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Pack Rats, Clutterbugs & Hoarders

Pack Rats, Clutterbugs & Hoarders

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by: Mahm Active Indicator LED Icon 9 OP 
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 9:46am  
I have a confession to make. There are those people who are born-organized, neat-freaks or OCD. I am not one of those people.I was inspired by the off-topic discussion between @Attila & @Annie in the insomnia thread to start this one. They were talking about how hard it is to part with things. For some of us, it really is harder than it is for others. DH and I sometimes watch "Hoarders" on TLC, and I think it makes me feel a bit better about myself. I am not a hoarder though, not even close. I'm more of a pack rat.I can see the floor in every room. We eat at a clean table, off of clean dishes and I throw away food from the fridge when it is spoiled. We all wear clean clothes every day. I empty trash cans, wipe counters, scrub toilets, sweep floors, vacuum carpets... I am pretty normal when it comes to cleanliness. But in every closet, there are boxes and bags of things that I don't need. In the kids' rooms, these boxes and bags are not entirely contained within the closets. In kitchen drawers, there are sale ads and receipts and coupons that I think I will refer back to and never do. Add to that the kids' mountain of school papers and pieces of mail I meant to file away or respond to... There is definitely much room for improvement.DH is the opposite of me. He files away papers or discards them after he has paid bills or responded to something. He doesn't hold onto things he doesn't need. In the garage, there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. You will never find a receipt, a water bottle, or spare change inside of his immaculate car. He is born-organized.I often read the tips from Flylady.net, and most of them make good sense. She says if you haven't used it in over 6 months, and you don't love it, bless someone else with it. She also says you can do anything for 15 minutes; progress not perfection. And she says you can't organize clutter; you can only get rid of it. Another tip I read in an organization book once is "If everything is important, then nothing is important." That is so true!If you're a pack rat or clutterbug like me, let's encourage and motivate one another with tips and pointers. Please, OCD people, try not to criticize. Keep KDC friendly. 4951
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Stealth83 Active Indicator LED Icon 16
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 9:52am  
Removed By Request 4951
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Annie Active Indicator LED Icon 18
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 10:16am  
@Mahm
 
You have described our house! Beware of the closet but far from appearing on reality tv.
 
4951
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Fallon Active Indicator LED Icon 18
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 10:21am  
Removed By Request 4951
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Fallon Active Indicator LED Icon 18
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 10:28am  
Removed By Request 4951
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Mahm Active Indicator LED Icon 9 OP 
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 10:47am  
That is all really good advice @Fallon. I'm proud of you for staying on top of things after your light bulb moment. "I don't have time," is a lie we tell ourselves. I keep saying I will deal with it when I have time. Granted, I really have much less time with a newborn, but I'm sure I can carve out 15 minutes every day.I know I have too much of an emotional attachment to "stuff." Not everything is as sentimental as I think it is. Part of it is having moved so many times over the last 15 years. If I have managed to hold onto something through all of the moves, I feel like I can't part with it now. Plus I lost or left behind so many things that I miss. There was one time that we forgot to pack a closet full of photos. How, I don't know. I had packed much less important things. 4951
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Jpgurl Active Indicator LED Icon 18
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 12:23pm  
My dh is a MAJOR pack rat!!! When we moved her 12 years ago I must've thrown away a dumpster full of crap while he was down here. He could not identify one item he was missing!! He mostly saves screws, nuts bolts ect that stays in the garage. And tools!! I mean seriously the man has at least 50 screw drivers- who needs 25 flat head screw drivers!!
But I'm guilty in a different way. Mostly I don't collect stuff and once or twice a week- I'll take 5 minutes and go through a drawer or cabinet and throw away stuff. Except- my paint stuff- I probably have 25 paint brushes- 4-5 roller trays-2 roller holders and 5-6 rollers. Lol BUT I NEED them- I swear!! 4951
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1meow2meow Active Indicator LED Icon
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 12:48pm  
This is going to be a very helpful thread Emoticoncommenting to remember. 4951
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attila Active Indicator LED Icon 2
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 12:53pm  
That is all really good advice @Fallon. I'm proud of you for staying on top of things after your light bulb moment. "I don't have time," is a lie we tell ourselves. I keep saying I will deal with it when I have time. Granted, I really have much less time with a newborn, but I'm sure I can carve out 15 minutes every day.I know I have too much of an emotional attachment to "stuff." Not everything is as sentimental as I think it is. Part of it is having moved so many times over the last 15 years. If I have managed to hold onto something through all of the moves, I feel like I can't part with it now. Plus I lost or left behind so many things that I miss. There was one time that we forgot to pack a closet full of photos. How, I don't know. I had packed much less important things.
 
