What to do with a h...
 

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What to do with a hoarder?

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We’re moving house soon (hopefully). The Estate Agent is coming round next week to take the photos, so I want to tidy the place up.
My stuff, of which there isnt a great deal, is in either the garage or shed, with a few bags in various cupboards full of cameras etc.
Her stuff is literally everywhere. I emptied the cupboard in the bedroom today, and it is absolutely full of packing materials, not new stuff, presents she has received, shes kept the packaging, just in case.
Under the sink this afternoon to change a pipe. There must be 30 different bottles of oil in there. it’s ridiculous. Same with the next cupboard, with cups/mugs in it. I have 2, she’s got 10.
And it goes on through the house, dont start on the clothes and shoes, most of which she will never wear again.
Calmly talking about it has got nowhere, going mad at her has got nowhere.
This isnt a normal amount of stuff, I’ve been in Hoarders houses before, it is one step below that, but getting to be a real problem.
I'm think the next step is to just take it to the tip when she isnt here.
Too extreme?
Any other options?


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 4:56 pm
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What to do with a hoarder?

Keep them around, never know when they might prove to be useful....


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 4:57 pm
sirromj, Andy, northernerindevon and 17 people reacted
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Only 12 mugs in total!?

Poor effort. 🙂


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 4:59 pm
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Only 12 mugs in total!?

Poor effort. 🙂

That's not hoarding, we must have 40+ between two of us.

Some colleagues filmed one of the hoarders series for TV. It's not the piles of grumble or collectibles, or 1/4 full tins of paint, biscuit tins of screws nuts and washers. It's the never throwing ANYTHING away. Piles of (full) dog poo bags, the kitchen bin bags, rotting food EVERYWHERE.

At best what you describe is a clash between a minimalist and someone who keeps stuff that 'might' be useful in the space they have available. I've got a loft full of boxes and packaging, if we move house I'll bin anything that's no longer in warranty (and take some piles of crap that's not been used in years to the charity shop) until then it's just sat there out the way.

My OH hates the fact I don't throw things away, often even after I've replaced it because it's tatty or 90% worn out (e.g. shoes). I think it's just because I grew up in a less affluent house so developed a very high value of everything I own (conversely I tend to not buy much either). Whereas she's far more likely to throw stuff out and buy new again if it's ever needed.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 5:11 pm
scotroutes reacted
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That's not hoarding.

TBH I'd say it's you that has the problem here, not your OH.

cups/mugs in it. I have 2, she’s got 10

Reeeeally? You subdivide mugs into yours and hers?

I’m think the next step is to just take it to the tip when she isnt here.
Too extreme?
Any other options?

Counselling. For you before you need a relationship councillor. Because tbh that doesn't sound like reasonable behaviour.

That's coming from the Jekyll/Hyde tidy in sight hoarder out of sight that I am. My wife annoys me but I'd never contemplate throwing her stuff out.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 5:42 pm
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You have a few bags full of cameras?
Like more than 10?


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 5:57 pm
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Sounds like a trainee/amateur hoarder you have there sir,step this way if you want to see the work of a true professional .
On a side note ..any time I see a 'hoarder thread on STW ,I am reminded of someone who posted about clearing out a relatives shed.There was a box with --Almost useful lengths of string-- written on it,that still makes me smile 😃 😆


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:01 pm
hardtailonly reacted
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Yep sounds like my wife. Knick-knacks and stuff everywhere. Cupboards full of other stuff. Unfinished knitting projects, gifts for potential future wedding invites, university paperwork*, books we’ll never read again etc. Nothing completely ridiculous but overall a huge amount of stuff we don’t need filling our (already quite cramped) house up.

I think in our case it’s just differing personalities and best not let something relatively minor upset the applecart. But I do quietly siphon off some of the worst junk when she’s not looking.

*We graduated 15 years ago…


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:08 pm
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That's me. About to move house so clearing three big attics and container in the field, all full of 22yrs of absolute shite from both of us plus two lads and 3 grandkids. I had a really strong word with myself and booked an eleven yard skip. The garage is the holding bay; 3 day's grace then it's in the skip. All items moved off site NOW by all/any interested parties. Or it's oot.
Nor my stuff tho, no siree. 11 sea rods, 6 fly rods, 8 coarse rods and reels from an ABU CS Rocket through to a Sage ClickIV. Waders, tackle boxes rig wallets, day shelter, tents, flotation suit, smocks. Might start using them again you see?


