I'm NOT a Hoarder! I'm NOT! Really!

[LittleSpiffy]

Okay, so I am ultra-sensitive about hoarding after watching a fair share of reality TV.

One thing I've noticed on these shows is when they re-organize, they use a lot of Rubbermaid bins.  I realized that a way to know you have too much stuff is when you start buying bins   

I live in a high-rise and each floor has a trashroom.  When people don't want to throw out "good stuff," they put it on the floor vs. tossing it down the chute.  Sometimes stuff is just too big, but we're supposed to haul it outside if that's the case.

I ALWAYS check my floor's room to see what's there....sometimes I check every floor    Sometimes I keep stuff, sometimes I sell it online, and sometimes I'll haul it off to Goodwill (like kids' toys/bikes/etc.  I cringe at the waste sometimes). 

Anyway, this morning I found five like-new Rubbermaid bins that will slide under my bed.  Then I thought "wait, if I need bins...oh no!"

I am currently re-evaluating what I have to see if I need to get rid of stuff...or if I'm on my way to hoarding...

Does anyone else go through this?  I know we're all collectors, which makes this even harder sometimes!  I know I probably shouldn't use the term "hoarder" to describe myself because it's a serious condition.  I'm more of a "Clutterbug" if anything!

[starrypawz]

Trust me, you do not want to look in my room right now
I'm perfectly capable of getting rid of stuff and do so quite often, I just have the issue with never seeming to get around to sorting stuff. And As I have the attic my room often gets turned over when people need to get stuff.

I'm reorganising my room and am trying to get it done before September or mostly done as I'm going back as a student

Hence why I'm undetaking a cleaning program/challenge which I can't title here as it's got a swear in the title which basically makes you tackle stuff bit by bit rather than all in one go

[LittleSpiffy]

LoL, starrypawz!!  My bedroom is "command central" for all my fandoms/collecting/eBaying.  I'm grateful that I've been able to contain everything in here.

I hate to clean.  I really do.  My nemesis is "The Paper."  I have a lot of mail/random papers that I have deemed important that I toss into a box.  Then, other things get thrown in there too when I'm too lazy to clean (I found a flashlight in there the other day!)

Getting your room back in shape by September is a good goal.  It's like that old saying: "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!"  Although, I don't know of anyone who's actually eaten an elephant...

[LadySiha]

Ugh. I sort of have the same problem. I don't have any problem getting rid of my stuff (I really need to do a Goodwill purge of my clothes, again) it's just actually getting myself to sit down and do it.  I really hate cleaning, but I have boxes of stuff from when I moved into my apartment (6 years ago) that I haven't touched since....

[Dewprincess]

Ehhh...I don't think there's anything wrong with having bins if they can fit under your bed and are out of sight.  I think it really gets to be a problem when you have so many bins that they're taking up your living space and creating an eyesore!

We passed a house yesterday while going to yard sales where the entire door to the garage and the perimeter of the front door was surrounded by large Rubbermaid bins.  Now, that's solidly in hoarder territory.  O.o

[BigHicks1977]

I knew I was in trouble when I had to put a tractor trailer out back of my place and I started to buy plastic bins after plastic bins BUT hey atleast its out there and not all in here.......but the house is full as well  ....I need to go toy shopping

[Prince Primbrose]

I'm a bit predisposed to hoarding already- for over a decade there were ribbons, old calendars and notebook covers, all sorts of garbage items that I kept stacked in my closet and stuffed into every available drawer. I didn't want to throw anything away that I might someday somehow need.

So, now when I look at my room and see drawers full of pony accessories and stuff... I get a bit nervous about it. But I know that I can get rid of all of it without needing an intervention. Right now I'm trying to sort out and sell a bunch of stuff that piled up when I wasn't looking. It's slow work.

[banditpony]

For me, if it's a point that things have to be stored in those plastic bins. I have too much.

My grandma was a hoarder, except that's not what it was called back then-- it was "packrat". And quite honestly, I don't really care to end up like that. I don't want a houseful of "stuff", I don't even want a room full of "stuff".

There were multiple dumpsters full of stuff taken away from her house. And even worse, my dad took home things that could possible be collectable. Except he doesn't have time to look at it. And one day, that will be MY problem. I don't look forward to it.

But hey, well, sometimes I'm happy she was a hoarder because I got a vintage aluminum xmas tree out of it. ^///^

So, in that case, I don't want to own lots of stuff. Stuff that no one else but me cares about.

