What the so called pros don't tell you about hoarding
By rebelann1949
@rebelann (111164)
El Paso, Texas
October 10, 2017 11:16am CST
First of all, I am a hoarder. Mom was also a hoarder.
Mom was born in 1916 and survived some really hard times. When you have nothing everything becomes important, not just food and clothes.
Growing up I watched her put away nails, screws, bolts, rubber bands, pencils, pens and those little wire ties used to hold the bread bags shut. She would say "You never know, I might need these someday"
I never knew I had learned to do the same thing.
I never knew I'd be the one who'd have to clean out all those drawers of hers filled with nails, screws, bolts, rubber bands, pencils, pens and those little wire ties.
It had never occurred to me when she was living on her own that she had hoarded soooo much.
I am well trained but that training can be untrained.
Ok, we all know I'm as whacky as a $3 bill but I don't think my hoarding is due to mental illness, more likely it's due to bad habits being passed down from one generation to another.
Do you know anyone born before 1930?
Do they save all kinds of things you feel is silly?
Maybe they never got over having nothing and just want to be prepared in case they have to go through something like that again, I don't think it's mental illness, do you?
That's Ally in the photo, she was giving me that look that I've come to know as her askin "Whatcha eatin?" She's so very expressive and yes, I took that shot.
7 people like this
8 responses
@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
10 Oct 17
I noticed that too. Some of mom's friends were German and they too tended to save little things like that as well, they really knew what it meant to have nothing and mom used to tell me how lucky she was compared to what one of her friends told her about her experience over there.
My dad was in the Army and many Army wives back in the 1950s were from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. Mom got to know a couple of the German wives when we were in Butzbach, I think it's gone now though.
@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
10 Oct 17
I never thought of mom as abnormal, nor did I think of anyone who survived a war as abnormal. Back then they had nothing, not even a pencil to write with so naturally when they finally got a pencil they saved it.
It becomes a habit and I'm betting a physiatrist would not deem that a mental disorder.
@Shellyann36 (11385)
• United States
13 Oct 17
My granny was a hoarder but she survived the depression. Let me take that back, she was not a hoarder, she was frugal. She always found a place to put everything so she did not have these mounds of junk lying around. But she could reuse or upcycle almost everything! I am afraid that my Mama did inherit this. She is not quite as neat as my Granny was.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
13 Oct 17
I like that word, frugal would be a much better description.
Your mom didn't have the same need that your granny did so naturally she did what I did, just plain saved everything that could be reused only to find ya rarely reuse stuff.
I have a drawer full of tools, nails, screws, wire twisties and thumb tacks and another drawer full of candle pieces, pencils, pens, paper clips, more thumb tacks, matches and batteries.
I think yer mom and I just saved for the sake of saving although much of what we saved could be reused.
1 person likes this
@Shellyann36 (11385)
• United States
14 Oct 17
@rebelann After cleaning out my Aunt Helen's house I think Mama has had a change of heart. Every time I talk to her, she is cleaning out the "junk" in their house. We shall see where this goes.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
14 Oct 17
That's a good thing @Shellyann36 it takes having to go through a the homes of deceased loved ones to realize we're just like them and that's when we decide to do something about it. I do hope you won't ever have to go through that yourself.
Saving things like nails, screws and even paper clips isn't really bad, those are useful items but some thing really should be discarded, like those old TV guides I have in the back room.
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
10 Oct 17
Interesting discussion Rebel..I am the complete opposite of a hoarder..I have little due to what I have learned in previous generations, that bad always comes and no good having things as a chain around your neck.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
10 Oct 17
Good point.
I guess that can become expensive if you constantly have to buy something that you might have had last month.
I think sometimes there is good reason to keep a little of what we end up with, like a couple good pens that write well, maybe some of those wire twisties and even a couple short candles. It's just not good to be an extremist.
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
10 Oct 17
@rebelann Oh yes extreme anything is not good, but sometimes life is extreme, so we go with it that way.
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@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
10 Oct 17
That's very true @TiarasOceanView I think we go through more extreme times when we have to work. Now that I'm retired I don't use a lot of the things I used to, especially clothes.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
12 Oct 17
No sense in throwing away nails and screws they can be used again. I also keep those twisty ties. I however am not a hoarder.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
10 Oct 17
Hi my name is Angie and I hoard.
Some people would consider me a hoarder, but they call us "preppers" now. But back in the 1940`s and 50`s it was normal to grow food, home can it , put it in a root cellar or under a bed and not be hungry. I have supplies for different things, like bandages and things that do not expire, why? I got them free or dirt cheap new. I have a lot of stuff but I am well organized and I clean often.
There are people who keep things that grew up way back in the great depression, my dad was one and some call them hoarders. I think this is because they had nothing. I do not consider this as a hoarder because he was far from nasty.
A hoarder to me is that person that will not throw anything away, not even filthy trash or their own feces and urine. I think its a person who packs so much stuff in a house you cannot walk through the house unless its down a trail and on top of garbage. infested with rats and roaches. This is a hoarder to me and they ARE mentally ill.
So I do believe there is more than one category of hoarding.
FYI - I save a few of those bread ties myself 
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
10 Oct 17
What you suggested as a mentally challenged hoarder makes total sense.
Maybe a better word for us .... I'm assuming you don't hoard filth or feces .... would be savers. Mom and dad would fit in as savers as well.
or maybe we're simply stockers, sounds to me like we like to stock up on things. 
yeah, that sounds better, what do you think?
or maybe we're simply stockers, sounds to me like we like to stock up on things. yeah, that sounds better, what do you think?1 person likes this
@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
11 Oct 17
Boy, what a relief @LoriAMoore 
I still want to downsize though, do you know of anyone who'd actually want my 1980s TV guides? They are antique after all 
I still want to downsize though, do you know of anyone who'd actually want my 1980s TV guides? They are antique after all 
@BigTalpha (117)
•
18 Oct 17
I had grandparents that lived back then and went through the great depression. I know beyond any doubt that most hoarding isn't due to a mental illness it's due to having family that has been through the great depression. I'm not a hoarder by any means if something breaks and I can't fix it I throw it away. The only thing that I might keep would be nails or bolts if they're not rusty because I can reuse those on other projects if they're not damaged.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
18 Oct 17
Exactly, anyone who has lived through a depression or war knows the value of the little things and tend to save just about anything they get a hold of.
Of course that stupid TV show doesn't bother to tell people that so a lot of people watching that show get the worst idea about hoarding.
I keep things like nails, screws, bolts, wire twisties, clothes pins and hangers, those can be reused and if a nail becomes rusty I put it in the ground near a tree or plant
