Hoarders! You, Me, Us, Them.

[June]

Are you fascinated by the show Hoarders? Are you a Hoarder? Are you partnered with one? Does it run in your family?

Let's talk about it!

YouTube- Help! I'm a Hoarder show Part 1

[amiyesiam]

I like to watch it.
It boggles my mind.

[Mister Bent]

o god.

It makes me itch.

[John Shaft]

Are you fascinated by the show Hoarders? Are you a Hoarder? Are you partnered with one? Does it run in your family?

Let's talk about it!

YouTube- Help! I'm a Hoarder show Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3akft5wENjw)

No. No. Yes. No.

[evolveme]

If you are a hoarder, I feel perfectly sorry for you, I do.

I'm worrying about your emotional and physical welfare.

But the idea of you makes me not a little bit insane.

And I need you to know that.

Because I suffer my own imbalance.

It is called: Alphabetizes The Pantry.

We're in the same boat, really. Except different. Very, very different.

[evolveme]

No. No. Yes. No.

Get help for the pretty and her "garage problem" now before the outside cleaning crew is hired and the ten year-old corpses of two cats are discovered and sent off to labs to be identified.

[Bob]

I had a great-aunt who died a spinster. She'd been an Avon representative at one point, and when they went into her house, they found boxes and boxes of old unopened Avon products from the 60s and 70s. (So many, in fact, that the leaning towers of boxes created pigtrails throughout the house.) It turned out she'd been buying all the stuff herself so that she could win the little sales prizes (also unopened.)

[June]

I am totally fascinated and horrified by the Hoarder shows.

I define myself as a semi-hoarder:

I have 2 gross of canning jars, for those of you who are math impaired, that's a dozen dozen times 2.

I buy dishes, silverware and glasses in increments of 12, 16 or 24. If I get below 10 in a set, they are dead to me and they have to go to Goodwill.

I have enough Bath and Body works handsoaps to last 2 years because I can't resist their sales.

I have art supplies out the ying yang. I can't pass up sales on little bits of things, glitter, buttons, heart shaped brads, glue sticks, stamps, etc.

Toothpaste, toilet paper, cans of olives(!), candles.

I used to hold on to paper, cards, letters and articles, but several years ago I did a major purge and never looked back.

Now, I get into fits where I go around the house with a large hefty bag and just throw things away, which causes a lot of consternation in my household. I might talk about that more later...

[weatherboi]

I am in and out of peoples homes daily and uhhh it is a bigger problem than I had ever realized. The last hoarder house I did was a lady who had lost her partner of many years to cancer. It had been almost ten years since she cleaned or anything!!! That smell will be with me forever!! I instantly cared for this lady and wanted to help her. That was one of my favorite jobs!!

I knew another hoarder and she even saved her used bandaids. Rough frinedship moment because I never knew how much pain she was in. She corrected the hoarding problem, and now struggles with alcohol.

[turasultana]

i love the show Hoarders - but it scares the piss out of me as well. Must purge. :)


Right now I'm shredding 1998-2002. Filled 3 bags so far.

[John Shaft]

If you are a hoarder, I feel perfectly sorry for you, I do.

I'm worrying about your emotional and physical welfare.

But the idea of you makes me not a little bit insane.

And I need you to know that.

Because I suffer my own imbalance.

It is called: Alphabetizes The Pantry.

We're in the same boat, really. Except different. Very, very different.

Get help for the pretty and her "garage problem" now before the outside cleaning crew is hired and the ten year-old corpses of two cats are discovered and sent off to labs to be identified.

I agree, we are all in the same boat. Yes, I did alphabetize the spice cabinet and I do prefer my hundreds of cds in alph order by artist. I've tried to clean the garage, I really have. But there's a lot of stuff out there. As mentioned in previous posts, FOUND-The Lost Tribe of Israel!! FOUND--a new species of plant!
It's all there just waiting to be uncovered.

**running away now

[June]

Weather --

I think a lot of people don't understand that it is very much a mental and emotional issue. It's easy to be aghast when you see houses with little paths through them and simply judge, but I don't think anyone would choose to live like that.

We have been going through a kitchen remodel for the past three months, for part of that time, I have been depressed and nearly catatonic. For a while, I had two stoves and two refrigerators in my dining room. The kitchen is still not done (that's a whole 'nother thread on flaky contractors) but I have been able to put things away finally. Things I hadn't seen in 7 years are emerging from downstairs, and that feels good, but there is this aftermath of flotsam that is making me crazy.

I feel like my house is a big jigsaw puzzle right now. In order to do *this* I have to do *this* but *this* is in the way.

[Bob]

, FOUND-The Lost Tribe of Israel!! FOUND--a new species of plant!
It's all there just waiting to be uncovered.


Maybe THAT'S where the Lost Dutchman's Mine is. In AP's garage. Right next to the dead aliens from Roswell.

[turasultana]

no dead pets found in my cleaning/shredding fury, but I did just find the cremation papers for my 19 year old kitty that died in 2004. *sniff*

AND to cheer me up, I also found the adoption papers for Esmeralda from a couple months later in 2004 that listed her as a stray found in a truck engine skinny covered in oil, filth and fleas at 4lbs. She's now a tubby monster lounging in front of the radiator belly up. spoiled rotten. :)

[Hudson]

Maybe THAT'S where the Lost Dutchman's Mine is. In AP's garage. Right next to the dead aliens from Roswell.

Dibs on any UFO debris or alien parts!

[Waldo]

Damn you June.

You know very well I'm the polar opposite of a hoarder and now I feel compelled to get rid of even MORE stuff.

I'm going to be living in my home with just a chair and my computer soon because of you!!!

[evolveme]

I am in and out of peoples homes daily and uhhh it is a bigger problem than I had ever realized. The last hoarder house I did ...

What do you mean by "The last hoarder house I did..."

Are you doing something specific that involves the Hoarder House?

I need to know so that when I see you in the future I can have a perfectly good reason for any attraction/repulsion to your posts (however unrelated) that might ensue.

[June]

Damn you June.

You know very well I'm the polar opposite of a hoarder and now I feel compelled to get rid of even MORE stuff.

I'm going to be living in my home with just a chair and my computer soon because of you!!!

Right. I need to start a thread for you: "Living like a Monk, and I'm not even Catholic"

Or

"I'm too cranky and anal to decorate"

:badger:

[apretty]

let's talk about EZ's 1200 jersey's (steelers) and million bags of pants/button-down shirts/sweaters/vests all from either a. banana republic or b. j. crew, and a few of c. macy's thrown in (i guess on days when he was budgeting).

and dogs. hoarder of dogs!

i want to kill you right now, and i love you, thank you for making me the beatle's cds. xo

[Waldo]

Right. I need to start a thread for you: "Living like a Monk, and I'm not even Catholic"

Or

"I'm too cranky and anal to decorate"

:badger:

I know there's a ROFL smilie somewhere, but I'm pretty sure there's not a "just laughed so hard diet coke almost came out my nose" smilie.

A monk?

[weatherboi]

June,

I can sooo relate to this June!! I have been remodeling some part of this house I am in and find myself weary after 4 years. I am starting to pay people to do work for me which is out of my character but I can't take it anymore.It is worth my sanity which at times is being tested becuse it can be one thing after another. I feel your pain most sincerely!!!

As for my friend...I don't go out to bars very often...I did last night and by chance she just happened to be there. I have known her for 15 years and she seems to be headed on the right path!! I love her to death so I hope the next time I see her she has even betters things to tell me about!!

[John Shaft]

let's talk about EZ's 1200 jersey's (steelers) and million bags of pants/button-down shirts/sweaters/vests all from either a. banana republic or b. j. crew, and a few of c. macy's thrown in (i guess on days when he was budgeting).

and dogs. hoarder of dogs!

i want to kill you right now, and i love you, thank you for making me the beatle's cds. xo

Yes. I'm a hoarder of sweater vests and dogs. I love you too and all your vintage collectables.......baby, you're the greatest.

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/080911/housewives/Alice-Kramden-Honeymooners_l.jpg

[WolfyOne]

I like the show. It makes me sad when it involves taking too many pets away. I couldn't do the job people come in and do in those houses. If I was there, someone would be cleaning up after me when I vomit from the smells. I am so sensitive to some smells that I actually will start gagging from many of them. Oh and not only do I live with a semi hoarder, I consider myself a semi hoarder, too. I once dated a gal for 7 years that told me if I haven't used it or looked at it in 5 years, I need to get rid of it. I actually cried when she helped me clean out my small apartment. I think I'm much better now because I live with someone like me and that makes me see things differently. I don't hang on to as much. I'm not sure if that's an age thing or because I'm just tired of toting things around when I move.

[weatherboi]

What do you mean by "The last hoarder house I did..."

Are you doing something specific that involves the Hoarder House?

I need to know so that when I see you in the future I can have a perfectly good reason for any attraction/repulsion to your posts (however unrelated) that might ensue.

I refinish wood floors without sanding...envioinmentall friendly and kid/pet friendly. Lowest VOC rating on the market. All water based products. Don't be repulsed I wear safety suits, gloves, hat, and ventilation masks..especially when pulling out carpet...*sigh* BOOOOOOOO Carpet!!

When I say hoarder house I mean a client that has the actual problem.

I did a lady that works for the police dept. She is an Empath and hired me before calling me. Cool feeling...she had been emotionally down for about 5 years and she was slowly trying to get things back in order. I did her foyer. She was nice! She had animals too and I helped her out with some fencing for her backyard cause the dogs didnt have any pace to go.

[TIMBERWOLF]

Hello My name is TIMBER and Im a hoarder!!!
WT says I hoard food......My worse thing to hoard is my sugar free cooked chocolate Jello (collection)pudding. Its so hard to find I think its a gold mine when i do find it. I also collect sugar free black cherry jello cause its my favorite and i know both of these I will cook up and savior as soon as WT says there is enough room in the fridge. As soon as I quit collecting food for the pantry and meat for the freezer (that she say we will never eat) . I also hoard bits of paper with phone numbers on it or old pay check stubbs from back in the late 80's. Now let me tell you I have gotten better about the papers and old check stubbs as i did shred all of that as i went through my storage before coming down here and got rid of well over 10 large (122 qt) storage tubs.
and my name is TIMBER and I'm a hoarder, Thank you for listening to me.............
TIMBER

[turasultana]

i just thew away all the press I got for Shonen Knife in 1997. i feel bad throwing out pix of those cute japanese girls.

[Surayna]

I am totally fascinated and horrified by the Hoarder shows.

I define myself as a semi-hoarder:

I have enough Bath and Body works handsoaps to last 2 years because I can't resist their sales.
.

You are NOT alone!

It took me 5 years to go through all of my Bath and Body Works hand soap. Now, I see myself going by the store and thinking about restocking, until I remember what a pain it is to store it for so darn long.

[John Shaft]

i just thew away all the press I got for Shonen Knife in 1997. i feel bad throwing out pix of those cute japanese girls.

Ahahahaha! Shonen Knife! I haven't heard of them in a long time.

[weatherboi]

let's talk about EZ's 1200 jersey's (steelers) and million bags of pants/button-down shirts/sweaters/vests all from either a. banana republic or b. j. crew, and a few of c. macy's thrown in (i guess on days when he was budgeting).

and dogs. hoarder of dogs!

i want to kill you right now, and i love you, thank you for making me the beatle's cds. xo

Awwwwww that's love!!!

[turasultana]

Ahahahaha! Shonen Knife! I haven't heard of them in a long time.

my previous career was doing PR for punk and metal bands. damn i'm old.

[apretty]

my mom's mom was a hoarder. she died in her home overrun by things and dogs (and mice and so on). she lived alone, died of a stroke and it was at least a week before they found her body. going through her things was hellish--my parents were divorcing at the time and my mother is sentimental while my dad's suggestion was to bulldoze the thing--he was irate that i was even going in there to help. so we went through what we could, piece by piece, uncovering a a couple of valuable collections and a lot of trash--even nice things were trash, left in that condition they'd been ruined years prior.

i think june's brave for starting this thread--there's a huge stigma to a less-than pristine home. well for me, it's hugely triggering having been raised in some major chaos, literally (and since distancing myself from it). and i think, as women we're judged on the tidiness of our homes like it's some indicator of our fucking worthiness. (unless we're raising a kid, then apparently all of those garish toys and crap are tokens of our amazing ability to reproduce). so when i met EZ and he wanted to date and be exclusive after much casual dating, i let him see my clutter and (though i was anxious) i refused to clean a thing before his coming over, in my eyes i let him see the 'worst' of me and he just didn't care. i dig that. plus now we both make the effort--he hates dishes in the sink and i'm queen of soaking, so we compromise (like adults, even!).

[weatherboi]

Agreeed...June is awesome! I think it is pretty damn awesome communication as well!!

I struggle with organization and if things arent tidy...I ruminate thoughts!! Makes me run out the door with my joggin shoes on to get relief and I am wearing them alot lately.



my mom's mom was a hoarder. she died in her home overrun by things and dogs (and mice and so on). she lived alone, died of a stroke and it was at least a week before they found her body. going through her things was hellish--my parents were divorcing at the time and my mother is sentimental while my dad's suggestion was to bulldoze the thing--he was irate that i was even going in there to help. so we went through what we could, piece by piece, uncovering a a couple of valuable collections and a lot of trash--even nice things were trash, left in that condition they'd been ruined years prior.

i think june's brave for starting this thread--there's a huge stigma to a less-than pristine home. well for me, it's hugely triggering having been raised in some major chaos, literally (and since distancing myself from it). and i think, as women we're judged on the tidiness of our homes like it's some indicator of our fucking worthiness. (unless we're raising a kid, then apparently all of those garish toys and crap are tokens of our amazing ability to reproduce). so when i met EZ and he wanted to date and be exclusive after much casual dating, i let him see my clutter and (though i was anxious) i refused to clean a thing before his coming over, in my eyes i let him see the 'worst' of me and he just didn't care. i dig that. plus now we both make the effort--he hates dishes in the sink and i'm queen of soaking, so we compromise (like adults, even!).

[sharkchomp]

I have some really close friends that are hoarders. One of them has been my friend for 20 plus years. Through the years her hoarding has progressively gotten worse. I went over to her house a few years ago and every room was filled from floor to ceiling with only a small path from the front door to the kitchen to her bedroom. It was crazy!! She had complained back then of being depressed and when I went into her house, yeah I was depressed for her. Me and a couple of other close friends offered to come over for one weekend and sort - trash, goodwill, yard sale and storage but they cancelled on us several times.

I was invited to their house for Christmas dinner and they had made alot of progress, at least in the living room. I hope they continue to get things under control. I talked to my close friend about it and the hoarding is something that runs in their family. I don't know why my other friend (her girlfriend) is a hoarder too, but I know it's a difficult place to be. They can't stand the state of their home but they can't stand the thought of getting rid of stuff. I'm sure it must be painful.

I used to be a box saver - especially shoe boxes. I was always thinking - I might need this box. When I got ready to move (this was over a decade ago) I had stacks of shoe boxes (empty) that I had to throw out so it kindly broke me of it. I still find myself saying - I might need this box so I keep one empty shoe box on hand.

I agree with Evolve, we all have our own shit. I have boxes and boxes of fishing lures and supplies. I finally made myself stop buying them, but I will never get rid of them. And now I'm thinking of making my own lures, some for myself and others to gift away (if they turn out).

