Am I a Hoarder?
Have you watched the TV show Hoarders? I don’t watch it often and for many reasons. It is a sad show. I ran across Mrs. Accountabilities post Hoarding vs Clean House. She is so right when she asks the question Are both shows about hoarding?
When I look around our tiny home I wonder if I’m a hoarder? Our house has TOO much stuff inside of it; we are always walking over and around things. I try to purge when I can, but if you see the box of newspaper and paper in the corner of our living room you may wonder (we don’t do curbside recycling where I currently live so I have to drive to recycle and I don’t do it as often as I should!). Or the small box by the trashcan filled with aluminum cans (yes, I just found a relatively CLOSE place to recycle our alumnim- actually we’re donating it to the city to raise money to build a park).
I hate doing laundry- so you might see stacks of unfolded laundry in baskets because I just don’t have the energy to fold it and put it away. And DO NOT go into our kids room because their toys are never actually IN their toybox but strung all over the floor (or piled in my sons bed!!). And chances are the laundry I DID put away is unworn all over their floor as well. Their drawers will be hanging open and clothes will be spilling out even though they were all nicely shut when I put that clean laundry away!
I hate housework and sometimes I don’t do the best job at keeping up, and by I, I really mean WE.
But to look at the storage area under my stairs- ummmm maybe we could get rid of some of that.
AND we purchased a huge storage container in 2009. Every time I go out there I try to purge a few more boxes. I’m able to let a little bit go (like our furniture that had been in storage for 2 years- I gave to a relative’s friend when Brian wanted to torch it!)
It may just be me, but there are some things I just can’t get rid of. But every time I go to the storage container I find something I can part with to either Goodwill or a family member in need.
So maybe it is REALLY good that I’m joining the Declutter Challenge over at the Ultimate Money Blog! If you think you may be heading toward hoarding, go ahead and join us. Declutter 365 items in 2011- it’s JUST one item a day!
Do you have a soft part in your heart for old memories? Or do you purge regularly?
I have an incredible amount of buyer’s remorse when I see something in my house that is collecting dust. Just about every closet and bookcase I have has stuff in it that I haven’t looked at or touched in a long time. I’d much rather know that someone is using the item or that I got a few bucks from it.
I found an incredible amount of peace by selling things while they still retain some value, like a set of books that were okay but not keepers. Last year I wanted to read the Twilight Series and they were never available at the library, so I broke down and bought them. I read them in a week and resold them for almost as much as I paid for them.
I have a cousin that is a hoarder and she’s told me multiple times “I’m not a hoarder” but her house looks just like those shows. It’s so sad seeing how much emotion she attaches to things. I’d rather be attached to people and relationships, but given that she doesn’t have many friends, I can see how/why she transfers those emotions to things and animals.
Oh, and I don’t think you’re a hoarder. Life is just chaos with kids. I always have little piles of non folded away laundry all over the house.
Thanks for the support! Kids do make life (and my house) a lot more chaotic! But it’s nice to hear I’m not the only one out there will little piles of laundry!!
Thanks for stopping by again, I love your comments!
I’m not much of a “stuff” person as far as things that I can’t let go of. I do have a lot of stuff, but I use it all, and it seems like we have more because we live in a 500 sq ft apartment when we used to live in a 950 sq ft apartment.
I understand where your coming from, though.
I used to purge it all every couple months – spring cleaning – because my clothing style changed constantly, but now, I just need to get some basics and some professional outfits and call it quits as far as buying new stuff. I can’t anyway – I’m at a no spend challenge!
I might join you on the 365 items challenge!! Only, do I get 16 less cause its 16 days through January? Haha…
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment on my blog. You make a really good point, don’t judge until you try talking to the person , for all I know it will click & my friends will understand.
Daisy- I completely understand about the way clothing style used to change a lot- like every season.
Luckily, although I changed clothes a lot my big shopping places were thrift stores. Now my clothes are years old, and my kids change every season. One thing about having young kids is that they GROW so fast it is hard to keep them in the same outfits for more than one season. Thankfully, we have been blessed with hand-me-downs, and (at least for now) they think it is fun to get ‘new’ clothes even if they didn’t come from an actual store!
Good luck on your no spend challenge!! I think it is an excellent way to become more conscious about what you spend money on. Also, good luck with your friends. Who knows- they may even surprise you and help you find creative ways to complete your no spend challenge.