Stacks of Stuff!!

[gini]

I am the type of person that when you walk into my home people always say "oh, how clean and organized".

HA! Little do they know!!

Right before they have arrived I have whisked away the pile of catalogs, misc. mail, pictures from my nephew (from last year) all of that stuff -
and I have put it into a stack hidden from view. Now I have the very best intention of doing something about that stack say, on the weekend. The only thing is that "weekend" passed over ten months ago.

Finally I moved one stack from a chair in my bedroom to another chair in my home computer room. That stack has been there all year - if there are two people in the room the "stack" has to go on the floor. But hey, I didn't have to look at it in my bedroom anymore.

Well finally today was THE DAY! I brought all of the hidden stacks into one room and tackled them with the intent to throw as much as possible away.

Last year's catalogs went first - uh, last year's Christmas cards after carefully keeping the return addresses got tossed too.

Disturbing to find a check uncashed - granted it was not for very much money - but even so - how dumb is that - now that it has expired?

Please understand - my bills don't go into stacks - it is far too dangerous - I have a special place for them and they are dealt with on time.

But the endless amount of "stuff" that just stacks up will be my undoing.

I may have learned my lesson though - in the stack was a sweet postcard from a cousin. My intent on that "weekend" was to write him back.
I can't do that now - he passed away in September. It brought me to tears.

How could life be that busy that you cannot get these things done?

Am I alone out here in Stackafornia - or do any of you have the same problem?

Oh, and thanks for listening. At least this post only ends up on the computer "stack" and I don't have to move it from chair to chair.

[chocolatepuppy]

*raises hand* I am guilty, stacks and clutter. My plan was to declutter my house this year and I ended up working a lot of overtime. Now that OT has died down, every spare minute, I'm organizing something. My 'stacks' are all over the house.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Gini, you're not alone. I'm much more organized right now but only because I had to be. After I had a flood in my condo last year, I began decluttering because I wanted to get new carpet. I couldn't believe how much stuff I had crammed into all of my closets. I also had old bills, paycheck stubs, etc. from many years ago that I had to finally shred which took me several weeks to do.

Since I'm not yet ready to go paperless with my bills,even though I pay them online, I'm starting to accumulate more paper that now has to be shredded. I keep telling myself that I'll get to it next weekend but the weekends come and go without me shredding anything. I hope to finally do a lot of shredding before the end of the year.

[Karen]

When we bought this house, it was full of stacks, and stacks that had been moved into bags, and unread magazines, and newspapers, and coupons that expired before I was born, that Bertha (may she rest in peace) was sure she was going to get to sorting sometime soon. Thankfully, some of the stuff was worth saving, my great-great-grandmother's photo album, for example, including pictures from her time in Victoria's court, and pictures of Scotland from before she emigrated here with her sister.

I have vowed not to do that to my nieces and nephews, so some things get saved, but my old magazines either get brought to the nursing home where Bertha spent her last days, get given to the family next door (Mom Lydia loves Country magazine for all the recipes, and the kids love searching for the hidden needle), or get recycled.

[RICHARD]

Gini,

Do you have any old Victoria's Secret catalogs you are throwing out?

[lizbud]

I have my own stacks of bill receipts, old payroll receipts & stuff you
don't just throw in the trash. I am waiting till I remember that shredder
I've been meaning to buy.

[Medusa]

The only thing that I sometimes allow to pile up are bill receipts. For some reason, I detest filing. I always say that I won't let it happen, then I realize that it has indeed happened again. Other than that, I'm fairly organized. My niece came to visit me a couple of weeks ago (last time was 17 years ago) and she said "My goodness Aunt Mary, even your trash is organized!" Not sure what she meant by that. I don't file my trash. LOL I guess she meant that I keep things neat. Hmmm, well, she did follow up with "What a whack job you are!". I hope she was kidding. So, you're not alone, Gini. I think we all allow things to pile up occasionally.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Disturbing to find a check uncashed

which reminds me...I just deposited the check today...<>

Let me assure you....a slab leak (another of those California disasters they forget to tell you about...) can force you to clean up, throw out and file!

(and deposit checks....)

[kitten645]

I have found salvation in Clutterdiet.com! It's a monthly fee but it keeps me motivated to throw it out and keep only what matters!
Godsend really! LOVE it! (not as much as this forum but second!)
Claudia

[Pam]

My mother was a "stack person" and I think that when you grow up around it you either turn into a mini me or revolt and go the opposite way. I have gone the opposite way. Important things are filed immediately, magazines get held for maybe two or three months and anything else hits the trash before making its way into a stack. My husband is the guilty one around here. He has a magazine stack and keeps some other things for some of the strangest reasons.

[Killearn Kitties]

Gini, have you been poking through my house???

No matter how hard I try - and I do get rid of paper constantly - I am never completely stackless.

[pomtzu]

UGH - the story of my life.

And the strange thing is, now that I'm retired and have all the free time I could ever have wanted, I'm worse than ever. When I was younger I was a neat freak. I wonder where I lost it?

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

COMPLETELY GUILTY TOO

My husband keeps saying me that I am hopeless.......; the worst about it is that he is right....

[happylabs]

I ordered a dumpster in the Spring and decluttered almost all of my house...almost. My computer room/cat room is where I put everything that I did not throw out and believe me, I threw a lot out! I keep saying I am going to get to that room and clean it but the cats don't seem to mind the clutter around their food bowls.

Have you ever seen the show "Hoarders" on TLC? All I have to do is watch 30 minutes of that and I am cleaning up! My grammie was a bit of a hoarder. She, of course, went through the depression.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Have you ever seen the show "Hoarders" on TLC? All I have to do is watch 30 minutes of that and I am cleaning up! My grammie was a bit of a hoarder. She, of course, went through the depression.

Yes, I sure have. I've watched several episodes and I can't even imagine living like that. It's very sad but I guess there are many many people out there that have this problem.