[DechanDawa]

I live in a studio apartment so I cannot really be a big time hoarder. At one time I had a four bedroom house with a garage...but that was another lifetime!

In the past year my anxiety manifested as buying running shoes and Doc Martens. Okay....just let's say...shoe category.

I actually have three pairs of running shoes and two new Doc Martens I have barely worn.

I have always been into boots but when I recognized I was hoarding shoes and boots...I had to stop.

This year I also have been buying and storing things like bars of soap on sale. Socks.

Finally I had to say to myself Stop With The Freaking Hoarding. It creeps me out!

[katydid777]

I have a hard time throwing away anything with my name & address on it. I have it all in my closet. I hope this next spring, I will be mentally able to go through it, and get rid of it.

[DechanDawa]

Originally Posted by katydid777

I have a hard time throwing away anything with my name & address on it. I have it all in my closet. I hope this next spring, I will be mentally able to go through it, and get rid of it.

Do you mean mail? Do you keep the envelopes? I am curious about this.

[DechanDawa]

My anxiety also started to manifest in that I would buy "back ups" for things I already had. I bought a back up mini vacuum cleaner, and a back up espresso pot. I also bought a Turkish coffee pot as a back up for the back up espresso pot. Sheez. I had to yell at myself to stop the freaking hoarding.

[hvert]

I don't think of myself as a shoe hoarder, but now that I am counting them up, I have about fifteen different sets of shoes/boots. And nothing dressy.

How did you whittle down your furniture/stuff going from four bedrooms to a studio????? I find it so hard to let go.

[DechanDawa]

Originally Posted by hvert

I don't think of myself as a shoe hoarder, but now that I am counting them up, I have about fifteen different sets of shoes/boots. And nothing dressy.

How did you whittle down your furniture/stuff going from four bedrooms to a studio????? I find it so hard to let go.

I moved a few times. When I went from a 3-bedroom townhouse to a 1-bedroom apartment I had to do the move on my own. It was a traumatic move. I also had to give up a basement and a garage. I moved to a place with no storage.

When I went from the 1-bedroom to the studio...my son helped me and he kept saying to get rid of this or get rid of that. It was okay. But after I moved into the studio I started ordering smaller pieces from Amazon.com....things like Japanese screens and a small desk...when I already have a desk. I don't have a storage area or garage now...but the studio has ample storage. Somebody was thinking when they designed this place.
IDK. Every move is traumatic. But think about what people lost in the wildfires...they lost everything. In the end it is just stuff.


I think I might have...mmm...30 pairs of shoes, boots, and assorted other footwear...with a lot of old and new boots. I guess in a small living space it is kind of a luxary to have a big collection of anything. I also am a bit of a clothes hoarder...and clothes tend to pile up in a small space. It's an art to live in a small space. Sometimes I like it...sometimes i don't. I wouldn't want one of those tiny houses...

[hvert]

Yeah, that kind of move sounds traumatic, especially doing it on your own. It's true - in the end, it's just stuff - but it's still hard to let go of it (for me). Not acquiring it in the first place is much better. My brothers seem better about that than I am.

if I like a certain cd, or dvd, I'll hoard it- I will hoard copies of it (like I may own 20 or 30 of the same, just in case one breaks)
also, I won't hoard it if it's diffrent in any way

example: if I buy a dvd of the lion king with a picture of a lion on the case, then see the exact same movie with a picture of the pridelands on it, I won't buy it- I know it's exactly the same, I know it's exact same as far as quality, but I will not buy it
since I enjoy breaking my stuff, it comes in handy owning all these copies

I also hoard empty spray bottles- perfumes, bottles of sauce, air freshener, what ever- I just.. I don't really know, do it because I can and it isn't harming anyone

anything with a smell that I like, even if I don't use the items

example: I don't smoke, but love the smell of smoke so will quite happily hoard anything with the smell of ciggirettes on it- i'm not limited either. if it's been used by someone and they don't want it, they can just give it to me as long as it still smells of smoke

I won't go out and buy ciggirettes just to hoard them

[Travelinglady]

I do get rid of things, but I have lots of shoes and books!

[Lefty Seven]

I hoard grudges. They fit anywhere.

[DechanDawa]

Originally Posted by Lefty Seven

I hoard grudges. They fit anywhere.

Time to clean house! Grudges take up too much space.

[downandlonely]

I try to keep my stuff to a minimum, because I move a lot.

Originally Posted by Travelinglady

I do get rid of things, but I have lots of shoes and books!

shockingly, I don't own that many pairs of shoes.

I say shockingly, because shoes are good to shop for.

[DechanDawa]

I realize I am not really a hoarder. My place is small and I can't let things accumulate. The shoes...maybe a little overboard but I keep them for a long time. Have all my boots resoled and reheeled.

[WishfulThinker66]

I unfortunately spend money on footwear - especially boots. Oh I don't quite have a closet full but I have way more than I should. Thanks to internet shopping the last year has been particularly bad with my purchasing something on line near every month. I admit to a bit of an adrenalin rush each time I make a purpose and waiting for/receiving delivery. I was just in Europe and bought several pairs of footwear for which I spent money I ought not to have. It would have been even worse were it not for my boyfriend dragging me away.

There was a time I had in my possession a great deal of money. I wasted it away amassing a stockpile of outdoor equipment. A great deal of money. It didn't last and I ended up having to sell it at a mere fraction of the original cost. It grieved me for years at having done so. Perhaps this is why I collect things and cling onto them no matter how useless and trivial.

[Mopey]

I have a tendency to hoard earrings. They're small, can often be bought cheaply, and don't take up too much space.

[88Butterfly88]

I tend to hoard empty deodorant bottles and used batteries. I managed to get rid of most of the deodorant bottles but I've been holding onto the batteries. The batteries are starting to corrode so I should really toss them. Aside from these two things I don't consider myself a hoarder, I do have a lot of stuff but I do get rid of stuff routinely too.

[just2b]

Paper, notebooks, luckily I have kids that can use them now. If they don't use the entire notebook at the end of the school year, I will go thru and rip out the used pages to use again.