Btw, I've never watched the show just cause it makes me sad for those folks.

~~~shark~~~~~~~

[Bit]

I am totally fascinated and horrified by the Hoarder shows.

I define myself as a semi-hoarder:

I buy dishes, silverware and glasses in increments of 12, 16 or 24. If I get below 10 in a set, they are dead to me and they have to go to Goodwill.

Now, I get into fits where I go around the house with a large hefty bag and just throw things away, which causes a lot of consternation in my household. I might talk about that more later...*emphasis added*

That Damn June may be a :junesmiley: but she is NOT a Hoarder. A packrat, maybe.... a little too enthusiastic about stuff, maybe, if she thinks so... but anyone who can actually throw things away is not a Hoarder.

More in a moment....

I know there's a ROFL smilie somewhere, but I'm pretty sure there's not a "just laughed so hard diet coke almost came out my nose" smilie.

A monk?

:spit: Just for you, Waldo, courtesy of :linus:... the code is : spit : (no spaces). :cheesy:

Are you fascinated by the show Hoarders? Are you a Hoarder? Are you partnered with one? Does it run in your family?

No, didn't know it existed.

Nope, a packrat traumatized by losing my possessions in repeated floods, but not an actual Hoarder.

Nope, partnered with a packrat but not a Hoarder--although when I first walked into Shrek's Cousin's Cave I was horrified and thought Gryph was a Hoarder.... that was an awful moment!! But cleaning it up meant it stayed cleaned up, so I was VASTLY relieved. The two of us packrats together, well, it ain't organized, that's for sure! :eek:

Yes. It DOES run in my family, and oh what a mess it makes of life!! My sister and my sister in law are both Hoarders, although on a smaller scale than in the youtube. They're not just packrats with a lot of stuff, but actual Hoarders who can't throw things away. It took a miracle to pry my sister in law out of her house and she clung so hard to it (after she and my brother bought a new one and moved) that they actually couldn't sell it, and lost it in a foreclosure. It was a big house and was filled front door to back plus the entire three room storage shed out back--big enough to be someone's apartment if it had been fitted with plumbing--with STUFF. Not only did she never pass up a bargain, she never threw away a rubber band, newspaper, plastic bag, or margarine tub.

It was a huge deal when she gave me some of her grocery sacks to use during one of my moves. I was stunned.

When my brother would say they needed to get rid of some of the clutter, she would tell him he had too many tools and musical instruments and needed to throw them away. He's a handyman and church musician--he has two guitars and a bass. *eyeroll*

My sister is the other kind of Hoarder. She cannot bear empty floor space. She doesn't go stock up on cases of things she'll never use and doesn't need, but her house is filled front to back with trash. She hired me once to take care of her boys. It was great when I washed a month's worth of dishes.... but when I cleaned up the floors she was both glowing with excitement and at the same time immediately making new paper trash and throwing it down on the floors again, so they wouldn't be empty. Then she started gathering her newly cleaned and organized possessions and laying them out all over the floor, too. I almost cried, for both of us.

Neither my sister nor my sister in law can have anybody in... not even a repairman. My s-i-l doesn't suffer too badly, since my brother is a handyman, but my sister has gone for years at a time without heat and without cooking (except in a microwave) because she cannot even let the gas man come in and turn it on. My brothers have tried repeatedly over the years to help her with household repairs but she can't let them in, either.

When I start to worry about myself and my own packrat tendencies, I reassure myself by throwing things away, although I'm not June's equal with the Hefty bags, by any means.

I do my best to keep my pantry stocked in case of emergency, but I file to the front and use up the older foods before they go bad. I do buy in bulk to take advantage of sales *for instance, we have five canisters of coffee right now, down from eight* but I don't buy the item again until I have to.

It's been very hard to convince my mother--who also buys on sale and in bulk, and is a highly organized person--that my sister and especially my sister in law cannot help what they do. It took me YEARS to convince her that my s-i-l is actually mentally ill; that she does not sabotage my brother out of meanness, greed, or spite; that she simply cannot help who and what she is. Both my sister in law and my sister are very loving, kind, generous people and I think because the Hoarding was the only overt sign of their mental illness for a couple decades, it was very hard for mom to see it as a mental illness--especially in the earlier years when it was much less pronounced.

The saddest thing for me is that they both used to be so proud of their houses in their early twenties, and kept them sparkly clean, inviting people over freely--and now they're prisoners in them, prisoners of the trash, prisoners of their pain.

[PapaC]

I don't know when it started, but its an embarrassment.
Part of it is being self-employed for over 10 years and needing to save papers, receipts, manuals, etc for my work. Another reason is paranoia, and the laziness to not shred things as they come into my house.

my ex and I once drove around in our k-car, with the dashboard *filled*, I mean... filled with papers... flyers, catalogs, receipts, bills, etc. That doesn't include what was under my feet (I was the passenger as I didn't have my license yet). It also doesn't include the pile of garbage (in a garbage bag) that would sit beside her 7 yr old son in the back.

I moved across Canada with papers tossed in boxes. God knows if any grocery flyers from Nova scotia still made it in those. It makes me ill.

I don't have cable, I can't and won't justify the expense right now. I decided I wouldn't get cable until my paper problem was resolved, and my taxes for the last few years are filed.

This is the biggest emotional ball and chain wearing me down right now.

And I haven't even begun to discuss the random computer equipment I still hold onto. It was only last year that I demolished my Acer Laptop from 1995. It was a Pentium 75, and it still worked and I managed to have Windows98 on it. I wanted to use it as an internet radio/mp3 system in the kitchen (no lie). I don't throw out hard drives. I destroy them so until I do, they stick around collecting dust.

My mother was a pack rat but she was more organized than this. My dad got rid of a lot of stuff since she died in '06, but there's still 20-30 yr old soap in their condo. Creams.... big giant bottles of moisturizers ... there's still at least 10 of those things left under the bathroom sink.

I'm contemplating donating books, almost all of them because I either don't read them they're under... well? piles of paper. Maybe I should start by at least putting them on some kind of bookshelf again and see which ones make sense to keep.

Christmas was spent organizing the clean pile of clothes I had thrown in the 2nd bedroom. I folded towels I hadn't folded in months. In my linen closet, I still have the battery from the electric motor of my bike I had in 1997.

I have a problem. 2010 seems like a fitting year to get rid of a lot of this useless shit that I carry with me.

-pretty depressing post huh-

[Kat]

:bolt:Now, I get into fits where I go around the house with a large hefty bag and just throw things away, which causes a lot of consternation in my household. I might talk about that more later...

The fits, or the consternation...?

The fits scare me. :bolt:

[June]

Wow. dress, bit, Chris, et al, thank you for sharing your stories.

When I was married, I used to buy a lot of crap I didn't need, and I realized later, when trying to clean up the aftermath of it, that I was just trying to fill up my life.

Now, I will go a couple of weeks without buying anything except gas and the random Latte. I am very interested in repurposing and buying used furniture, lighting and homegoods, but I'm lucky, because that also matches my aesthetic as well.

Something people forget, and I have found this out the hard way, is that a lot of lotions and creams will go bad, so buying them in bulk is not very cost effective.

I'm still processing Bit's story a little. They did a Hoarders show like that where the people bought a new house, and the wife couldn't go through the old stuff, I think they ended up losing it as well.

When my Granddad died, I found probably 300LB of old metal in his shop. Scraps and bits, but also hinges and bolts from things long gone. I know part of that was due to being raised during the depression and being very poor, but for modern day hoarders, I wonder if somehow our consumerist society doesn't influence us a lot.

[June]

:bolt:

The fits, or the consternation...?

The fits scare me. :bolt:

That's it. I'm going to talk about your recycling fetish in a minute.

[Kat]

I also collect sugar free black cherry jello cause its my favorite and i know both of these I will cook up and savior as soon as WT says there is enough room in the fridge.

Whatever you do, don't let SassyLeo see the Jello, because she'll throw away any of it that has "expired."

Like Jello expires...ha!

[June]

It's true. SassyLeo is a Jello Hater.

When she moved in with us a few years ago, she went through our cupboards and threw out all of our allegedly "expired" Jello (and a bunch of other shit).

I still cry about it sometimes. I might not actually *make* Jello, but I want to have the option to do so.

[Kat]

When my Granddad died, I found probably 300LB of old metal in his shop. Scraps and bits, but also hinges and bolts from things long gone. I know part of that was due to being raised during the depression and being very poor, but for modern day hoarders, I wonder if somehow our consumerist society doesn't influence us a lot.

Definitely, yes -- hoarding is a very American ailment, I think...

[Selenay]

Definitely, yes -- hoarding is a very American ailment, I think...

Mm, sorry, no, we can't blame America for this one.

Approximately seventy species of animals hoard food in order to ensure survival. Studies show that humans and animals share same the subcortial region in the brain that drives this instinct. Although the ancient Greeks recognised compulsive collecting the word hoarding was not used to describe human behaviour until the 1960’s


>Source (http://www.hoardinguk.org/hoardingukwebsite_003.htm)<

>Secondary Source (http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/200804/200804jeffreys.pdf)<

[Medusa]

I went to live with my father when I was 13. He was married to a Hoarder.
Our home was littered with rotten food, trash, broken toys, clothing, books, papers, and just about anything you can think of. My step-mother was obsessed with sales and refused to get rid of anything and always said "We are going to have a yard sale one day and resell that for more money".

Our home was so bad that when you walked down the hallway, you would hear crunching sounds from the things that were buried under 3-feet of clothing on the floor. The kitchen was a disgusting cloud of gnats, maggots, mice droppings, rotten food, and stagnated water. My step-mother never washed dishes. If all of the dishes got dirty, she would buy paper plates and cups. Those never got thrown away after being used.
I have often joked about a memory of eating canned soup out of a gravy boat with a ladle because all of the dishes were dirty. Really though, it was a chaotic existence.
My step-sister and I once tried to wash the dishes in the bathtub because there were so many.

When I got my own place at the age 17, I hoarded everything. Plastic cups from fast food restaurants. Cast-offs from my Mother and Grandmother. Random yard sale finds. Newspapers. Etc. It felt like it was the only way I would ever possess anything. Later, I realized that I was afraid of feeling empty.

Having moved across country twice now, I have gotten rid of things that I thought I would never let go of. Things that held memories for me. Clothing that was worn to significant events. Photos from vacations. Things that were given to me by beloved friends. I still have things to get rid of, hence my own excitement about Queerbay. :)

When we moved back to Arkansas from California, Jack and I had to go through our home, a two-car garage and a storage unit. Jack is a reformed pack-rat and threw away 23 broken drills, 4 broken circular saws, and approximately 8 buckets of hardware from her 20 years as a contractor. We also called a "trash man" to come and take away a truckload of scrap metal products from our storage unit and garage. We also took 3 truckloads of donation items to our local Amvets. This was all done AFTER months of me purging every drawer, cabinet, and closet.
Trash day at our home was often a free-for-all for trash-pickers because the last month we lived there, we had anywhere from 8 - 10 garbage cans of "treasures" in front of our home along with countless boxes and bags.

We are in a home that is now 3 times the size of the one we shared in California and I find myself getting itchy to get rid of more. Most areas of my home are immaculate but my "office" is a "problem area" for me. It is stacked and packed with things that I need to get rid of. Things that need to be sold on Queerbay or things that need to go in my art bin. Its a slow process, but its worth it.

I support those who want to make the change and am glad for the space to get'er done.

[Medusa]

Oh, and Jack doesnt have the energy to bust herself out so I will do it with her permission: She hoards food and survival supplies.

I was talking about the "food situation" at our house the other night with Irish and threatened to take pictures of the two pantries that are overflowing and alllllllllll of the other cabinets that are overflowing.
I also now have a chest freezer in the laundry room that is also full to the top now.

Mostly, the food hoarding is because Jack is a survivalist and thinks the zombies are coming to get us all. But the other issue is that Jack also grew up in a foster home where she was punished by witholding food and would sometimes eat from trashcans when hungry.

One of the most important things I have learned is that "things" dont hold memories for me. I do. It has allowed me to let go of a lot of stuff that I have feared forgetting.

[Rufusboi]

Are you fascinated by the show Hoarders? Are you a Hoarder? Are you partnered with one? Does it run in your family?

Let's talk about it!

YouTube- Help! I'm a Hoarder show Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3akft5wENjw)

I am a fan of Hoarders. It is gross in a fascinating way like all reality TV. I'm not a hoarder. I'm the opposite. I throw everything away and like to either give stuff away or have a yard sale. I can't stand clutter, knickknacks or over full closets. Yet I watch both hoarders and How Clean is your House on BBCAmerica. How Clean is your House always makes me clean afterwards. Its some weird reaction to the show. Maybe I've got this fear of becoming incredibly dirty or hoarding, who knows. Maybe it just makes me feel better. I don't have to be guilty about my little bit of untidiness after watching those two shows! I'm sure my fascination is some deep seated dirt anxiety in myself.

[SassyLeo]

Whatever you do, don't let SassyLeo see the Jello, because she'll throw away any of it that has "expired."

Like Jello expires...ha!

Ahem. Jello from 2005? :canoworms:

It's true. SassyLeo is a Jello Hater.

When she moved in with us a few years ago, she went through our cupboards and threw out all of our allegedly "expired" Jello (and a bunch of other shit).

I still cry about it sometimes. I might not actually *make* Jello, but I want to have the option to do so.

It wasn't *just* Jello. :alieninjar:

What if you had tried to make it one day and it gave you food poisoning? The GUILT! ;)

[PapaC]

Ahem. Jello from 2005? :canoworms:



It wasn't *just* Jello. :alieninjar:

What if you had tried to make it one day and it gave you food poisoning? The GUILT! ;)


Prove to us that jello 'spoils' Sassy.

right now. dare you.

video sources on youtube encouraged.

[Waldo]

Ahem. Jello from 2005? :canoworms:



You do know how I love to poke fun at The June, but this time I gotta turn my fun poking finger at you.

Powdered gelatin? Shelf life like you wouldn't believe.

[friskyfemme]

I have been accused of hoarding by all that know and love me...but i don't see it that way...i save and reuse grocery bags for trash cans, i save and reuse twist ties, i save and reuse water bottle(yes...plastic) and when they are finshed I keep the sports caps (for spares), i keep any spare screw or part i don't know what its from, i save all legal papers, 7yrs of tax returns...you get the picture (i think)... i do work to keep myself in check...if i have more than 5 i can et rid of the oldest... i realize that i grew up poor with parents that grew up poor... i learned that nothing was to be thrown out until it no longer could be used (that was wasteful), i keep my legal papers since back in 1985 i was didn't have my documents from five yrs prior ended up costing me money...

i think it maybe quirky but i don't see myself hoarding...do i need help?
:kettlepot:

[Jett]

I'm actually a bit on the opposite of a hoarder, perhaps it's because my mom reallllly tended to pack the stuff in. Not when we little kids but later it seemed to really take off. She had rooms completely full of stuff, and two garages with just paths basically.

I went over a lot times and tried to help her clean things out... especially the front porch I always tried to keep clear for her because she liked to sit out there in her recliner when it rained... and her last few years she was really never in good enough health for that type of undertaking it so I just decided when I went over there to do it.

I never really allowed anyone to go in with me after awhile... my brother lived there with her (upstairs) and really was in no situation to help and he has his own issues. And right down to the end, there was so much stuff when she passed I'd have rather just burned the place than have anyone in to help me clear it because I knew she never wanted people to see. I didn't.

Fuck... so yeah... my life kinda always reminded me of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape".

Anyway, even though I don't myself... I feel perfectly fine at peoples houses that have tons of stuff... (within reason *lol*).

Now I think the show Hoarders is fascinating, though it's wayyyy the hell beyond even what I've ever seen for real with the dead cats and stuff.

[Gemme]

I'm not a hoarder but I do, cyclically, hoard things. I tend to hoard paper and food. I'm a crafty person, so having boxes of colorful and unique papers is a "necessity" "in case" I might need any of them at any time for a project. I keep my receipts and statements because I've had my identity stolen multiple times and I might need to prove that I did not purchase or charge something. I'm also a piler, so the loose papers that I do have, tend to be put in piles that only I can decipher and navigate.

With food, I spent some time homeless in D.C. with my mom. I know that my tendency to collect 'things' and to store and hoard food comes from this experience. I've addressed it with myself and continue to do so when I find myself giving into the urge to bring more and more into my space.

Now that I am sharing space with others, it helps me to keep my stuff in hand. I've begun purging regularly which has helped me to flex and strengthen my purging muscles. Of course, the first time I really set out to purge my stuff, I wound up bringing about 3 pounds of stuff to Goodwill. Thankfully, I'm better at it now and typically bring several small boxes at one time.

The best part is beginning to be able to stop myself BEFORE I buy something or bring something home. I'm definitely not 'there' yet, but I do take more time thinking about what I bring into my space and the practicality of it.

[suebee]

I used to be one of those uber-organized people. Music in alphabetical order and sorted according to category. Books - just about the same. Juggled a full-time job, voluteer work and part-time school and a relationship. Then I got sick. And I had to move three times. And I never really got my stuff placed in any particular order. Then I got sick again....... I understand that for a lot of people it starts with a couple of unplanned events that throw you off your routine.

I think some people might categorize me as a hoarder, but in my mind I guess I'm trying to hold onto the way I used to be. I always kept stuff that I thought might be useful - and more often-than-not, I actually used the stuff! But now it overwhelms me. I'm making progress. I actually threw away about a pickup and a half of junk away from my garage this past fall! Gotta keep the eye on the prize. Can actually see where my house is starting to take shape even if I've got a long way to go. But after I watched the video (and I watched all six in that particular episode) I needed to purge - do something to make me feel a little better. So I went on my farms on facebook and sold a whole pile 'o crap! :eyebat: Yeah! Whatever! I feel better! :lol2:

[Arwen]

I am, was, am, was, am, was, am a hoarder.

My last housemate can attest to the KEERAP I brought with me. I then accumulated more. I can't wait for him to come here to see how much I've dumped.

My worst affliction? Tarot decks and books.

I have close to 150 Tarot decks. I could sell them and buy myself that laptop I want.

Hmmm. :thinking:

The books I really purged hard recently. I think I still need to purge more but that is honestly painful.

I used to hoard animals. They filled up spaces for me. I'm down to my two cats now but I catch myself looking at other animals.

I also hoard food...particularly (you start laughing now) vinegar and pickles.

I am really working on myself to stop doing that.

It's really hard and some days I don't CARE. It's my stuff and I'll keep it.

Other days I realize how irrational I am about my stuff. :)

[friskyfemme]

I am, was, am, was, am, was, am a hoarder.

My last housemate can attest to the KEERAP I brought with me. I then accumulated more. I can't wait for him to come here to see how much I've dumped.

My worst affliction? Tarot decks and books.

I have close to 150 Tarot decks. I could sell them and buy myself that laptop I want.

Hmmm. :thinking:

The books I really purged hard recently. I think I still need to purge more but that is honestly painful.

I used to hoard animals. They filled up spaces for me. I'm down to my two cats now but I catch myself looking at other animals.

I also hoard food...particularly (you start laughing now) vinegar and pickles.

I am really working on myself to stop doing that.

It's really hard and some days I don't CARE. It's my stuff and I'll keep it.

Other days I realize how irrational I am about my stuff. :)

I understand/relate to the rationale of hoarding...that in itself is scary...lol. I try not invade others space with 'my stuff'...my mom has started 'cleaning out' her 'treasures' in her house...she is 81. she says she doesn't want her kids to have to do it when she's gone...that makes me sad...it's almost like saying when she's finished she is ready to die...I prefer to enlist the Chinese philosophy here 'you have to have room to receive blessings' meaning that to receive more you need to clear away (physical, mental, spiritual levels)...i have to admit sometimes i hoard on all these levels...i believe everything we hold on to has value to us... knowing what that value is...is the key! enjoy!

[Bit]

It Is Very Weird to multiquote in this thread; makes me feel like I'm hoarding people's words.... I believe I shall snip ruthlessly to make up for that discomfort... first up: the major theme.

When I was married, I used to buy a lot of crap I didn't need, and I realized later, when trying to clean up the aftermath of it, that I was just trying to fill up my life.I used to hoard animals. They filled up spaces for me. I think some people might categorize me as a hoarder, but in my mind I guess I'm trying to hold onto the way I used to be. One of the most important things I have learned is that "things" dont hold memories for me. I do. It has allowed me to let go of a lot of stuff that I have feared forgetting.i realize that i grew up poor with parents that grew up poor... i learned that nothing was to be thrown out until it no longer could be used (that was wasteful),Mostly, the food hoarding is because Jack is a survivalist and thinks the zombies are coming to get us all. But the other issue is that Jack also grew up in a foster home where she was punished by witholding food and would sometimes eat from trashcans when hungry. I know part of that [Grandfather's hoarding] was due to being raised during the depression and being very poor, but for modern day hoarders, I wonder if somehow our consumerist society doesn't influence us a lot.

We grew up poor also, although I mercifully don't remember much about the truly destitute years, and my sister would have no memories of them because they ended before she was born. Until I was seven or eight, I didn't even understand that we were poor, that everyone didn't struggle like my folks did. Eventually my Dad found his stride, career-wise, and we never hurt for food again--but not only were there six of us and two sick as could be with life-threatening cases of asthma (literally life-threatening, constant trips to the ER because one or the other had stopped breathing), but my mother also could not say no to her own sisters. She paid their bills, bought their groceries, put gas in their vehicles, did their laundry, filled in the gaps wherever she could.

That meant we did without the luxuries but it was hard to think of them as luxuries, because by the time I was twelve everyone else in the neighborhood--and indeed, even my cousins, since Mom filled in the gaps--was going to see movies, going bowling, going rollerskating, joining boy and girl scouts, getting soda pop every day, eating in restaurants, getting spending money... and taking it all for granted.

THEN we felt poor. THEN we understood that we were "less than."

It helped when we were teens and could earn money with odd jobs, and it helped that my folks started giving us allowances. Of course, buying school lunches had to come out of the allowances, so it wasn't quite the same as other people's spending money, but we did have the option of taking packed lunches.

Then the really bad recession hit in the mid-70s, and Dad's income dropped in half, just as my sister hit her teens. Did our struggles then impact her becoming a Hoarder? It's hard for me to say... well, honestly, no one else in the family became a Hoarder, and she has other issues, so I'm pretty tempted to just say that it's a mental illness and let it go at that.

BUT several of us are packrats, saving all manner of Useful Things against future need... and yanno what, I think growing up poor really does contribute to THAT. We all grew up on stories of my mother's Depression-era childhood, and we've all hit bad patches in our own lives, and well... it's a lesson that sinks in deep when you haven't got it and can't get it and really need it...

Mantra of the Depression:

Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Or do without

That's the first part of the theme... yes, I believe growing up poor can lead to packrat tendencies, sometimes pretty severe.

The second part?

Shopping makes us high, gives us a sense of accomplishment and control. It's a GOOD feeling to come home with great bargains. It's a GOOD feeling to come home with enough food. It's a GOOD feeling to know that if something goes wrong, we'll be okay because we just bought/found ____ that will fix/repair/fill the gap/sustain us through the hard times.

The way I found out that I was a pretty judgmental character in my younger days was that I had labeled people who engaged in Retail Therapy "shallow." Then one day, after money was at last available in my life and I finally had ~*~security!~*~ I had to wake up and realize that I had begun sublimating my anger and pain over a decade and more of bed death by spending my partner's money. It started pretty innocently; we bought a house and had to furnish it. We had a pantry and had to fill it. We took a class on emergency preparedness and had to make emergency kits.

I wanted books, music, art, art supplies.

I wanted a beautiful yard with edible landscaping.

We were merely living the good life, right?

No *shakes head sadly* no. I was squirreling away supplies of all kinds against the drought, but it was my bed that was parched. I was laying in emergency supplies, but it was my own soul that had the emergency.

Eventually (and well before I ran through all her money) I came to my senses... and then I had to decide what to do. I ended up leaving her.

I also left almost all of the stuff. What she didn't want got shipped to me, but I left her with everything important.

After all, she paid for it.

Then I got sick. And I had to move three times. And I never really got my stuff placed in any particular order. Then I got sick again....... I understand that for a lot of people it starts with a couple of unplanned events that throw you off your routine.

This has been true in my life also. I was a pretty tidy person until I got fibromyalgia, and boy once a household gets disorganized, it just spirals out of control.... especially if one is as much like frisky femme as I am:

I have been accused of hoarding by all that know and love me...but i don't see it that way...i save and reuse grocery bags for trash cans, i save and reuse twist ties, i save and reuse water bottle(yes...plastic) and when they are finshed I keep the sports caps (for spares), i keep any spare screw or part i don't know what its from....

Recycling is the bane of my life. I cannot bear to throw away anything that can be reused or recycled--tis a crime against the Earth!--and we don't have decent recycling available. PLUS I have figured out how to use the recycling items in craft work and now they are craft supplies... but I don't have the furniture to properly store them, nor do I have the time to use them all.

I have begun telling myself that there will always be more, that it's okay to let them go, but oh, I feel such huge GUILT if I throw them away!

We still don't have enough of the right kind of furniture to store our possessions *my kingdom for more bookshelves* but the recycling just pushes it right over the edge.

...my mom has started 'cleaning out' her 'treasures' in her house...she is 81. she says she doesn't want her kids to have to do it when she's gone...that makes me sad...it's almost like saying when she's finished she is ready to die...

My mother did this also, but even though I had the same reaction you're having, she didn't die. She just expresses relief at seeing empty floor space. *soft smile*

Now, I will go a couple of weeks without buying anything except gas and the random Latte. I am very interested in repurposing and buying used furniture, lighting and homegoods, but I'm lucky, because that also matches my aesthetic as well.

After the last and worst flood, the one that totally destroyed our lives as we knew them, I furnished almost my entire part of Mom's new apartment, except for the bed, a computer desk, and a china cabinet (all hand-me-downs), from the trash. College students would move out of the complex and haul their furniture over next to the trash can; if I got there before the maintenance man, I hauled it home and used it. I even got a set of dishes and ceramic canisters that way, and innumerable sheet sets and quilts, mine for the cost of a couple loads of laundry. (That's how I discovered that an entertainment unit meant for stereo components is PERFECT for storing art paper.)

We did the same here when I moved in with Gryph, although I added buying at thrift store across the street to my repertoire.

I was talking about the "food situation" at our house the other night with Irish and threatened to take pictures of the two pantries that are overflowing and alllllllllll of the other cabinets that are overflowing.
I also now have a chest freezer in the laundry room that is also full to the top now.

Just a thought, and I dunno if this would work for you two or not... but my neighbor has been cleaning out YEARS of food from her freezer and giving me the meat... and it's spoiled, every bit of it, even though it's been in the freezer all this time. Food really CAN spoil in a freezer.

Sooooo, maybe you and Jack could buy one of those itty bitty lil cube freezers? You could fill it with a few roasts or chickens or whatever from the big freezer; then when you've used them up, refill it from the big freezer and go buy more to replace what you've used. Put the new food at the bottom of the chest freezer so that your older food is always on top, next in line for the little freezer. That way the food wouldn't spoil, and you would always have enough.

Like I said, I dunno if this would work for you. It just seemed like a way a person could keep a full freezer on hand, ease that "shortage" fear, and not waste any money.

Oh, and about your overflowing pantry---honey, I'm having a Tupperware party this month and Modular Mates are on sale for 40% off--it brings them down to grocery store prices, but it's Tupperware, you know---guaranteed for life, bug-proof, mouse-proof, moisture-proof.... Wanna catalog? :cheesy:

I'm replacing part of what I have lost over the years by buying the Tupperware; I wouldn't be so driven to do it now, but that sale!

And that dead mouse in the bedroom! *thank Cat--er, Cats--it was dead*

And those pesky cockroaches coming up from the basement!! :bolt: YIKES I hate those things... and I'll be DAMNED if I'm going to let them ruin the results of Gryph's hard work!

[theoddz]

Dearest June'y. Sometimes, I think you read my mind, but then I think of how scary that'd be for you and I think, "well, no, not so much". Anyhoo, thanks for starting this thread, because this is a timely issue for me. Here's the story:

My bestest friend in the whole wide world, whom I have been dear and close friends with, along with her partner of 22 years (now deceased), for 25 years now, is a hoarder. Yes, Irene's place sort of looks like the abodes of some of those folks on that hoarder show. I'm going to, with a very heavy heart, admit to something here......I don't ever want to go to visit her at her home, but I do so out of duty and concern for her. Every time I go, though, I just come away with such a sense of sadness and a feeling like I'm failing her by not trying to get her some help for this. Mind you, this is a friendship where we would mutually do *anything* for each other to help. She (and her partner, Angie, before her death) have been there for me when no one else was, even my own family. They understood me long before I even understood myself. That's how close this friendship has been.

I've done everything I can think of to do, short of calling that "Hoarders" show in on her, and she'd be mortified, I think. I would, if the shoe were on my foot. I don't know what might have caused this problem for Irene. She wasn't raised "poor", but her family wasn't wealthy by any means, either. I think Irene's problem stems from the fact that her life has had so much "loss". She was an only child, and Angie had been her only love. When Angie died, a huge part of Irene died, too. Angie was the "social lubricant" half of them and Irene the introvert. You see, Irene and I are soul mates on that "introvert" business, because I'm very much to myself, also. I just don't get this hoarding part of Irene. It's so unhealthy, because her place just contains mountains of just pure garbage. She has things in her (apartment) that the management needs to fix, yet she won't call them to come in and fix them because they would see how she is living and they might ask her to leave. On one occasion, when I went to visit Irene in her apartment, I had to leave because those little garbage gnats were buzzing around so thick I couldn't stand it. I can't even ride in her car (a PT Cruiser "Woody"), because the passenger side is full, up to the window, with garbage, from the floor up.

Irene recently told me that one of the other women who works in her office (she is a Registered Nurse and works in a non-clinical setting) has offered to rent her really really nice home in Summerlin (one of the upper class neighborhoods of Las Vegas) to Irene and she told me that she took this lady up on the offer. Now comes the ordeal of moving and....guess who has a truck?? Me. I don't mind moving a couple of loads of boxes for Irene, but I generally have a "Yes, I have a truck and NO, I will NOT move you" policy, but for Irene, well, like I said.....I'd do pretty much anything for her. I don't mind boxes, but emotionally, I just don't think I could handle getting in the middle of Irene's hoarding problem to try to move her. I told her to get a local mover to move her big items and to box the rest of it and have them haul that, too. I just feel "under the gun" with this and I'm wondering if this isn't the perfect time to just be honest and talk to Irene about this?? I don't understand hoarders and I'm afraid that I might say something wrong, just out of sheer ignorance. I'm afraid that my friend is going to end up like one of those poor souls they find buried under a mass of garbage in their home.

I guess I'm hoping that someone here who understands this problem better than me might be able to give me some insight, or suggestions on how to bring this up with my friend and maybe get her some help with it.

My heart goes out to all who have this problem, and those of us who have friends whom we know and love that do, too.

Thanks for the shoulder.....and the ear.

~Theo~ :bunchflowers:

[Arwen]

I guess I'm hoping that someone here who understands this problem better than me might be able to give me some insight, or suggestions on how to bring this up with my friend and maybe get her some help with it.


Handsome frog prince, friend o' mine, let me lay it on the line for you.

There is nothing you can do. N-O-T-H-I-N-G.

I will tell you bluntly that she doesn't want to hear it. It's an emotional attachment for whatever reason. She won't let go (if ever) unless she can truly let go of the emotions attached to the things.

You are talking to someone who kept cut out ponies I drew when I was 6-8 years old. And little cut out girls in dresses I designed as well. I kept them.

Why? Because they held an emotional charge for me. The clutter holds a similar charge for her.

Those of us who hoard (or did hoard) do it because we need that charge. We are scared to live without it. It terrifies us to let go because it means we are letting go of someone or something else.

And that varies for each person.

Mind you, I am certainly no therapist or counselor but I've done my fair share of time on the couch.

Your best bet is to tell her bluntly and lovingly that you will not move her garbage for her. That she has to understand it's too much.

And then be prepared. Someone who loves me did that for me within the last year. I cried. I was hurt. I was mad. I was so freaking angry. Then I realized why.

I felt like my memories were being threatened. I felt like my own physical, emotional, spiritual self was tied up in those things, that stuff, the KEERAPsakes I held on to.

And no, I did not come to a blinding flash of :harp: knowledge. It was long, drawn-out and is still painful.

I hurt for you, Theo, because your position in this really sucks. Your friend, like I did, needs professional help. Sadly, she has to be the one to realize this.

Hugs

[Bit]

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Theo}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Oh hon, that sounds like such a difficult situation!

I honestly wouldn't know what to say. The thing is that there probably isn't anything you can that won't hurt, yanno?

The thing about Hoarding is that it isn't about the stuff. It's about feeling safe. But if the stuff is gone, the "unsafe" feelings get out of control... that's why people so often need medication before they can deal with throwing anything away.
~~~~~~~~~~~

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Arwen}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

