Hoarding & Clutter (BBC content)

Phil_aka_Pip · January 2018

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-42854122/hoarding-where-are-you-on-the-clutter-scale

I have a theory about it. If you have lots of money, you don't need to hoard. Something breaks, you get rid, and replace. No biggie. If you are skint, you keep it in the hope of repairing it. Maybe you get another one that's boken differently in the hope of making one good one out of the two. That leads to what rich people call clutter.

I have hoarded hifi components. Bought decent gear cheap on ebay while I can. One day I won't be working and will be expected to live on a pension that's about 20% of my current weekly income. If something breaks I won't be able to get it repaired let alone buy a new one. I will be reduced to getting rid of the broken one "for spares or repair" for a really cheap price, and getting its replacement out of the cupboard, hoping it still works. Clutter my rear end.

strumjoughlamps · January 2018

I would link hoarding as an OCD rather than a a rich or poor thing.

Phil_aka_Pip · January 2018

depends also on what you are hoarding. If it's old newspapers & plastic bags, there is a use for some, but clearly no use for a cupboardfull.

JAYJO · January 2018

Clutter my rear end.

Seriously!

bodhi · January 2018

I absolutely despise clutter. My wife loves it. She can spend endless hours sorting through the same old useless sh*t.

I really don't get it, and it actually causes a lot of unnecessary tension.

boogieman · January 2018

strumjoughlamps said:

I would link hoarding as an OCD rather than a a rich or poor thing.

From everything I’ve heard about hoarding it’s not OCD, it’s usually triggered by some loss in life. Either somebody physically dying or the emotional loss of something. The “stuff” forms some sort of replacement for the loss, it forms a constant where things have changed, a kind of emotional buffer against things ever changing again. My mother hoards stuff, in her case she’s never really got over my dad leaving her 40 odd years ago.

Jeremiah · January 2018

I think there's a difference between hoarding and just clutter. For me it goes something like this:

When I'm unemployed/skint: "I've got all this stuff I don't really use, but if I get rid of it then how will I afford to replace it if it turns out I do need it?"

When I've got a job: "Hey, maybe I could get rid of some of this stuff since I could afford to replace it if necessary. But who has time to sort through all that junk while working?"

Neill · January 2018

The other day I found a really good magazine article on how to stop hoarding.

I put it with all the others.

RobDavies · January 2018

My wife is a hoarder of clothes. She's still got stuff from twenty years ago when she was a size 8, because "You never know".

Unless she gets some sort of horrible wasting disease, she'll never see size 8 again. What she doesn't know is that every now and again, I pick out random clothes, shoes and bags that I know haven't been used in eons and take them to the charity bins at Asda.

I guess the only problem is one day, there'll be a news report and some poor African kid will be stomping around in a pair of heels, wearing a Tommy Hilfiger jumper and swinging a leopard print handbag about.... "Hang on a minute...."

Sambostar · January 2018

Well they've had our stolen cars and phones for long enough. I like auctions. I recently got into auctions. I mean live auctions and buying, not selling. If I had enough money I would buy everything and keep it all. I keep stuff and everything because you never know. My old Ben Sherman Shirt which was already a hand me down from Oz last century fits the girlfriends son. It's all meant to be. Keep everything. You can eat wool come the nuclear apocalypse. You can't eat melamine.

EricTheWeary · January 2018

I sit near the duty social workers ( I work for social services, it’s not a weird stalking thing...) and they seem to have something about a hoarder every day. I am quite surprised at how common it is ( or how problematic a small of group of hoarders can be). I think it is often seen as a disorder in it’s own right now rather than just as a symptom of something else ( OCD, depression, personality disorder).

Sambostar · January 2018

No. It's just old fashioned and not bowing down to the new order of control. What do you expect when you put farmers in tiny council flats and drive meat and dairy production into the ground. It's symptomatic of the times we live in. You can't out breed in three generations.

Myranda · January 2018

I hate clutter, despise it - but I moved from my own flat to sharing with my mother so I could go to uni - a whole life compressed into a single room.

I like movies, music and reading, and happen to favour physical dvds, cds and real books, which take up space.

So I feel like a hoarder, it's why while I look for rooms to move into I'm trying to get a bigger room that I can put loads of bookcases (as bookcases wont need anything screwed into place). Ideally I need to graduate and get a great job then I can afford somewhere big enough...

Winny_Pooh · January 2018

My wife refuses to get rid of clothes. Has two huge suitcases of old shite that piss me off no end. Have done 4 house moves and tried to forget them in the loft but she always fucking remembers

Foster · January 2018

My Ex's dad was (guessing still is) a massive hoarder - buy him a christmas present and he'd keep the wrapping paper because "it looks nice". bought him a mug one year, it never left the box because "it looks nice", for christ sakes man make a brew and chuck the box!

My ex wasn't allowed to change the carpet in her room because "that was the first carpet I ever bought, it's sentimental". Some horrible polyester in bright blue that he kept from the previous house - surprised he didn't keep the trimmings.

BRISTOL86 · January 2018

I can’t stand clutter and I trust my instincts when it comes down to whether I’m likely to want or need something.

I honestly can’t think of a single thing I’ve ever got rid of that years later I’ve said ‘I wish I’d kept that....’

Phil_aka_Pip · January 2018

I kept carpet offcuts. Some got used to line the floor of Little Red Van, there's another square adorning the floor of a built-in cupboard in my bedroom. There's another built-in cupboard which could benefit from being carpeted so I'm not going to dispose of it all just yet.

I have in the past kept jeans in the fond hope that one day I might be able to do them up round the middle but in the end took them round to the Salvation Army clothes bank. There's a pile of socks-with-taters-in in the corner, but that's only because I haven't got around to taking them to the textile recycling.

Dominic · January 2018

I don't like throwing things away that are genuinely potentially useful but I try to be realistic and restrict such practices.The irony is that sure enough if I throw something out which I have kept for 10 years I suddenly have something break the very next day that requires the despatched item for a simple repair.
On the other hand I call my wife Lady Bountiful because she values nothing and throws or gives everything away because it's easier than cleaning it .........She walks the dog in an expensive pair of boots that are a week old and then doesn't clean them so decides they need throwing out a week later ........apparently I'm a boring little old man because I harp on about respecting things and looking after them and I actually clean my shoes which is apparently very small-minded !
Did I mention that she's 30 years younger than me .........(only kidding)

proggy · January 2018

BRISTOL86 said:

I can’t stand clutter and I trust my instincts when it comes down to whether I’m likely to want or need something.

I honestly can’t think of a single thing I’ve ever got rid of that years later I’ve said ‘I wish I’d kept that....’

The only thing I really regret getting rid of was my Rickenbacker 4000, even though I hadn't played it for years I wish I'd kept it.

Philly_Q · January 2018

I think I am a hoarder. I have 35 years' worth of guitar mags, thousands of CDs, LPs, DVDs, Blu-rays, books... and lots of guitars. All in a one-bedroom flat. There's nothing utterly pointless like bundles of old newspapers... but I think it is hoarding, nonetheless.

I would dearly love to get rid of... not all of it, but a very significant percentage. But I do do find it very difficult to say "today's the day I'm going to sort this out". And I genuinely don't have enough time to really get going on it.

Funkfingers · January 2018

proggy said:
The only thing I really regret getting rid of was my Rickenbacker 4000, even though I hadn't played it for years, I wish I'd kept it.

Nah! The 4000 is light by one pickup, two control pots and a selector switch. You did the right thing.

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Hoarding & Clutter (BBC content)

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