Hoarding: did anyone watch Oprah's show?

I watched something like it on MSNBC, and I also read it in a magazine (either Marie Claire or Cosmo Girl). The stories were SO sad. One lady was found dead on top of her piles and piles of stuff. Her kids were never allowed into the house after they moved out, it was years and years later. When they went in for the first time after they found out their mother had passed, they both broke down because they did not know her hoarding problem had gotten that bad. She didnt have running hot water for years (yet she managed to come to work everyday, nicely dressed as a nurse!), they found dead rats, feces and even a dead dog wrapped in a carpet in the garage. It was just horrible!

Sorry for the long post.
 
The older I get, the less clutter I want. I also don't want big collections of things anymore.

This is me!!!! When we first got married I wanted this and that and everything for our "home". I just spent the last year donating and selling TONS of stuff because it was just STUFF and I got tired of having to reorganize every five minutes.'

Of course, I say that when these last two weeks I've bought so much stuff for this Thanksgiving dinner we are hosting - tableclothes, platter, stoneware bread basket, more ladles, fat separator for gravy, butter dish, guest salt and pepper shakers, and a bigger roasting pan.... ALL that has to be stored for the rest of the year too! ugh!

(But we do plan to make this a yearly thing!)
 
My DH made me clean off my desk after watching this. :Push: I need all this stuff, know exactly where something is if someone needs it. I just hadn't filed it yet.:boxing:
We have allergies to almost eveything especially mold :yucky: So we couldn't live like that without getting really sick.
 
OK, big disclaimer, my house is neat and clean...clutter isn't really an issue for me, but I will admit, that's probably just because we have a big house, and I have 2 spare rooms all to myself; an office, plus my doll room... I will admit it, I am a horder ...I buy, save and have way too much 'stuff'... but I am working on it. It is a compulsion. I see something and I 'have' to have it. Again, I am working on it....I have not bought a new purse, wallet, etc in over 3 months, that's really good for me. I have not been able to let any go yet...but I will. I could try and justify it and say I am just a collector...and to some extent I am and always will be...but I am working on the compulsion part...and the holding on to it part.

I did just clean out my doll room, which before I cleaned, it was difficult to walk in...and although it was difficult I gave away, five huge boxes of dolls, furniture and doll clothes to a local charity. I threw out 1 garbage bag of older, broken things that were not even worth donating...last step,I have been and am going to continue to sell doll stuff that is more adult collector stuff.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble...but it felt good, just to say it...and re-establish my committment to keep getting rid of stuff.
 
Tink, you are so brave to talk about it. My house is immaculate. But, I have to admit I've got a ton of stuff.

A few years ago, when I lived in Europe, I had very little but everything that I had was precious to me. Then I moved back to the States and now I have so much. I need to downsize. After watching that first show, I looked around and asked myself, "do I need or even want all of this?"

I don't know.

btw Bravo on cleaning out the doll room.
 
Unfortunately, this is my mom. Not as bad as the people on Oprah, but she's getting there. And she refuses to admit she has a problem. Not even telling her her only granddaughter is not allowed at her house til she cleans it has worked. My brother and sister and I live in fear of the day we have to clean it all out. And we've tried- had two rooms completely clean 8 years ago, and she subsequently filled them back up. We really don't know what to do any more.
 
OMG, I just washed the show! Yikes! That warehouse! I tivo'ed it, I am going to transfer it to DVD...needless to say, I am no where 1/100th that bad...but it is very inspiring, to keep the clutter and stuff to a minimum and keep it organized so you can actually enjoy it.

I like how they created spaces for her so she can still enjoy her crafts and things and didn't expect her to give 'everything' up.

I laughed about the 1 bag a day out of the house tip....that's what I started back in July...but I am on the slow track I guess, I just do the little grocery bag, but still I am glad I started the process, and it really inspires me to keep going.
 
My husband calls me a cat hoarder, LOL, which is unfair since we only have 8.

