how to you stop family member from hoarding things?

my mother is a hoarder. She brings home junk of all types.

I am so tired of cleaning up the house of junk.

Hi, my name is Peter and I am a hoarder.

Trust me when I say it is not an easy habit/behavior to break, my mother was a hoarder, she was child of the Depression and valued everything regardless if she would ever actually need the item. I think the behavior is a combination of genetic predisposition, such as having OCD, learned and environmental factors. I know I have a touch of OCD tendencies, combined with exposure to my mother’s hoarding predilection and growing up relatively poor; I have a tendency to drift towards hoarding behaviors. It is difficult to explain to someone without these tendencies how hard it is, emotionally to get rid of things. For me, I can and do get rid of things, but sometimes it sometimes requires emotionally wrestling with myself.

Most hoarders, I suspect have great intentions of being organized, but it starts to get away from them and before they know it, they are surrounded by stuff and sometimes even what most of us would consider garbage. If the situation is severe enough, assistance of mental health professionals will be necessary to really effect a true change in behavior.

Good luck-
Pete

Yard sales can convert junk into cash.

I am a hoarder.

I am also very organized.
I love garages, sheds, basements, storage racks, and more!

I do extensive research before making a purchase.

I love amazon.

I love yard sales.

These are expensive in both time and money.

Hi Pete. My name is Lono, and I'm a hoarder.

For Picard: Craiglist - build (or empty) an open carport, then post the junk as FREE to FIRST TAKER. In other words, dump it on another hoarder. If its really junk (defn: no takers on Craigslist), you mother may have a problem, and that is poor selection...

4 severe hoarders on my wife's side of the family, to the point that the Fire Dept took over an hour to clear an aisle to get one of them out of her house. Two of them lived together, they supported each others hoarding tendencies, until one complained to relatives to remove her sister from her life, she literally had no more room for her hoards. Unpacking their house was like opening a huge warehouse/time machine vault, including newspapers, records and stuff from the 50s and 60s. Elderly, stable and sufficient retirement pensions, children of the Depression but I'm not sure if that explains it all, they had their quirks too. If things are that bad, take Pete's advice and talk to a mental health professional.

Yes, I guess yard sales can convert cash into junk just as easy.

I am a pack rat too, big time.
If there is any empty space I will fill it up with saved items and pending projects.
Maybe the thing to do is start using the stuff up?
Got Art?
Oh Well, Enjoy the junk.

I used to buy more on CL but living at least 1hr away form the deals I haven't gotten anything in 6 months!

You can make decent $ buying and reselling too.

Hi Peter, Hi Lono, my name is Russ and I too am a hoarder, although I prefer the term stockpile.

If something is good, buy two, plus a spare and then another 'cause if you lose one you'll still want two plus a spare. . . and the mini too Hoard? No, that's a collection.

One man's junk is another man's art/treasure. My parents also came through the depression and WWII. Mom had a Mormon background.

Russ you sound like me.

When I find something I like I buy multiples.

I have multiple pairs of the same shorts, pants, shirts, shoes, etc.

I`m returning 10 pairs of identical pants (other than color) to LAPOLICEGEAR because their sizes were WAY off Bummer, would have been a great deal and held my 'work pants' for another 10 years probably.

I'm not too much of a hoarder... but my GF thinks so.

To me, a hoarder is like the above example, keeping crap for an eternity. Buying 10 pairs of pants is something else entirely, though probably no less crazy in the long run.

For example, I have probably 5 backpacks for camping, a dozen knives, and about a dozen flashlights. Am I hoarding? No... cuz I try to sell them every few months to get more of my money back to get new ones!