Hoarding

[Retro6]

I will put my hands up and say I used to be quite bad with hoarding, not hoarding rubbish but hoarding many different items mostly compulsive buying, online shopping as well as going to auctions... probably stemmed from loneliness. In recent years I've got much better with it although collecting things/buying things the impulse is still there... I've done well with clearing things out, giving stuff to charity shops or just chucking things out.

I noticed people are always chucking things out and I only really take things if I need them minus the Henry vacuum cleaners I pick up and take home but I've had to stop doing that now as I have about 20 odd that are taking up space in my living room soon to also be cleared out which I plan to do in the week to get my living room looking nice again. Sometimes I just don't realize what I am doing by collecting things.

Anyway Monday, time for another clear out, so much stuff to get rid off much of it very good stuff but I never use any of it and I can't be bothered with ebay and collecting boxes and packaging stuff so I'm just going to take a lot to the charity shop that way its gone and I can start getting my home back to the way I want it without stuff everywhere driving me mad.

I've got a large cupboard full of stuff, I will keep a few bits. Some stuff I can't just let go off like the vintage hifi speakers I have in there but never use plus a nice guitar amp and a black & white TV I would like to keep for a project but everything else can go. Maybe in time I can let go of the vintage hifi speakers... may need a bit more time with those.

First thing is to tackle my living room clearing out all those vacuum cleaners I only really need one in there and not 20 odd. It is very hard to let go of things but at least the room will look much better afterwards then I can start clearing out the large storage cupboard.

 

[Diddums]

Hoarding is great for keeping riff raff out of construction sites.

 

[Ayahuasca]

minus the Henry vacuum cleaners I pick up and take home but I've had to stop doing that now as I have about 20 odd that are taking up space in my living room

 

[Priapus]

First thing is to tackle my living room clearing out all those vacuum cleaners I only really need one in there and not 20 odd. It is very hard to let go of things but at least the room will look much better afterwards then I can start clearing out the large storage cupboard.

I literally need to buy one of these this week as I’m doing a bit of renovation.

 

[koolpc]

My brother won't get rid of anything! I have to be steathly and dispose of stuff now and again

 

[timmothy]

I am very prone to hoarding. I really need to be aware of it. I always have the best intentions. But I end up with multiple jobs and tasks on the go at the same time.

 

[413x]

I'm pretty bad. I had throwing stuff away.
And as will be having a life upheaval next year I have to.
a lot of my stuff is technically usable but I often haven't used it in ages.

Like my Dslr kit got example

Its taking a lot of conviction to de clutter but I know I have to

 

[Rroff]

A lot hinges on whether you can keep it organised or not as well, I'm not a big hoarder but there are some things I struggle to get rid of when they are no longer useful and some things have a habit of collecting for possible contingency situations / could be useful in future, there was a period where that was a problem because I wasn't staying on top of keeping it organised and then it would become too complex a task.

Wall cabinets were a game changer for me, couldn't do it previously due to living in a flat, allows me to make much more efficient use of space and easier to organise.

 

[Begbie]

Theres hoarding and then there's hoarding so many hoovers that you can't hoover because of your hoovers. Wtf are you using 20 hoovers for?

Get them sold, you only need the one!

I pretty much only keep what I use now, makes your life so much better not keeping bits of emotional plastic sat about your home.

 

[Retro6]

Theres hoarding and then there's hoarding so many hoovers that you can't hoover because of your hoovers. Wtf are you using 20 hoovers for?

Get them sold, you only need the one!

I pretty much only keep what I use now, makes your life so much better not keeping bits of emotional plastic sat about your home.

It was more of a hobby, fixing them up collecting different colors and models, some people do collect these but I only have so many rooms in my home and when one has many hobbies such as mine one tends to collect a lot from those hobbies like retro computers, Ham radio gear and CB stuff the list goes on and before you know it your suffocating in hoards of collected items that gather dust and never get used.

