I have been performing the FlyLady's 15-minute Fling for a few days now, & am glad to say that I have gotten rid of 5 bags of junk fabrics, unearthed some lovely lengths that I didn't know I had, & have reclaimed or at least intend to reclaim some open bookcase space by moving little-read but important (medical) books to the space behind my sewing machine that is curtained off.  It feels really good to de-clutter!  Your FlyBaby, Deb

Deb,

I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!  Isn't it great what you find when you least expect it?

Whoswho...Hoarding seldom begins as a cleaning issue.  They leave things out because they are afraid they won't be able to find them. They can't bare to part with things because they may need them.   My MIL grew up in foster homes and (I believe) fears not having "enough".  Cleanliness is an issue, too.  She has 3 cats to add to the mess. 

Thinking over things, I realized that not only does she have a home of things, a trailer as well...she also has a storage unit FILLED with junk.  She pays to store JUNK.  My dh and one of his sisters helped her to put it in storage.  He told me it was nothing but junk and that he will not go thru the unit when his mother passes. 

She refuses to get rid of it. 

My own mother is a hoarder, however, my step father has prevented her hoarding from going out of control thus far. Her home is clean and organized.  I feel clostrophobic when I go there BUT it is clean.

Lorrie

For those who have not yet been turned on to the FlyLady, she teaches all of us FlyBabies to do the 15-minute 27-Fling-Boogie (getting rid of 27 things in 15 minutes by the timer or less).  She also teaches us to Bless our Homes (clean) within 15 minutes.  The only kind of housework that my aides don't do is dusting (too heavy work), so I am going to start Blessing my Home in that way as soon as I am done with the worst of my clutter (probably just a couple more Boogies, although the need for them is llifelong, as we always obtain more stuff such as junk mail that has to be cleared out or will overcome us.)  I love the FlyLady, & I am SO grateful to Lorrie for having made the introduction to me!  Try it, you'll like it!

Lorrie, Would you please post the URL to initiate membership on the FlyLady site?  BTW, you'll get lots of email from the site, but you can just delete the ones that you don't want to read.  For example, the June challenge is to drink more water, which I already do, so I just delete those reminders without reading them.

You can read the Flylady site rather than sign up for the e-mails. I found the reminders useless to me due to schedule differences.

I actually read the book, SINK REFLECTIONS by the FlyLady, 1st.  (I pick up at thrift stores all manner of how-to books, not just thrift-of-money books.  I consider time management, sewing, handyman, reference, religion, all to be important too.  However, I don't have one-fifth of the library that Brianschef has in cookbooks alone!

Reading the book is perhaps easier than reading the website.  You can try your Library for it, or Inter-Library Loan it.  The author's real name is Marla Cilley, aka T he FlyLady.

I LOVE the testimonials that stream into my Inbox.  They are so encouraging to a person like me who is takign baby steps, & who is a perfectionist.  FLY stands for FINALLY LOVE YOURSELF.  (Also, Cilley has taught fly fishing.)

Hoarding is also a sign of mental illness but I am talkng about the hoarders who have it stacked to the ceiling with little pathways through it all.  I don't see the link between frugality and hoarding personally.  To me, to be frugal is to not keep stocking (stacking?) up on items, a reasonable amount is okay but I know a lady who has 510 rolls of TP stored in her house--she updates me with the number of rolls periodically.  I mean...really.   To me, a frugal life is a simple life and it can't be simple if you are buying, and saving dibs and dabs just in case, and stacking and stocking and storing...

I discovered the flylady website after my first child was born. I don't do the zones etc but like the reminders and the positive testamonials. I think we all need to bring as much positive things in our life that we can. I didn't have a problem with cleaning etc. Just after being able to clean the house/laundry in a couple of hours on a saturday morning to having to clean a couple of hours a day while being sleep deprived (still sleep deprived 5 yrs later) it was helpful. I always cleaned as I go and did dishes most days etc. Since it was such a big lifestyle change for my and my husband having the first one (I was 37, he was 40) The reminders help kick start my brain. And since I was at home all the time, things that I didn't care about before like making the bed everyday (I change the sheets every week), waking up to a clean kitchen etc, made a big difference to me.  My husband didn't care if the bathroom was cleaned once a week or once every 4 mths! I care! So my saying that Flylady says its good to do a room rescue before going to bed etc, was great because it wasn't me saying it, it was her. So after a couple of years, he knows the basics of housework and cleaning up. He knew how to do laundry because when he was 12, his mom found the pile of clean folded clothes that she put on his bed, he had put straight into his hamper so after that episode he did he own laundry :)

  I had always done 90% of the housework even before kids when we were both working because I am not a neatick but like a clean house. Plus with cats and allergies I have to dust and vacuum once a week minimum.  Also he has asthma.