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:17 pm
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I have occasionally pondered the aftermath of a house fire...


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:18 pm
oldnick reacted
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I've been clearing 35 years of crap out of my flat.  Takes a long time and I estimate around 30 bin bags have gone along with 4 chairs 8 sleeping bags 2 tents and loads of other stuff.  I do have a bit of an excuse to get shot of stuff tho
However my bike room really does still look like a hoarders den.  Believe it or not 6 bin bags of crap and two bikes have gone from it

[url= https://i.postimg.cc/ht8v2PXZ/20230316-182415.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/ht8v2PXZ/20230316-182415.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://suwalls.com/fantasy/fantasy-world ]fantasy world wallpaper[/url]

From what you say its your issue not hers.  She really does no sound that bad at all.  Its all in cupboards and so on and IMO unless you have a room that looks like this she has a long way to go

Edit - do not chuck it out.  Relationship ending stuff that is.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:25 pm
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Rent some storage put it all in boxes take it down there and give her the keys and tell her after 6 months you're cancelling the rental.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:26 pm
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If you find the answer, please send the solution round to my garage & loft. Thanks in advance.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:28 pm
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I’m think the next step is to just take it to the tip when she isnt here.

That's what Mrs_H does to me😂
My only safe hoarding zone is the shed.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:29 pm
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Sometimes I wish we’d get burgled. It’s the only way most of the crap in this house will ever leave. None of it is mine. I’m a huge believer in if you’ve not used it in the last year you’re not going to. Owning stuff just seems to breed stress.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:29 pm
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Take OH to tip then get a skip to dispose of stuff.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:32 pm
Marko reacted
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I have occasionally pondered the aftermath of a house fire…

Same here,it gives me 'The Fear' 😆 🙃 .


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:33 pm
topper reacted
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I live on my own, I've got 9 mugs..

4 nice ones for guests that I don't use as they are too small.
2 glass/steel 'cafe' ones that i'll probably never use.
3 'daily drivers' that are bigger to hold a reasonable amount of coffee but more like novelty mugs.

But seriously, sometimes you have to be brutal... I agreee with the 3 year plan (a term I just coined myself)... if you've not used it for 3 years it gets chucked out/goes to charity.

Obvioulsly that doesn't apply to wood, tools or bags of random screws and fixings.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:37 pm
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I've just counted.  Currently* 36 mugs.  There are two of us, I alternate between 2 of them.  Most were bought because 'they look nice' and are never used - even for guests.  We've got 11 teapots FFS!! Every drawer in the house is stuffed so full of tat and nic naks we'll never use, that you can barely open them.  Every flat surface is covered in 'stuff'.  Cushions? We have enough to kit out the Taj Mahal three times over and if you ever want to sit down or get into bed - you need to allow 5 minutes to move all the bleeding cushions first.  I could go on, for quite a while.....

We've been married 37 years, she's not going to change now.  It's irritating, but not worth a major falling out over.   'If you want me love, I'll be in the garage'.

*I am 'clumsy'.  A lot seem to get smashed 'accidentally', so this number fluctuates between 35-40.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 6:58 pm
 db
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Introduce this to your viewing schedule…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00116n4

😀


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 7:00 pm
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Sometimes I wish we’d get burgled. It’s the only way most of the crap in this house will ever leave. None of it is mine. I’m a huge believer in if you’ve not used it in the last year you’re not going to. Owning stuff just seems to breed stress.

Yup, I'm currently at the stage of gazing at the loft like a deer caught in headlights. Don't know where to start but start I shall.

Currently wrestling with a mac mini trying to get authorisations removed, would be too easy to just bloody wipe it wouldn't it? (Catalina so manual intervention for everything)


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 7:06 pm
funkmasterp reacted
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The thing about burglary is that you'd expect only the good stuff to be taken. A house fire would do a better job.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 7:12 pm
funkmasterp reacted
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A house fire would do a better job.

