Do you consider yourself a “hoarder” at all? The Mayo Clinic’s definition of “hoarding” is:
“Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the thought of getting rid of the items. Excessive accumulation of items, regardless of actual value, occurs.
“Hoarding often creates such cramped living conditions that homes may be filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter. Countertops, sinks, stoves, desks, stairways and virtually all other surfaces are usually piled with stuff. And when there’s no more room inside, the clutter may spread to the garage, vehicles, yard and other storage facilities.
“Hoarding ranges from mild to severe. In some cases, hoarding may not have much impact on your life, while in other cases it seriously affects your functioning on a daily basis.
“People with hoarding disorder may not see it as a problem, making treatment challenging.”
Which end of the spectrum are you on? The hoarding end or the minimalist end?
Do you expect a “true” hoarder to admit it, or even know it’s going on?
I’m sure we’ve all watched at least one of those hoarder shows and thought “How can this be”? But there it is.
hahahahahaha
Fulltime RVing has taught me that things are just that, things. If it is serving no purpose or won’t serve a purpose in the near future, it’s gone.
Full timing it, since 96, keeps you from hoarding..
We started selling off stuff in 95, and sold out. We moved into our 5er in the spring of 96 and left in November.
My answer included both our habits. One room and half of another is stuff kept by the DW. Seriously, who needs books already read three times? Or clothes not worn in 5 or ten years? Apparently she does.
I still have books I bought as a kid, I’m 66, they’re not children’s books but I’m never going to read them again. They seem to think they have a right to a place in my house and have moved many times with me.
Hoard microcomputers. They are tiny.
Isn’t that why it’s called Spring cleaning? If it hasn’t been used in 6 months, it goes to the landfill.
I was one of those people that “someday I’ll need that”. Now it’s be toss, toss, toss. I put crap in a box if I haven’t touched it in 6 months it’s gone. My grandparents and parents were hoarders. Collect any and everything I’m guessing it was the depression that caused the issue. The old addage waste not want not.
I’ll admit I have too much stuff. My super power is needing something the week after I throw it out. Yes, I KNOW I don’t need 2 Coleman white gas lanterns (that haven’t been used in 2 years) but I also know I live in an area where we can lose power or hurricanes pass through. I guess it was ingrained into my DNA to “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” You see people complaining about ‘hoarders’ and ‘overfilled landfills’ in the same breath. it’s too easy to throw something away and buy a new one, and complain about how things don’t last like they used to, when people just don’t bother taking the time to try and FIX things. But to be able to fix things, you need stuff you can use for parts. Maybe someday I’ll worry more about it (or my kids will have to clean the stuff out) but for now.. I’ll enjoy being able to bring some ‘broken trash’ out of a landfill and give it new life.
Lived 30 miles from nearest town. Keep items for 3 years and have not used, gets tossed. In town now but do same.
I cleaned up a hoarders estate. So bad there were desk drawers of cigarette butts. But no will.
it’s not a joke, it’s mental illness.
I am under control but husband is NOT! WAY too much “stuff”
Tough one to answer, I’m in between the top two answers but want to be the bottom answer, I have been getting rid of stuff but it’s hard. My ‘hoarding’ only has a slight effect on my life, more mental than physical though I do have to step round some boxes and a couple of coolers to access some parts of the house and my garage is packed…
However I do know a true clinical hoarder, their house is basically a series of tunnels among the stuff, they can’t stop buying more stuff. Their car(s) are packed full of stuff, so much that I think it is actually dangerous to drive them. This person knows very well that they are in this condition, they are intelligent and self aware, but they have a medical condition.
(I used generic ‘they’ etc because I don’t want to help identify my friend)
If I were to be judged a hoarder, it would be for the substantial hardware I save for potential fix-it projects in the future. I’ve also amassed a large number of tools.
Ray, I’m with you on that!!! I’ve had my 30′ Class A for 24 years and can fix most anything on it with the tools & spare parts I carry on board. I boon dock most of the time and need very few clothes. (90% of the time I am in a bathing suit) All my interior drawers are filled with tools & accessories. Very satisfying to fix most everything yourself out in the middle of nowhere without having to make a service appointment that will be 6 months out.
Me, absolutely NO. My wife, absolutely YES!
It’s my husband who is the “collector”
I am able to control what’s in the house but one garage and the pole barn are messy and full. He gets things to do a project which are never done. American Pickers should come here!
Same here. I got rid of 20 boxes of stuff and yes, he managed to fill up that space. His corner is a hoarder nightmare. What is with men and stuff?
Every few years, I give away things to make more room. Invariably within a month, I need something that I got rid of.