I salute you, oh courageous TX Self, and I love you. You certainly have made a huge commitment to change, darlin; I'm proud of you!
~~~~~~~~~~~

I have friends coming over tomorrow to help me get some of this clutter taken care of. The biggest thing for me will be getting our big heavy coat rack up on the wall, so we can finally hang the coats/hats/scarves/mittens. It's going to involve moving multiple items of furniture and finding the studs in a 90 year old lath-n-plaster wall... way more than I could do by myself! I'm praying this will be the jump start I need to get us truly organized.

Still telling myself the world will not end if I throw the recyclables away.... *sigh*

[June]

Still telling myself the world will not end if I throw the recyclables away.... *sigh*

So...Bit...

If you find an effective way to tell yourself that, will you tell Kat? We don't fight very often, but every few months we have a doozy and it's nearly always about the recycling. I believe in recycling, I really do! But it needs to keep moving its way out of the house, and I don't mean the side of the house or the garage, or the laundry room. I mean GONE!

This kitchen remodel has nearly pushed me over the edge with the bottled water and soup cans. I found a stash of them yesterday and nearly blew a gasket. I say if it becomes detrimental to a peaceful, orderly household, throw those fuckers away and then make up for it later.

Oh, hai Kat.

[Jett]

Hey Theo, maybe your having to decline helping her move is the perfect opportunity to let her know there's nothing you wouldn't do for her, but how the problem is it's literally grown beyond your ability to do so.

In that just perhaps let her know you feel concerned that it's gotten that far... and wonder if maybe she talked with someone who has experience in helping people address these types of issues it would help her in her new place to get a better start.

Good luck Theo and try not to feel too bad no matter the outcome... sounds like she can at least count herself lucky to have a friend who cares so much.

Metro

[Bit]

So...Bit...

If you find an effective way to tell yourself that, will you tell Kat? We don't fight very often, but every few months we have a doozy and it's nearly always about the recycling.

Dear June,

Invoke the peace and serenity of the :junesmiley:

Feel the zen of the :junesmiley:

Let the :junesmiley: remind you that love conquers all, even clutter....

Don't y'all have recycling pick-up with your trash service? Is there a recycling center you can take stuff to?

I try to remind myself that given another twenty or so years, there will be fulltime businesses mining the landfills for recyclables and making a good profit. When I throw things away, I remind myself that someday someone will reclaim it, just like we claim gold and silver out of the earth today.

Sometimes I cry anyway... but then I remind myself, I'm a Highly Sensitive Person. (See Ursy's Neurodiversity thread for the link.)

And yanno... I also always apologize to Gaia, and tell Her I will try to be a better steward in the future.

Hope something in there--anything in there--helps,

Repentantly Incorrigible

*the recidivism rate, ouch*

[Words]

I'm the hoarder's nightmare.

I worked for a while as a Feng Shui consultant and my golden rule was always this... If you haven't worn/used/looked at it for a year or more, you don't need it. Period.

You'd be amazed at how much simpler life becomes when you do away with surplus 'stuff'.

Words

[theoddz]

I just want to say "thank you" to everyone who has replied to my plea for help/insight in understanding my friend's hoarding issue, and my own issue with helping her with her upcoming move.

Arwen, thank you for a sort of validation for my feelings of helplessness in the moving situation with Irene. I think there's been this tiny voice in the back of my head that's been telling me that Irene has to do this by herself. In her own way, I think Irene does realize that she has this problem, though she's even asked my mother, who is visiting and nearly 88 years old to help her "pack"!!! I told Mother "NOOOOOO!!!". (Mother doesn't know the extent of this problem and I'd really prefer that she didn't find out, either)

I understand this a bit more now.

Wow. :sigh:

Thanks again, folks!!!

~Theo~ :bunchflowers:

[SassyLeo]

Prove to us that jello 'spoils' Sassy.

right now. dare you.

video sources on youtube encouraged.

You do know how I love to poke fun at The June, but this time I gotta turn my fun poking finger at you.

Powdered gelatin? Shelf life like you wouldn't believe.


Most websites I surveyed said a few years as a guestimate...but you may just be right. I'll admit that. Though, knowing that doesn't make me want to NOT throw the Jello out anyway. :byebye:

(Truth be told, the cupboards just needed to be rid of the years of accumulation of stuff. If you haven't used 10 boxes of lemon Jello in YEARS, what are the chances that you will use them tomorrow? :rant:
But don't tell June or Kat that, or I may never be allowed in their home again. :furious: :worried: )

[June]

But don't tell June or Kat that, or I may never be allowed in their home again. :furious: :worried: )[/I]

No Tuna Casserole For You! :slapfight:

[hpychick]

Through the years, I've learned not to hoard, or even to save most things. I read my mail by the trash can and throw out what's absolutely not necessary.

I have a very small collection of chicks (birds not women), but other than that, I don't collect anything. I'm not a huge fan of knick knacks - mainly because I detest dusting.

There are a few simple things that have some sentimental meaning to me, mostly from dear friends, my children or my grandchildren. To others, those items may seem silly or even frivolous to hold on to, e.g., a wire sculpture of a peacock given to me by my youngest daughter - her memory of a time that she and I spent together at a wildlife reserve during an especially difficult period in her life.

My biggest mass of things is books...and I'm hardly a hoarder at all when it comes to them. I love to *gift* books to people, so I keep my collection light.

[TIMBERWOLF]

Whatever you do, don't let SassyLeo see the Jello, because she'll throw away any of it that has "expired."

Like Jello expires...ha!
Yes Thank you. WT did the same thing when she came up and organized my pantry, and I came unglued, cause it doesn't really expire. But when i got down here I made a point of showing her on some of her expensive looking tea that they too had expired. And as soon as she through some out i felt better about her throwing of mine out.Now she doesn't throw my stuff out without asking.
TIMBER

[The Oopster]

Most websites I surveyed said a few years as a guestimate...but you may just be right. I'll admit that. Though, knowing that doesn't make me want to NOT throw the Jello out anyway. :byebye:

(Truth be told, the cupboards just needed to be rid of the years of accumulation of stuff. If you haven't used 10 boxes of lemon Jello in YEARS, what are the chances that you will use them tomorrow? :rant:
But don't tell June or Kat that, or I may never be allowed in their home again. :furious: :worried: )

Thinkin sassy needs to go to my parents house and look at their spices

Some of them may be older then me, allow my brother and i have thrown a few of them out ... especially if they have 3 other containers of the same spice.

I know I'm a hoarder but i'm a hecka lot better then my parents.

Hell my brother and I use to have to clean out the fridge. We would get tired of finding fuzzy green foods!

Hides my jello but i just bought it so it should be okay

[Rockinonahigh]

I have a friend who I had no idea she was/is a horder untill I was invited to her home for a bday party for her hubby.At the time we worked for the same company but diffrent departments.This person has 7 college degrees,retired military and dresses well..It blew me away when I showd up for the party,she had it at her house..in the house and yard wich was so nasty I couldnt even think of eating a thing..she even had 6 hunting hounds that have the run of the place to do what ever when ever.I didnt stay long cause of the stink from the dogs as with everything else.I know she needs lots of help but I know she will never get it cause she just makes excuses for it all.Her hubby could care less and her 14yo daughter will prolly end up the same.Needless to say I rarely go to her house and only when totaly nessarey,everytime I go I end up with a bad sinus reaction from the filth.
Rockin

[suebee]

So - I think that there's a difference between actual hoarding and getting to the point where you're so disorganized that it overwhelms you and you can't deal with it. There are certainly overlaps, but I'd like to know what others think. Anybody?

[June]

So - I think that there's a difference between actual hoarding and getting to the point where you're so disorganized that it overwhelms you and you can't deal with it. There are certainly overlaps, but I'd like to know what others think. Anybody?

SUE! This is it for me. Hence the Hefty Bag Fits. I will look at a pile of stuff for so long, then I jut snap and it has to go, but the time prior to that, I will look at it and feel kind of hopeless.

Confession: I was so inspired by all of you (Or, scared straight, perhaps by some of the stories!) that I finally tackled a box of clothes and a big pile of them as well that have been on my "to do" list for a couple of months. Thank you!

[suebee]

SUE! This is it for me. Hence the Hefty Bag Fits. I will look at a pile of stuff for so long, then I jut snap and it has to go, but the time prior to that, I will look at it and feel kind of hopeless.

Confession: I was so inspired by all of you (Or, scared straight, perhaps by some of the stories!) that I finally tackled a box of clothes and a big pile of them as well that have been on my "to do" list for a couple of months. Thank you!

Yeah June. "Hopeless" is the word. My (mostly) joking response to the situation when it overwhelms me is that the only solution to this mess is a match. Then there are the times that I can see in my head how I'm going to tackle a problem. And if I can match those times of positive energy with physical energy - well we got something going!

I hope we can help each other - energize each other - encourage each other. I also hope that others coming on to the thread will be most respectful of us. I cringe a little every time someone expresses a little of their negative reactions to someone's situation.

[I'mOneToo]

I've been reading this thread with interest. Asking myself, what is the difference between a hoarder, and a clutterer (is that even a word?) -- because at various times, I've been both. I can hoard without cluttering and clutter without hoarding. Here's how: when I hoard, I become 'a collector'. Of books, ashtrays, pez dispensers, you name it. Whatever at the time I felt might be of value -- to whom, I have no idea. When I am living among clutter, it is because I can't see my way clearly enough to know where to start, to clear it out. Who was it who mentioned overwhelm? That has been the case at times.

There was one specific time when I had a roommate who'd been my roommate for years, and I had been the 'neatnik' of the two of us. We moved into a new apartment, and for some unknown reason, my bedroom became the repository for everything. I'd throw it in there, and shut the door and not look in it unless opening it to throw more stuff in. I slept on her bed, or on the couch. Anything to avoid "The Room". When I ran out of clean clothes, I bought more. It was impossible to find anything in there, so I bought a lot of new things to replace things that I couldn't even begin to look for. What forced me to clean it up eventually was moving out. Then, I had more things than anybody could possibly need in life -- but I couldn't bear to throw perfectly good things away. That is the hoarder side of me. At that point, I had at least two of everything, and more clothes than any clothes horse should have.

Fast forward to my "u-store-it" years. At one time, I had storage lockers in three states simultaneously. Is it just poor planning, or hoarding? It wasn't cluttering up my life, because it was all contained. It took two years to consolidate and get everything into one unit, in one state. In one of the states, the place was right next to Goodwill. Almost everything went, except what fit in my car. At the next state, did the same thing (not as convenient, but still a big purge). When I filled the third and final space, I still had at least two of everything. I paid for that space for years.

Just as an aside, the self-storage industry is NOT suffering at all during this economic downturn. It's indicative of something, I'm sure.

It was a cross-country move that forced me to pare down to a single small truck load, at last. I was not going to allow myself the luxury again of multi-state storage lockers. It felt good to have minimized the amount of possessions I had. It was a conscious effort, not to acquire more 'things' after that move. Still, when it was time to leave back across the country again, the truckbed was so full it pushed the tailgate off the hinges from the bottom. Technically it still all fit, but not *well*.

I have since acquired more furniture and other crap... the spare room is officially "the crap room". But I have learned how to keep it from becoming cluttered, by using big rubbermaid containers. And again, it seems I have two of everything that I do have, but I don't have things like ashtrays, pez dispensers, etc. So there is less of it than in previous years. Many of the things I've kept are just junk, but it's stuff I think I may need sometime. I don't buy things any more, other than food. I've lately been donating a lot of things, and am hoping to be able to use the "crap room" for something besides crap. The other areas at home are very sparsely furnished and free of clutter. Out of necessity more than desire. Clutter is especially challenging visually to me these days so there's a zero tolerance for that. Even living in nearly empty rooms, I sometimes can't find my keys to save my life.

Most of my family members are hoarders to an extent. We were a large brood, and whenever we moved (which was often) mother purged according to the "one year" rule that someone else here mentioned. There is not one single toy or piece of furniture left from childhood that any of us has. Maybe that contributes to our hoarding our own things, as a way of retaining a sense of self. Though I must say of the things that I have now, most of the things are useful more than sentimental (except the leathers, which will never fit again). It sucks to have to buy something that I just donated to someone, so I only give away things I have at least two of.

And there's still plenty of that to go around.

[cara]

My mom and her two brothers are all hoarders. My mom has two storage units and a garage full of things she has not looked at in over 5 years. When it comes to clutter and Things in my living space, I'm the opposite of my mom. I prefer to keep my apartment simple and buy/keep only what I need. I remember cleaning my room while I was growing up. The chore always involved my mom going through my trash to make sure I wasn't throwing away anything she thought was important. Even now, I have to hide the fact I am taking things to Goodwill from my mom. If I tell her, it will more than likely end up back in my parents home. Talk about frustrating!

My uncle who lives with my grandma is the worst of the three siblings. He goes to rummage sales and buys bags of clothes he does not wear. The floor of his bedroom is stacked to the brim with old newspaper stock statistics that he is planning to analyze "some day." The floor is so heavy, it sits below the rest of the house. He has now taken to collecting the wood stakes from political posters. He volunteers at a computer bank and brings home spare computer parts. Boxes of spare parts are piled around the house. Every time I speak with my grandma she mentions how unsatisfied she is with not being able to walk around her house or invite people over. Yet, she won't say anything to my uncle because he is the one who takes care of her and drives her everywhere and that is the "price she has to pay."

I feel sad, but can't do anything about it. I think that's the hardest part for me. Oh, and also knowing that when all of them are gone, I am going to be the one who will have to deal with all the crap they have accumulated. :seeingstars:

[Kat]

Don't y'all have recycling pick-up with your trash service? Is there a recycling center you can take stuff to?

Yes to both questions, but most recyclables have to be prepped before they're recycled. Jars have to be washed out, labels have to be peeled from cans, boxes have to be broken down, etc. I often don't do those things in the most timely manner...

I've been recycling trash for the last 20 years -- before garbage haulers included recycling, and before I had the means to take anything to a recycle center with any regularity -- so I got used to accumulating it before I could get rid of it. The idea of recyclables being thrown away in my house causes me physical anxiety -- mild heart palpitations and nausea. I can't stand the idea of sending crap to the landfill if it can be reused. It's an understatement to say that June doesn't feel the same way about it, hence, the periodic conflicts...

[Medusa]

My mom and her two brothers are all hoarders. My mom has two storage units and a garage full of things she has not looked at in over 5 years. When it comes to clutter and Things in my living space, I'm the opposite of my mom. I prefer to keep my apartment simple and buy/keep only what I need. I remember cleaning my room while I was growing up. The chore always involved my mom going through my trash to make sure I wasn't throwing away anything she thought was important. Even now, I have to hide the fact I am taking things to Goodwill from my mom. If I tell her, it will more than likely end up back in my parents home. Talk about frustrating!

My uncle who lives with my grandma is the worst of the three siblings. He goes to rummage sales and buys bags of clothes he does not wear. The floor of his bedroom is stacked to the brim with old newspaper stock statistics that he is planning to analyze "some day." The floor is so heavy, it sits below the rest of the house. He has now taken to collecting the wood stakes from political posters. He volunteers at a computer bank and brings home spare computer parts. Boxes of spare parts are piled around the house. Every time I speak with my grandma she mentions how unsatisfied she is with not being able to walk around her house or invite people over. Yet, she won't say anything to my uncle because he is the one who takes care of her and drives her everywhere and that is the "price she has to pay."

I feel sad, but can't do anything about it. I think that's the hardest part for me. Oh, and also knowing that when all of them are gone, I am going to be the one who will have to deal with all the crap they have accumulated. :seeingstars:


Cara! You just made me think of something when you were talking about your mom not letting you throw stuff away. My birth mom was the exact opposite and threw EVERYTHING away.
I think back to my childhood and the feelings of dread that I would have when it was time to pack my weekend suitcase to go see my Father. I knew that coming home would mean that many things that I valued and cherished in my room would be gone. My birth Mom would use the excuse of "cleaning my room" to basically dismantle everything in it in case I might be hiding something or keeping something that she deemed as "garbage".
There were multiple times that she threw away books, toys, papers, and my "yard treasures" (birds nests, feathers, rocks, and things I had found in the fields next to our house). I had to explain to a teacher once that my Mom had thrown away a science project over the weekend.
I once had to tell a friend that the sweater that she let me borrow was in the trash bin because my Mom thought it made me look too "slutty". Nothing was safe.
I tried different hiding places and nothing worked. I would hide things in coat pockets and hang them in the closet. She found them. I tried hiding things under the mattress. She found them. Panty drawer? No go.
I even once peeled back a corner of the carpet in my bedroom and hid a few pages from my journal where I had written a torrid love story about me and Donnie Wahlburg from "New Kids on the Block". Imagine my embarrassment when she had not only found it, but made me read it aloud in front of my step-Father. Cringe-worthy? Yes. Even better? My step-Father was doing some really gross sexualizing with me at the time. Cringed yet?

The biggest memory I have of the dreaded-cleanout that resulted in feeling powerless, (because let's face it, that's what Im talking about is the powerlessness that I had over my own space) was the time I went off to summer camp. I had just barely entered my 12-year old angsty stage and had plastered the walls of my part of the room (I shared with my 7-year old brother and a 9-year old stepsister) with hand-drawn posters of Sebastian Bach, skulls, Axl Rose, guitars entwined with roses, barbed-wired hearts, and random weirdness. I had made the room mine somewhat, arranging my few possessions and drawing supplies on my dresser and covering my bed in an old scrap piece of lace. I wanted it to be sexy and dark and it might have been on some level. (I call it my "Lita Ford" stage)
I was gone to camp for approximately a month. When I got back home, I had dyed my hair blue, pierced my own ears, shaved a couple of "Vanilla Ice"-style lines in one eyebrow and had decided that whatever my Mother had done to my room would be immediately undone.

When I walked into the house and entered my room, my entire being was filled with horror. She had thrown away all of my drawings and had painted the walls pink. She had hung one of those paste-on borders with cabbage roses and birds around the room. The curtains were lace. The bedspread was a pink and white wedding-ring quilt that she had found at Goodwill. There was a porcelain doll on my bed, sitting there staring at me with huge "Im so precious I want to vomit" eyes. There were random silk flowers and pink things everywhere. I broke out into a sweat and walked to my closet and opened the doors. She had gone through all of my clothing and had thrown away most of it. I am not kidding when I say that I had 2 dresses, 2 pairs of jeans, and 5 shirts hanging there.
All of my beloved death metal t-shirts were gone. All of my homemade gothery, gone.
It felt like an assault on my very being.

Needless to say, I dont deal well with invasions of space or privacy to this day :)

I think that this kind of stuff affected me for a long time. I used to catch myself in my early twenties in my own home throwing something in the floor....sometimes a sock, sometimes an egg...and giggling wildly just because I COULD. Because the space was mine, and nobody was going to come in and take my things or throw my shit away.

Ahhhh. Memories.

/gush

[SassyLeo]

Yes to both questions, but most recyclables have to be prepped before they're recycled. Jars have to be washed out, labels have to be peeled from cans, boxes have to be broken down, etc. I often don't do those things in the most timely manner...

I've been recycling trash for the last 20 years -- before garbage haulers included recycling, and before I had the means to take anything to a recycle center with any regularity -- so I got used to accumulating it before I could get rid of it. The idea of recyclables being thrown away in my house causes me physical anxiety -- mild heart palpitations and nausea. I can't stand the idea of sending crap to the landfill if it can be reused. It's an understatement to say that June doesn't feel the same way about it, hence, the periodic conflicts...

Recycling: especially now that they expect the Yamhill River landfill to be full by 2014 and with the possibility of expansion??? Ugh!

http://www.mcdumpville.com/home.html :mad:

[Jackhammer]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e190/dockrammer06/wantedcriminal.jpg

[amiyesiam]

Michelle at Kraft says about experation dates on Jello"

Hi kittyes2,
The code date on the box is a "use by date". For example, 01SEP09 D8 06:46 means consume by Sept. 1 2009. If the code does not look like this, than it's a Julian code date, and the product has expired because Kraft stopped using the Julian code dates back in 2003.

[cara]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e190/dockrammer06/wantedcriminal.jpg

Jack--This is hilarious! Now I'm thinking we need to re-create the Jell-o thread. LOL!

:stillheart:

[WhiteTigress]

Yes Thank you. WT did the same thing when she came up and organized my pantry, and I came unglued, cause it doesn't really expire. But when i got down here I made a point of showing her on some of her expensive looking tea that they too had expired. And as soon as she through some out i felt better about her throwing of mine out.Now she doesn't throw my stuff out without asking.
TIMBER
That's true. I was also guilty of tossing out hir old (used) shower curtain liner, that shi brought when shi moved down here. I reasoned it to the fact that we didn't know when we would be moving into a 2/2 apartment, and a new one is so inexpensive, rather than save one that would likely become mildewed in storage in the ensuing months.

Timber's made great strides in weeding out things that have accumulated over the years. Shi did some prior to the move, and since there's still so many boxes and crates scattered about the house, shi's continuing to go through some to toss out more.

Prior to hir move here, I had to purge out a lot of my stuff, and still have 2 baskets of things to go through in the bedroom, so I can find new homes for them, either in the house, or somewhere else.

I've been a collector of teddy bears since I was given a 3-foot one from my brother, on my 13th birthday. Over the years the collection grew and waned, but when my marriage was coming undone, I began to hoard them. In my mind, every teddy bear has a heart and soul, and they love unconditionally. I was then in a relationship with someone else who shared a love of bears, so the collection continued to grow. When that relationship ended, and I moved into this home (my first home that was mine only), and I stored the bears away in boxes, and only kept a few out for companionship.

As the last few years have moved forward, and the need to scale down increased, I began donating my beloved bears to a local red-ribbon toy drive, for children infected and affected by HIV. I started that in the holiday season of 2008, and really trimmed further in 2009. I went through crates in my walk-in closet, and I dug more up in my storage unit (I have a climate-controlled unit). This year, while having a heavy discussion about thinning out things with Timber, I tearfully put some that I really wanted to keep, into the boxes for donation. Shi saw how much this was hurting me, so shi convinced me to go ahead and keep one of a group of four that I was giving away. Shi also moved a special Cherished Teddies plush trio, that had been stored in a corner, to a place of prominence on our entertainment center.

It's been difficult for me to part with things, because this home is the first time that I had complete control and say-so about what was a part of it, but I want Timber to feel that it's hir home, too, so I make adjustments as necessary. I also feel that shi will still need to continue to go through and toss out things as time goes on, as it's a two-way street on this combining of households.

The hard part is that shi's still got a whole lot of stuff in storage up in the country, outsided of the Dallas area, and shi's planning to move it all when we get a two-bedroom unit. What's hard about it is that, when we move into that unit, we WILL have 2 bedrooms, but all the rooms, including the living room and kitchen, will all be smaller rooms than we have right now. We have a really LARGE one-bedroom unit (805 square feet), and while shi will gain an entire walk-in closet, I will be reduced from a walk-in AND a smaller closet, to just a smaller walk-in. I don't know, perhaps I can sweet-talk hir into sharing a little of hir closet space then.

I don't see where we will ever be able to live completely without storage units, until we perhaps get a house together. It's something I can maybe hope for some day, but for now, I know where to go to put things away, or get them out when needed, just a few miles down the road. Yes, I'll likely have to go do pick-ups and drop-offs of things I actually use, because no one has built an apartment designed just the way I need one.

WT

P.S. Yes, the tea WAS expensive, but when shown that it had an expiration date, and that it was past that date, I was not going to deny that it needed to be tossed out. Spice were done the same way. Shi tossed some of hirs. I tossed some of mine.

P.P.S. You guys are talking about just plain Jell-O. Timber is more of a hoarder of Jell-O pudding. That's not just plain gelatin, and there are proteins in that stuff that really can break down and make you sick. Oh, and that kind of pudding isn't as hard to find here as it was where shi used to live, so it's not that difficult to buy more, once the stockpile is used up.

[June]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06self-storage-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

That's an interesting article from the NY Times. Did you know 1 in 10 Americans has a storage unit?

They gave an example of a guy paying $200 per month because he didn't want to get rid of a $1,000 table at a yard sale and lose money. Only takes five months to lose it all.

Intrinsic value. Momentos. Collectibles. Family Photos. Paper. Things we *might* use/need someday. Clothes that *might* fit us again.

Thank you so much for sharing all of your stories. Now, tell me if you have a storage unit, and if so, what's in it?

I don't have a storage unit, but I have a garage I can't park in right now because one of my contractors was supposed to take the old stove and refrigerator as a partial trade, then changed his mind, so I have to deal with it now. And I'm procrastinating, even though the car is at risk being parked outside (we've had the seatbelts and airbags stolen before). I know I'll feel better once the add is on craigslist. I just know it.

[Jackhammer]

Well, I did have a storage unit for a few years, but since it was a company write off it worked for me.

No, Im not in denial I really needed it.

It was full of tools, clothes I've owned since I was in my 20's, a casket, fishing equipment, my scrap metal collection, my huge nail and screw collection, and materials and supplies ranging from plumbing,electrical,drywall,construction etc.

When we moved I did throw out the clothes, but the rest of it I brought with me.

I need it damn it.

[Diva]

When I lived in Atlanta, I had a 15x10 storage unit. When I moved to Austin, I could not beLIEVE what I had brought with me to ATL!! Most of it, crap. But I hauled that crap to Austin! And while I have gotten rid of a good deal of it, there's a good deal left....and it's sitting in my garage while the poor Mom~Mobile sits in the drive....all cold and lonely, but with seat belts and airbags intact.