The mugs though.  They could feasibly survive.  Rising from the ashes to taunt you, like ceramic versions of post apocalypse cockroaches.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 7:17 pm
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Moving house (especially internationally) helps. We only took about half our stuff with us each time. However have now inherited/accumulated a lot more, not helped by having a large house. But it's mostly ephemeral and I won't mind getting rid of it when the time comes.

But 10 mugs...how do you cope? I can see 15 clean ones from where I'm sitting, the dishwasher is full, there's an overflow cupboard of spares downstairs.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 8:09 pm
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I split up with my partner, not entirely due to the hoarding but it was a factor.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 8:40 pm
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My partner is wonderful in many, many ways, but she is a serial hider-of-things-in-cupboards and it drives me ****ing insane. As a random example, the other day she asked me to pick her up some deodorant whilst I was out shopping. I said "but you've got four cans at least in the cupboard, haven't you?" "Yeah," she replies, "but they're all empty." WELL WHY THE ABSOLUTE **** DID YOU PUT THEM BACK IN THE CUPBOARD THEN?!

Reeeeally? You subdivide mugs into yours and hers?

I have a mug. It is mine. I like it, it is good. If I have a brew, it is in my mug. This instils in me a degree of self-discipline, if I want a brew and my mug is dirty then I'll wash it out rather than lazily reach for a clean one.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 8:57 pm
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My teenage daughter has just discovered Vinted. She’s selling off loads of clothes and a couple of quid each. Total result on the clearout front! Might be worth a look for some of you - seems to be easier than eBay for dealing with postage and stuff.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 9:04 pm
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I second Vinted a good place to sell unwanted clothes, list the price you want and the buyer pays postage on top
(or a great place to buy even more stuff) 😅


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 9:15 pm
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The Girl is using Vinted. I know because I get daily messages, "can you print out an address label for me?"


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 9:33 pm
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I have several shelves of mugs.

If they were chucked, the OH would be next and we get on great!


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 9:59 pm
 pk13
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I love a good mug. Mrs pk has just got the James and the giant peach set that stack on top of each over she has banned us from using them


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 10:09 pm
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I’m a huge believer in if you’ve not used it in the last year you’re not going to.

No No No! You WILL need it approx 3 days after throwing it away!

Since I was able to use a grumbling bathroom fan (that I had replaced in the actual bathroom, but didn't throw away) to fix the egg incubator my wife randomly brought home when she decided she fancied trying to hatch more chickens, even she doesn't really mind any more. So long as it stays down the garage/shed, she's perfectly happy for me to disappear for an hour or so with something broken (or needing making/inventing, like her recent request for "a hooky thing so I can open and close the window over the kitchen sink") and to come back with a fixed/made thing that works.

You've got to have piles of random stuff to hope to achieve this (or a full machine shop to hand!).


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 10:14 pm
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a grumbling bathroom fan

For a split second there I genuinely thought "Who the hell is a fan of grumbling bathrooms? Is that even a thing?"


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 10:24 pm
CheesybeanZ reacted
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At the last count, Mrs sandboy has 123 pairs of shoes. I gave up many years ago, a battle I definitely couldn’t win.


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 10:34 pm
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Just book one for tomorrow…


 
Posted : 16/03/2023 10:43 pm
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My mother-in-law is a hoarder, and I'm beginning to see the warning signs in my wife.

The MiL is (what I have categorized as) a "collector": she will pick-up any leaflet/sample that enters her orbit (think free newspapers, plastic cutlery, hotel toiletries etc). She then can't bear to throw them away. This seems pretty clearly a generational issue, and something to do with growing-up without much - she's collecting these "free" things because she perceives them to have value, and then is refusing to throw them away because she can't tolerate waste, particularly something that she perceives to have value.

Whereas my wife seems to be a "keeper" - she's quite good at not collecting things in the first place, but she has a real issue with getting rid of stuff - old clothes/shoes etc. but also (wierdly) she seems to avoid using the last of food/condiments, so she doesn't have to put the empty packet etc in the bin. At first I thought this was laziness, but now I've noticed it, it's very obvious what she's doing. She'll leave a literal thimble full of tonic/jam/milk at the bottom of the bottle/jar and put it back in the cupboard, then next time she goes, open a new bottle/jar. The bathroom is full of bottles with a tiny amount of shampoo/moisturizer - too little to get used, too much to throw away. Packaging tends to get put in a bag and then left in a corner - eventually making it's way into a cupboard.

