You know how people are fond of saying, "There are two kinds of people in the world . . . those who like X, and those who like Y." Isn't that irritating? Yeah, I think so, too.
So, there are two kinds of people in the world . . . those who like to throw things out, and those who like to hoard. I am a thrower-outer, but I live with two hoarders. It's no surprise that I like to chuck things, I suppose. I mean, my family moved every three years, or more frequently, when I was a kid. Packing all your stuff up into boxes that much makes you really take stock of what's important enough to put in a box and ship from Hawaii to Alaska.
Also, I cannot stand clutter. Drives me right nuts. I'm not a finicky housekeeper or anything, don't get me wrong. It's not as if I'm scrubbing my baseboards with a toothbrush on a regular basis (or EVER, if I'm to be truthful about it), but piles of books and magazines and clothes and stuff accumulating everywhere makes me feel all flustered and panicky. So I like to throw stuff out, so I don't have to just put everything into piles and move it from place to place instead of just getting rid of it.
Not that this always happens. But it's such a cathartic feeling when it does.
So tell me, poppets: Are you a chucker or a hoarder?
Hoarder here. 'Cause as soon as I throw something out....I seem to need one. AND I don't have the money to run out and buy a new one.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely a chuckar. Growing up in a tiny house had us cleaning the closets several times a year and if you put out two magazines it looked cluttered. Piles and clutter stress me out.
ReplyDeleteHoarder. Although I hate clutter. But I hate cleaning and throwing out my stuff more. Instead of moving my things, I just move myself to another room (I don't keep a lot of clutter around my living room, but my bedroom is getting out of control).
ReplyDeleteThrow. It. Away.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I live with a hoarder. So between the two of us, we have it about right.
And I'm not completely unsentimental, so I will save the odd nugget. But NEVER random stuff/broken stuff/pieces of stuff/I-don't-know-what-this-is stuff/I-used-this-once stuff.
Hey Kristin and Phoo-D, you want to come visit for a while? Just until you start getting anxious and have the urge to start chucking stuff. You can leave once the house is clean. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm a chucker, Mr Chiots is a saver. We have the occational clash of wills, but since I'm the cleaner, I usually win.
ReplyDeleteI also can'd stand clutter and stuff building up around me, starts to make me feel like I'm suffocating.
Speaking of suffocating, I need to get down and clean out that basement (and Mr Chiot's work room in the garage - shhhh don't tell).
Drew: I never claimed my house was clean and uncluttered. Remember, I said I live with two hoarders. And I can't throw their stuff away, so I just pile it all up and throw it on their desks or other surfaces that I don't have to look at. It helps a little with the panic.
ReplyDeleteUm, I'm both. Schizophrenic I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI collect, so technically that makes me a hoarder. But I'm also very organized and I don't leave stuff around. I put EVERYTHING away.
If you live in my house and leave your crap laying around, I will most definitely chuck it. Just to spite you, really. At my house, if anything can't be found, the common refrain is "Mom probably threw it away."
Definitely a Chucker! My parents were hoarders & I hated it when I was growing up. I was embarrassed to bring friends over & see the dining room table piled with mail, etc.
ReplyDeleteHere's a good one: We had a cubby that held all winter coats, gloves, hats, shoes. About 5 yrs ago I was visiting home & was in the cubby for what ever reason, what do you think I found in there...my old ice skates that I had when I was 15 yrs. old! I'm 39
My name is warren and I am a chucker. It's been 3 weeks since my last large-scale chuck. I live with three hoarders and they like to torture me.
ReplyDelete(Thanks warren, glad you're here..come again)
Is this the Chuckers Anonymous mtg, btw?
My husband has paperwork from 2006. I throw paid bills away as soon as they're paid. All of the ppaerwork makes me cry. I'm a chucker, for sure. Besides, if I chuck stuff now, I can shop for more stuff later.
ReplyDeleteI go through chucker stages. I'm a teacher, though, so a lot of what I own is useful for the classes I teach. But at home? There has to be a good reason to keep it. Old house = few closets, so chuck it!
ReplyDeleteIt's all gotta go. Or at least out of sight (drawers are totally seperate from tabletops) Again, not that my house is neat - but like you I just get anxious when it's all staring at me. I agree - it's from childhood of moving
ReplyDelete:::sigh::: hoarder, I'm afraid. So is the husband, so we really shouldn't be allowed to live unattended . . . but my piles are tidier than his piles.
ReplyDeleteWe both come from long lines of people who saved *everything* because, you know, you might need one of those whatever-it-ises. Assuming you can find it, that is.
Really, though, we don't have to buy much new stuff, because we can usually find something to either mend the old one or make another without buying it.
HAHAHAHAHAhahahaha ... Oh Anita, you kill me ... "my piles are tidier than his piles."
ReplyDeleteI am a chucker slowly learning to be marginally tolerant of the hoarder I live with. I hate, hate, HATE clutter. It makes me insane.
ReplyDeleteUsually I can stand his junk laying around for about two days, then I go on a cleaning binge scrubbing the house from top to bottom.
And I throw a bunch of stuff away.
Because I can.
Hoarder that wishes she were a chucker.
ReplyDeleteChucker, I even tossed my high school yearbook out when I moved. Why keep that? I don't know them anymore and why pack that in a box?
ReplyDeleteI'm a Chucker, to be sure. But I'm also a Basketer. I've had to become one of those annoying people that has all things organized/corralled with baskets because Bubba doesn't so much enjoy my Chuckingness. Especially when it applies to his bachelorhood items like broken furniture and old tie-died clothing items.
ReplyDeleteI'm a hoarder. Hardcore, dyed-in-the-wool packrat.
ReplyDeleteI still have old English papers from high-school. I'm a year out of college. I have been keeping old essays for seven years. And I've had the same alarm clock for sixteen years. So that should tell you something.
i'm a chucker... cannot stand clutter... if you haven't used it in a year say bye bye.
ReplyDeleteI hoard until I can't stand it, then I flip and turn into a chucker.
ReplyDeleteMy hubby is an absolute pack rat. I'm amazed we have made it work for so long