 

[fez]

My partner is a bit of a hoarder. Just low level though. Won't throw **** away that we haven't used in 20 years. Still has a few boxes of her old school work. Pictures in the loft she will never get down and the only time we look at them is when I periodically say "can we throw this out" every few years.

She also can't resist buying crap for our kids. 100 trains? Nah, i'm sure the kids will be happier if they had 130 trains. They don't play with 95% of their toys but we still keep them because she saw one of them touch it 3 months ago. My general sentiment is that kids play with what they have. We have enough toys for half a dozen kids to never be bored and yet shockingly, our twins want to play with the exact same train or the exact same car as the other one. The same car than 2 minutes ago wasn't even being looked at.

 

[RoyMi6]

Sorry, only coming back to this thread if there's before and after pics

Joking aside, just want to give you a pat on the back for recognising there's a problem and taking actions to resolve something that is likely affecting your mental health. Living spaces can very closely reflect our state of mind and health in general and there's the potential that you're only able to do this now because small improvements elsewhere.

Hoarding is a vicious cycle because it's a daily reminder that we're not necessarily doing OK and inhibits lots of the things that can be good for us, like having friends/family over to visit or just having the space to actually pursue the other hobbies that bring us joy - like actually getting started on that project with the old TV!

All that is to say, good job, keep up the momentum - I'm willing to be you won't regret throwing anything out.

 

[VincentHanna]

I'm not really a horder, but I keep tech stuff with the intention of selling it and then never get around to it.

Got loads of old phones knocking about that would have been worth decent money at some point. Also a few computer bits - And the two things I did sell went up massively in value after I sold them (RAM and 4090 GPU)

 

[Freakbro]

Call that a knife hoard, this is a knife hoard!

It reportedly took him 40mins to get from his living chair in the kitchen to the front door, having to body surf over the piles of newspapers, stacked up to within a foot of the ceiling.

Incredible episode to watch in full tbh. Intelligent, articulate man who represented himself in court, and won, when his neighbours sued him for the state of his property.

Best quote "I don’t have a hoarding problem, I just have a storage problem"

 

[Retro6]

I'm not really a horder, but I keep tech stuff with the intention of selling it and then never get around to it.

Got loads of old phones knocking about that would have been worth decent money at some point. Also a few computer bits - And the two things I did sell went up massively in value after I sold them (RAM and 4090 GPU)

Thats the thing... its like all my retro PC builds I was going to sell them but the problem arises with having too much... too much to sell and selling stuff takes time... too much time and when your in a space that in chaos it just makes you not wanna bother with it and say to yourself I'll do it another day or another week and then involves collecting boxes and packaging where there is no space to store more stuff so the best solution is to get rid reduce the mass, give to charity shops, throw things away post things online either super cheap or free then within one week you have a nice clear clean space and a nice looking home again. Well my retro computer stuff is deep inside my walk in closet and I'm leaving that until last. My goal is to clear floor space and tackle the other storage cupboard.

 

[TommyV]

Wife is a hoarder, I’m the complete opposite.

Over the years we’ve gotten the house into a good spot, but the garage is absolutely full to the brim of crap to my utter dismay. Ya win some you lose some…

There is a show hosted by Stacey Solomon which we’ve watched a couple of series of over the last couple of years. A bit soul destroying having to endure the happy clappy setup of the TV show, but the wife seeing other people’s examples of hoarding has genuinely helped her alter her own.

 

[Worthy]

I'm sorry but we need to see pics of the Henry collection.

 

[Zefan]

HENRY.

FLEET.

PICS.

 

[Uther]

Just remember, stuff might mean something to you, but in the end it's all just crap. Get it gone.

 

[Bubo]

I can imagine 20 Henry hoovers neatly stacked in a 5 by 4 wall, but not if they still have the hose and brush end still attached. If they are still attached I imagine it will be like having half a dozen Dr. Octavius's sitting in your living room.

I am going through something similar in dealing with my old dads house now he has passed away. Just started to tackle the loft. Then there is the garage. Made worse by having a lazy arse sister who doesn't want to lift a finger but is quite happy to get her share of the will.