Stuff clearly "expands to fill the available space" - but we have a different idea of what "available space" is. My wife will happily have food and stuff left out on the sides in the kitchen - because the cupboard is full of 12 different boxes of tea bags, each with 1 or 2 bags left in them.

At first I was reluctant to deal with any of this - I didn't want to throw "her" things in the bin - but now I have periodic rage-tidying sessions, where I just go through an fill a bin-liner with everything that she just wasn't able to throw away.

"rage-tidying" seems like a healthy way to deal with this..... right?


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:13 am
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Whereas my wife seems to be a “keeper”

Is this one of those weird sit-coms, where we both have the same partner and neither of us realise?

Six shampoo bottles with content levels best described as "slightly damp". Several multipack boxes of snack bars with one bar left in the box. All the packaging from a six-pack of yogurts and one actual yogurt; or, just the wrapper but no yogurts at all.

In her case I don't think it's hoarding, it's just a chronic lack of organisation. She'll get a letter, think "I'll deal with that later" and stuff it into a random drawer along with the now-empty envelope. I'm far from the neatest person myself but, why?!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:52 am
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Is this one of those weird sit-coms, where we both have the same partner and neither of us realise?

I believe we've bonded over hoarding previously. From memory it was my wife's compunction to put the recycling on the worktop next to the recycling bin..... rather than in it. I believe yours favors the lid of the bin.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 5:41 am
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@binners, I sorted the problem by converting our loft space and built floor to roof shelving so she has a room to keep them all. On a good day, I could probably find about 20 pairs around the house!!😀


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 6:42 am
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The thing is,I love my hoard/clutter, it's like a big comfort blanket.
I can't do minimalist. 😀


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 7:00 am
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My wife and I are definitely not hoarders, and we have at least 13 mugs, which doesn't include the coffee cans, or the "proper" tea set; teapot, matching cups saucers, sugar bowl and so on that's only for best (when the Mayor/King ever drops by, sort of gig)

11 mugs is amateur hour, not hoarding.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 7:19 am
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I'm glad my mate was a bit of a hoarder, by being able to match all the packaging he kept with the goods in the house I've been able to work out what everything is and sell most of it. Sad to find unopened Christmas and birthday cards from family & friends going back years, postcards from holidays that I don't remember sending him ☹️


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 7:26 am
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11 mugs is amateur hour, not hoarding.

Exactly, and also exactly half the number of mugs we've got. Although I'm pretty sure there are some more hiding in other cupboards, those are just the ones we use regularly.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 7:28 am
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But 10 mugs…how do you cope? I can see 15 clean ones from where I’m sitting

These are our ‘personal’ mugs, that we have a tea/coffee in when we’re alone. The good sets (yes, more than one) have been packed away already. Like I said, the amount of stuff is beyond normal, I threw a motorbike jacket away over 2 years ago. I found it yesterday, she had been in the bin to ‘save’ it.

she will pick-up any leaflet/sample that enters her orbit (think free newspapers, plastic cutlery, hotel toiletries etc). She then can’t bear to throw them away.

Oh yes, I cleared the car last week. 8 plastic/wooden forks. I can see the need to keep 2, but 8?

but now I have periodic rage-tidying sessions, where I just go through an fill a bin-liner with everything that she just wasn’t able to throw away.

