<p>One of my things to do today was clean out the closet in the guest bedroom. I started out properly, taking everything out of the closet, but in the end most of it went back in the closet. It’s more organized now, and I do have one small box of things to donate, but I kept thinking, “I might need/want this someday.” It feels kind of irrational right now-- I have eight rubbermaid boxes full of linens (why do I think I might need 15 towels? Or three sets of sheets for the guest bed?) and my daughter’s old books (a lot) and toys (a few).</p>
<p>And downsizing is in the back of our minds for the near future . . .</p>
<p>Well, if you can fit it all inside the closet, I guess you’re not really a hoarder . . . </p>
<p>There are lots of things you might need or want someday, but guess what – if you do, you can buy or borrow it at that time. You don’t need to hold on to things “just in case.”</p>
<p>I too keep way too many things. If I have room in the
Closet then think that perhaps I might need it someday. Of course whenever I clean out the closet and give things away - I end up needing them :)</p>
<p>My new justification for “hoarding” is this…when the kids move into their first apartment after college I can give them all my treasures…</p>
<p>I tried on absolutely everything in my overstuffed closet the other day and all i could part with were 11 items. (but I did reorganize by color and it looks quite jazzy) Seriously, why do I hang on to all these items. I always wear the same clothes, jackets, shoes and use the same towels and kitchen items. </p>
<p>I once read that we should toss or put in a give away box 5 items per day. Everything counts…even pencils and mismatched socks.</p>
<p>I can’t help thinking “when we retire, we won’t have much money.” So I can keep wearing that pile of cheap sweatshirts till I’m ninety. Hmm, maybe pick up some more. And those towels–i’ll feel really smart when i’m too old to go to B,B and Beyond (or i’m getting close to Beyond!), and I still have a closet full of them.</p>
<p>Hey, you say hoarder, I say just thinking ahead. ;)</p>
<p>My husband is a hoarder and I get a dumpster every other spring and throw away things. In our new house he is going to have a ginormous garage with an upstairs hoarding room. My treat. ;)</p>
<p>But didn’t your grandmother teach you that you should have three sets of sheets for each bed? One on the bed, one clean in the linen closet, and one in the laundry is the rule we were taught.</p>
<p>I hoard cookware and knives. I can’t get enough. I also have more quilts than anyone should…I can justify my towels because we often have guests , sometimes my daughter’s friends who go for a swim and didn’t bring a towel</p>
<p>After I cleaned out my mom’s things, I swore I would NOT do the same thing to my kids. My closet is full of clothes…but no collections of books, dishes, sheets, towels, or anything like that.</p>
<p>My mom had things in her place from my childhood that we did not use I was a child! Now THAT is hoarding!</p>
<p>D1 just came back for the summer. She immediately set to work telling me the house was a wreck, why do we have so much old stuff, etc. etc. She’s a great catalyst! Why DO I still have two bins full of My Little Ponies when the girls who once played with them are 21 years old??? </p>
<p>We’ve taken two trips to a charity place and are setting up some Craig’s List offerings.</p>
<p>True hoarding is sick…just really and truly sick. Its roots seem to be based in loss…not of material things, interestingly enough. But the person seems to value “things” in response to an emotional loss (divorce, breakup, death). Of course, “things” can never replace relationships, so it becomes a bottomless pit. No matter how many things the hoarder collects, the void is never filled. No matter, if loved ones try to clean up or cut off access to the accumulation of things, they will be met with vicious and very belligerent opposition. It’s an interesting yet very sad affliction. Hoarders are really screwed up people. The people who love them and want to help them often end up messed up too.</p>
<p>True. My husband is more of a pack rat than a hoarder, to be honest. I’m just a minimalist, at heart.</p>
<p>Also, he is always “going to fix that later.” I think he means after he retires, and we are mid forties. :p</p>
<p>When he can’t find something he first comes to me to find out if I threw it away. I’m sure he finds me very annoying. “No, I put it on the top shelf in the garage next to the other broken dirtdevil.”</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to belittle the seriousness of “real” hoarders. But I think that hoarding that is a disorder is one extreme end of a spectrum. I think given the right, extreme circumstances, I really could become (or could have become) a disordered hoarder. There is some emotional satisfaction from having that stack of towels. And parting with my daughter’s things has always been hard.</p>
<p>^^^Well, I’m the opposite of a hoarder. I feel compelled to get rid of stuff, then later I think “what the hell was I thinking?!” I have friends who talk about all the cute things they’ve saved from their kids’ lives, and I panic when I realize we haven’t done the same. It’s tough to decide what to keep vs. to discard, and I fear I’ve erred on the side on minimalism. :(</p>
<p>I have tubs of Legos in a closet in the garage and several boxes of children’s books and American Girl dolls and accessories in the extra room closet. For the grandkids, of course.</p>
<p>We have a hard time getting rid of books. We even have bookcases in the toolroom in the garage full of books from our childfree days that I’d love to give away that my Dh won’t part with. Haven’t opened any of them in 20 or more years.
This thread reminds me that I really need to clean out our garage this fall- after the wedding. (There’s always some excuse. I’m sure I’ll have another by September.)</p>
<p>I am a semi-hoarder. But I do like the idea of de-cluttering and giving away items somebody might need. So I make an effort. </p>
<p>Also I subscribe to the local Freecycle website and read the daily summaries. If somebody posts a “Wanted” ad for something I no longer use… it feels good to give it away.</p>