When I worked for a home health agency in San Diego I had a patient and his wife who lived on the Rincon reservation in North County and their house was :shocked:. In the middle of the floor in the living room was a massive pile of stuff---clothes, old small appliances, trash, you name it--that was so huge that there was only a narrow path around the perimeter of the room to walk on. In the kitchen which oddly enough was quite clean were literally thousands of empty margarine containers and plastic shopping bags spilling out of every cabinet and piled up in the sink and on the counters. In the back hallway were stacks of old magazines, newspapers, paper bags and books. I had never seen anything like it! I got the social worker out there to see them and the wife kept promising to do something about it but as long as I had the husband in my caseload she never did.
 
I swear, if my MIL doesnt start to do something about my FIL-their house is going to be the same way!

A few years back, my SO and I cleaned out their backyard, and their laundry room- You know those huge dumpsters you have the trash men deliver?? Well, we filled up TWO of those! We did this all while he was out of town, but they didnt pick up the dumpsters before he got back and that man was going through the dumpster taking things out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I swear you guys, I am NOT exaggerating! They sleep in separate rooms, you cant even walk in my FIL's room! He has crap EVERYWHERE! I think I need to call Oprah...
 
OK, big disclaimer, my house is neat and clean...clutter isn't really an issue for me, but I will admit, that's probably just because we have a big house, and I have 2 spare rooms all to myself; an office, plus my doll room... I will admit it, I am a horder ...I buy, save and have way too much 'stuff'... but I am working on it. It is a compulsion. I see something and I 'have' to have it. Again, I am working on it....I have not bought a new purse, wallet, etc in over 3 months, that's really good for me. I have not been able to let any go yet...but I will. I could try and justify it and say I am just a collector...and to some extent I am and always will be...but I am working on the compulsion part...and the holding on to it part.

I did just clean out my doll room, which before I cleaned, it was difficult to walk in...and although it was difficult I gave away, five huge boxes of dolls, furniture and doll clothes to a local charity. I threw out 1 garbage bag of older, broken things that were not even worth donating...last step,I have been and am going to continue to sell doll stuff that is more adult collector stuff.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble...but it felt good, just to say it...and re-establish my committment to keep getting rid of stuff.


Can we get a round of applause for Tink?:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:
You go girl!!
 
OMG I have an (elderly) neighbor who is like this in our townhouse complex. Nice lady but it's really sad. When I first moved into the complex she found out I liked plants and asked me if I would be interesting in taking a few of hers. How generous!

Well, when I got to her place I was shocked. Magazines, newspapers everywhere. TV up super loud b/c she is hard of hearing, overheated townhouse, yucky carpeting, she is a chain smoker, etc. The plants she had were so awful I really didn't know what to say. I actually ended up taking a few small cacti as I needed something low maintenance for my garden window but WOWEEE I needed to repot everything so bad...the smoke stench was horrific!

I made 7 trips to goodwill this summer. I so hope I don't end up a hoarder someday...
 
yes, i saw yesterday and today's show. The whole time i was watching it, all i could say was, OH MY Gaawwwwwd!!! i felt really bad for the lady, but the makeover was beautiful. But the whole time, all i was thinking was, how can she not have her kids over in 5 years? CRAZY! but yeah, it was a good show.
 
Okay, my mom is not as bad as it sounds like the people on that show are, but all my life I have lived with her being a huge packrat. As a kid I was so embarassed to have friends over. Her mother was the same way. When we'd go stay with gramma we'd have to wait for her to clean all the crap off the bed we were going to sleep in. I just don't get it and never have. I love my mom but this has always driven me crazy. I sometimes think about what is going to happen when she dies and how when I'm greiving the loss of my mom I'm going to have to go through all her ****.

Luckily, my brother and I aren't that way.
 
after watching that show I took 3 big bags of clothing to the goodwill. I had planned on having a yard sale but changed my mind. Now if I could just talk myself into getting rid of some of my purses.