That has worked, slightly, before, but now we really do need to clear the shite, get some good pics of the house, and pack up ready to leave. Taking 6 large boxes of used packaging materials is not my idea of a good use of resources when paying someone else to move your stuff.Along with 20+ part used bottles of olive oil, 15+ different types of sauces, and I found 7 different types of pepper pot yesterday. Apparently, they are all required as they all taste differently.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 7:42 am
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After getting a loft conversion 18 months ago that massively reduced our storage space up there to a small alcove along the front has resolved most of our hoarding issues, although still have more to get rid of. My number one bugbear is Christmas and Halloween decorations, the latter should disappear now the kids are older but there are 9 large storage boxes of xmas decs, usually only about half the contents get displayed each year but my wife refuses to condense these and often sneakily picks up more every year, it takes up 50% of our remaining loft alcove storage.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 7:58 am
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Interesting thread... OP, I think the result is realising how good it feels to clear out and de-clutter. It's ok to throw stuff away if it means learning the impact of hoarding/just-in-case collecting on your daily space and peace, it's a valuable lesson. Clutter does crowd out your sense of peace I think. Something I only really learned recently.

I recently helped a friend with a house clearance involving an autistic relative and a large house, rooms full of packaging for a toys and electronics collection going back >30 years. Then had to finish off a house move of my own, clearing a large garage and office room full of bike parts and all those 'just in case' useful engineering-bodging bits and pieces. A life of seeing uses in things, valuing what I have and not wanting to contribute to landfill, it adds up.
I had more clutter stuff than I'd realised because space gives you the option to 'hmm... I'll think about it later' and put it away, it accumulates. Lesson learned! Recognising some of the collector-keeper habits in myself and have spent recent weeks booking tip runs, organising space better and sorting stuff for the local bike project charity.

It feels good, way better than having some of spare stuff. So I looked up Marie Kondo who I though was good at this process .. found a website full of things to buy to clutter your home : )

There's an idea that you can try to have just 100 possessions in life. I think that would be good.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 9:25 am
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Can't help with the OP.

But...I have a customer who hoards. I had to condemn her gas boiler 3 years ago and she has been with out hot water and heating since then. A new boiler can't be fitted as I can't get properly into any room. I occasionally go in to repair some plumbing or other and its got so bad that I can't get my tool box through the house.

Its impossible to describe how bad it is. Just stuff new and old pilled floor to ceiling every room, bathroom, kitchen and up the stairs with a tiny corridor through that I have to slide side ways to get around!

I've offered to help her many times and so have her friends but she declines any help.

The only clear area is the roof space.
Sad to see.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 9:27 am
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Muddylegs - That sounds just like my aunts house. I had to refuse to do a bathroom for her as you just couldn’t get at it, the bath was full to the brim with bogs rolls (new) the shower was full of towels and blankets. There was a path down the hallway you could just about walk down. There’s was nowhere to sit as all the chairs were full of unworn clothes.

When she died, my mum had to help clear the house and there was thousands of pounds worth of new clothes, handbags, makeup, toiletries etc all over the house. So sad.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 10:19 am
 xora
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Owning stuff just seems to breed stress.

I identify with this very strongly, I have a large collection of retro computers I love, dont want to get rid of, except when the stress of the volume of house they take up gets to me!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 10:46 am
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my wife’s compunction to put the recycling on the worktop next to the recycling bin….. rather than in it.

OMG I think I've got the same wife.

I have a mug. It is mine. I like it, it is good. If I have a brew, it is in my mug. This instils in me a degree of self-discipline, if I want a brew and my mug is dirty then I’ll wash it out rather than lazily reach for a clean one.

I just pull a clean one the next day. My work mug is one of those ones that gets properly cleaned whenever bits start floating off the sides.

I do rinse it though, I'm not an animal.

Owning stuff just seems to breed stress.

Yup, hence why I have so many boxes and packing materials for selling stuff. That are now in the way of the stuff I need to sell and causing issues of their own.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 11:15 am
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I believe we’ve bonded over hoarding previously. From memory it was my wife’s compunction to put the recycling on the worktop next to the recycling bin….. rather than in it. I believe yours favors the lid of the bin.

You are correct, and have a better memory than me!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 11:16 am
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I came he here looking for solace, but find none. I'm both embarrassed by the hoarding in this household, and now living in terror of how it could get worse in ways I'd never imagined.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:00 pm
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My sister and I are dealing with similar with our Mum at the moment.
She's lived in the same house since we were kids so there's a small amount of our stuff still there...and then vast amounts of general clutter and tat from her 35+ years in the same place.

It is a comfort blanket to her, she just potters around "clearing up" which basically means moving a pile of tat from here to there or occasionally splitting one big pile into two smaller ones.