A problem we all suffer from. The hardware stores love me because I always need what I got rid of. The other day, I went to Goodwill and bought what I donated last month. Saved a bundle on that trip!
That’s just the opposite of what I did years ago, Richard. I found a really nice pullover sweater at a local thrift store, new tags still on it. Threw it in the wash before I wore it. Yep, it came out toddler size. (Lesson learned.) Donated it right back to the thrift store. 😆 Have a great day! 😀 –Diane
My wife thinks that I keep way too much stuff. I say I might need it some day (most is from my working days) I have used some stuff for different projects.
I’m much better. My husband not so much. 2 rooms in the house, full, (some mine). 1600 sq ft shop full (vintage race cars/parts/equip/tools). 3 huts, same as shop. Told him I’m going to die before him so I don’t have to deal with it…lol.
Before I retired from the phone company, I’d been to plenty of hoarding houses, a lot of ‘collectors’ houses and (five times as many as the other two combined) just cluttered, dirty houses. In my experience, their issue is a combination of exhaustion (working low pay jobs), laziness (rather watch TV all weekend) and health issues (can’t exert themselves due to a medical condition to clean and no family or support structure to help them).
We live in a society that values material things, especially unnecessary stuff. I am just as guilty as anyone else, (with my Star Trek memorabilia), but hoarders will organize and fight to keep candy bar wrappers – people who are in good mental health just throw them out.
Two answers to solving the hoarder – vs – landfill problem is sell it on EBay! One persons junk is another persons treasure. It is amazing what one can find on auction sites and what people will pay for it! Check it out – just don’t buy it and create more problems for yourself!
The second answer is to recycle it if possible – then you feel you’ve accomplished something good with your now lost treasure! (That reminds me I have to clean out my shop, storage building and garage!)
Ebay is not the great deal it used to be for selling stuff. Marketplace (facebook) and craigslist seem to be more popular now.
I think most of us are more in the pack rat or saver category. Hoarders keep everything, including the household trash.
If you think selling on Ebay is easy, you’ve probably never sold on Ebay.
I’m sure I’ve sold 10’s of thousands of dollars on ebay. It’s a job.
Habitat for Humanity also takes things gently used if no longer wanted. They will I think come and get it. Otherwise I plan to sell a bedroom set that is no longer needed and I do not want to move it to the second house. Want to be minimal with that one.
We moved from Colorado to Arizona. From a 6,000 sq ft house to an 1800 sq ft place. We gave away, sold, donated and still looked like hoarders. Now, long metal shelves and totes hold necessary items and we don’t feel like hoarders. When not in use, our trailer looks like a hoarder owns it, but that is only temporary.
on a scale of 1 to 10 if the folks on TV show are ’10’ then I’m a 3 but highly organized. many here will understand when I say there are generally two types of people…Oscar and Felix. I’m a Felix…an 8 on a 10-scale. My wife is an Oscar…a former 8 on a 10-scale but now, after 52-years, a 4.
My late wife was of the major hoarder in that there were paths through the house, she had mental issues is why she was that way. I’m bad about saving good parts from something that broke, “just in case I should need that for something else.” Since starting a new life with a wonderful lady, I have gotten rid of most of my “treasures”. Had to get rid of a lot in our recent move from TN to FL, moving from a 3BR ranch into a 1BR park model, I had to build a 8X10 shed to put our essentials in. Lol
If it’s organized, is it hoarding?
After spending my entire working life in the USAF, and being an AF brat, I was used to moving every three years and dealing with moving van weight limits. If you’re over the weight limit, you get to pay to move it! Therefore, every year around Xmas, my mission is to clean out the closets and the cabinets and donate anything that hasn’t been used or worn over the last year. But it’s amazing how much is donated every year! No hoarding in the traditional sense but I’d like to reduce the amount that’s coming in!
I tend to keep stuff too long. After it begins to pile higher and higher (e.g., unread magazines on the kitchen counter, unwashed dishes in the sink), then purging begins (and dishes go into the dishwasher or get washed).
When we went full-time in 2016, we sold the house, sold the office building, and got rid of 98% of our belongings. I don’t think we qualify as hoarders.
How many of us have used the lines “I might need it some day”, “It’s not hurting anybody if I keep it” or my favorite “If I don’t have to feed it, pay taxes on it, or listen to it bitch, it can stay”?
Now that we are getting ready for a 2nd house I am decluttering the 1st one. Once I get rid of a lot of things especially what ever the girl child wants for her house and does not want we plan to just donate it all from the first if we do not want it for the 2nd. Minimizing is what I am doing now. Then clean out the house. Sigh. 30 years of stuff. Glad I can see it for what it is. Junk.