Hello, Solo and all overwhelmed hoarders Mumsnetters here. I flipped this thread, so the first one I saw was CherryMargo's confession. Thanks, Cherry -- that's given me the courage to join in.
DH and I have a rented storage container as well as a shedful of stuff, which we've been trying to deal with for more than 10 years.
But "trying" mainly means bringing a box each indoors, spending ages sorting them out, finding somewhere in the house to put the few things we want to keep and then giving up. Repeat every few weeks.
It's mainly:
Sentimental stuff from our (long ago) childhoods and youth, or things left to us by relatives who know we won't throw them out.
Broken things that we know could be mended if we could find someone to mend them.
Loads of old magazines.
Things used once and easily reusable, except that we have no use for them.
Stuff that just seems to good to go to landfill, but can't even be recycled or composted.
We try every way we can to pass this stuff on: Freecycle, Nextdoor, other neighbourhood websites. Anything saleable goes to charity shops. We used to take magazines to a local care home, but they can't take any more since Covid.
But the task hangs endlessly over us -- over me really, as DH doesn't suffer from the guilt and anxiety I feel. And as we get older, and slower and weaker, I fear that we'll never free ourselves from this stupid first-world burden.
So instead of unpacking boxes, I'm here on Mumsnet .... Hmmm ... But hoping for some inspiration! And meanwhile enjoying other MNers' stories.