Occasionally she'll get fixated on one thing and insist that nothing can be done until [thing] is resolved. Usually something that's been there for years and isn't in the way. Finding anything is an absolute mission involving archaeological digs, the discovery of things lost and forgotten from any period starting "yesterday" and extending back to "the dawn of time" and a general explosion of more clutter as stuff is dragged out, looked and then "just left there for the moment".

I've managed to throw out a few things on the quiet but sometimes even that is fraught with negotiation. I found and threw out a load of old road atlases recently - dating back to the pre-satnav days and obviously way out of date and utterly useless. Even that was met with resistance - "oh but I like looking at them" - no you bloody don't, they've literally not moved off this shelf for a decade!

I think my sister and I have largely accepted that, since Mum is basically [i]compos mentis[/i] and can cope, it's easier to just leave things be and deal with it by means of a large skip in due course.

Her parents / our grandparents were the same, their house was cluttered and full of crap... They fondly imagined that a lot of the crystal glasses stored in those terrible wood/glass cabinets were worth a fortune and the "really nice dress" could perhaps be passed to my sister and it was all just absolute tat.
Our Mum is now doing exactly the same. Regularly says "oh leave that, I'll pass it to the girls" (my sister's 2 kids). My sister simply accepts it, puts it in the car then drops it all off at the tip on her way home and has regularly told Mum not to do this.

Maybe we'll end up like that one day...


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 12:38 pm
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9 large storage boxes of xmas decs

You have to cull them annually. Conservation of decorations. You also have to do this when putting them away each year without informing the other parties in the house.

I only hoard bikes, but Mrs TiRed does have a habit of collecting clothes. I have a strict clothing policy, rotate every six months and if it's not been worn... Charity shop.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:14 pm
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Decant a quantity of stuff into a box, and then hide said box for 6 months. If the contents of the box weren't required in the intervening 6 months, take it to the skip. Rinse & repeat.

Time consuming, but very low-key, and eventually you get nearer to where you want to be.

My ex wife's idea of tidying-up was just to hide stuff. It didn't matter what went where as long as it couldn't be seen. It was literally drawer after drawer packed full of random stuff. God forbid you had to try and find a particular article, as you were in effect sifting through every single article in the house until you found it. My enduring memory was opening the fridge door one morning to find a claw hammer sitting in there. Her iPod went missing without a trace, and years later I found it under the bath. At some point she must have unclipped the wooden decorative fascia on the bath and stuffed a number of random articles into the void under there whilst 'tidying-up'.

In my mum's latter years, she started to suffer from 'cognitive impairment'. One time, her bank card went missing. My sister and I must have turned the entire house upside down, and handled every single item in the house at least once. Eventually, it turned-up hidden in one of her socks mixed into her sock drawer. At some point, for whatever reason, she must have thought it was a really good idea, and then 2 seconds later she had forgotten that she had done it.

Another coping method that I developed after 21 years of being married was the '24 hour rule'. If she had a brainwave it would get parked and revisited again in 24hrs. If she still thought it was a good idea, after the 24 hours, we would go ahead and do it. But 99.9% of the time, after 24 hours, she would have gone off the idea. It worked like a frickin charm! It started off as a wee bit of a joke, like me teasing her about it, but over time (even although she would never admit it) I think she started to see the value in it herself.

I'm sure along the way, she developed a few sleight-of-hand/coping mechanisms for dealing with me, that I was blissfully unaware off!

I'm now starting to recognise, that in hindsight, I have made a few decisions along the way where I would have benefitted from apply the 24 hour rule to myself!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:23 pm
Posts: 1166
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I only hoard bikes,

Including a couple of old bikes that have been kept from my youth I have ten housed in a purpose built bike shed.
It’s the reason I can’t really object to the wife’s shoes. The biggest difference being, my bikes aren’t in the house!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:25 pm
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Only recently my wife and I moved in together. (don't ask, long story) my moving van was half a 7.5T Luton - which included, bikes clothes, content of my kitchen chairs a sofa, some book shelves the books that lived on them, literally my entire life...Hers was at least a full Luton....