(When my Mom died in 1999, we went through her freezer and found bag of pecans she had shelled and put in there......she dated everything. The tape read "1969". She taught me well.)

:eating:

[Apocalipstic]

I will be back with details after I have read completely....but let's just say I have an attic, a basement and a storage unit full of stuff.

:eatinghersheybar:

[Gemme]

Like WT, I collected teddy bears for a while. I still have some, but nowhere near as many as before. I couldn't just give them to Goodwill. I just *knew* whoever received them would not care for them like I did. By that, I mean put them on a shelf or in a box and never "use" them but keep them in pristine condition.

Finally, I decided that if I "had" to get rid of them (I really did), then I would do it on my own terms. So, I called up the local police department, where they had a program in which officers kept teddy bears in the trunks of their cruisers to give to kids they came across in their work. There was a lot of positive feedback for the program, so I donated a huge box to them. Knowing that the bears would help traumatized and hurt children help me let go.

[Words]

Okay, another golden Feng Shui rule (and a great excuse to get rid of more 'stuff').

If you're single and looking but still have stuff that reminds you of a former lover, then do your best to get rid of it. Feng Shui is all about intent, and the logic here is that you can't expect a new person to come into your life until you make room for them, in this case, by ridding yourself of reminders of previous lovers. (This is particularly important if your past relationship/s was/were unahappy ones.)

Remember though, it's not enough to simply chuck the stuff out and that as you gradually (or not so gradually) get rid of the reminders, you have to be mindful of why you're doing it (i.e., to make way for someone new in your life). Sounds nuts, I know, but it works.

Words

[SassyLeo]

Holy Crap, I am still laughing about this today! :huhlaugh:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e190/dockrammer06/wantedcriminal.jpg

[apretty]

Yes to both questions, but most recyclables have to be prepped before they're recycled. Jars have to be washed out, labels have to be peeled from cans, boxes have to be broken down, etc. I often don't do those things in the most timely manner...

... so I got used to accumulating it before I could get rid of it. The idea of recyclables being thrown away in my house causes me physical anxiety ...

since moving from california to arizona--i've been dismayed many times by the lack of recycling here--thankfully we have it at our home (my sister lives 30 minutes away and they had to pay a token monthly fee to get a recycle can at their home)...

i love recycling, there's something so satisfying in knowing that it's not going to landfill--however, i am not one to pull off labels--and i do a quick rinse as i go--i'm not soap and water -washing something that's going to find it's way to a chemical plant, eventually.

so, i'm wondering if you're unable to recycle at 'the curb' so your items must accumulate until you take them to recycle-location, or if you can recycle curbside and just aren't in the habit of prepping as you go? or what if you weren't so diligent about de-labeling the cans? (not sure if the pick-up won't take it, or?)

i know there's something satisfying about seeing a huge pile of cans that you're rescuing and saving the planet from--but i bet you could also enjoy a smaller pile of sorted and prepped recycling... maybe you and june could enjoy some daily recycle-prepping in the evenings, fire-side? :)

[suebee]

since moving from california to arizona--i've been dismayed many times by the lack of recycling here--thankfully we have it at our home (my sister lives 30 minutes away and they had to pay a token monthly fee to get a recycle can at their home)...

i love recycling, there's something so satisfying in knowing that it's not going to landfill--however, i am not one to pull off labels--and i do a quick rinse as i go--i'm not soap and water -washing something that's going to find it's way to a chemical plant, eventually.

so, i'm wondering if you're unable to recycle at 'the curb' so your items must accumulate until you take them to recycle-location, or if you can recycle curbside and just aren't in the habit of prepping as you go? or what if you weren't so diligent about de-labeling the cans? (not sure if the pick-up won't take it, or?)

i know there's something satisfying about seeing a huge pile of cans that you're rescuing and saving the planet from--but i bet you could also enjoy a smaller pile of sorted and prepped recycling... maybe you and june could enjoy some daily recycle-prepping in the evenings, fire-side? :)

Me too! I was horrified to go from curb-side recycling in one province to take-to-the-bin recycling (not so bad in and of itself) but that only included plastics, paper and cardboard! What about glass and metals? And returnables - you have to get in your car and take it to an industrial park. I'm lucky enough to have a car of my own, but it often means that I often recycle infrequently. It kills me to have to throw some stuff out, even if I seldom buy products in cans or jars.

You know, just the fact that I can read in this thread about others who are struggling with the same problems I am - problems we don't really discuss with others, is de-stressing me enormously. Thanks so much June for starting the thread!

[Bit]

I don't have a storage unit, but I have a garage I can't park in right now because one of my contractors was supposed to take the old stove and refrigerator as a partial trade, then changed his mind

Ohhhh I wish you could pop 'em into a flate rate priority mail envelope and mail them to me! lol! I need a stove and a fridge!

Yes to both questions, but most recyclables have to be prepped before they're recycled. Jars have to be washed out, labels have to be peeled from cans, boxes have to be broken down, etc. I often don't do those things in the most timely manner...

Huh? Well, I don't know where you are, Kat, but no, no, and no for all the places I've lived.... jars have to be food-free but that only takes a rinse (the same for plastic like milk jugs), cans do not have to have labels peeled at all, and boxes can go as they are or just be stepped on and squished. If your recycling place requires more than that, I'm amazed they get anything to recycle!


The idea of recyclables being thrown away in my house causes me physical anxiety -- mild heart palpitations and nausea.

YES, omg, yes. It causes me physical symptoms too, and actually, although I have totally renounced Christianity and all the related "guiltisms" if there IS a sin on the face of this green Earth it is to waste... so wasting food, wasting recyclables, wasting energy... oy... it really upsets me.

Like apretty and Sue, I too have come from places where there is outstanding curbside recycling to places where it's absolutely minimal. Gryph says the same for him; in Minnesota it was absolutely wonderful, and here it was nonexistent until just the last couple of years. This is my problem... I am already used to recycling everything including glass and all plastics, and now I can hardly recycle ANYTHING... but I still keep saving it because I know it is recyclable and well... well... see above about "sin." *beleaguered look*

To answer June's new question, I have lived the storage locker lifestyle and I have begrudged every dollar of it. I broke the storage locker habit as soon as I could with Gryph and if I have my way, we will never have another. I want my stuff with me, not being bug-infested and mouse-droppinged on someone else's property.

I started with storage lockers when my first partner and I moved out of her home and began a downward spiral of successive apartment moves. At one point I think we had three of them... gah... I hated it! It was such a sense of freedom to finally be in a place where all our stuff was with us, and all our money too! I found that same sense of freedom when we cleared out Gryph's storage locker and brought his stuff home.

[Lynn]

I'm the kind of person that doesn't mind a few dishes in the sink. My threshold for clutter and even grime seems to be higher than usual. I am not that bothered by some clothing, tossed at the side of the bed, feet away from the hamper. I have more books than I have shelves, but not so many that we trip over them. You get the idea. I'm not the best housekeeper, but if I know in advance that company's coming, I can easily clean up so that my house is presentable. But, I'll never have impromtu guests, which kind of saddens me.

What scares me is that, when I watch the reality shows about people that horde, and I hear their rationalizations about the condition of their homes and their possessions, I can see that, with enough stress, it's possible that I could move in their direction. No matter how much I love the environment when it's clean, neat, and uncluttered, I seem to always get back to a certain baseline which is messier than I think is normal.

I have been helped by some books on clutter, flylady, and reading about feng shui. If I regularly give away items I don't love or need, things go better for me in every area of life. For that reason, I love freecycle. Knowing that someone else will love or need what I have is motivation for me to let it go.

[christie]

Jess and I both come from hoarders. We know that when its time to sort my parents’ things, it might involve a gas can and match. S’Mores, anyone??

My father is what I call a “junker” – think Fred Sanford. He LOVES the “deal” – everything from a $2K sewing machine he nabbed at a garage sale for $2( it needs a bobbin adjustment) to the brand new chainsaw in its case that set him back a whopping $3. He has developed a relationship with the butcher at the market and EVERY morning, he is at the store bright and early. The butcher waits for my father and presents him with the trays and trays of meat ready to be reduced. They dicker over the price and my father struts away with half a side of beef.

It doesn’t seem to matter that you couldn’t get one additional grape in their fridge or that both the freezer on the fridge or the chest freezer that could double as a coffin are filled to overflowing. He needs that chainsaw even though he is nearly 75 and there are days his chronic health conditions keep him mostly sedentary – by God, he NEEDS that chainsaw. I am sure its stored in the basement with the 20 other saws.

My parents live in a rather large home – when they bought it, it had 16 rooms not including the garage. They have since torn down walls and combined some spaces, but its still HUGE…and yet there is barely a path to walk in the rooms.

They have one room that is full of VHS movies. They had a period when they would go on their bi-annual trip to the shore and proceed to buy out at least one mom and pop video store that was “going out of business.” My father would walk in and find someone in charge and say, “I’ll give ya a quarter for every one you have left.” No joke. One trip, they returned home with 347 movies. Not even first rate movies – really really bad B flicks.

When I still lived in Nashville, I wouldn’t buy anything without checking with Pops first. Even on this last trip home over Christmas, he gave Jess a compound miter saw because I had asked him what the difference in a double vs. single compound was so I would know what to buy.

I do derive a good deal of humor over his antics with the deal. You would have to see him in his Uncle Junior (Sopranos) eyeglasses (not his prescription – he picked them up at an estate sale) perched on the end of his nose, squinting overtop the dark frames. Index finger extended and tapping on whatever it is he must have, asking, “Can you do better on this?”

I know that the combination of depression/had nothing/quit school at 8 yrs old to work on the shrimping boats and the need for the deal are just part of who he is. Fortunately, the clutter of the need to save/have everything hasn’t turned into a hygiene issue like most of the folks on the show. He jokes that my mother has made him watch the show and he best start culling out some of his “stuff.”

I’m a collector – but I have gotten SO much better about having a limit. I love antique coffeepots. The top of the cabinets is now full without being cluttered and even though I found one I really liked the other day, I didn’t buy it.

If I could learn the same thing about yarn – well, Jess would be doing the happy dance.

Paper clutter makes me C R A Z Y. WHY, WHY do some think that every check stub for the last 9 years needs to be saved?

I do have a question. I see people living in the filth and clutter as different than hoarders.

Example: The NINE loads of pure garbage we hauled out of the three upstairs bedrooms of my motherinlaw’s home. It wasn’t her stuff, and I am sure she was so overwhelmed with the caretaking of her husband that she hadn’t ventured upstairs to even see what was there.

I don’t see her as a hoarder in this instance. I don’t see the crackhead sisterinlaw as a hoarder. I do see the sisterinlaw as lazy and well, just nasty.

I see my father as a hoarder. The garbage and filth don’t come into play – unless you count the dust since it would take a month to dust the entire house with all the crap in it.

Do you see a distinction between the two or are they one and the same? Do they co-exist with most people who hoard?

[IrishGrrl]

No, I personally am not a hoarder but!

My grandmother is a hoarder of major proportions. I cant even explain the feelings of sadness,anger,frustration it gives me. My grandmother is a saint..and I dont say that lightly. She really is. I feel horrible that she lives the way she does. When I was a small child I remember her home being a showplace, constant family parties. When I was 8 her boyfriend of 9 years left her. She was never the same since, and her home got worse and worse through the years. You CANNOT go there and throw anything away. EVER. She would disown you. I've tried over the years to go over, and stay awhile, and have (behind her back) thrown away bags and bags of stuff. These days there isnt even a pathway..you have to leap over piles to get through the house. The house is falling apart literally. She refuses to get professionals to come over to fix things(becouse she has more than enough money to do so) becouse of the horrendous mess. She also hoardes cats. My beloved grandmother sleeps on mounds of trash. She's 75 yrs old. She doesnt deserve to live that way.

Growing up, I guess my mother was a hoarder as well. Not only that, she was just gross. No other way to say it. Rotten food in the fridge, dishes piled up with rotten food in the sink, maggots, mice..you name it. We had a couple of cats who used the toilet all over the house, including my clothes, which were never washed. I remember going to school and being made fun of becouse my clothes were stained with cat piss and shit. Needless to say, I didnt have any friends. There wasnt alot of food in the house most of the time either. In the bathroom, instead of using toilet paper, or tampons, or pads..my mother used whatever clothes or towels were on the floor. I had one towel I kept hidden, and stole toilet paper from school and kept that secret too.

When I moved out on my own at 18 I didnt know how to determine if meat had gone bad or not from being in the fridge too long. I was too used to the smell of rotten food.
Becouse of the way I grew up, and how I saw my family do things, I am a reverse hoarder. I throw EVERYthing away. Seriously. (exept jello mix, cuz you know..)
I do however hoard food. That was one thing my grandmother taught me, and has actually has served me well when money was nearly non existent.

Just a month ago she called me to ask if I need her to send me money to go out and buy cases of canned corn, becouse she saw a program on the TV that talked about making gasoline from corn.

[June]

You get the idea. I'm not the best housekeeper, but if I know in advance that company's coming, I can easily clean up so that my house is presentable. But, I'll never have impromtu guests, which kind of saddens me.

I refuse to have people over unless the house is clean and uncluttered, and I love to entertain. I do not like cuddling, or drop in guests.

What scares me is that, when I watch the reality shows about people that horde, and I hear their rationalizations about the condition of their homes and their possessions, I can see that, with enough stress, it's possible that I could move in their direction. No matter how much I love the environment when it's clean, neat, and uncluttered, I seem to always get back to a certain baseline which is messier than I think is normal.

This is from Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsive_hoarding

Level I Hoarder
Household is considered standard. No special knowledge in working with the Chronically Disorganized is necessary.

Level II Hoarder
Household requires professional organizers or related professionals to have additional knowledge and understanding of Chronic Disorganization.

Level III Hoarder
Household may require services in addition to those a professional organizer and related professional can provide. Professional organizers and related professionals working with Level III households should have significant training in Chronic Disorganization and have developed a helpful community network of resources, especially mental health providers.

Level IV Hoarder
Household needs the help of a professional organizer and a coordinated team of service providers. Psychological, medical issues or financial hardships are generally involved. Resources will be necessary to bring a household to a functional level. These services may include pest control services, "crime scene cleaners," financial counseling and licensed contractors and handy persons.

Level V Hoarder
Household will require intervention from a wide range of agencies. Professional organizers should not venture directly into working solo with this type of household. The Level V household may be under the care of a conservator or be an inherited estate of a mentally ill individual. Assistance is needed from many sources. A team needs to be assembled. Members of the team should be identified before beginning additional work. These members may include social services and psychological/mental health representative (not applicable if inherited estate), conservator/trustee, building and zoning, fire and safety, landlord, legal aid and/or legal representatives. A written strategy needs to be outlined and contractual agreements made before proceeding.


I have been helped by some books on clutter, flylady, and reading about feng shui. If I regularly give away items I don't love or need, things go better for me in every area of life. For that reason, I love freecycle. Knowing that someone else will love or need what I have is motivation for me to let it go.

Oh, Lynn. Thank you so much for putting this out there. I think a lot of people live on this kind of edge, actually.

[June]

I do have a question. I see people living in the filth and clutter as different than hoarders.

Example: The NINE loads of pure garbage we hauled out of the three upstairs bedrooms of my motherinlaw’s home. It wasn’t her stuff, and I am sure she was so overwhelmed with the caretaking of her husband that she hadn’t ventured upstairs to even see what was there.

I don’t see her as a hoarder in this instance. I don’t see the crackhead sisterinlaw as a hoarder. I do see the sisterinlaw as lazy and well, just nasty.

I see my father as a hoarder. The garbage and filth don’t come into play – unless you count the dust since it would take a month to dust the entire house with all the crap in it.

Do you see a distinction between the two or are they one and the same? Do they co-exist with most people who hoard?

Christie -- Thank you, and your dad sounds like my Granddad so much! He loved to bargain with folks and would buy tools, fix them - But then, he would resell them, In addition to the 300LB of metal I discovered, he also had about 3-4 dozen cans of paint, thinners and oils, some with barely a tablespoon of product in them, but he couldn't get rid of it.

I don't know what the difference is, I posted the wiki levels, but I don't know if they're right. I do think we all have a different threshhold. Mine is much lower than Kat's, which doesn't make her a bad person, it means we have different priorities.

[June]

No, I personally am not a hoarder but!

She also hoardes cats. My beloved grandmother sleeps on mounds of trash. She's 75 yrs old. She doesnt deserve to live that way.

I'm not going to lie, this made me cry a little bit. But if you tell anyone? I will cut you. ;)

Growing up, I guess my mother was a hoarder as well. Not only that, she was just gross. No other way to say it. Rotten food in the fridge, dishes piled up with rotten food in the sink, maggots, mice..you name it. We had a couple of cats who used the toilet all over the house, including my clothes, which were never washed. I remember going to school and being made fun of becouse my clothes were stained with cat piss and shit. Needless to say, I didnt have any friends. There wasnt alot of food in the house most of the time either. In the bathroom, instead of using toilet paper, or tampons, or pads..my mother used whatever clothes or towels were on the floor. I had one towel I kept hidden, and stole toilet paper from school and kept that secret too.

And this? It made me want to cuddle you, and you know I hate to cuddle, but no one should grow up this way, but they do. You survived it, miraculously. This was a really powerful story like the rest of them, and I know it must have taken a lot of courage to do it. Thank you.

[Medusa]

Im watching a "Hoarders" marathon on A&E as we speak.

It makes me want to throw things away. I hate to admit this as well but I have an overwhelming fascination with people who hoard and have watched every "hoarder" video on youtube that I could find.

I have definitely noticed a difference in "clean" hoarders and filthy ones. One show that we watched a few months back had a woman that was definitely a hoarder but all of her treasures were stored neatly in bins or piled in neat piles on all of the flat surfaces of her home. Another person in the same show had trash and filth everywhere but was also a bad hoarder - this particular person had wiped their ass and and thrown the shitty toilet paper all over the bathroom and it was probably 2 feet high.

I feel bad for the shows we watch where the people have children who live in that chaos. I remember what it felt like with my Step-mother - the constant chaos, never being able to find anything, being late for everything because of it, the dirty clothes, the smells, the gnats.

The show is definitely fascinating.

[Kat]

so, i'm wondering if you're unable to recycle at 'the curb' so your items must accumulate until you take them to recycle-location, or if you can recycle curbside and just aren't in the habit of prepping as you go? or what if you weren't so diligent about de-labeling the cans? (not sure if the pick-up won't take it, or?)

Actually, Portland was one of the pioneers of curbside recycling in the early 90's, although the city didn't do more than small crates for each residence for many years. Then last year, they distributed big rolling carts that hold ten times the amount of recyclables that the crates could hold. They also collect a wide variety of things curbside, so that's not really the issue (although they don't take plastic bags, and those build up fast -- I have to take them to the local recycle center...) It's more about having a place to put everything while they're waiting for the curbside bin or the recycle center, since I tend to prep things all at once rather than as they are discarded.

I know that for years the city stressed that labels had to be removed from cans -- it may have changed when they started accepting unsorted recycling (cans and paper can be dumped in the same bin.) The issue with that is that it makes the jobs of folks working at recycle centers that much harder, since they have to do the sorting that residents used to have to do. And those are actually really dangerous jobs, as it is, with the chemicals in paper and the sharp cans and broken glass, etc. I don't like contributing to that fuckery, either....

i know there's something satisfying about seeing a huge pile of cans that you're rescuing and saving the planet from--but i bet you could also enjoy a smaller pile of sorted and prepped recycling... maybe you and june could enjoy some daily recycle-prepping in the evenings, fire-side? :)

Does June really seem like the "fun-with-garbage-sorting" type to you...? :walking-poodle:

[Diva]

Well, I did have a storage unit for a few years, but since it was a company write off it worked for me.

No, Im not in denial I really needed it.

It was full of tools, clothes I've owned since I was in my 20's, a casket, fishing equipment, my scrap metal collection, my huge nail and screw collection, and materials and supplies ranging from plumbing,electrical,drywall,construction etc.

When we moved I did throw out the clothes, but the rest of it I brought with me.

I need it damn it.


Jack,
I'm thinkin' that casket would make for a very lovely tool chest....and long enough for fishin' pole storage, yes? :eyebat:

Ever helpful.....

[June]

Okay, y'all! I just posted my laundry room.

Show me yours now...

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=436

[Arwen]

Dear Kat,

Click here (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/sws/singlestream.htm)for why Austin would be good for you.

Love
Come to Texas Now And Bring The Juney and no one gets hurt

P.to the S. There's even a video

[apretty]

Does June really seem like the "fun-with-garbage-sorting" type to you...? :walking-poodle:

no, probably not...

but i can get behind tossing cans/jars into bins--there's such a satisfying crash/bang that i find truly compelling!

[Diva]

Okay, y'all! I just posted my laundry room.

Show me yours now...

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=436

I'll come help You if You'll come help me......You have a big laundry room!

:threadneedspics:

[Medusa]

I have pics of our "Garage of Doom":

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=442

and here:

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=443

and here

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=444

[Jackhammer]

Jack,
I'm thinkin' that casket would make for a very lovely tool chest....and long enough for fishin' pole storage, yes? :eyebat:

Ever helpful.....




You're freaking brilliant. Fishing poll storage. Grunt......

[amiyesiam]

I don't hoard. I tend to dispose of things. I have a low threshold for clutter. I learned by my late twenties not to collect things cause they ended up at the second hand store. I think Corkey is finally comfortable with the concept that I like to look, but saying I like something is NOT code for buy me that. (really please don't)
We have no basement, attic, or storage unit. We do have a shed. That is where the lawnmower, grill, and seasonal things go.

I don't have a junk drawer
A couple of times a year I get twitchy and start going through things and disposing of them (recycling when i can or second hand shop)

We do recycle here. Everything just goes in clear bags and they pick it up on trash day. Except pizza boxes those can't be recycled here. We have places to take cans for $.

I have issues with food. I do not like to stock up and I am a major pain in Corkey's ass about what needs to be used in the fridge/freezer etc. I don't like to have leftovers unless they will be used.
I work in a group home and I handle the organization of the fridge/freezers and pantry. I make sure things don't languish in the back of said freezer/fridge. It just squicks me out for food to be around for ages even canned food.

I have much respect for those of you that grew up in hoarding situations. My parents have a lot of stuff, more than they did when I was at home, but people keep dying and they get stuff and keep it. They have lots of nice stuff and a huge house. I have been kind and loving and informed them that as the oldest and only girl I really would appreciate it if they would go through all that stuff before they die, cause I do not wan to do it. I am quite sure my mom appreciated my honestly. :thinking:
(I also have informed them if they want a funeral they damn well better prearrange it:() (they still haven't)

Lastly, I think the openness and honesty of this thread is a beautiful thing. Being honest about who one is and finding acceptance is a good thing. Much respect to all who are sharing the hard stuff

[IrishGrrl]

One of the things that really upsets/pisses me off is this. I had a shitty childhood most of the time that involved much and varied abuse. The few wonderful/fond/joyous memories I DO have of my childhood are in "that house". All my life I've told my grandmother that the house is really mine, and we laugh together about it. In reality, my mother will probly get possesion of the house. She will most likely sell it(for pennies on the dollar in it's condition)
and I wont have the opportunity to even fix the house up in my grandmother's memory. And if I DID get the house? Where the hell would I start? Get the money to fix the house from the foundation up? I want that house, and I want to restore it to the glory it once was, when my grandmother was so happy.

These days, she literally calls it the "house of pain". There is no working plumbing, or heat/AC. She lives in the DC area so the winters can be pretty brutal.

It breaks my heart.

[Lynn]

I do have a question. I see people living in the filth and clutter as different than hoarders.

Example: The NINE loads of pure garbage we hauled out of the three upstairs bedrooms of my motherinlaw’s home. It wasn’t her stuff, and I am sure she was so overwhelmed with the caretaking of her husband that she hadn’t ventured upstairs to even see what was there.

I don’t see her as a hoarder in this instance. I don’t see the crackhead sisterinlaw as a hoarder. I do see the sisterinlaw as lazy and well, just nasty.

I see my father as a hoarder. The garbage and filth don’t come into play – unless you count the dust since it would take a month to dust the entire house with all the crap in it.

Do you see a distinction between the two or are they one and the same? Do they co-exist with most people who hoard?

I think there seems to be a relationship between the two, at least to some degree. Hoarding seems to include a reduced awareness of how all that stuff is impacting on the space or on the wellbeing of self or others. My former father-in-law had boxes and papers piled up all over the place, so much so that there was only a narrow path throughout their house. My mother-in-law did her best to keep things clean, but it was difficult to clean around the stuff. He was clueless about the impact of his stuff on their lives. I guess it depends on the situation, though. Our babysitter used to collect VHS tapes, too. She had boxes and boxes that took up a whole room of their four room apartment. That's very dysfunctional, I think. But, she was quite clean and organized. She just couldn't let go of things like the tapes and other stuff that she collected.

