibly due to the fact that I am a full time student,, with no regular income and find myself keeping things justincase!! However my OH does have a somewhat irritating hoarding habit although its more a case of him bringing home stuff to our home that he finds in other peoples that no longer want them etc. Drives me mad, I get some stuff decluttered from our house and then along he comes with more STUFF. So I am setting myself a goal to declutter the house and surrounds over the next 6 months and getting rid of everything that no longer works/appeals/necessary in our home. So help and support is very welcome and any hints will be gleefully taken on board here

M

pigpen

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Sounds like the planning is going well!

I am full of good intentions and hot air!

Ok, bathroom is good. Stairs are good, hall is good.

passable maybe..

Do you have all the tools ready for doing those pictures? Hammer?I would say stepladder, but he's not really going to need one, is he? Is there a definite 'that one there, that one there' plan?

No plan I am getting them out and deciding what I want where. Steps are in the kitchen so we could get a look at the leak and the hammer is neatly stashed in the shed.. I tidied them all away after our last major spree.

Unless you already have a very safe and accessible tool box, it might be a plan to put the hammer in with the pictures and then, as soon as you're back with the nails and taps, everything is ready to go.


Other than that, if the kitchen is most important to you, then in the gaps where you can't do a big job, just do a carrier bag of stuff from the kitchen. If there's a table in there, start with that, so you can sit down in peace for five minutes.

And you don't need more pasta!!!!!!!!

The children eat at the table so I make them keep it clear. It means I can also con them to load the dishwasher and put away their laundry.. if they don't do it I have nowhere to put their plates so they cannot eat.

I have 2x 5kg bags of shells, 3x 2kg bags of straight and 3 or 5 500g bags of other pretty shapes.. I think I have a pasta problem!

Cheapskate

Hello everyone, please may I join in? I half heartedly joined the original thread, but fell by the wayside. A lot has happened over the last year, and our home has become even worse, in terms of mess, hoarding, lack of housework, etc., so I think I need to come back for some !!!!!-kicking!

I think we could get rid of at least 50% of everything in the house, but it's a combination of having time and inclination, along with severe depression, which isn't helping matters! I know what needs to be done, it's just so overwhelming when I realise how bad everything's become.

Will keep reading the thread, hopefully getting some help along the way!

A xo

zzzLazyDaisy

Welcome Cheapskate. I only joined recently and already the support has made a difference. Okay, it had been a few weeks and I seem to be getting rid of loads of bags and it seemed not to be making any real difference. But suddenly, last week, I discovered that I can open three of the drawers in my bedroom and actually find clean folded clothes that are ready to wear!

Previously they were stuffed full of clothes all scrunched up and shoved in, so I couldn't open or close the drawers, or find anything. When I cleared them out, most of the stuff was too small for me, or not even my style. A lot of the stuff was charity shop 'bargains' that I'd never worn!

I know it seems like a small thing, but it has really given me a boost, and I am now in the middle of clearing out two more drawers. It is a slow job so for the past couple of days the room has looked worse as I am sorting the stuff out - but hopefully by the end of today I will have two more drawers with accessible and wearable clothes.

The rest of the house still looks a bit like a huge storage/junk room, but those tidy drawers have made a huge difference to how I feel about things.

So my suggestion is to choose one box/drawer/cupboard/pile and just focus on that. The other thing I would say is that if you have a friend/OH/sister/etc help with getting the bags out of the house to the charity shop, or take e-bay stuff to the post-office, or take bags to the tip, it can help enormously - somehow actually getting the stuff out of the house is quite difficult for me, and I suspect many other hoarders.

You are in the right place.

Hugs

Dx

catshark88

Today, I will put away all clutter in the kitchen, take bottles to the bank, wash down the worktops and table and sweep and steam clean my floor.

Then I will hoover the bedrooms and play room, before collapsing in a heap !

Picklepot

go catshark88 go!!!

whitewing

In between work, I have put the dry clothes away and unpacked/repacked the dishwasher. Keeping on top of household tasks makes a big difference to attitude of everyone in the family. We all make a little bit extra effort, and if we get a bit slack then we can have a half hour tidy up together so that helps with DS' ongoing tidyness training.

blossomhill_2

Welcome newcomers
I am among the semi-oldies here and have come a long way ... but I have a problem .. I KNOW the theory, I just can't put it into practice

I go cold at the idea of a professional declutterer as I know they won't be a hoarder so will have no idea what is inside my head when I look at what to someone else seems an irrelevant bit of tat, I rely on LBMs for me to be able to see it as both "irrelevan"t and "tat"

Someone else, particularly someone with no history of hoarding, saying to me "it's irrelevant tat, just bin it" is no more likely to cure me than some marketing manager at Nike saying "Just Do It" will turn me into an althlete

I found it intriguing on OCD cleaners that the clean side of the coin didn't think they were the ones with a problem!¬ even when hubby was made to sit with his trews down to eat his tea!

I KNOW the theory, I KNOW what's in the way, i KNOW what I trip over daily, I know what I have multiples of, I know what causes my family to shrug, but I can't seem to conquer it - does anyone else feel like this?

whitewing

I have had a scary letter in the post today about an ongoing financial issue. I feel bad. Cannot put any kind of positive spin on it. What a demotivator.

melodramaticme

Hi everyone. I am new to this thread, although I have been lurking for quite a while, but oh Blossomhill I had to agree wholeheartedly with you.

I find the obsessive cleaning thing actually sets my teeth on edge, and therefore don't watch the programmes like this very often. I am a hoarder, although it is mainly hidden away in cupboards and in the loft. Just the thought of anyone else telling me what to do with it though is enough to make my blood boil:eek:

I know that part of this reaction has to do with my ex describing my craft and knitting collection as my "rubbish" whatever I happened to be making at the time, and that being now sole arbiter of what stays and goes still has a smidgeon of rebellion in the decisions I make. (It's mine, I'll keep it as long as I choose)
But I am slowly making inroads and I know why I keep the majority of my collections. The things I need to move out of my surroundings are those things that didn't belong to me in the first place (inherited from my parents AND my children) and they are moving a little at a time.

I applaud all of those on here who are sharing their journeys and being inspirations for the rest of us.:T:T:T:T