Are you a hoarder or come from a family of hoarders? ?

Yeah it can be a problem. My wife is not good at chucking stuff out. We recently moved her mum from their family home- 3 bed detached with garage and shed- to a 2 bed retirement flat. I can now see where she gets it from as we have her mum’s parents’ old tin trunks full of crap and other assorted rubbish (and useful stuff like unused draper tools) in our house. Doesn’t help us with our clutter problem… and the brand new flat will probably be always full of cardboard boxes full of “stuff”

it appears to be an emotional issue that is very hard to address…

For full transparency, although ruthless with lots of my stuff (not used in six months – dispose!), my bicycle collection appears to be exempt from this rule. Indeed since having long COVID, I’d have had an empty garage by applying this ruling – and I did ride most of my bikes regularly. But back looking at the next bike to add to the collection. I do however realise that some of the bike stuff will have to go. I’m brutal in the Kitchen though. @batfink you’re experience is identical to mine. But we live locally enough that we do not need to stay over. For a trip like yours and to find no bedroom to stay, I’d be upset.

It’s now a recognised mental disorder by DSM-5
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/hoarding-disorder/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hoarding-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20356056
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519704/table/ch3.t29/

Clinical Classification of Hoarding Disorder

I have a sort of friend who I have discovered has about 50 bikes in his garage. All crap found in skips, I kid you not. All my, and my family’s bikes are all tip-top and ready to go shape. I also have my old summer racer of 17 years/c100,000km in the loft all bubble wrapped (not ready to get shot of yet), and a 1950’s Ferris to restore one day… maybe….

My wife’s mum downsized from a 5 bed to a couple bed place and really couldnt let go of all sort of crap. She cannot make a decision, which tbh both her daughters suffer with a bit. In our house I am the sorter, fixer and tidy’er.

Yep, both me and the missus! Garage full of knackered bike tyres/spares that’ll never get used, plus at least 3 sets of wheels for the van, Old CD’s ect. Drawers full of random shite all over the house… She’s terrible for clothes and shoes that she’ll never wear again. House is full of ‘stuff’  and it drives me mad TBH

No. Learning to let go in life is important. I’d rather sell at a loss, or give away anything I don’t need. Too much ‘stuff’, physical and mental, weighs me down.

I used to know a chap whose bedroom was completely full of stacks of newspapers. Added to daily. He did have a level of self awareness though – he took a clipping out of one of them and stuck it to his bed headboard. It was about a hoarder who died when a stack of newspapers next to his bed collapsed and killed him.

I am a bit of a hoarder, but I can’t pinpoint a category of items. In general, I follow Murphy’s Law about how once you throw away an item you’ve been keeping for years for no reason – there’ll be a “reason” materializing as soon as you throw it away… Crippled by such fears, I tend to keep ‘stuff’ for as much as my space allows me to store it…