[Gemme]

no, probably not...

but i can get behind tossing cans/jars into bins--there's such a satisfying crash/bang that i find truly compelling!

Especially at 3 in the morning and setting off the neighbor's dogs! :p

Orrrr....maybe that's just me. :blink:


I suppose I would consider myself a Junior Potential Hoarder, meaning the ability to do it is there but (thankfully) it's not fully recognized within myself. I do understand why it's so hard for hoarders to let go of stuff sometimes. The things we bring into our lives are a reflection of us, in one form or another. So, to throw things away that are a part of us (even if it's piles and piles of unread newspapers or bits and pieces of things we'll never use) is like, literally, ripping a chunk of ourselves out and saying that WE are not worth keeping. It's a serious mindfuck, definitely.

[Jess]

Saw a commercial a few minutes ago, that Oprah is doing a special on Hoarders today. I am EST, so that is 4 PM here. Going to try to catch it.

[Dude]

I am fascinated by the stories and awed by the honesty in this thread.

I have from time to time been a little on the Sanford side of things.
5 vehicles in the drive with only one person in the house.
I had some mega shame around my garage from hell.

I did a major downsizing of my stuff to move to Texas in a 26' truck
and 34' RV. Saying that feels bizarre when it was just my stuff alone.
There really was no furniture other than a roll top desk and bed that
I decided to bring. So what the hell is the rest of it all?

Down sizing my junk drawer down to one jar of good stuff was as tough
as throwing away letters I have had since I was 16. Hello, I'm 48.

A few times I needed to hire a few, close friends to help me for the day.
I could not imagine not paying someone to be around me while I sifted through
the wreckage of my past. I honestly was not sure I would not have a melt
down of sorts when I went through stuff that would trigger memories (death's mostly.. and way too fuckin many) for me.

I would get overwhelmed and stuck.
I think I may have ADD because I would get so sidetracked I would make
absolutely no progress. I think it can swoop you up and swallow your ass
if you let it continue.

Imagine my glee this morning as I went out on the back porch and saw that
someone has saved 4 egg cartons for me ( something I tried to begin saving here
back in March for my future chickens)
Worm containers same deal ...cuz someday me and Arnold are starting us a worm farm.

Perfectly good and someday are words I am now seriously dissecting.
It's a balance and well being thang.
Athough I have yet to organize the garage here its easily do-able now
which is a huge burden off of my scattered brain bits.

[Dude]

just seconds later I hear a bling on the inbox

oh looky
theres an axle on freecycle
it could be my wheels for the chicken coop invention.

:rolleyes:

[Deborah]

oh dear :worried:....how do I break it to Dude that the egg cartons are for our friend that DOES have chickens and its to replace the ones she has given us....I do promise to start saving egg cartons for Dude when I see construction of the Hen House begin....:builder:


Oh and thank you my sweet prince for not mentioning my hoarding of ALL HOLIDAY decor...although this thread has caused me to look at the fact that I MAY have a problem which has resulted in the downsizing of Christmas decorations by at least three car loads ....

[Jess]

I've also been amazed at the level of honesty here. So often folks "put their best side forward" and tuck away the less attractive aspects.

I've always considered the word "hoard" differently than what I see on most of the shows. That it is an act of collecting and safeguarding "treasures". What I have come to see, is that too often "everything" becomes a needed item. That these "treasures" take over space until folks become so overwhelmed with it that they have no place to put actual necessities and it all becomes a jumbled "blur" of stuff.

I guess that's where the Levels of Hoarding comes in. My mom hoardes her "treasures" and tends to be a yard sale / thrift store shopper. She has some very neat pieces of glass and collects cast iron pans. These in and of themselves don't bother me. It's all the other junk she collects. Crates and crates of Christmas stuff, including like five artificial trees all missing parts. Tons of framed pictures , most that should never grace a wall. Boxes of unorganized photos of God knows whom, taken God knows when. Some are kinda cool, so I may scan them and make a couple neat prints, but mostly they are long forgotten relics creating not only space problems but fire hazards.

When we merged our two households ( ours with mom), Christie and I got rid of a lot of stuff, including furniture and appliances that we gave to my brother ( a different "cringe" story altogether). We have stored a lot of our stuff in the "garage from hell" ( actually two buildings) along with a lot of my mom's stuff. We are still in the process of organizing it and clearing more out so that we might actually have working, usable space for projects and yard tool storage.

I have a tendency to save things that may be handy during our renovation projects, but I have come a long way in saving the personal memory holders that I don't really need. I have two crates of "stuff" that I go through every couple of years, letting go of more of it.

My "collectibles" are kind of odd and often are encouraged by Christie and mom more than from myself. Read: I don't want for much so they take every opportunity to purchase me the little things I am fond of. ( I have to smile at this, as it is such a loving act, but really, ladies.. I have enough pitchers.... ) LOL ! Yes, I collect pitchers and vintage linens. Please note: I DO use them! Not just "store" them. I also have a love of vintage ( metal wind up ) toys, but I don't see those appearing...LOL!

I find it funny that when folks "know" what your "thing" is.. they get you those for gifts. Without realizing it, they may be adding to the hoarding issue. My grandmother loved "bells". EVERYONE bought her "bells". She had bookcases filled with them in every room and every other surface ( dressers/ tvs/ end tables, etc) had at least a couple on them. WTF??? The funny thing is, I NEVER heard one of them ring.

I think it is also interesting how we surround ourselves with so many material things that we have no place to "rest". Someone mentioned earlier the "bare spaces" on the floor and how they had to be filled up. I know Nature abhors emptiness, perhaps we are just being "natural" ? No idea. All I know is I can't stand clutter and my tools living on the back porch because I can't get the shed cleared fast enough is driving me nuts! LOL!

Great thread! Thank you all for sharing your stories!

[Medusa]

Anyone wanna talk about their Holiday Hoard?

I have 9 plastic tubs and 4 more boxes of Xmas shit. Ornaments, lights, things that sit on shelves. Im so DONE with it. I have this much because I usually put up 2 or 3 different trees and like to make a different tree every year.

Thanks to Jacks mother, who has an obsession with mechanical dolls and toys, I also own several santas that sing, outhouses that have farting Santas inside of them, scary witches that stab themselves in the head, "lowrider" hearses, other "lowrider" cars with varying degrees of Santas, easter bunnies that rap, hound dogs that howl "Jingle Bells". etc. You get the picture.
She was on a tear for awhile with the mechanical dolls and gave us one every week it seemed like. I had told her several times that we didnt have room, that they creep me out, that they scare the dog, etc. etc. and still, they kept coming.

We told people not to give us anything for Christmas this year. My aunt and cousin didnt listen and we got coffee and chocolates anyway but they dont feel the same as cookie jars in the shape of a Hippo or random plastic doo-dads to sit on shelves. The coffee and chocolate will actually disappear at some point.

Before I moved to California 5 years ago, I did a serious purge of all of my stuff and, at that time, got rid of a truckload of holiday stuff. Random christmas decor, plastic pumpkins, paper mache turkies, etc. I do remember watching the truck being offloaded at a donation center and thinking "damn, I would love to have all of the money that I paid for that shit right about now."

[SuperFemme]

Seven years ago I was the most organized person I know.
Having a head injury has ruined that.

This scares me to say out loud. I have three years of un opened mail. It gives me such severe anxiety that I don't check the mail until the postperson yells at me or takes it all back to the post office.

When I was in the rehabilitation hospital, they had to put sticky notes up to prompt me to do just about everything. Brush Teeth. Put toothpaste on toothbrush. Rinse. Get in shower. Check temperature. Use shampoo. Dry off. Put on underwear and bra.

It was awful because I couldn't track myself. That is where this other symptom came in. If anyone moves my things I have a full blown panic attack. Cal has a bottle of valium and gives me one when I get too bad.

I know how many bobble heads, day of the dead, and religious articles I have in my home. 231. They comfort me, but it is kind of ridiculous.

There are 40 bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash in my shower.
I don't know how to get rid of clothes. I have to get tricked into interventions.

The decision making and impulse centers in my brain were so damaged that these simple tasks become monumental and I get overwhelmed. I keep most of my piles in my room, they are not blocking any pathways. Yet. I am trying a new combination of drugs; Lexapro and Aricept (an alzheimers drug used for brain injury) and twice a week therapy sessions.

Because that show scares the shit out of me. If I ever start saving trash just shoot me, ok?

[amiyesiam]

Something I realized about 6-7 years ago, as my only child was getting close to adulthood. She is the inheritor of my stuff. Ya Corkey will get stuff, but eventually SHE will get it. She is a wanderer. She has had 9 addresses in the 4.5 years she has had her son. She is not someone who will necessarily treasure my stuff. The puts things in perspective.
Think about it: WHO will get your "treasured stuff" when you pass? Are they going to garage sale most of it? Or pass it on to future generations?
Also, it just occurred to me: who is going to do the actual going through of my stuff? OK, that is just creepy to think about.

[Bit]

....but mostly they are long forgotten relics creating not only space problems but fire hazards....

Jess, I think you put your finger on it for me. It's the fire hazard. My stuff may be a mess, I may not have enough furniture to put it away into, it may be dusty... but when it's a fire hazard, that crosses some kind of line for me. As long as it's cluttered and messy, it's still bearable, but if I look at it and see danger, actual danger, then it's got to go.

I am also fighting a disability in this clutter war. Monday I was so sick I had to cancel with the friend who was going to help me. Sick or no, over the past couple days I've gone to the grocery store, gotten my dishes all done again, done some serious cooking, and sorted out my bills. I felt pretty badly that Gryph had to take the laundry to the laundromat on his day off, though.... it aggravates me a lot that I cannot do what needs done. Aside from the half-mile walk to the laundromat (through snow and ice), it isn't even hard to do... but *sigh* I simply cannot. Right now I'm still walking the puppy eight to ten times a day and just doing that much takes it out of me.

I too, appreciate everyone's willingness to talk about this difficult subject. Dude mentioned being ashamed... I spent years being ashamed, years when I suffered through CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome).

Now, well... come on over, just please expect a mess! At least my kitchen and bathroom are clean enough not to scare anyone.

[Medusa]

Something I realized about 6-7 years ago, as my only child was getting close to adulthood. She is the inheritor of my stuff. Ya Corkey will get stuff, but eventually SHE will get it. She is a wanderer. She has had 9 addresses in the 4.5 years she has had her son. She is not someone who will necessarily treasure my stuff. The puts things in perspective.
Think about it: WHO will get your "treasured stuff" when you pass? Are they going to garage sale most of it? Or pass it on to future generations?
Also, it just occurred to me: who is going to do the actual going through of my stuff? OK, that is just creepy to think about.


Yes! THIS.

Jack and I have had multiple conversations about what we need to do with our stuff. There isnt a single person in my family who will care about the stories behind all of my treasures, the search for the perfect doo-dad, the fun that Jack and I had in our favorite antique shops.

I have one cousin that I will probably leave my jewelry to, the rest of my shit - I intend to have nothing left by the time I die. There are some nice antiques that I would probably donate to a museum or something, photographs that I might give to my brother and sister, but the rest of it? Light a match.

I am also very creeped out by anyone coming in and going through my stuff. I dont want anyone in my family (except for maybe the one cousin) going through my personal things and would be horrified if the stacks of my personal journals made it to the hands of folks I dont love. I have probably 70 journals and volumes of poetry stacked up in my office. Its actually ridiculous. I guess if I would go ahead and publish this shit, I could let the hand-written shit go.

[suebee]

www.flylady.net (http://www.flylady.com/)She talks about CHAOS (the "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome") It's a self-help site for "oganizationally challenged" people like us. :)

[Jess]

Now, well... come on over, just please expect a mess! At least my kitchen and bathroom are clean enough not to scare anyone.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

LOL! The girl has a saying.. "If you are coming to see ME, come on over.. if you are coming to see my Housekeeping, ya may wanna call a week in advance" LOL!

We keep our home very tidy, but depending on what day you visit, you may catch us mid-project or mid- de-cluttering. You will always find a warm smile and probably some food being shoved at you if you hit around dinner time though!

Regarding who gets our crap when we're gone:
Like Medusa, I plan to be rid of all of it. Our grand plan is to sell the house and pretty much everything we own when too old to care for it, yet young enough to spend our lives enjoying a warm tropical climate. Put away a good chunk for the bratboy ( son) and move to Costa Rica or somewhere similar.

NOBODY needs or wants my junk..LOL

[Dude]

the egg cartons are for our friend that DOES have chickens and its to replace the ones she has given us....
....

2 tiny cardboard containers of love placed gingerly onto the shelves in the garage?

OR

1 greasy axle tossed half hazardly along the side of the garage?

:sigh:your call

[IrishGrrl]

Dusa..
Will me your bone collection..

kthxbai

[Bit]

www.flylady.net (http://www.flylady.com/)She talks about CHAOS (the "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome") It's a self-help site for "oganizationally challenged" people like us. :)

LOL, I suppose I'm showing my age when I say that I started with Peggy and Pam, and their book Sidetracked Home Executives. They were flylady's inspiration. I relied on my box of index cards for YEARS... never been so organized in my life, but then I wasn't this sick.

Now I know what to do and when to do it... I just physically can't. But I do keep trying.

*loves Christie's saying*

[June]

I also love the honesty being put forward here. That's why I posted a picture of my laundry room and encouraged Angie and others to show theirs. Fuck. It's real! And it doesn't make me or anyone else a bad person. It did however make me vow to work on it some more this weekend! ;)

If you walked into my house today and hadn't seen the picture of my laundry room, you would never know my "Dirty Little Secret" because the rest of the house looks "normal". I really, really appreciate everyone sharing their stories here, I do think it is helping a lot of us cope, get a handle on or get rid of some of the shame we've felt. Thank you so much!

I also think Dude needs to actually make a coop and GET chickens before there is any hoarding of egg cartons.

[Bit]

Um, Juneytoons? The things which I DON'T see in your laundry room....?

I call mine the mudroom, cuz you won't see the washer and dryer in mine either.... at least not till I find a set. And it's just as piled up because it's where I also stashed all the stuff I didn't have anyplace else for.

Amazingly enough, there's nothing in the basement but the tools we used to clean it when the pipe broke--shovel, broom, bucket, scrub brushes. I just absolutely cannot bring myself to put ANYTHING down there. Heck, we can hardly force ourselves to go down there as it is. Gonna have to bomb that place with a pretty strong insecticide before we're comfortable in it... and yanno... here comes the Green Earth thing screwing with my mind again... insecticides are bad for cats and small dogs and human lungs too.... Maybe I'll just hire an exterminator later on before spring gets here.

[Dude]

June, Meet me in the STFU thread

[June]

Um, Juneytoons? The things which I DON'T see in your laundry room....?

The Washer and Dryer are on the 'nother side of the camera. It's a big room. I think about 30x16? It's not *so* messy, but the pantry, which is also located in that area... Because we went so long without any real food storage space, it is chock full with stuff we forgot we had. I have a jar of bean salad from costco that has to be 10 years old in there.

June, Meet me in the STFU thread

Dude. Bring. It.

------------------------------

Ezee made the comment that we should have a garage sale because dress wants some of the stuff. The truth is, there is some really excellent stuff buried in there. A vintage rug from a Kansas City Theater circa 1920, an art deco wardrobe, a zebra booth, down comforters Kat keeps insisting she will take to get dry cleaned and won't let me just wash (so I keep buying more), boxes of collectibles we want to sell or keep and, uh...a LOT of "Art" supplies and fabric. Got Sequins?

I also loved that Hudson rated my picture a 7 "Because I think you could get more stuff in there". The fact that I made Waldo twitch is just an added bonus.

[Medusa]

I have tredidation about posting my other dirty secret. Juney saw it on webcam the other night.

My "office" is the room in our house where we keep the door closed because of the masses of overflowing crap. It makes both of us itch.

My home is generally organized and neat but that ONE room is like a friggin' diaster area of art supplies, craft stuff, stuff needing to be sold, collectibles, and random junk that doesnt have a home anywhere else in the house.
There are piles of random papers.
Piles of cosmetics.
Piles of fabric.
Piles of toys.
Piles of random soaps and candles.
Stuff I have received as gifts.
Stuff I meant to give as gifts.
The paper for the gifts.

Its just ridiculous.

The fear of being judged as "dirty" or "sloppy" is magnified when coupled with the intersection of being a fat woman. Because fat women are often judged as dirty and sloppy just by merely existing, the added layer of "house clutter" makes me want to implode. But just for a minute.

I'll post a pic when I get home tonight :)

[christie]

LOL! The girl has a saying.. "If you are coming to see ME, come on over.. if you are coming to see my Housekeeping, ya may wanna call a week in advance" LOL!

We keep our home very tidy, but depending on what day you visit, you may catch us mid-project or mid- de-cluttering. You will always find a warm smile and probably some food being shoved at you if you hit around dinner time though!

Regarding who gets our crap when we're gone:
Like Medusa, I plan to be rid of all of it. Our grand plan is to sell the house and pretty much everything we own when too old to care for it, yet young enough to spend our lives enjoying a warm tropical climate. Put away a good chunk for the bratboy ( son) and move to Costa Rica or somewhere similar.

NOBODY needs or wants my junk..LOL

LOL - yep - that is the way I feel - "Ya'll c'mon ovah... make an appt if you want a clean house."

I haven't yet told Jess that the above is HYS plan... I'm not sure when it became "our" plan...

Personally, I think if I have had to spend so many hours cleaning the motherinlaw's "treasures" and eventually my parents' "treasures"...well, I wish Bratboy luck! Some of my stuff will need to be pried from my gnarly hands.

Its kinda like how since my folks fucked me up then its only tradition that I do something to send him to hours on the shrink's sofa...He is gonna blame it all on me anyway! (its a joke, folks)

Seriously, I haven't really decided what happens to my stuff when I am gone. I guess I figured since I will depart first, it will be up to Jess to deal with it! :dance2:

I am very appreciative of just how candid we all have been. Its an amazing feeling to lay very personal stuff on the table and to watch us NOT rake one another over the coals with it...

[Bit]

The fear of being judged as "dirty" or "sloppy" is magnified when coupled with the intersection of being a fat woman. Because fat women are often judged as dirty and sloppy just by merely existing, the added layer of "house clutter" makes me want to implode.

And lazy... oh how that one haunts me! For years before I got diagnosed with the fibromyalgia, my first partner's friends insisted to her that I was lazy and just using her. I finally actually had to remind her that I WORKED, I held down jobs AND did most of the housework, for most of our relationship!!!

[amiyesiam]

I have tredidation about posting my other dirty secret. Juney saw it on webcam the other night.

My "office" is the room in our house where we keep the door closed because of the masses of overflowing crap. It makes both of us itch.

My home is generally organized and neat but that ONE room is like a friggin' diaster area of art supplies, craft stuff, stuff needing to be sold, collectibles, and random junk that doesnt have a home anywhere else in the house.
There are piles of random papers.
Piles of cosmetics.
Piles of fabric.
Piles of toys.
Piles of random soaps and candles.
Stuff I have received as gifts.
Stuff I meant to give as gifts.
The paper for the gifts.

Its just ridiculous.

The fear of being judged as "dirty" or "sloppy" is magnified when coupled with the intersection of being a fat woman. Because fat women are often judged as dirty and sloppy just by merely existing, the added layer of "house clutter" makes me want to implode. But just for a minute.

I'll post a pic when I get home tonight :)

This is so important and so true. Just knowing people may be judging is hard

[John Shaft]

Ezee made the comment that we should have a garage sale because dress wants some of the stuff. The truth is, there is some really excellent stuff buried in there. A vintage rug from a Kansas City Theater circa 1920, an art deco wardrobe, a zebra booth, down comforters Kat keeps insisting she will take to get dry cleaned and won't let me just wash (so I keep buying more), boxes of collectibles we want to sell or keep and, uh...a LOT of "Art" supplies and fabric. Got Sequins?


June, I totally get that you've got some great stuff in your laundry room. Apretty has some really awesome stuff in her garage and in her office too. I've moved four times in the last two years and downsized every time. It was really hard for me to get rid of my stuff. There are definitely pros and cons to getting rid of stuff. People told me it would be good to simplfy my life and travel light. I had a lot of books, all my record albums, collectables and random Steeler paraphanalia accumulated for years and years that I let go. I didn't have a choice as I was moving into smaller places. Mostly, it never got easier to get rid of my things, I just did it. I miss some of my books and do wish I would have kept the vinyl. There were just too many.
Although I kid around a lot I have a lot of respect for apretty's collections and accumulations.

[Bit]

My home is generally organized and neat but that ONE room is like a friggin' diaster area of art supplies, craft stuff, stuff needing to be sold, collectibles, and random junk that doesnt have a home anywhere else in the house.


Okay, now that I am done defending myself from the past *wry smile* I can actually answer you... do you have the right furniture in there, Angie? I have found that it's so much easier to cope when I have furniture that will actually hold the stuff I keep in the room.

My favorite is old china cabinets, the kind with glass doors. You can stack gifts or fabric or art supplies in them and still see what you have--no more buying replacements cuz you lost the originals under a stack of clutter--and the drawers are great for art paper, clay and such.

[cara]

I was just catching up on my reading in this thread and a few long-forgotten memories came to me!

1) Growing up, the public parts of our house were not dirty or cluttered. However, if anyone went into my dad's shop, the "wreck" room, or garage, they would see a different picture of our lives. Those three rooms were on the garage-side of the bottom floor (split-level entry) and off limits to everyone but family. All three rooms were filled with clutter and things we rarely used. Children's toys and books mom was saving for her grandkids, Christmas decorations, tools and power tools my dad never had time to use, family heirlooms that nobody else had room to store. My dad's shop was large enough to hold all of his graphic design stuff (big typesetting machine, photo resizing and developing equipment, etc.) but he quickly filled the empty spaces with boxes and boxes of paper and projects. I remember having to climb over boxes and bags to find anything in those rooms. Maybe this is why I avoid having clutter in my home so much now? Also, looking back to last spring, I can see maybe why my mom pushed so hard for me to rent a storage unit in my building. She couldn't understand why I don't really need it because she always has needed the extra space. Currently, I keep my bike, my single box of Christmas decorations and fake tree in there. It's a lot of wasted space. I'm thinking about releasing the storage unit and getting my $30/month back.

2) In order for me to have anyone over while growing up, I would often have to clean the entire public part of the house and let my mom inspect it before anyone could come over. Surprisingly (or not?), my mom was a housekeeper by profession (before she became a tutor/teacher). When I was young, I would come home from grade school, throw on an apron, and clean to surprise her and make her proud of me. When I started getting older, I began to resent not being able to have anyone over. Having friends was much more important to me than a pristine house, but my mom wouldn't budge. The house was always too messy for company. I am starting to see the patterns of me not inviting friends over because the apartment is a mess and I'm realizing there is much more to life than my home having the appearance of "perfection." So I do the basics to keep the place tidy and when friends come over, I spend a few minutes beforehand spiffing the place up. I am not going to stress over it being less than perfect, though.

I mention these things not because I need/want pity for a rotten childhood (mine wasn't), but because I think it's interesting how my life has gone from one extreme to another because of the way I grew up. I am going to strive to find a healthier balance between too much clutter and none at all.

[Jess]

LOL - yep - that is the way I feel - "Ya'll c'mon ovah... make an appt if you want a clean house."

I haven't yet told Jess that the above is HYS plan... I'm not sure when it became "our" plan...

Personally, I think if I have had to spend so many hours cleaning the motherinlaw's "treasures" and eventually my parents' "treasures"...well, I wish Bratboy luck! Some of my stuff will need to be pried from my gnarly hands.

Its kinda like how since my folks fucked me up then its only tradition that I do something to send him to hours on the shrink's sofa...He is gonna blame it all on me anyway! (its a joke, folks)

Seriously, I haven't really decided what happens to my stuff when I am gone. I guess I figured since I will depart first, it will be up to Jess to deal with it! :dance2:

I am very appreciative of just how candid we all have been. Its an amazing feeling to lay very personal stuff on the table and to watch us NOT rake one another over the coals with it...


BAHNNN! Wrong again, marylu!!! I came in first, I get to go out first! You get the junk! :gimmehug:

and.. it became your plan ( see retirement plan section 8 paragraph 12), when you mentioned nekkid virgins doing our bidding while we "sip margaritas by the sea mamasita"... fans girl with giant palm frond to remind her...

[Medusa]

Okay, now that I am done defending myself from the past *wry smile* I can actually answer you... do you have the right furniture in there, Angie? I have found that it's so much easier to cope when I have furniture that will actually hold the stuff I keep in the room.

My favorite is old china cabinets, the kind with glass doors. You can stack gifts or fabric or art supplies in them and still see what you have--no more buying replacements cuz you lost the originals under a stack of clutter--and the drawers are great for art paper, clay and such.

You just nailed the crux of the issue. We have 2 bookcases that we took apart before we moved that have not been put back together yet for that room - because.....wait for it.....they are BURIED under piles of CRAP in that room!

I bet I can get Jack to put them together on our snow day tomorrow :)
I have lots of little bins and baskets to hold little things too.
My "desk" really isnt a desk. Its an old kitchen table, so I dont have drawers and cubbies but I think I can remedy that with filing cabinets and shelving.

That room is tiny. I think its 10 x 10?

Im going to post before and after pics of that. :)

[Bit]

Omg Dusa!! *laughing helplessly* I have SOOOO done that, exactly that! It's late, you're tired, you have half the truck to unload yet, you don't know where anything goes yet, and you just stacked the shelves over there in the corner... and then someone sees that level spot and puts a box on it.

That's all she wrote. The next thing you know, there are piles and PILES of stuff on the furniture and no way to put it together.

omg *helpless laughter* thanks for the awful memories :cheesy: and for the reminder that I managed NOT to do that this move, yay!.