[Sugar]

My folks grew up in wartime, and they were raised to not throw things out as cavalierly as folks seem to do these days.  That sort of ethic was taught to me as well - what was it they used to say?  Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without?  Something like that.  Anyway, that coupled with an itty-bitty living space, plus a deep and abiding love for books and ponies, makes it difficult to maintain a non-cluttered household.   Someday we'll have a bigger space to live in, but for the moment, we have clutter (and bins for things that we don't use everyday, like holiday decorations and off-season clothing, plus bins for non-display ponies).  But we get rid of things (to thrift, to friends with kids, or to jumble sales at the local churches)... so I guess we don't fit the 'hoarder' type.  Clutterbug, si!  Hoarder, no.

@LittleSpiffy: I'm guilty of rescuing things that others are throwing out as well - I've found some quite excellent things put to curbside, and if they can be cleaned up, why not?  Sometimes I repurpose things to the thrift shop, sometimes I keep, but if it keeps more stuff out of landfills, all to the good!

[LittleSpiffy]

@Sugar: A friend of mine gave me the title of "Refuse Reappropriater."  It was a better way to say "Trash Picker/Dumpster Diver."  It's a better fit for what I do, too

@Banditpony: I come from a long line of packracks on my mom's side of the family.  There are horror stories of cleaning my great-aunt's house when she passed.  The family held a huge auction once the trash was removed (litterally trash - for some reason she couldn't make it to the curbside and no one in the family knew )  We've been helping my grandma over the years, but she's impossible!!  She can't throw anything out!  A few years ago we tricked her.  We set up boxes on the floor with family member's names on them.  It was easier for her to give to family vs. the thrift store.  She was very proud handing the boxes of junk to everyone...then all the boxes ended up in my mom's car and we hauled it off to Goodwill   Sad, but true.

@Prince Primbrose:  I've been like that.  There's always that thought of needing something in the future and having to pay for it again!

Two of my "new" bins have been used!  One for G1's and one for G4's (lol).  Under the bed they go! 

Maybe we should have a group dedicated to regular purging/cleaning.  Keep us all in check! 

[Prince Primbrose]

My dad has told me about a hoarder in the family who passed away. She kept old yogurt cups stacked inside each other filling up closets, stacks of old magazines, all the garbage you can imagine. The thing was, they had to go through everything she had hoarded, because she would stuff a wad of money in a yogurt cup, then it would end up stacked in the closet with all the rest of them. They had to sort through all of the trash and dig up the money she had hidden in her yard.

[Dewprincess]

I'm trying to do better about actually selling the stuff that I pick up that I "might get around to doing something with someday"...it's why I have so much stuff up for sale right now!  I still go out treasure hunting at yard sales and flea markets, but I put the things I don't need up for sale right away now instead of just holding on to it for "someday"

[kakenterprise]

I sell allot of stuff I don't need at the moment.  My mind is that if I really need it back later I'll just re buy it.  This is a newer thing for me because I hate holding onto piles of stuff for well if I do this etc.
As for those bins, I'm so guilty!!  I love emptying out bins but they always seem to fill back up.

[GothMummy]

I have these worries too. I think that its hard if you are into craft, collecting,  or vintage stuff, or can see how things can be "repurposed" to throw stuff out. Its also hard if you are very sentimental (like me) to get rid of old things that people have given you, or baby clothes etc.

I have to stop myself and ask if I am actually being realistic about what I can do. I often catch myself saving things for future craft projects and have to think am I realistically going to make that item? 

Case in point, I was going through my horse tack today and realised I have 5 spare head collars, and only one pony who they dont even fit! I did find small pony bridles which I gave to my friend, I didnt even know i had those and I have no idea where they came from. I guess a car boot sale or maybe even charity shop, if they were cheap enough I would have picked them up with no clear idea of what to do with them or why I wanted them. Now that IS hoarding I think.

I firmly believe that I want a nice clear house that I can welcome people into at any point. Its also a problem if we stop letting people in our homes because they are too cluttered.  I am not like that but I do have to spend a while tidying up sometimes before people come over!!

Clutter closes our homes to people, and then we dont let them into our hearts. I would rather have people around me than things, and thats why I am determined to fight the tendancy.

x

[kiwimlp]

Lol.  I've seen the show you are talking about and it makes me scared of becoming a hoarder too.  I like to think there is a big difference between hoarding and collecting though.  I don't mind parting with double and things that I don't need for example.  So long as you are not heaping your entire house with junk (and I mean JUNK!) I am sure you are fine.  Those plastic bins are actually great for storage.