Are you a hoarder?

[Gunk]

I've been clearing out old bike parts - odd/broken wheels, components that are broken/incomplete in the past couple of months (raised over £1000 in the process) but SWMBO thinks I've got hoarder tendencies.

That may be because I've got 11 bikes

I’m the same, the garage is full of spare motorcycle and cycle bits and bobs, but I can often fix something with stuff I’ve got lying around. However I’ve also been selling some stuff off and and my rubbish is definitely someone else’s treasure!

 

[DCLane]

I’m the same, the garage is full of spare motorcycle and cycle bits and bobs, but I can often fix something with stuff I’ve got lying around. However I’ve also been selling some stuff off and and my rubbish is definitely someone else’s treasure!

True. But having taken a decision to move from running 1/3/5/6/7/8/9/10/11 speeds and simplify to 1/7/10/11 we've lots of items left over. At the same time I don't need a pile of old, heavy wheels when we'd decided to improve across the board: almost all of the older components/wheels have gone giving space for much better kit.

 

[Electric_Andy]

No I hate clutter. I get to a certain point and think "I don't need that" so will ebay it or give away for free on FB.

 

[HarryTheDog]

I used to keep all sorts of stuff, bits of odd wood that may come in useful, bits of cable and lots and lots of knackered bike bits. thats when I was married had a 4 bed house, 2 garage sized sheds and 2 small sheds . Now I am divorced and live in a 2 bed terraced with 1 medium sized shed I have had to be fairly ruthless. I dont like clutter I can see. Before I could just hide it in one of my vast sheds. So I have got rid of everything that is not needed or will be in the next year, with the excepetion of bike parts ( though that collection is a lot smaller) . My present partner has also managed to influenced me get rid of anything that was bought in association with my ex wife so my dining table chairs and 3 piece suite, bed, pots and pans even picture frames etc has all had to go. ( new stuff is nicer anyway and most have been crap as the ex did not want it) .

 

[Moodyman]

Trouble with cycling and other fringe interests, it's not usually shared by other members of the family.

So, your cherished Colnago probably means nothing to the spouse and kids. Imagine if your precious bikes were sent to the council tip in a clearout after you've gone.

 

[wafter]

Probably.

I yearn for a minimalist lifestyle but the crap just seems to accumulate. It's been an enormous, stressful, ongoing battle to de-clutter and the final frontier is the loft of the family home which is full of loads of ultimately useless stuff; including lots of my childhood toys.

Personally I think the main reasons stuff isn't got rid of are:

- Possibility that said item might be of use in the future
- A lot of stuff holds sentimental value
- Hatred of waste; so stuff that still works can't be binned / has to go to someone who'll use it; which is sometimes difficult in our disposible culture
- Lack of clear avenues to get rid of stuff - if it has recognised value it can be sold, but I've increasingly found it difficult to give stuff away (because nobody wants it; presubably as crappy disposible new alternatives are so cheap)
- Desire to keep old items going / unwillingness to be drawn into the ever tightening consumptive / disposible cycle of new gear..
- The task just seems so overwhelming!

When I was a kid I was quite materialistic, bought a lot of stuff and would take any freebie going; although quickly recognised the error of this mindset and tried to address it. Many arguments were had with my mother over the amount of essentially disposible Christmas presents I'd get every year; stuff she thought I'd enjoy but in fact were just causing me stress and anxiety over where to keep them, the internal conflict of resentment / guilt for not wanting them and my unwilling part of the consumptive / disposible doom loop that came with their ownership.

Now I'm far more considered in my purchasing; aim to buy lasting quality and only go for free stuff if I know it has use or value. I'm always up for a good skip-dive though; even if it's to save an item to later pass on to someone else - such as the Skeppshult bike rescued a while ago and since given to another CC member.

Tbh with hobby gear such as cycling stuff I run a pretty tight ship; I accumulate tools and consumables when I need them / can get them for a good price, but don't keep stuff I know has no practical use. I do keep some peripheral stuff for other hobbies but it's well-organised, I know what I have and regularly assess whether it's still required. I think I cling to the order I can maintain in these areas in compensation for that I can't achieve in wider life.

Now I try to mediate the clutter through control of what I buy, and really the biggest issue is the large pile of historic crap I've accumulated.

I know I'm particularly afflcted by this (and it seems to run in my family) although an excess of possessions seems to be a particularly distasteful blight of the modern developed world; no doubt as a side-effect of our disgustingly consumptive and disposible culture.

I assume this first session is free, but after that I have to start paying for my therapy..?

 

[clid61]

I love going to the tip.

Me too , I always come home with something !

 

[Gunk]

I relate to this @wafter but although like you I yearn for a ordered more minimalist lifestyle I do like “stuff” my packed but reasonably organised garage/workshop with boxes of bits and stuff just gives me enormous pleasure.

Our house however is dominated by Mrs Gunk’s good taste and is generally uncluttered and ordered, we don’t have too much crap as neither of us are particularly sentimental.

 

[clid61]

I once read somewhere, possibly here, where someone had to clear the house of a dead (elderly) relative and they accumulated so much junk, it took them several big skips to get rid.

I'm dreading the day my brother and I have to clear our parents house . 45 years of junk and counting .......

 

[screenman]

I relate to this @wafter but although like you I yearn for a ordered more minimalist lifestyle I do like “stuff” my packed but reasonably organised garage/workshop with boxes of bits and stuff just gives me enormous pleasure.

View attachment 523829

Our house however is dominated by Mrs Gunk’s good taste and is generally uncluttered and ordered, we don’t have too much crap as neither of us are particularly sentimental.

 

[Moodyman]

View attachment 523831

That can't be real. Must be a pic you've nicked off a garage brochure.😄

I once gave a colleague a hand transporting something heavy and she asked it be put into her garage. It was just like yours and cleaner than most people's interiors.

 

[screenman]

That can't be real. Must be a pic you've nicked off a garage brochure.😄

I once gave a colleague a hand transporting something heavy and she asked it be put into her garage. It was just like yours and cleaner than most people's interiors.

It is very real, the first thing most blokes say when they come in is Wow! Most women will say they wish their other half would keep his garage as tidy.

 

[wafter]

I relate to this @wafter but although like you I yearn for a ordered more minimalist lifestyle I do like “stuff” my packed but reasonably organised garage/workshop with boxes of bits and stuff just gives me enormous pleasure.

View attachment 523829

Our house however is dominated by Mrs Gunk’s good taste and is generally uncluttered and ordered, we don’t have too much crap as neither of us are particularly sentimental.

Yup - I too find that ordered clutter is certainly better than messy clutter

I envy your lack of sentimentality though; I find it difficult to get rid of anything.

The morning after I sold my Giant it was a nice surprise to walk into the living room and not have to negotiate my way around a bike though; I think people constantly under-value open space as a commodity and it always feels great to get some back!

 

[swee'pea99]

View attachment 523831

The resemblance is just...spooky.

 

[oldwheels]

I once had to go looking for a spare gearbox for my Volvo Penta boat engine as the one in use was giving problems. Got a contact from somewhere and went to a place in Roseneath where there was a large shed full of Volvo boat engine bits. Had to turn sideways to get round the place as the walls were shelved and a large table in the centre piled high. Got a spare gearbox tho' after much searching.