My shelves aren't buried, oh no... I just don't HAVE any shelves, lol...

So. Anyone else doing the little slider puzzles with their belongings? I used to love playing with those things, moving one square at a time to get the open square to the right place, but omg, it is not so fun when it's boxes and tubs and furniture that you have move, this one HERE so that one can go THERE so this one up here can drop DOWN and the other one over there can slide OVER and the first one can slide UP and then you start over.... omg.... It isn't so bad now that we have That House partly arranged but some rooms, like the mudroom, the living room, the back bedroom, they are still that bad.... oy....

[Daywalker]

I also love the honesty being put forward here. That's why I posted a picture of my laundry room and encouraged Angie and others to show theirs. Fuck. It's real! And it doesn't make me or anyone else a bad person. It did however make me vow to work on it some more this weekend! ((smiley stolen due to limitations that I shall be hoarding))

If you walked into my house today and hadn't seen the picture of my laundry room, you would never know my "Dirty Little Secret" because the rest of the house looks "normal". I really, really appreciate everyone sharing their stories here, I do think it is helping a lot of us cope, get a handle on or get rid of some of the shame we've felt. Thank you so much!

I also think Dude needs to actually make a coop and GET chickens before there is any hoarding of egg cartons.

I have a share.
:bluebat:
I will start off by saying that the show Hoarders was a spin off from the show
Obsessed, a personal favorite of mine that we recorded the episodes to.

And now, with Obsessed having disappeared from
the airwaves, we have Hoarders on record.
:scarytv:

As some of you know, Mrs. Day and I moved across the country earlier
this year. For those who have been to the TN Batcave, you may have
seen the 'Superman Room aka The Phone Booth' and the other room,
what had been the computer room...blah blah blah. They were difficult
rooms, piled with clothes and general clutter from the time I merged my
belongings in with hers. When the decision to move was solid, I then
began the tedious task...or purging. This process, I shit you not...took
almost a month. And that had to be done before I could even begin
to actually pack the house. This was mostly my undertaking, as most
of the bullshit...was mine. One week into the purging, I had HAD it with
myself, and decided that it will never happen again.
:angry:
Why the hell did I move tubs and boxes full of CRAP and old files
from 15 years ago, unopened mail from years ago...with me more
than once? Because it started to compile from the time I lost my
everything, went bankrupt...and consequently...homeless.
This was the same year I was diagnosed with MS.
What a fucked up year it was.
:dots:
Anyways, apparently this post is gonna be longer than anticipated.
:blah:
During the process, Mrs. Day took some photos of the area I was 'trapped'
in...using it as mah central sorting area. My Membership does not allow
for the photo space...so perhaps I can find a way to post a few pics on
Facebook and link them for the full impact. It was a nightmare, and I am
glad to share it, and to see them again just reminds me why I shall never
let it happen again. We purged until all we had left was what would fit
into the 17 foot truck. Things is, nearing the end of loading the truck,
I was forced to give up things that I had not planned on...that would
not fit...like my motorcycle, all my BBQ grills...etc, etc, etc.

It hurt.
:blues:
But by then, there was no time to upgrade the size of the truck, and the
house we were moving to was half the size. So we ensured that some of
it went to folks who had just lost their everything in the housing market
downward spiral. At least there is a garage here at this house, whereas
I had a couple few beat up tarps covering stuff on the back patio...for 4
years...at the TN house. It was skeery...to uncover it all after that long
and see the damage to some of my items, but that's another time, another
emotion. We are happy with the lack of crap, although when we moved
in here my Sister still had half the garage full of her stuff, which was then
merged with our 'this goes in the garage' stuff. Months after arriving,
and when the weather allowed for less than 100 degrees out there,
I spent a day and a half clearing it so that we had a space to hang out,
so that I could reach the work benches and actually find and use my
various tools, and mostly...we kitty proofed it so that our babies could
have more room to wander, as they too lost much roaming space
in the move, as if it wasn't traumatizing enough for them to
have to fly on 2 planes to get here.
:flying:

There is a healing that occurs when your surroundings are not so
overwhelming, and I have found that said surroundings can become
representative of what ones 'attic' (mind) is going through.
:ohm:
Neither one of us is very good at the scheduled tasks n chores dealio,
we help each other out...when it has to be done. I am better at the large
tasks and organization, ya just gotta catch me when one of those 3 times
a year urges hit me. She is better at what I have deemed
'Top Layer Rotation System'.
:laundryday:

That means, for example...the top layer of laundry gets done, the top layer
of tables n such get cleared...lol, but there could still be drawers overflowing,
and lots of clothes we don't see for a while...n stuff. LOL, don't get me
wrong, we love 'Us', and we probably so alike in this area, that we
are enablers of 'we'll get to that soon' with each other.
:love1:

Anyways, I shall try to get pictures up somehow.

Gotta find em first, but at least they are not buried under a skeery tarp.
:huhlaugh:

Thanks for listening.

:daywalker:

[Mr. Moon]

Ahhh I just skimmed through this thread...

I am fascinated by hoarders! True HOARDERS....
I live across the street from one. I live in the country, a dead end street. I have this sunroom addition to the house and I sit here with windows all around and it's EASY to see right across the street. I don't see anyone else but her. The others are an acre away.

I know that house over there, it has a very nice dry basement, a back patio, enclosed in screen that faces her back yard and woods. She has a two car carport. She owns one truck. As the years go by I watch more junk end up under this carport, her truck barely fits now. She tries to cover it with tarp and cardboard. In summer she sit facing her truck under the carport...right next to the junk/trash. (I swear I saw trash). Oh...mentioning trash, she has no trash pickup! I used to think she must take it in her truck to where she works but....after seeing that show, I realize that the trash, all her trash must still be inside the house. I've never ever seen her carry a bay out and put it in the truck...ever. Neighbors who can see her back yard tell me the back enclosed patio is full of ....junk... she never opens her windows, has shrubs that cover the front ones, mostly. But she mows the front and side yard (I don't think ever mowed the back fenced yard) to death! Over and over till every speck of grass is gone. Same with snow, she shovels every speck of snow from that blacktop driveway..every single speck...

Boggles my mind..I tell ya.

The rest of you who think a messy cluttered lil bit of house is hoarding...take note!! She's made me feel perfectly fine with a few shelves full of 1980's crap that I never look at!!

LMAO sorry for the long post and thank you sooooo much for letting me put this out there....

I may have to rearrange this room so I don't see across the street so easily anymore!! ;)

-Mr. Moon

[amiyesiam]

When we moved in May, we had professional movers. (due to the airport buying us out, otherwise I would not have moved) They arrived at 8:30 am, packed it all up, loaded it all up, got to the new place (5 minutes down the street) unloaded it all, put furniture where we wanted it and Left. It was 12:30 pm. We had 30 boxes of various sizes they had packed up. I had them empty in 2 days. The house was "done" in 4 days. And I do mean done. Corkey had to make me stop. I don't like the word compulsive, but I needed everything put away. I do not cope with messes beyond a certain point. I have a unseen and never the same point beyond which I can not handle it. I start cleaning. Corkey has learned to sit down, watch tv, and stay out of the way. I do not want help at that point, I need to burn the energy off.
One way is more socially acceptable, but I don't think that makes it better.

[IrishGrrl]

FYI

That was THE longest post by Day I've ever seen.

cool.

*bathingy*

[Daywalker]

FYI

That was THE longest post by Day I've ever seen.

cool.

*bathingy*

LOL

:rainsing:


Ok, I gotta tell ya...it was longer, but I cut some out.
What with the Smiley limits n stuff.

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/forum/images/smilies/stars%20smiliey.gif

:cheesy:

Seriously, I'll add for a moment:
:pipe:

After being placed on Furlough, having to be around our surroundings 24/7
I am apt to believe induced Symptoms of the MS...which in turn, happened
faster than I could have ever imagined, and gave me no chance to get to
some of the clutter cleaned up before I found myself physically
and mentally...unable to do so. What a vicious cycle...yes?

:blah:

:daywalker:

[suebee]

LOL

:rainsing:


Ok, I gotta tell ya...it was longer, but I cut some out.
What with the Smiley limits n stuff.

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/forum/images/smilies/stars%20smiliey.gif

:cheesy:

Seriously, I'll add for a moment:
:pipe:

After being placed on Furlough, having to be around our surroundings 24/7
I am apt to believe induced Symptoms of the MS...which in turn, happened
faster than I could have ever imagined, and gave me no chance to get to
some of the clutter cleaned up before I found myself physically
and mentally...unable to do so. What a vicious cycle...yes?

:blah:
:daywalker:







It eats my energy. It just sucks it all up! And with everything I have to do to deal with illness and pain, the daily chores just to ensure that my animals are taken care of - I just look at my house and give up most days! I really wonder if I'd feel better physically if my house was in order? I KNOW I'd feel better emotionally!

[Daywalker]

It eats my energy. It just sucks it all up! And with everything I have to do to deal with illness and pain, the daily chores just to ensure that my animals are taken care of - I just look at my house and give up most days! I really wonder if I'd feel better physically if my house was in order? I KNOW I'd feel better emotionally!

I think so.

So much that is not seen, still weighs upon our shoulders.

:heavyweight:
To remove that weight, is to move more freely about our cabins.

:snooker:

And I am a big believer in our emotional and social states
of being having a factor on our physical being. Although
there are some things that cannot be 'fixed' or avoided
in certain health conditions, every little bit helps.
:theisland:


:daywalker:

[SassyLeo]

*snip

Thanks to Jacks mother, who has an obsession with mechanical dolls and toys, I also own several santas that sing, outhouses that have farting Santas inside of them, scary witches that stab themselves in the head, "lowrider" hearses, other "lowrider" cars with varying degrees of Santas, easter bunnies that rap, hound dogs that howl "Jingle Bells". etc. You get the picture.
She was on a tear for awhile with the mechanical dolls and gave us one every week it seemed like. I had told her several times that we didnt have room, that they creep me out, that they scare the dog, etc. etc. and still, they kept coming.

*snip*

slight derail.

your descriptions are fucking hilarious angie. :superfunny:

i literally laughed so hard, my sleepy snoring cat jumped off the sofa

thanks for making a somewhat tough subject a wee bit lighter :cool:

[Medusa]

Well I got inspired and went in the office and spent 2 hours unearthing the bookcases :)

In the process, I was able to throw away a garbage bag and 2 boxes of shit. Its a tiny start. Tiny.

I took a good look at some of the stuff in there.

W-2 forms from 1999? Really?
Third Place trophy from high school. Really?
Random gift bags that had been crushed beyond recognition? Really?
Rusty 80's-style picture frames. Really?

I mean, I cant believe that I moved this shit not once, but TWICE. I cant believe that I have been hanging on to a frigging 3rd place trophy that doesnt even have my frigging NAME on it.

Needless to say, it feels pretty good to at least *start* the process of filtering through the junk. I came across so many pieces of jewelry, art supplies, and projects that never happened that I literally want to just put it all in a box and shove it in the trash...but of course, there is that little nagging Virgo inside of me that says "someone would love to have that shit".

Im giving myself 60 days to sell it or give it away. :D

[Daywalker]

Ok, so when I cleared out mah pictures files from my puter and
put them on disc, I seem to not know where some are now.
(too many slows down mah Farm Town...LOL)
:farmer:
I only found a few, and they are not the heavy impact images,
but they give a little bit of an idea:
:blah:


http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs136.snc3/18353_239793303122_530278122_3390446_1555433_n.jpg


http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs156.snc3/18353_239793358122_530278122_3390448_258970_n.jpg



The bottom one is the Superman room.
:supermanbooth:

These were not the ones I was looking for.
Mrs. Day will see if she has the other photos from her lap top.
If not, perhaps I just have them under a folder I have not clicked.
So there you have it, this is the mild side of our mad-mess.
:fan:

:daywalker:

[Deborah]

2 tiny cardboard containers of love placed gingerly onto the shelves in the garage?

OR

1 greasy axle tossed half hazardly along the side of the garage?

:sigh:your call

you drive a hard bargin, mister :4femme:

[Sachita]

Ahhh I just skimmed through this thread...

I am fascinated by hoarders! True HOARDERS....
I live across the street from one. I live in the country, a dead end street. I have this sunroom addition to the house and I sit here with windows all around and it's EASY to see right across the street. I don't see anyone else but her. The others are an acre away.

I know that house over there, it has a very nice dry basement, a back patio, enclosed in screen that faces her back yard and woods. She has a two car carport. She owns one truck. As the years go by I watch more junk end up under this carport, her truck barely fits now. She tries to cover it with tarp and cardboard. In summer she sit facing her truck under the carport...right next to the junk/trash. (I swear I saw trash). Oh...mentioning trash, she has no trash pickup! I used to think she must take it in her truck to where she works but....after seeing that show, I realize that the trash, all her trash must still be inside the house. I've never ever seen her carry a bay out and put it in the truck...ever. Neighbors who can see her back yard tell me the back enclosed patio is full of ....junk... she never opens her windows, has shrubs that cover the front ones, mostly. But she mows the front and side yard (I don't think ever mowed the back fenced yard) to death! Over and over till every speck of grass is gone. Same with snow, she shovels every speck of snow from that blacktop driveway..every single speck...

Boggles my mind..I tell ya.

The rest of you who think a messy cluttered lil bit of house is hoarding...take note!! She's made me feel perfectly fine with a few shelves full of 1980's crap that I never look at!!

LMAO sorry for the long post and thank you sooooo much for letting me put this out there....

I may have to rearrange this room so I don't see across the street so easily anymore!! ;)

-Mr. Moon

lol funny.

Oprah had a special, actually she's had it a few times on this topic. Clutter drives me crazy and yet I have stuff in boxes I have been carrying around for 10-15 years. I'm in no way a hoarder but I finally broke down and start clearing stuff out. I have so many books and these are always the hardest to get rid of. I want my load much lighter. I have kindle for my mini pc and I love it. so much easier to read then books.

I live in the country. There are acres between myself and neighbors although I can still see them in winter when the leaves are gone. Prior to moving to this farm I lived in Florida on a beautiful 18 acres. It was like a park and there was a dirt road 2 1/2 miles to get back to me. Right at the entrance of my road was an old Columbian farmer. In addition to 100's of pigs, goats, hens he also had 10 acres of junk. It was the most amazing thing. You'd see hens and goats climbing all over mountains of trash and junk. It was a real eye sore that bothered me when I first moved out there but I learned to ignore it. Thankfully I didn't have to see it once I got back in my yard.

It sounds like you need a better view.

[Jett]

I dunno, but your post really bothers me... you make this lady sound like a circus attraction. My mom was a "true hoarder" in addition to other issues which made it impossible for her to get a handle on it things. Really neighbors that spent their time trying to get a glimpse or making complaints made- her- life- hell. And even if a bit messed up she was one fucking beautiful loving soul of a mess who would have moved heaven and earth if she could have for those she loved and if I had heard someone talk about her this way (my interpretation of what your saying) I'd give them more to think about than what was going on across the street...

Ahhh I just skimmed through this thread...

I am fascinated by hoarders! True HOARDERS....
I live across the street from one. I live in the country, a dead end street. I have this sunroom addition to the house and I sit here with windows all around and it's EASY to see right across the street. I don't see anyone else but her. The others are an acre away.

I know that house over there, it has a very nice dry basement, a back patio, enclosed in screen that faces her back yard and woods. She has a two car carport. She owns one truck. As the years go by I watch more junk end up under this carport, her truck barely fits now. She tries to cover it with tarp and cardboard. In summer she sit facing her truck under the carport...right next to the junk/trash. (I swear I saw trash). Oh...mentioning trash, she has no trash pickup! I used to think she must take it in her truck to where she works but....after seeing that show, I realize that the trash, all her trash must still be inside the house. I've never ever seen her carry a bay out and put it in the truck...ever. Neighbors who can see her back yard tell me the back enclosed patio is full of ....junk... she never opens her windows, has shrubs that cover the front ones, mostly. But she mows the front and side yard (I don't think ever mowed the back fenced yard) to death! Over and over till every speck of grass is gone. Same with snow, she shovels every speck of snow from that blacktop driveway..every single speck...

Boggles my mind..I tell ya.

The rest of you who think a messy cluttered lil bit of house is hoarding...take note!! She's made me feel perfectly fine with a few shelves full of 1980's crap that I never look at!!

LMAO sorry for the long post and thank you sooooo much for letting me put this out there....

I may have to rearrange this room so I don't see across the street so easily anymore!! ;)

-Mr. Moon

[Bit]

After being placed on Furlough, having to be around our surroundings 24/7
I am apt to believe induced Symptoms of the MS...which in turn, happened
faster than I could have ever imagined, and gave me no chance to get to
some of the clutter cleaned up before I found myself physically
and mentally...unable to do so. What a vicious cycle...yes?




YES. It happens that way to me too, with the fibro.

I hope you're feeling better, darlin, and that you and LadyFlamezzz are doing well this week.

It eats my energy. It just sucks it all up! And with everything I have to do to deal with illness and pain, the daily chores just to ensure that my animals are taken care of - I just look at my house and give up most days! I really wonder if I'd feel better physically if my house was in order? I KNOW I'd feel better emotionally!

I sure would feel better if my house were in order, and for me, feeling better emotionally always equals feeling better physically.

Last week was one of the hardest weeks I have endured so far; it was SO bitter cold, and the puppy is so not housebroken yet... so I was outside again and again every day, trying not to slip on the ice, trying to breathe that bitter air, trying just to keep going and not give up. I am so grateful for warmer temps this week!! Although of course, this morning I *did* slip on the ice and wrench my knee, go figure; but at least I didn't fall.

Well I got inspired and went in the office and spent 2 hours unearthing the bookcases :)

In the process, I was able to throw away a garbage bag and 2 boxes of shit. Its a tiny start. Tiny.

Every start, even a tiny start, is worth celebrating! Good for you!!

I took down our holiday cards--had them hanging from ribbons on the wall in the dining room. They're now in a plastic storage box... but they are still waiting for their envelopes. *blush* Still, even a tiny start is worthwhile!

We also ended a serious issue with one of the cats opening the mudroom door; put a hook and eye on it. It's unheated and I really didn't want the cold air rushing through the house.

My goal for this week (among other things) is to find a place to put the tree, the cards, the lights, and the decs so that they are all put away neatly in one place AND so I can find them again next November.

Amazingly, just starting on the house seems to have freed up my creativity some. I started back on the glue-burnt ornaments this weekend; I have a place to take them on consignment and so I'm doing lots of hearts for Valentine's day. My favorites so far are the ones that have dragonflies cut out of the middles and dangling from copper wires at the bottoms.

[June]

While I was doing dishes yesterday, I realized how often I make a decision to get rid of things, and not only that, it's conscious.

Kat had used the last of some maple syrup and the little glass jug was so cute. I found myself looking at it, turning it over in my hands, reluctant to let it go. What could I used it for? Herb enhanced oils? When would I do that? Eventually, I let it go into the recycle bin. A little later, I found myself doing the same thing after I emptied a can of Trader Joe's coffee into my countertop jar. Couldn't I wrap that in paper and store things in it? I found myself temporarily longing for a dozen of them all lined up in my craft room. And then I woke up and tossed it.

On one of the Hoarder shows I watched last week, the woman was keeping specific jars because once she had been given some bean soup and she loved it and thought that someday she might do the same thing. She evidently had dozens of them. From my perspective as a non or semi-hoarder (maybe a level 1) I am looking at her house and thinking "Lady, you are never going to be able to make that damn soup", but then I watched her face, and I could see the longing there to make the soup. I felt that same longing when I momentarily thought of 12 nicely embellished Trader Joe's coffee cans lined up storing things. I understand.

None-the-less, it went in the trash. I am ABLE to put it into the trash. Not everyone is. It made me feel really compassionate.

[Bit]

Kat had used the last of some maple syrup and the little glass jug was so cute. I found myself looking at it, turning it over in my hands, reluctant to let it go. What could I used it for? Herb enhanced oils? When would I do that? Eventually, I let it go into the recycle bin. A little later, I found myself doing the same thing after I emptied a can of Trader Joe's coffee into my countertop jar. Couldn't I wrap that in paper and store things in it? I found myself temporarily longing for a dozen of them all lined up in my craft room. And then I woke up and tossed it.


Cute counts a LOT with me, but useful? That trumps everything. You will not ever find me throwing away one of those plastic coffee canisters unless it is full of something grossly otherwise un-disposable. I don't buy metal coffee canisters anymore, but it was the same with them. And bread bags are the liners for the coffee canister that sits by the sink to catch wet trash, so it doesn't make my garbage bag leak.

I'm definitely guilty of the "I'll cover that great container with paper and use it for storage!" enthusiasm. Often as not, I never do---but the storage use gets invoked sometimes anyhow. "Tacky" is better than "all over the floor" eh?

I threw things away yesterday, on purpose and deliberately. I feel like a heel; they would be recycled in other cities. I save so much of our recycling that our trash can is almost never even half full, and we only get pick-up once a week.... guess I have to start using the trash can more, and my cockeyed-optimism less. I truly am not going to make all the things I think of to make; just working for a couple hours Saturday and Sunday nights has my wrists inflamed already. I cannot do everything I think of; I have to be realistic.

It's hard to be realistic when doing the realistic thing and throwing recyclables in the trash hurts the Earth... I'm having a hard time separating the two. I'll get there, but getting over this hump is the hard part.

So one of my joys in life is reading magazines, and I subscribed to Better Homes and Gardens in a fit of "wow, that's CHEAP!" last month. The first issue came and it's all about ~*~ta-daaa!~*~ home organization. Not only that, the website (http://www.bhg.com/) is full of home organization videos and articles. I got all inspired and I went to the hardware store! I bought one of those wire shelving racks that you screw to the back of a door to hold canned goods!

We tried to install it this weekend! The brackets have hollow-wall anchors built in!

90 year old house. Solid wood doors. :blink:

So we tried to hang it on the kitchen wall.

We hit what we think is an electrical conduit.... if it isn't, then omg, 90 year old studs are as hard as metal. :blink:

So we rearranged our existing free-standing shelves and I had that Tupperware party and ordered a ton of Tupperware.

Someday I'll find a way to hang the *%^$*% shelf (which is now just another piece of clutter) and then my canned goods will also be organized. Right now I feel like I wasted my money on it, but I can't return it because I was being all organized, right? And I had Gryph take out the trash.

*hangs head* YES indeed, I threw away the packaging... cuz I was being all organized.

[SassyLeo]

*snip*

Kat had used the last of some maple syrup and the little glass jug was so cute. I found myself looking at it, turning it over in my hands, reluctant to let it go. What could I used it for? Herb enhanced oils? When would I do that? Eventually, I let it go into the recycle bin. A little later, I found myself doing the same thing after I emptied a can of Trader Joe's coffee into my countertop jar. Couldn't I wrap that in paper and store things in it? I found myself temporarily longing for a dozen of them all lined up in my craft room. And then I woke up and tossed it.

*snip*

I was reading your post and a some of the others (I could not find them all to quote) but I got to thinking... how many people who may consider themselves hoarders are artisit/creative types? As in, have ideas about upcycling recycled items? Or are keeping items with the idea that something creative could become of them?

June-y is definitely a very creative minded person... if you have ever seen she and kat's home, she has wonderful eclectic taste in old and new furniture and decorative items around the house. It definitely has things that others may have thrown away, but she finds something interesting or pretty or fun about them and displays them in a way that you would never have thought it was sitting by the road (I'm thinking of that old cabinet..was it an old radio?)

:freetoaster:

[Medusa]

OMG. The new episode of "Hoarders" is on.

[Medusa]

What IS it about those cute little containers?
I like little glass jars and empty squeeze bottles.
I always think that I will fill them with paint and use them.
I have yet to fill one with anything.

[Medusa]

My walk-in closet is officially "walk-in-able" for the first time in 5 months.

I got home from work today and had a burst of energy and threw away a bunch of junk and organized for a bit.
I cant believe I have been stepping over junk in the floor of the closet and unable to reach half of my clothes when it only took 2 hours to clean it up.

:blah:

[Gemme]

What IS it about those cute little containers?
I like little glass jars and empty squeeze bottles.
I always think that I will fill them with paint and use them.
I have yet to fill one with anything.

I look at pretty empty bottles and jars and see sand art waiting to happen.

[Daywalker]

My walk-in closet is officially "walk-in-able" for the first time in 5 months.

I got home from work today and had a burst of energy and threw away a bunch of junk and organized for a bit.
I cant believe I have been stepping over junk in the floor of the closet and unable to reach half of my clothes when it only took 2 hours to clean it up.

:blah:

A part of me wanted to know what you threw away.
:blah: :doh: :blah:


Another part of me felt the healing need to confess that.
:curtain:


:daywalker:

[Medusa]

A part of me wanted to know what you threw away.
:blah: :doh: :blah:


Another part of me felt the healing need to confess that.
:curtain:


:daywalker:



Dude! I have the exact same reaction when I hear people talking about getting rid of stuff. It is an overwhelming urge to scavenge their trash for cool stuff!

I will also hold my hand up and admit that I had to fight the urge at work yesterday because there was a big dumpster in the lot full of stuff. They were cleaning out some offices and there were chairs and books and all kinds of really good stuff. It makes me CRAZY to see good stuff being thrown in the garbage when they could have just called Goodwill to come pick it up.

[Random]

oh gads.. I'm a total scav... I once brought home four black trash bags full of clothes after helping a friend clean out her closets.. I was a size 16 and she was a size 24... It didn't matter.. most of them still had the tags on... Sigh.. I did end up donating most of them.. But I couldn't say no to free STUFF.... *Blush*.. I've gotten a bit better about it over the years...

[nhplowboi]

Dump picker, thrift store shopper and proud of it!

[Write14u]

I don't consider myself a hoarder as my "stuff" is limited to about 8-9 Rubbermaid bins stored in the laundry room.
But I've been fascinated to sit and read this thread. I am a total packrat.
Things in those bins: my third-grade basketball jersey, a sock and visor from my 11-year-old softball team, my prom glasses, a trophy from third-grade, countless certificates, etc.