We have a kitchen with so much space (for us) we have a drawer that's literally just got 3 sieves in it.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:35 pm
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Growing up, one of my friends dads had a rule that if he didn't tidy-up his toys they went straight out to the bin, or if dramatic effect was required, thrown onto the coal fire for the whole family to see. No exceptions regardless of how old the toy was or how much it cost.

Back in the day I thought that dad was a bit of a dick, but in hindsight I think I would probably have benefitted from that sort of upbringing because I have a tendency to leave everything lying at my arse!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:38 pm
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Only recently my wife and I moved in together. (don’t ask, long story) my moving van was half a 7.5T Luton – which included, bikes clothes, content of my kitchen chairs a sofa, some book shelves the books that lived on them, literally my entire life…Hers was at least a full Luton….

We have a kitchen with so much space (for us) we have a drawer that’s literally just got 3 sieves in it.

Pray to God she doesn't start 'collecting' semi-antique (all the shit that no one else wants, but it could be spruced-up one day) furniture, and you end up with a house where you struggle to see a foot square of floorspace. My ex got to the point where we were having to stack couches one on top of the other.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:44 pm
Posts: 20169
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In my mum’s latter years, she started to suffer from ‘cognitive impairment’. One time, her bank card went missing. My sister and I must have turned the entire house upside down, and handled every single item in the house at least once. Eventually, it turned-up hidden in one of her socks mixed into her sock drawer. At some point, for whatever reason, she must have thought it was a really good idea, and then 2 seconds later she had forgotten that she had done it.

Can relate but in a different way - my Mum is actually surprisingly good at putting the stuff she uses all the time in the same place. The small bag containing her purse always hangs over the back of that chair.

Except for when it didn't. We turned the place upside down, my Mum was looking in the same places a dozen times over, moving piles of crap to see if it was under that and there was more crap being piled up as the search continued.

Eventually, I got her to check her online banking - no spends so it probably hadn't been stolen.
I tried to check location history on her phone to see where she'd been that she could possibly have left it but that was turned off - of course it was. So I turned that on.
Finally, running down the list of possibles, we found it buried in a shopping bag under a pile of potatoes because she takes dozens of cloth "bags for life" with her to the shops and stuff randomly gets chucked in any old bag - she gets a bit overwhelmed at the checkout as stuff comes rolling down to her and there's no order to her packing. In getting everything, she'd just slung the purse in with any old shopping and forgotten about it.

So I bought a Tile bluetooth tracker, set it all up and put it in the purse with strict instructions that it just stays there.

Sure enough, next time I'm down there, she's lost her phone (which naturally is on silent) so I said we could find it using the Tile which would ring the phone, even when it's on silent.
"Oh no, I turned off the Bluetooth cos it was using the battery."

FFS!!🤬
Restated the strict instructions that not only does the Tile stay in the purse, the ****ing Bluetooth STAYS ON.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:45 pm
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Rage-tidying

Is def. a thing. And very cathartic!


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 1:55 pm
Posts: 77347
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My ex wife’s idea of tidying-up was just to hide stuff. It didn’t matter what went where as long as it couldn’t be seen. It was literally drawer after drawer packed full of random stuff. God forbid you had to try and find a particular article, as you were in effect sifting through every single article in the house until you found it.

This is my partner. We have an immaculately tidy house which is great, but I can't find geoff all. Worse, if asked she'll deny all knowledge. Just this week my bank card went missing whilst I had a taxi waiting outside. It turned up in the drawer where we keep stationery. Prior to us living together I could immediately lay my hand on something I last saw 20 years ago.

she’s lost her phone (which naturally is on silent)

If it's an Android phone, Google's "find my device" web page will set it to ring at full volume even if it's on silient.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 2:35 pm
Posts: 8247
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Rage-tidying

Is def. a thing. And very cathartic!

I was doing it on Sunday, having shouted and sworn at everybody in the vicinity. Then the cat took a dump in the middle of the kitchen floor behind me, as I was doing the dishes and I started to smell the most awful stench. I calmly dried my hands and went to listen to music in the bedroom for two hours until I was normal. Some days everything hates you.


 
Posted : 17/03/2023 3:01 pm

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