Community Chat

[Mominohio]

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@deepwaterdotter wrote:

I have all I can do to afford the basics most of the time, hoarding isn't in my budget.

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Actually, this is a key trigger for many hoarders. They have very little money, and they worry about not having , so they save EVERYTHING, and FOREVER.  

Things from 40 years ago, things given to them they don't really need or want, things they find for free or super cheap. 

There is a real and constant fear that they will need something someday, and have no way to obtain it, so they end up with lots of stuff (not always good or useful stuff)

[BornToShop]

@Desertdi  I'm with you on books!  COVID created a jigsaw puzzle hoard for me.  I won't say what my backstock levels are, lol!  I'm not going to apologize for my books/puzzles inventory as they are both timeless, great for brain stimulation and keeps me from not tuning into so much TV as well.  I lived in Florida for 25 years and w/o question when June 1st started Hurricane season, you betcha toilet paper, batteries, candles, water & non-parishable foods redefined hoarding!  

[Puppy Lips]

I am not a hoader, per se, but I do have a hard time getting rid of things.  Just this weekend my husband decided to clear some books off our bookshelves.  Some of them were books I used for college classes.  That was a LONG time ago, and still I have a bit of anxiety about it.  I did pull one aside that I always wanted to reread.

I also do get on kicks of collecting things - quilted throws, Vera Bradley, Boyd's Bears, Jim Shore ornaments, and a specific type of pottery, are a few examples.  But I have not had one of those "kicks" in some time now, so hopefully I can avoid that in the future.  I have more Vera Bradley than I will ever need, but I am trying to use it all at some points so I don't feel so stupid for buying so much!

[Sapphiregal]

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@GenXmuse wrote:

I'm more of a purger. Too much stuff feels like chaos. That's good you recognize it though.  

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@GenXmuse 

I am the same way. I feel a loss of control when there is too much stuff and I hate clutter.  I like knowing what is in my home and exactly where it is.  I don't t want unnecessary things.

[Desertdi]

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@BornToShop wrote:

@Desertdi  I'm with you on books!  COVID created a jigsaw puzzle hoard for me.  I won't say what my backstock levels are, lol!  I'm not going to apologize for my books/puzzles inventory as they are both timeless, great for brain stimulation and keeps me  from not tuning in to so much TV as well.  I lived in Florida for 25 years and w/o question when June 1st started Hurricane season, you betcha toilet paper, batteries, candles, water & non parishable foods redefined hoarding!  

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@BornToShop   I can't part with a book, unless I KNOW the recipient is going to READ it.    As for supplies, I call it being "pro-active"......or as we said in the Girl Scouts, "Always be Prepared" !!!!   (I have been thru this before, too....lived in CA during two major quakes.)   di

[just bee]

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@BornToShop wrote:

@Desertdi  I'm with you on books!  COVID created a jigsaw puzzle hoard for me.  I won't say what my backstock levels are, lol!  I'm not going to apologize for my books/puzzles inventory as they are both timeless, great for brain stimulation and keeps me from not tuning into so much TV as well.  I lived in Florida for 25 years and w/o question when June 1st started Hurricane season, you betcha toilet paper, batteries, candles, water & non-parishable foods redefined hoarding!  

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@BornToShop 

Check out thejigsawpuzzles.com -- online puzzles and you NEVER lose a piece.  Changed my life.

[Porcelain]

They say that clutter is the result of delayed decision making. When it's too overwhelming to find a home for an item because there's no room for it, or when you're too busy to take the time, you stash the item somewhere or just drop it on a surface intending to put it away later. And then when later comes, something else has already grabbed your attention, leaving the question of where to home the item unanswered.

Anything that is just sitting around, I see as an open question that needs to be answered. It bothers me a lot. But when there's a critical mass of unanswered questions in a room, aka stuff, I shut down that part of my thinking process and ignore them.

Cleaning up means addressing and making each decision, one at a time.

I've also really found it to be true that any horizontal surface attracts stuff to it like a magnet. Constantly clearing horizontal surfaces just seems to be part of my life. We can set rules about what is allowed on a surface and we have great mail filing systems. But before I know it, there's little piles of mail on the credenza and the kitchen island and the coffee table again.

What do you do when you genuinely don't know where to put something?

[SurferWife]

I stock up on products that I actively use (1 in use & 1 or 2 back-ups, if the sale is worthwhile).  However, if I don't have appropriates storage for it, then no.  I'm not going to start living like a pig just to have extras.

[Helen Bach]

I live in a house built in 1902 and there is absolutely no storage, one tiny closet (like child size).  What did people do back then?  So with the dressers, standing closets and shelving I put in.....I am still jam packed with stuff.  I ordered a dumpster for next week with high hopes of deep spring cleaning (ie:: taxes from 1984) so cross fingers for me and my obsessive "collecting".  I do like some shoes though  

[agb80]

Last year I stocked up on a lot of things and just recently stopped.  I wasn't the only one and I had to also tell my husband to stop too.