I'm pretty sure I have every letter ever written to me from the time I was about 12 until whenever the Internet became more prevalent in the mid 90s (about 15 years worth).

I have knick knacks that I just can't get rid of. They mean something to me.
And some are just effing cool, you know? Like my bobbleheads and hockey pucks and Coors Light beer bottles that are shapped like baseball bats. I'd probably have a haven of stuff for Ebay one day.

[Bit]

... how many people who may consider themselves hoarders are artisit/creative types? As in, have ideas about upcycling recycled items? Or are keeping items with the idea that something creative could become of them?

It's certainly my downfall, Sassy.

What IS it about those cute little containers?
I like little glass jars and empty squeeze bottles.
I always think that I will fill them with paint and use them.
I have yet to fill one with anything.

I can tell you that when I worked in a preschool, we used squeeze bottles for fingerpaint and they worked GREAT.

BUT.

I don't use fingerpaint. So when I saved the squeezy bottles, I somehow never got around to filling and using them... go figure, eh?

I cant believe I have been stepping over junk in the floor of the closet and unable to reach half of my clothes when it only took 2 hours to clean it up.

:blah:

It took two hours plus the motivation to get started.... and I dunno how it is for you, but for me, that motivation gets shortstopped a LOT by the next logical thought: "Start where? And what do I do with the first thing I pick up? Where else will I put this stuff?"

Breaking through that barrier is hard for me.

A part of me wanted to know what you threw away.
:blah: :doh: :blah:




Um, yeah. That happens to me every time I read a post about it... and that dumpster she walked by, with furniture? OMG, I would not have been able to go by without at least looking...

And then yanno, there's the "I'll save it and donate it to a charity myself" idea. Ooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy....... yeah. Not. I still have the stuff. Falling out of the boxes. In my living room.

We're having a neighborhood rummage sale in a couple months...

Oy.

[Gemme]

We're having a neighborhood rummage sale in a couple months...

Oy.


Sooooo, it's a neighborhood dealio, so there's accountability for those involved in it? I'll check in with you about this later, missy miss miss.

[Arwen]

What I Keep (http://www.susanmullally.com/photos/wik_photos/index.html) is not about hoarding. But in a way, I think it may speak to others here the way it spoke to me.

This made me think. Think about what I hold onto and why. It's a stark look into the lives of people so many of us look past.

[Random]

Thank you for this thread...

It made me aware that I have hoarding tendancies...

I absolutly HATE to throw out anything that I might use for crafts... and that is a WIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE area to cover.. You never know what is going to spark an idea... I'm a make shift crafter... I hate buying anything just to make something... I like to have accidental things that spark an idea..

The other day my partner and I got into a lil discussion over a old handle off a basket... She saw trash.. I saw raffetta in perfect condition..

She didn't toss it.. but the discussion did open my eyes a bit..

So.. yesterday I tossed out the ribbon from our thanksgiving flowers... Yes, I could use it in something... But I didn't love it..

I'm going to start weeding out my crafting supplies... I don't need assorted sized cardboard that I have saved because it would make a perfect post card, or paint pallet..

But I'm keeping the fabric... You never know when I might wanna make a quilt or curtains or new pillows...

[Gemme]

What I Keep (http://www.susanmullally.com/photos/wik_photos/index.html) is not about hoarding. But in a way, I think it may speak to others here the way it spoke to me.

This made me think. Think about what I hold onto and why. It's a stark look into the lives of people so many of us look past.

Thank you for the link to those portraits. I enjoyed them but had to stop at the gentleman with the picture of him and his wife. There's no crying at the Front Desk, you know. *wry grin*

Thank you for this thread...

It made me aware that I have hoarding tendancies...

I absolutly HATE to throw out anything that I might use for crafts... and that is a WIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE area to cover.. You never know what is going to spark an idea... I'm a make shift crafter... I hate buying anything just to make something... I like to have accidental things that spark an idea..

The other day my partner and I got into a lil discussion over a old handle off a basket... She saw trash.. I saw raffetta in perfect condition..

She didn't toss it.. but the discussion did open my eyes a bit..

So.. yesterday I tossed out the ribbon from our thanksgiving flowers... Yes, I could use it in something... But I didn't love it..

I'm going to start weeding out my crafting supplies... I don't need assorted sized cardboard that I have saved because it would make a perfect post card, or paint pallet..

But I'm keeping the fabric... You never know when I might wanna make a quilt or curtains or new pillows...

I'm a lot like you in this regard. I see bits of this and that artwork in all kinds of odds and ends. The leftover and clearance bin in the craft department of Wal-Mart is a dangerous place for me. It wouldn't be so bad if I actually DID something with the stuff I collect. I've gone through some stuff this weekend and I, for the life of me, could NOT figure out why in the Hell I kept some of it and what it was that just KNEW I'd do with it. :thinking:

[WILDCAT]

New Hoarder episode tonight on A&E. (Where I get the show anyway, and assume everyone does?)

I was following that "Intervention" show on A&E and loved it, and then this new show started - and I was just stunned. I have much to ID with, in consideration for this show. I had always stated, I am like my Dad, too well organized. Then, in the past few years - joked about being on the wrong end of OCD, but... it wasn't really funny.

I was kind of OK, with watching the show (and honestly thinking, I'm not as bad as I thought, LOL) - although sad, TERRIFIED, relating about holding on to personal belongings, and such... until the week where they found not ONE, but TWO dead flattened and dried out cats under the debri. This woman was so sweet too. I was sick to my stomach for the whole situation, for the woman, the animals, the living conditions... for about a week here! It sure got me to thinking! And we never know what could "top us over the edge"! (Is what I thought watching that particular episode and now every episode!) The human mind and emotions are amazing to me. But, then, that was my field of interest and study/career.

I'm very intrigued by the "professional organizers" of the show. I am GREAT/GOOD at organizing other's stuff... ;) Sometimes, I wonder what their story is... or background. Not in any judgmental way, but "what brought them to this line of work", for it is NOT for the "weak" of stomachs! But, compassion, yes - they MUST have GREAT COMPASSION.
__

But, otherwise, I have been just reading here. Perhaps I will write more at another time, when I feel comfortable. Being in human services for as long as I had, and then having my own family stuff, and MY OWN STUFF - I am a tad OCD b.t.y... so, I want to feel safe posting without judgment (anywhere), which I find difficult on sites like this - as some folks just seem to want to make fun of and not really be supportive or understanding.

On the other hand, I do understand that folks DO NOT understand - and I have a pretty good open mind regarding "humor" as well.

We had an elderly lady in my hometown of growing up, who "now we know" was evidently an extreme hoarder. The town came in and helped her to get rid of some things, organize, etc... But, she was classic, with no running water, cats all over the place, yard piled up, etc... She was a wonderful sweet old "dyke" I thought. My mother had worked with her, and this woman had money... but, electricity shut off, the whole nine yards. I never saw her "buying", but she would be the one who would show up in a yard to scape through metal and take it into the metal junk yards for money. It never made sense to anyone, but this compulsive disorder NOT really make sense to most.

She went into the local public restrooms in town to wash up. And she was judged for that, of course. But, folks loved her.

And she never slowed down, although old and gimpy as hell! In fact, when she died... (my mother told me this, and I thought "HOW THELIA LIKE" is THIS?!), she was traveling out of state in her little ... ummm, match-box car, I can't remember what model it was, but the smallest car I ever saw - once she lost her old rusty metal picking up truck... anyway, her heart just gave out evidently, slowly driving along a highway... and she put her blinker light on and just "drifted" to the guard rail, and that is where they found her... she had very softly drifted into a metal guard rail (NO pun intended here with the metal, but I do think she gravitated towards that, kind of by nature), and she did not appear to suffer. Again, she was a very sweet and caring woman.

Just my thoughts here, but I've wanted to write on this thread... Thanks for starting it!

Notice many of the folks, who hoard, either had it through family [genetics/behaviorally] growing up, or after a tragedy or loss? For me I will say, I have many personal things I'm fond of, but thankfully - I don't shop and buy "things", anymore anyway... I just live in a cabin where a woman had moved in and when she moved on, took only a portion of what she brought in when she left. And then, there were all of the things we got together over a several year period of time. And I have two BIG open floors here, with little closet or storage space. I just need to get rid of a bunch of things. (I do have an attic too, which needs to be cleared out!)

Mysteries or what?

SMILE -
WC

:downhillski:

[Mitmo01]

hahahahah i saw that piece of that basket as trash lol but i know that you saw some gold in it lol thats why its now sitting on top of the fridge

[Medusa]

I missed the last "Hoarders" episode, so to make up for it, Im going to throw away a bunch of shit today :P

[June]

I just sent a bunch of crap home with Sassy Leo! Yay Me!


2 pair of floor length curtains, still in packages after...um...4 years?
1 Cute little vintage shelf
A wine rack
Lunch for tomorrow

[Lynn]

Yay, June!

I spent a few hours this afternoon, sorting out papers on the various surfaces of the dining room. Not done, yet, but I already lugged out a trash bag full of stuff and put a pile into the paper recycling. I have things to do: bills to pay, camp applications to fill out, work stuff to handle. But, the first step is handling the piles. It's kind of comforting to know that I'm actually *willing* to throw stuff out. I even threw out some things without opening them--if I can get the info on line, why do I need to keep the paper?

[Gemme]

I filled the recycle bin today and brought a heavy ass bag out to the garbage can.

[Galahad]

I cleaned out the closet again. I can see the floor now. I helped my neighbor move today. She is a hoarder, I think it is because she has lost so much, and she needs to be in control of something. Maybe that's why I have a compulsion to get rid of stuff too? It gives you a powerful feeling to have managed some junk whether you keep it or get rid of it . Something else for me to think about.

[cara]

I'm on the verge of getting rid of (nearly) everything I own because I don't use it or it no longer serves a purpose in my life. I don't have a ton of "Stuff" in the first place. Is there such a thing as the opposite of a hoarder? :|

:stillheart:

cara

[Bit]

My trash can is more full than it used to be. I've been throwing away things that aren't recyclable through my curbside recycling, like plastic food bags, spice containers and pasta boxes.

I keep telling myself, "someday they'll mine it back out of the landfills, someday they'll mine it back out..." and then I apologize to the Earth.

I could NOT bring myself to throw away the plastic bags the Tupperware came in, though; they're clearly marked with the 2 and HDPE, so I'm going to ask at the grocery store if they'll take them. They recycle all their plastic; I discovered that when I asked what was going to be done with some boxes. The clerk told me absolutely everything gets recycled. It works for me!

After Nick and Misha had their way with our house, Gryph and I took some time to settle in to the new arrangement. It doesn't work as well as I want it to in some ways--mostly because there's this EEEnormous dog crate in the middle of the dining room (which is really more of a family room)--but hey, tis a work in progress; as we continue to deal with the stuff in the living room, we can always move things around again.

In the meantime, the energy in the house has changed drastically and I don't feel that debilitating "how will I ever cope with this?!" despair when I look around.

The mudroom is a joy! It's WELL below my Maximum Clutter Tolerance standards. I want to use it for seedstarting, and there's room now... but unfortunately the cats want to use it as a sunroom. (They're the reason I cannot have plants in the house--they uproot everything. *aggravated sigh*)

I'm still looking forward to our neighborhood rummage sale--and accumulating more things in the rummage sale boxes.

[Blade]

I'm not a hoarder, but I do have a lot of stuff. My attic is a little crowded but you can get around in it and there is plenty of room for more junk LOL. My house isn't cluttered up or stuff piled around, but my yard does look a little like Sanford and Son LOL

Mom on the other hand OMG you can't lay your hand down flat in her house that both sides of it don't touch something. It's not dirty her house is clean it is just pile high with stuff. If it is on sale she has to have 2. if it is by 3 get on free she buys 6 and gets 2 free. OMG I told her when she dies we aren't even going threw all that stuff we are just going to light a match.

[Incubus]

I'll admit to be a bit of a hoarder...it's been a 12yr bone of contention between my housemate (who's also an ex gf) and I.

I have far less 'stuff' than I used to but the cupboard-of-doom (a floor to ceiling affair) needs a good sorting out.

[Bit]

{{{{{{{{{{{{June}}}}}}}}}}}}}

I just wanted to say thank you for starting this thread. My house is still pretty cluttered, but it's coming back under control again, and lots of that is because I had a chance to talk about it with other people who get it.

Funny how something as small as a spice bottle can be such a big symbol. This morning I emptied the nutmeg. The plastic is just not recyclable here... so I threw it away.

At first I felt guilt, but then I felt this immense relief. I didn't have to wash the bottle, store the bottle, figure out how to reuse the bottle... it didn't have to be yet one more thing piled up and eating at my conscience. It isn't recyclable... instead of "craft supplies" (and they WOULD make absolutely adorable toy soldier Yule ornaments, but I. Never. Make. Them.), it is "trash."

One less thing on my kitchen counter, one less thing on my to-do list, one huge sense of relief because now I am in control of my own life again.

:bouquet: Thank you, June. It's a wonderful gift.

Cath

[SassyLeo]

I just sent a bunch of crap home with Sassy Leo! Yay Me!


2 pair of floor length curtains, still in packages after...um...4 years?
1 Cute little vintage shelf
A wine rack
Lunch for tomorrow


I'm still deciding where to put the shelf :)

The wine rack is GREAT!

I need to get a rod for curtains.

And the chili and cornbread were SO YUM.

Thanks, as always, Juney :lips:

I said ROD.

[BornBronson]

Yes I watch the show.My mother was a hoarder,not as bad as some of those on the show.She did collected everything it seemed.I had a job on my hands when she passed on.Took me more than a year to clear out most of that junk,bless her heart.Why do they collect newspaper clippings so much?.My mother had 25 boxes of those things alone..and i'm not talking small boxes here.But it was kind of cool reading things that happen 20yrs ago.The clothes she bought and never wore,unbelievable.The show is hard to watch at times.Me,i'm not a hoarder.I'm buying new stuff every week,stuff I use.What I no longer use I donate.

[weatherboi]

hi everybody that reads this thread

alot of you may or may not know you tube is where i always am
i saw a clip for a new show called "Hoarders Buried Alive" on TLC
i think i am on the opposite end of the spectrum
i think i tend to freecycle stuff to quick or go without

[SuperFemme]

hi everybody that reads this thread

alot of you may or may not know you tube is where i always am
i saw a clip for a new show called "Hoarders Buried Alive" on TLC
i think i am on the opposite end of the spectrum
i think i tend to freecycle stuff to quick or go without


Which is why your room here is in direct contrast to MY room here.
I'll buy you a minimalist bedroom set before you come back.

[theoddz]

I'm wanting to send some crap I've been hoarding to June's. :|

If it's at her house, it'll be like it's still close, you know....almost like I haven't lost it. :thinking:

She gave me the idea when she gave her crap to SassyLeo. :smelling-flower:

Maybe we can start a crap circle?? :twitch:

~Theo~ :bouquet:

[June]

Go to your room, Theo. Which is my way of saying "No".

5 things in, 10 things out.

[christie]

We went to the flea market on Saturday where I saw what would have been a great addition to my vintage coffee pot collection.

Since we are on the "something in, something out" plan, I passed it up. It took effort.

Let's not even talk about disassembling the 1840's square grand piano I had purchased in a "lot" of antiques nearly a year ago. Yesterday, after much soul searching about where it would live in our house after the necessary restoration, it's gone to the great piano land in the sky. I was glad we salvaged parts of it that Jess will turn into something else - a groovy headboard out of the lid, an equally groovy couple of tables out of the legs and foot pedals.

Let's not talk about how sad it made me.

I must admit that there is a part of me that is relieved that its now "one less thing". Sad, but relieved.

[weatherboi]

I loved my room. Please don't change a thing. It gave me plenty of room to spread out!!!

:thinking: if i could change anything it would be that you all were closer...less space between us would be practicing minimalism yes SuperFemme???? or no???


Which is why your room here is in direct contrast to MY room here.
I'll buy you a minimalist bedroom set before you come back.

[Gayla]

I'm wanting to send some crap I've been hoarding to June's. :|

If it's at her house, it'll be like it's still close, you know....almost like I haven't lost it. :thinking:

She gave me the idea when she gave her crap to SassyLeo. :smelling-flower:

Maybe we can start a crap circle?? :twitch:

~Theo~ :bouquet:

So if I send some of my crap to you and then you send it to June that should count as a visit to The PDX.

[Mister Bent]

hi everybody that reads this thread

alot of you may or may not know you tube is where i always am
i saw a clip for a new show called "Hoarders Buried Alive" on TLC


sweet lucite encased baby jesus.

I saw it listed and avoided it like a plague of cat flattening hoarders.

[Jess]

All I know is it is almost yard sale time. Hopefully we'll be doing some selling and not buying. arg.. poor shed.. poor poor shed

[Hudson]

I'll admit to be a bit of a hoarder...it's been a 12yr bone of contention between my housemate (who's also an ex gf) and I.

I have far less 'stuff' than I used to but the cupboard-of-doom (a floor to ceiling affair) needs a good sorting out.


You win for hoarding an ex.

[christie]

All I know is it is almost yard sale time. Hopefully we'll be doing some selling and not buying. arg.. poor shed.. poor poor shed

Yay for yard sale time.

I'll make a deal - for every FIVE things I put in it, five of your tools must find a place other than the "staging room" they are currently in.

I have still yet to figure out why you have FIVE drills. Jus' sayin.

[Jess]

Yay for yard sale time.

I'll make a deal - for every FIVE things I put in it, five of your tools must find a place other than the "staging room" they are currently in.

I have still yet to figure out why you have FIVE drills. Jus' sayin.

I always thought you liked the magic of " F I V E " grinz... And you got a deal, however the five things going to yard sale must come from garage, which is where the tools really want to live anyway :) I pet them every day and promise they will have a real home soon. :builder:

[Butterbean]

The show "Hoarders" fascinates me. Much like, "Intervention," it brings about some understanding of mental illness.

When I watch some of the clients sobbing over a piece of garbage, while their family stands there frustrated and the relationships are shattered, I wanna yell.

The case/story that stands out in my memory is that of the heavy set guy who lived in Washington. When he spoke about his childhood, it broke my heart. There was so much garbage in the house, his clothes stunk and the other kids at school called him "Stinky."

One day child welfare officials showed up at the house and removed him. I believe the family lived in Louisiana. His older sister raised him and their mother had no appreciation for any of that.

Her house had several dead cats and she had lost her dentures. She was in complete denial about her situation and blamed her daughter for anything wrong with her house. It was difficult to watch how wasted mentally, this woman was due to lack of proper medical care. I believe she required institutional type living.

While currently considered a variant of OCD, which many disagree, hoarding doesn't respond well to conventional treatment. I think that with more time and experience, we'll get more of a handle on how to effectively treat hoarders. I do agree that it is a variant of OCD.

Monday nights on A&E is emotionally sort of rough but I try to never miss those two shows. I'd love to see the same type of series concerning schizophrenia.

[apretty]

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_WqOOEKTJbto/S9su0DUdSOI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/L_O2KJUUaeg/s640/roombafur.jpg

[cinderella]

All that catharsys and over one little bottle - dayum girl, you're easy!! lol, j/k

I am a horder of sorts...I hoard fabric - only high end, of course - sewing paraphernalia, threads, embellishments, lace, sewing gizmos, and sewing machines - yes, machines. I had 7 at last count, but traded 2 in for a high-end fancy-shmancy embroidery/sewing one that retails for 8K!!! Now talk about addiction!! I also have a White (company name) 1923 sewing machine I found at a consignment shop with a solid walnut cabinet, and all the accessories. I paid $50 for it. It needs fixing/restoration, but I love it!!But then, I have a small home-based business of high-end decorative pillows. Secretly, I think the business is just an excuse to hoard more fabric and sewing stuff!! lol

{{{{{{{{{{{{June}}}}}}}}}}}}}

I just wanted to say thank you for starting this thread. My house is still pretty cluttered, but it's coming back under control again, and lots of that is because I had a chance to talk about it with other people who get it.

Funny how something as small as a spice bottle can be such a big symbol. This morning I emptied the nutmeg. The plastic is just not recyclable here... so I threw it away.

At first I felt guilt, but then I felt this immense relief. I didn't have to wash the bottle, store the bottle, figure out how to reuse the bottle... it didn't have to be yet one more thing piled up and eating at my conscience. It isn't recyclable... instead of "craft supplies" (and they WOULD make absolutely adorable toy soldier Yule ornaments, but I. Never. Make. Them.), it is "trash."

One less thing on my kitchen counter, one less thing on my to-do list, one huge sense of relief because now I am in control of my own life again.

:bouquet: Thank you, June. It's a wonderful gift.

Cath

[foxyshaman]

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_WqOOEKTJbto/S9su0DUdSOI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/L_O2KJUUaeg/s640/roombafur.jpg

what the hell is that? I wanted to leap back... fortunately I was sitting and my chair has a back... OMG....

My mother was a hoarder of sorts. I went the opposite. I love to toss things and donate things and keep a very sparse house. Friends of mine are wanting to give me a beautiful side board to match the antique table and chairs they gave me... I am almost panicking... my mind thinks... but but there is an empty space there... however will I live without my empty space.

It even goes so far as to not owning CD's or DVD's. If I had them then I would have to store them and if I had to store them then I would have to make room for them, if I had to make room for them then I would have clutter, if I had clutter I would have to... you see it I have my own problems I panick when I cannot see openness....

[apretty]

what the hell is that? I wanted to leap back... fortunately I was sitting and my chair has a back... OMG....


we have 4 dogs so it's fur, dust/sand, and dander, and i'm sure there's rocks in there from when chester goes out and brings them inside.

[foxyshaman]

Thank you for the explanation!!! I hope you do not have allergies. But four dogs, lots of love. I don't own pets, I can't. I have patients in and out of my house for treatments and many have allergies. But I do miss the love of a pet. I am forever looking at the pictures and longing. Ah well what is a gal to do. I mean besides pout??

[Medusa]

I have a stack of papers on my desk that is literally 2 feet high and other stacks of 2-foot high papers in various places all over the office.

I showed Juney my office back in January on my webcam. Needless to say, the office was completely unusable and had crap stacked from one wall to the other. You couldn't even see the floor.

Over the last few months, I have been slowly but surely cleaning stuff out, getting rid of stuff, throwing away, and reorganizing. The papers that are now on my desk are the random finds from the last few months of cleaning: old bills, tax papers, receipts, shit I really need to keep, etc.
Sure, there were some old cards and newsclippings in there, but most of it was stuff I need to keep for a few years.

This morning on a whim I decided that I would grab one of my tote bags and cram it full of as many papers as I could before leaving and bring it to work with me. I have spent most of my morning sorting, stapling, tossing, and shredding and have reduced a HUGE bag of papers down to a 2-inch pile of stuff that is presorted and ready to file :)

Im quite proud of myself :)

It just made sense to use my downtime at work to actually do something that will benefit me at home (rather than scoping the internet for new places to spend money or new ways to waste time LOL)

Anyone else a paper hoarder?

[SassyLeo]

I have a stack of papers on my desk that is literally 2 feet high and other stacks of 2-foot high papers in various places all over the office.

I showed Juney my office back in January on my webcam. Needless to say, the office was completely unusable and had crap stacked from one wall to the other. You couldn't even see the floor.

Over the last few months, I have been slowly but surely cleaning stuff out, getting rid of stuff, throwing away, and reorganizing. The papers that are now on my desk are the random finds from the last few months of cleaning: old bills, tax papers, receipts, shit I really need to keep, etc.
Sure, there were some old cards and newsclippings in there, but most of it was stuff I need to keep for a few years.

This morning on a whim I decided that I would grab one of my tote bags and cram it full of as many papers as I could before leaving and bring it to work with me. I have spent most of my morning sorting, stapling, tossing, and shredding and have reduced a HUGE bag of papers down to a 2-inch pile of stuff that is presorted and ready to file :)

Im quite proud of myself :)

It just made sense to use my downtime at work to actually do something that will benefit me at home (rather than scoping the internet for new places to spend money or new ways to waste time LOL)

Anyone else a paper hoarder?

OMG Angie! Me too!

So I used to have 3 places for papers:

1. a bin with old bank statements, car stuff, warranty stuff, old work documents, legal stuff, etc.
2. a small mailbox thing where I put all mail for the week and then sort through it on the weekend
3. a bag I carry to work with stuff that needs to be mailed/faxed/called for question

:doh:

About a month ago, I went and bought a printer cart that had 2 drawers so I could make files. I went through the bin, the mail and the bag and sorted everything. And ended with the bin FULL of stuff to shred.

So, last week after talking to Erin for over a year about buying a shredder :nerd: ...I went onto Amazon.com, searched for an inexpensive but highly rated shredder.

5 days later, after work, I sat down with my new shredder and and the bin full of misc papers/old bills/receipts that I had for (sadly) way too long and I SHREDDED to my hearts content!

Now I have a huge garbage bag full of shred which I plan to use while camping in a few weeks.

I cannot even tell you how good it felt!!!

:bow: :balloon: :thumbsup:

[cinderella]

Shredded paper is great for paper mache - you can make bowls, and all kinds of stuff with it. Make a large bowl, paint it, and put decorative fruit (made with paper mache as well) in it...take pics and show us your creations - talk about recycling!!! :)

OMG Angie! Me too!

So I used to have 3 places for papers:

1. a bin with old bank statements, car stuff, warranty stuff, old work documents, legal stuff, etc.
2. a small mailbox thing where I put all mail for the week and then sort through it on the weekend
3. a bag I carry to work with stuff that needs to be mailed/faxed/called for question

:doh:

About a month ago, I went and bought a printer cart that had 2 drawers so I could make files. I went through the bin, the mail and the bag and sorted everything. And ended with the bin FULL of stuff to shred.

So, last week after talking to Erin for over a year about buying a shredder :nerd: ...I went onto Amazon.com, searched for an inexpensive but highly rated shredder.

5 days later, after work, I sat down with my new shredder and and the bin full of misc papers/old bills/receipts that I had for (sadly) way too long and I SHREDDED to my hearts content!

Now I have a huge garbage bag full of shred which I plan to use while camping in a few weeks.

I cannot even tell you how good it felt!!!

:bow: :balloon: :thumbsup:

[Medusa]

OMG Angie! Me too!

So I used to have 3 places for papers:

1. a bin with old bank statements, car stuff, warranty stuff, old work documents, legal stuff, etc.
2. a small mailbox thing where I put all mail for the week and then sort through it on the weekend