@Mahm: Oh, that's sad...I'm sorry you no longer have those pictures. A lot of what I had in boxes was stuff people left with us in Alaska when they moved back to the Lower 48 that I should have gotten rid of before we moved back, but I foolishly moved it back with us. I bring that up because one of these boxes contained hundreds of pictures, most of them of the family's children. I have hauled this box around through two moves over the course of 9 years because I was really hoping one day I'd magically hear from the people because they wanted their stuff. I've tried everything in my power to locate the family, but after close to ten years, I gave up hope and threw their things away.Oh, and I wasn't trying to be off-topic on the insomnia thread, it's just that lack of sleep can cloud your thinking so I forgot to say what I originally intended: Insomnia can lead to late night productivity! LOL!
4951
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buffaloglenn Active Indicator LED Icon 11
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 1:08pm  
My dh is a MAJOR pack rat!!! When we moved her 12 years ago I must've thrown away a dumpster full of crap while he was down here. He could not identify one item he was missing!! He mostly saves screws, nuts bolts ect that stays in the garage. And tools!! I mean seriously the man has at least 50 screw drivers- who needs 25 flat head screw drivers!!
But I'm guilty in a different way. Mostly I don't collect stuff and once or twice a week- I'll take 5 minutes and go through a drawer or cabinet and throw away stuff. Except- my paint stuff- I probably have 25 paint brushes- 4-5 roller trays-2 roller holders and 5-6 rollers. Lol BUT I NEED them- I swear!!
 
@Jpgurl: duh!  In case the first 24 break, of course.  Emoticon
4951
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Mahm Active Indicator LED Icon 9 OP 
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 1:23pm  
@Attila: Funny that you mention carrying around pictures from a family in Alaska for 9 years. That is where I left those pictures about 10 years ago, in a townhome in Anchorage. What a coincidence.I moved TO Alaska and back FROM Alaska with so many unimportant things, and I left some truly sentimental things behind. My mom had made a Christmas Nativity scene out of fabric in the early  90's, and she had given it to my oldest DD in 2002. I left that at a friend's house along with all of my special Christmas ornaments, thinking I would be flying back up there the following month to tend to some personal business.  I never flew back and quickly lost touch with the friend. My Mom (who is rarely sentimental) has expressed her disappointment on more than one occasion that I lost something that was meaningful to her.I wasn't complaining that you were off topic! It was relevant to that conversation. I was going to comment there, but when I realized I had a lot to say on the subject, I just decided not to hijack that thread. Emoticon 4951
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attila Active Indicator LED Icon 2
~ 9 years ago   Jul 25, '14 2:17pm  
@Attila: Funny that you mention carrying around pictures from a family in Alaska for 9 years. That is where I left those pictures about 10 years ago, in a townhome in Anchorage. What a coincidence.I moved TO Alaska and back FROM Alaska with so many unimportant things, and I left some truly sentimental things behind. My mom had made a Christmas Nativity scene out of fabric in the early  90's, and she had given it to my oldest DD in 2002. I left that at a friend's house along with all of my special Christmas ornaments, thinking I would be flying back up there the following month to tend to some personal business.  I never flew back and quickly lost touch with the friend. My Mom (who is rarely sentimental) has expressed her disappointment on more than one occasion that I lost something that was meaningful to her.I wasn't complaining that you were off topic! It was relevant to that conversation. I was going to comment there, but when I realized I had a lot to say on the subject, I just decided not to hijack that thread. Emoticon
 
@Mahm: Oh, I didn't take it as complaining, I just realized I never actually got to the point I was trying to make. The couple the pictures belonged to left quickly after the guy accepted a job at a shipyard in Louisiana. They promised to give us a forwarding address,  but I they had skipped out on their landlord, so I think they were worried about legal action. My husband even tried all of his work contacts and still had no luck finding them. I'm very sentimental, but I do need to de-clutter. I have boxes of birthday and holiday cards people sent me years ago, so I guess I'll start going through those and keep only a few special ones.
4951
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Mahm Active Indicator LED Icon 9 OP 
~ 9 years ago   Aug 2, '14 5:30pm  
I made one small step yesterday. I was looking for space to put something in the pantry, and I decided to get rid of the 12-15 empty coffee cans stacked on the bottom shelf. Last month, DD suggested I get rid of them and I proceeded to check the supply list for VBS and then show her tons of google images for crafts that can be done with coffee cans. She agreed they would come in handy.
 
Last year, I had a similar collection of coffee cans that DH insisted I throw away. Just a few weeks later, a church friend posted on FB that she needed empty coffee cans donated for a church function. I was so aggravated that I had thrown them away and had none to donate. That is why I checked the VBS supply list last month.
 
Yesterday, I had a light bulb moment, and I decided to accept these realities. 1) I enjoy making crafts. 2) I am good at making crafts. 3) I currently have no time for crafts. 4) My ability to be crafty does not determine my value as a mother.
 
As I told my DS to place all of those cans in the recycling bin, he looked very surprised. I told him the conclusions I had come to and added, "By the time I am able to do crafts again, I will have more coffee cans or other supplies." He said, "I'm proud of you, Mom." In that moment, I realized that letting go of those items was actually a relief, and I wanted more of the same.
 
It seems like such a small thing, but I feel like I took a meaningful step in the right direction yesterday. Wish me luck. 4951
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Fallon Active Indicator LED Icon 18
~ 9 years ago   Aug 2, '14 10:11pm  
Removed By Request 4951
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cgm10sne1 Active Indicator LED Icon 10
~ 9 years ago   Aug 3, '14 6:16am  
@jpgurl  I think I'm married to your husband's twin brother he never knew he had. I should take a picture of my DH's screw, nuts, bolts...tools. When we moved here I packed up most of the stuff in HIS garage. I had 10 shoebox sized plastic bins with odd screws, bolts etc etc. We could open a hardware store. There will be a day that I will have to take on the responsibility of dealing with my Grandmother's home...which is now my Aunts and one day mine. That house is busting at the seams with stuff from over 60 years. Lean and Mean: That's how I want to live....easier said than done.  4951
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