3. a bag I carry to work with stuff that needs to be mailed/faxed/called for question

:doh:

About a month ago, I went and bought a printer cart that had 2 drawers so I could make files. I went through the bin, the mail and the bag and sorted everything. And ended with the bin FULL of stuff to shred.

So, last week after talking to Erin for over a year about buying a shredder :nerd: ...I went onto Amazon.com, searched for an inexpensive but highly rated shredder.

5 days later, after work, I sat down with my new shredder and and the bin full of misc papers/old bills/receipts that I had for (sadly) way too long and I SHREDDED to my hearts content!

Now I have a huge garbage bag full of shred which I plan to use while camping in a few weeks.

I cannot even tell you how good it felt!!!

:bow: :balloon: :thumbsup:


Shredding Sisters UNITE!

I LOVE to shred! Something is cathartic about mincing the little bits of bills and receipts to scrap right before your very eyes :)

Now tell me, how is shredded paper going camping with you? Are you using it for fires?! :)

[freyja]

*girl walks into room and takes a seat. Raises hand.*


Hi, my name is freyja and i am a paper princess. Yes, it is true. i love paper. i love paper so much i keep it everywhere. On every surface there are piles of notes. There are two clipboards with lists. i have a notebook iin my purse. i have a pad of paper in the bedside table.


ooooooooh i love paper.


Alas, the time has come to get out of the paper hoarding habit and get rid of some. i too, bought a paper shredder. i bought it a year ago. it is still in the original box.

Alas, i think today i might be able to get myself to clean out some of the paper clutter.

Wish me luck.

[cinderella]

Don't be afraid to shred...see my post #205 above, now you can be creative with your paper! ;)

[freyja]

Noooooo Cinderella, i need to get RID of stuff, not create more!!!

i'll mail it all to Sassy and she can take it camping with her :)

[SassyLeo]

Shredded paper is great for paper mache - you can make bowls, and all kinds of stuff with it. Make a large bowl, paint it, and put decorative fruit (made with paper mache as well) in it...take pics and show us your creations - talk about recycling!!! :)

Shredding Sisters UNITE!

I LOVE to shred! Something is cathartic about mincing the little bits of bills and receipts to scrap right before your very eyes :)

Now tell me, how is shredded paper going camping with you? Are you using it for fires?! :)

Yes, it will be for the firepit :D

Even more freeing!!! Burn it all!!!

:cheerleader:

[cinderella]

Hey, I have tons of paper too!! Maybe we can send all our paper to Sassey Leo...what a bonfire that would make!!!

Ok, my hoarder comrades, I'm off to bake cookies - oatmeal raisin, and uber choc chip...blame freyja!!

Noooooo Cinderella, i need to get RID of stuff, not create more!!!

i'll mail it all to Sassy and she can take it camping with her :)

[freyja]

oh i forgot to mention, i also hoard cookies.

i bake 'em but don't eat them all.
Then i get the urge to bake something else.

i think i will go dip something in chocolate.
Stay tuned, will put a pic in my gallery later :)

[SassyLeo]

Hey, I have tons of paper too!! Maybe we can send all our paper to Sassey Leo...what a bonfire that would make!!!

Ok, my hoarder comrades, I'm off to bake cookies - oatmeal raisin, and uber choc chip...blame freyja!!

oh i forgot to mention, i also hoard cookies.

i bake 'em but don't eat them all.
Then i get the urge to bake something else.

i think i will go dip something in chocolate.
Stay tuned, will put a pic in my gallery later :)




You 2 are confusing me... with the same avatar :|

[christie]

I am a reformed paper hoarder. Its the accountant in me.

In the early days of Jess and I, I stumbled across THREE YEARS worth of paid electric/utility bills that Jess had kept. Hy may not know it, but they went bye-bye.

When I first started at my present company, my (former) assistant was a rather mature woman and still preferred her IBM Selectric. She, I must say, had me beat in paper hoarding on my worst of days.

I came in one Monday. There was a printed email from her in my downstairs inbox. There was another copy of the same email in my upstairs inbox. There was yet another copy in my chair and low and behold, in my email. When I asked her about it, her response was something about making sure I got it (and it wasnt even remotely important). When she left some 9 months later, as I was sorting through files in her desk, I came across ANOTHER COPY of that same email! No wonder our paper costs were off the charts! Poor trees!

Here's to no paper hoarding!!

[Medusa]

I am a reformed paper hoarder. Its the accountant in me.

In the early days of Jess and I, I stumbled across THREE YEARS worth of paid electric/utility bills that Jess had kept. Hy may not know it, but they went bye-bye.

When I first started at my present company, my (former) assistant was a rather mature woman and still preferred her IBM Selectric. She, I must say, had me beat in paper hoarding on my worst of days.

I came in one Monday. There was a printed email from her in my downstairs inbox. There was another copy of the same email in my upstairs inbox. There was yet another copy in my chair and low and behold, in my email. When I asked her about it, her response was something about making sure I got it (and it wasnt even remotely important). When she left some 9 months later, as I was sorting through files in her desk, I came across ANOTHER COPY of that same email! No wonder our paper costs were off the charts! Poor trees!

Here's to no paper hoarding!!

WORD!

I have even reduced my paper address books down to digital versions.
It was pretty embarrassing going through the office and finding half-used address books and calendars everywhere. Made me twitch to think of how much paper I had contributed to wasting.

Now, exactly how long does the IRS require us to keep copies of our stuff? Like when we claim home offices as business expenses, are we supposed to keep copies of our electric and all that for 7 years too?

[Lady Pamela]

WORD!

I have even reduced my paper address books down to digital versions.
It was pretty embarrassing going through the office and finding half-used address books and calendars everywhere. Made me twitch to think of how much paper I had contributed to wasting.

Now, exactly how long does the IRS require us to keep copies of our stuff? Like when we claim home offices as business expenses, are we supposed to keep copies of our electric and all that for 7 years too?


I just recently had to help my sister do this.
The time frame is seven years for tax papers and insurance papers, and home business stuff but for all other things it is five. Fun, fun when you have as much as she had to do...lol

She hadn't organized anything since 1996..holy crap.

It was a venture I tell ya.

[christie]

Here are two IRS links for document/record retention:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p552.pdf for Individual/personal records

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p583.pdf for Business records

Here is a condensed list for business:


General Financial Records

Type of Record Retention Period(Years)

Auditors' reports Permanent
Bank debt deduction 7
Bank deposit slips, reconciliations, statements 4
Bills of lading 4
Budgets 2
Checks - cancelled 4
Contracts - purchase and sales 4*
Credit memos 4
Depreciation records 4*
Employee expense reports 4
Employee payroll records (W-2, W-4, annual earnings records, etc.) 6*
Financial statements -- annual Permanent
Financial statements -- interim 4
Freight bills 4
Internal reports (Work orders, sales reports, production reports) 4
Inventory lists 4
Invoices - Sales and cash register receipts, merchandise purchases 4
Invoices -- purchases (permanent assets) 4*
General ledger Journals Permanent
General, cash receipts, cash disbursement, and purchase journals. Permanent
Payroll journal 4
Petty cash vouchers 4
Subsidiary ledgers (accounts receivable, accounts payable, etc.) 6
Time cards and daily time reports 4
Worthless securities 7
* Retention periods begin after termination, expiration, disposal, etc. of item.

Business Records

Articles of incorporation Permanent
Bylaws Permanent
Capital stock and bond records Permanent
Contracts and agreements (government construction, partnership, employment, labor, etc.) Permanent
Copyrights and trademark registration Permanent
Legal correspondence Permanent
Minutes Permanent
Mortgages and note agreements 6*
Patents Permanent
Personnel files 4*

Insurance Records

Accident reports 6
Fire inspection reports 6
Group disability records 6
Insurance policies 6 *
Safety records 6
Settled insurance claims 4


Pension/Profit Sharing Records

Actuarial reports Permanent
Associated ledgers and journals Permanent
Financial statements Permanent
IRS approval letter Permanent
Plan and trust agreement Permanent

Tax records

Tax returns and cancelled checks(federal, state and local) Permanent
Sales and use tax returns Permanent
Payroll tax returns 4
Pension/profit-sharing informational returns Permanent

All retention periods begin with the date the return was filed. If the statute of limitations concerning a tax year is extended, the retention period should be extended accordingly.

A nifty trick I use is to scan documents into PDF files and keep on a flash drive for personal records.

There is some debate amongst the ranks as to the retention of certain business records such as invoices, cash receipts journals, credit memos, etc can also be in electronic format. Until its clearer, I am erring on the side of caution.

Go home, scan away and then have a shredding party!!!

[2myladyblue]

*girl walks into room and takes a seat. Raises hand.*

Hi, my name is freyja and i am a paper princess. Yes, it is true. i love paper. i love paper so much i keep it everywhere.

Alas, i think today i might be able to get myself to clean out some of the paper clutter.

Wish me luck.




*walks in to Paper Princesses Anonymous meeting & feels oddly at home*

*LUCK!* Freyja

:hiding:
~Blue
:kettlepot:

[Gemme]

I am SUCH the paper hoarder. My recovery from said hoarding has been slow and complete with very static months to years where nothing improves. I have Jaws at work (industrial shredder than criss cross cuts and shreds simultaneously...I may have a crush on it), so I do shred and it hasn't gotten extreme (no one's filming a show at my place), but I do have a lot of papers.

I'm a piler by nature. I have piles for financial stuff and piles for recreational (I'll look into this/this seems fun/maybe it would be good to get one of these) piles as well as arts/crafts piles. On top of that, I have health papers (articles ripped out of mags or printed out from online or copies of my health records and logs) as well as personal stuff like addresses, sentimental cards received by family and friends, and whatnot.

I had a file cabinet at my last place but had to get rid of it due to lack of space. Now my papers are divided between the loft in the garage and boxes tucked here and there. I absolutely HAVE to go through all of them in the next couple of months, though, because I am *not* paying to mail or ship something that I'm just going to wind up shredding later. :blink:

[cinderella]

Well, you know Sass, that freyja is a copy-cat - I had the red shoe first - and until I can find a glass slipper, I will keep the red shoe.

*Cinderealla who's feeling more like Dorothy in the OZ with the ruby red slipper!* ;)

You 2 are confusing me... with the same avatar :|

[Medusa]

Brought another huge bag of papers to work with me this morning.

This is just asinine.

I mean, who needs an operator's manual to a TOASTER?

And a receipt from a video rental from 2003?

Expired coupons?

and millions of those little free address labels that the Cancer society sends to guilt you into donating. The problem is, they got the name wrong. They used Jackhammer's first name and my last name because they apparently arent used to two women owning a house together.

Good Grief. Let the shredding and organizing continue.

[Medusa]

I'm done with today's pile :)

A BIG bag (probably about 18 inches wide x 18 inches long x 18 inches deep) that was chuck full and bursting at the seams with random paper has now been reduced to one neat stack that is about 2 inches thick.

Im pretty pleased but also irritated that I let it stack up. (but also thankful that my job is flexible and I have had 4 random hours to go through all of it at my desk.)

I'm so motivated that Im doing another bag tomorrow :)

[cinderella]

Yay!! Medusa!! Good job!!

Now, if only I could do that in one fell swoop...I have been purging little by little, but like everything else in my life, I have to be in the mood. I get overwhelmed so easily, not to mention how lazy I am. I should be shot! Really. Here I am, retired 2 years in November, and what have I done with my time? Absolutely NADA. But that's not completely true, I have made some snail-paced progress. But what's the hurry? I'm not going anywhere, and have no one to keep the house in order for except me...

I'm hoping that coming on this thread daily, will motivate me to move my arse and do stuff. Anyway, yesterday I baked uber choc chip cookies - does that count? :)

I'm done with today's pile :)

A BIG bag (probably about 18 inches wide x 18 inches long x 18 inches deep) that was chuck full and bursting at the seams with random paper has now been reduced to one neat stack that is about 2 inches thick.

Im pretty pleased but also irritated that I let it stack up. (but also thankful that my job is flexible and I have had 4 random hours to go through all of it at my desk.)

I'm so motivated that Im doing another bag tomorrow :)

[Bit]

Neighborhood Association Rummage Sale is this Saturday.

Gathering of donations shall commence in 3...2...1...



:pacman: :cheesy: :pacman:

[Gemme]

I see a garage/yard/rummage sale in my future this summer. :thumbsup:

[apretty]

bag of paper! yay! including but not limited to school notes, power points for class, study materials and paid bills!!! yay! yay! yay!

and it all went into recycling <3

[pinkgeek]

So moving has been this interesting process for me. I threw everything into storage and took my clothes, shoes, textbooks and computers to my new place.. I still feel like I have too much stuff w/ me. (No comments on 40+ pairs of shoes being a lifestyle requirement of mine or I'll put you in the bin w/ last years flip-flops..)

Textbooks I'm not keeping from semester to semester. Books, I'm selling all but the antiques because they've been in boxes for 6 months and I haven't cared.

Goal- Get to the point that I can fit my life into my beetle. OK so that's not realistic because my shoe collection doesn't fit in the beetle, I tried last week. Everything but the shoes can fit into the beetle.

I am the anti-nicknack, anti-clutter femme.

[Bit]

Hi pinkgeek, welcome to the Planet and to your new (and uncluttered) home!

[Bit]

Rummage items are gone never to return... and Gryph found me a RECLINER at the rummage sale! I can at last put my feet up and rest my back properly!

The best part? It was FREE. *big eyes* It was left over at the end of the day... I cannot imagine why, because it's in really good shape!

[Gemme]

Rummage items are gone never to return... and Gryph found me a RECLINER at the rummage sale! I can at last put my feet up and rest my back properly!

The best part? It was FREE. *big eyes* It was left over at the end of the day... I cannot imagine why, because it's in really good shape!

Yaaaaay for sweet finds!

[Jess]

We are hoping/ planning to have a yard sale this weekend. I am so looking forward to having space again that I can actually work in and store things that we NEED as opposed to just stuff we HAVE.

Will be advertising it on our local "swap shop/ trading post" bit on out local AM station. I have been trying to listen for it to see when it airs, and of course fighting the urge to go swap someone else's junk LOL!

We've done a lot of streamlining over the past year and it feels really good when you see you are making headway in the mayhem.

I got a huge laugh at the "toaster" manual, I have entire files of manuals for crap like electric beaters and now I might be able to get rid of some..LOL! Thanks Medusa.

Wishes for continued progress fellow hoarders!

[Lynn]

One of the biggest boons to our efforts to bust clutter has been the new recycling program where we live. Just one big bin for everything--no sorting, no bagging, no special prepartions. We have fewer bags of recyclables in the kitchen, garage, and hallway. We also have a better understanding of how much more we can recycle than we had been doing before.

Spent hours yesterday going through the papers on the dining room table and sideboard. Put away a lot of stuff and threw away even more. It's an ongoing problem because I can't seem to just keep up with it. It doesn't bother me unless it reaches horrifying proportions.

Forgot to add that we also put an old microwave/convection oven on freecycle, and should be rid of it by tonight. There is no way that I'm organized enough to pull off a garage sale. If I have something that someone can use, it's more reliable for me to give it away. Otherwise, it sits around so long that it gets ruined.

[Medusa]

Did anyone see the episode of "Hoarders" yesterday with the lady who was married who had her children taken away?

The house was probably one of the worst ones I had seen and I could definitely see why they took the children away but I was highly irritated that the show did not have one of their better psychologists go in to help with the cleanup but rather a lady who was NOT a psychologist who had "10 years of experience organizing".
To me, in a case such as that one I think the show would have been more responsible having a psychologist on hand in case the parents broke down (which they did).

It was even worse seeing them fill FOUR pods just from the garage because the woman refused to get rid of anything and the helpers were literally shoveling trash, dirt, rats, toys, and clothes into boxes, taping them shut and stacking them back in the Pods or in the basement.

I mean, how in the HELL is that helping to just box it all up neatly? I understand they wanted to give her room to sort but since she wasnt getting rid of anything, all they were doing was repackaging the situation instead of dealing with it.

ARGGHHH!!!

I did see at the end of the show where they said that the authorities were not convinced that the situation was under control and they wouldnt let the kids back in the house and that the couple had filed for divorce.

Just SAD!

[Dylan]

Did anyone see the episode of "Hoarders" yesterday with the lady who was married who had her children taken away?

The house was probably one of the worst ones I had seen and I could definitely see why they took the children away but I was highly irritated that the show did not have one of their better psychologists go in to help with the cleanup but rather a lady who was NOT a psychologist who had "10 years of experience organizing".
To me, in a case such as that one I think the show would have been more responsible having a psychologist on hand in case the parents broke down (which they did).

It was even worse seeing them fill FOUR pods just from the garage because the woman refused to get rid of anything and the helpers were literally shoveling trash, dirt, rats, toys, and clothes into boxes, taping them shut and stacking them back in the Pods or in the basement.

I mean, how in the HELL is that helping to just box it all up neatly? I understand they wanted to give her room to sort but since she wasnt getting rid of anything, all they were doing was repackaging the situation instead of dealing with it.

ARGGHHH!!!

I did see at the end of the show where they said that the authorities were not convinced that the situation was under control and they wouldnt let the kids back in the house and that the couple had filed for divorce.

Just SAD!

Are you talking about the lady with all of the animals? And they showed CPS and the police coming to the house? And then, Animal Control came? And they had a dog named Scout?

If that's the show you're talking about, I was highly aggravated by the fact that The Lady was held completely accountable for everything while her kids and HUSBAND were given a pass.

I'm sorry, but it's not like The Husband just came home one day, and the house looked like shit. He was quite capable of cleaning up a little bit too (yeah, yeah, I get there's issues with living with a hoarder, but...you can still pick up some dog shit). And...um...once you're 14 years old, you're quite capable of cleaning up a little and doing some damned dishes.

But, instead, The Lady was held accountable even tho the kids and husband were all physically capable of doing SOMETHING.


And I Also Think The Whole IDEA Of Sending 'Professional Organizers' Into A Hoarding Situation Is Just Ridiculous And Lazy,
Dylan

[SuperFemme]

The level of shame that woman was dosed with made me sad.
I don't feel like anything was actualy done to help her, but rather as Medusa said it was repackaging the mess.

All they did was give her room to start over.

[Medusa]

Oh noeezz, this was a different episode but I know which one you are talking about -Yeah, many of the episodes do paint the women as entirely responsible for the filth and hoarding in the house. Even the episode I was talking about above showed segments of the husband talking about how the wife was spending money and how there was probably "thousands" of dollars of merchandise still in bags in the house and about how he had threatened divorce to be able to get the kids back.
And I kept thinking, "Well what is keeping you from cleaning up your kid's rooms?"

Because they showed the daughters room and it was literally 3-feet deep with shit *everywhere*. Random wadded up clothes, piles of toys, etc.

I think I mentioned it before but they have shown a couple of different types of hoarders on the show. One type of hoarder that has neat stacks of crap and lives in general chaos but not filth. The other type that they have shown is a hoarder who has haphazard piles everywhere teetering on the edge of falling over and filth everywhere. Dirty clothes, dirty dishes, animal feces, shitty toilet paper, etc.

The thing that struck me is that the the show I was talking about in the last post where they had their children taken away had been successful in clearing out the living room but there was still noticeable filth from the years of things being piled up. The carpet was badly stained, walls were marked and stained, and the furniture had that general "I do NOT want to sit on that" look to it.
It had me wondering about the authorities determining that the situation still wasnt under control because of the rest of the house being piled up. Specifically wondering about how they determine exactly how piled up or dirty a house can be.
I remember an episode of Cops where they pulled children out of a house where the sink was piled full of dishes and there was laundry all over the couch but not much else filthy about it and yet, on some of these episodes of Hoarders, they show children sleeping on bare mattresses with animal feces smashed into all the floors of their house.

[Medusa]

The level of shame that woman was dosed with made me sad.
I don't feel like anything was actualy done to help her, but rather as Medusa said it was repackaging the mess.

All they did was give her room to start over.


YES! And what the fuck with filming that shit in the front yard so that all of her neighbors could stop and gawk? I mean, I know they probably didnt have room in the house to film but how about the back yard or putting up a screen?

And did anyone else notice the "organizer" who had brought a flip chart to "educate" the helpers on the viruses and such associated with rat poop and had misspelled a title word and had marked through it with a marker? (Virgo here!)
I found it to be incredibly insensitive to talk about the "filth they might encounter" outi in the front yard and in such stark terms. I mean, I know the lady wasnt a psychologist and maybe some even think it was a good shock to the system for the hoarders to be talked about in such a harsh way but I dig the real psychologists who come at it from a more humane approach.
(and I DID notice that in both episodes where only an organizer was present, the hoarding cleanup was considered a "failure" on both accounts.)

[Dylan]

Dammit...how did I miss a rat and rat poo episode?

I'm quite upset by this.

We watched until they started repeating...


Unless It Was On When I Got A Phone Call,
Dylan...<sadface>

[Medusa]

:bucktooth:Dammit...how did I miss a rat and rat poo episode?

I'm quite upset by this.

We watched until they started repeating...


Unless It Was On When I Got A Phone Call,
Dylan...<sadface>


Oh you missed a good one! They showed at least 5 rats!

Now, do you feel this enthusiastic about the smashed-cat episodes? LOL
That one episode where the elderly couple had like 40 flattened dead cats in their garage is permanently in my DVR :|

[Ms. Tabitha]

On Memorial Day, there will be a Marathon (back to back episodes) on Hoarders.

:blink:

[Dylan]

:bucktooth:


Oh you missed a good one! They showed at least 5 rats!

Now, do you feel this enthusiastic about the smashed-cat episodes? LOL
That one episode where the elderly couple had like 40 flattened dead cats in their garage is permanently in my DVR :|

OMG...I'm going to have to rent the season from Netflix or something

I missed the flattened cat episode


Dammit, I Can't Have ANYthing Nice,
Dylan

Maybe both episodes will repeat on the Memorial Day Marathon

[Gemme]

:bucktooth:


Oh you missed a good one! They showed at least 5 rats!

Now, do you feel this enthusiastic about the smashed-cat episodes? LOL
That one episode where the elderly couple had like 40 flattened dead cats in their garage is permanently in my DVR :|

Medusa, are you saying that you are hoarding episodes of Hoarders? Isn't that all kinds of wrong? :blink:

[apretty]

check this out, you can do a digital room tour on aetv.com:

http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/digital-room/june.jsp


my very favorite Hoarders is *Jill* (season one, epi 1) --not just because she has a method of detecting edible old packaged foods by it's 'puffiness'. rather the therapist on that episode was BRILLIANT!

http://www.ninjavideo.net/video/36869 (and watch for pop ups) and FF to about 6:16 *JILL*

the conversation:

Dr. David Tolin: (paraphrase) "...do you notice a smell...? i'm noticing a smell. you see, if you notice there are some buzzing flies, do you have a sense of what that might be about? sometimes when there's a strong smell and flies buzzing around it means that something is rotting.. do you have any sense of what that might be about? is there something rotting in here? ...but there's not rotting fruit in here? ...not so fresh now. no. oh. there's quite a collection here. wow."

brilliant! i love the way that this particular psychologist (dr. tolin) confronts the unbelievable level of denial; it's perfect. ...because my god, the rationale, while totally damaging, is so ingrained in the behavior.)

dr. tolin's website: http://drtolin.com/

is anyone else totally motivated to CLEAN and DISCARD after watching one of these episodes? or during one of these episodes?


medusa: i absolutely get the sense that many of the wives/mom's get the total blame when they've got a perfectly capable man sitting around doing nothing. i only wish they'd box up these men along with the rest of their useless garbage--instead the wife/mom/girlfriend spends her time *explaining* his pouting/rage/depressed behavior and 'discomfort' to the therapist, to the camera, to everyone.

[apretty]

hoarders-inspired:

3 bags of stuff to give away--and it's going to this cool resale shop that helps to fund the "gay/AIDS/youth/community stuff" in town. yay!!

the store: http://www.3snaps.org/index.php

-also, i'm going to put it in my car because in the garage it will easily get overlooked and resorted (which drives me crazy) and this way i'll have it with me when i'm down in central phx.

[Waldo]

Sharing for your amusement, inspiration or horror. Whatever.

My neighborhood is having a neighborhood wide yard/garage sale in a couple weeks. When I came back from Boston on Friday I got the little flier advising that the deadline to register was fast approaching. "Hey, I should totally do that".

Then I realized that *at best* I had a paper bag of stuff that could go into a sale.

So yeah, that's a donation. Too bad, I used to love throwing a yard sale. I miss those $700 Saturdays.

[Medusa]

Sharing for your amusement, inspiration or horror. Whatever.

My neighborhood is having a neighborhood wide yard/garage sale in a couple weeks. When I came back from Boston on Friday I got the little flier advising that the deadline to register was fast approaching. "Hey, I should totally do that".

Then I realized that *at best* I had a paper bag of stuff that could go into a sale.

So yeah, that's a donation. Too bad, I used to love throwing a yard sale. I miss those $700 Saturdays.


Braggart!!

I went to a yard sale one time and it appeared to be a family of hoarders. They had pushed everything out the front door onto dirty sheets on the ground.
I found a package of ramen noodles that was something like 4 years out of date and when I picked it up to see if it was what I thought it was, a man from the family yelled out "Those are SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS EACHHHH!!!"


:|

[Waldo]

Braggart!!

I went to a yard sale one time and it appeared to be a family of hoarders. They had pushed everything out the front door onto dirty sheets on the ground.
I found a package of ramen noodles that was something like 4 years out of date and when I picked it up to see if it was what I thought it was, a man from the family yelled out "Those are SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS EACHHHH!!!"

:|

Cause you know, they're antiques.

[SassyLeo]

I haven't been able to watch many of the Hoarders shows because I don't have cable... but I've seen a few different kinds on various channels...

I'm no psychologist so of course I don't understand the level of the psychosis...

I just cannot *get* how one can be and live in a house that smells SO bad. The stench of garbage, cat or dog piss, rats, rancid food... and physical illness because of the filth...

It is so sad, the level of mental illness that these things are not trigger enough to realize something needs to be done. The emotional paralysis and denial are so sad.

[cali4nyaprincess23]

OMG I love that show!

[AtLast]

Braggart!!

I went to a yard sale one time and it appeared to be a family of hoarders. They had pushed everything out the front door onto dirty sheets on the ground.
I found a package of ramen noodles that was something like 4 years out of date and when I picked it up to see if it was what I thought it was, a man from the family yelled out "Those are SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS EACHHHH!!!"


:|

OMG.. I am on the floor laughing.. REALLY!!! He was trying to let go.....

Never have watched these shows....