Living With A Hoarder as A Minimalist

The other day, @nathen007 reminded me of something that feels like a slippery slope. Since I am moving back with my mom, who is a hoarder, my minimalist lifestyle has been challenged. Nathen made me realize that I essentially grew up as a hoarder, but managed to shift my perspective and lifestyle by moving away and living independently. Today, maintaining my minimalist lifestyle and values in a hoarding environment is certainly a challenge.

_{PS, Nathen, feel free to downvote this as promised. Hehe 😂}

Living with a hoarder can be overwhelming. They often have no boundaries and justify their purchases as necessities, without considering the long-term vision of an object or things . They hold on to things from their past, creating a cluttered and chaotic environment. There are certainly ways to combat it such as setting boundaries as it is very important in such situations and to co-exist peacefully.

We have massive collections of things inside the house I am occupying right now. We have different sets of china, plates, silverware, a collection of antiques, and many other things that no longer have their place or serve a purpose in our lives. My dad has his own collection of sunglasses that he never indeed wears.

Andd, don’t get me started on the number of scarfs my mom owns; it’s a massive cupboard, and sometimes I am being naughty by using them as a tablecloth or wipe stuff. I could have a daily post for Hive collectors 🤣 because this house is like a mini museum of miscellaneous things.

Meanwhile for me, I simply don’t care about its value and just want to get rid of things. I repurposed many things, and sometimes, my mom got angry because she found out I’d been using them to wipe dirt.

Sometimes, I used her torn bag as a trash bag, too, but you get the gist. Over here, I am throwing stuff away, while my mom likes to keep even a bottle of empty oil nearby that doesn’t have any use anymore.

Under my 90-day self-improvement challenge, I’ve embarked on a house project to also declutter. It’s a relief to get rid of things that no longer have a place in our home. The broken items that once crowded our space are now finding their way to the garbage or the things that are still in good condition, finds its way to be donated.

While her hoarding isn’t really that bad, these days I started thinking about where these things would go if anything happened. It is a mountain of things, and if it were really up to me, I’d hire a trucking service, load things up, and never see them again.

To live with a hoarder, I’ve set some ground rules: 1) I am allowed to throw anything that I see fit under the specific agreement, 2) I no longer buy things if we have and I only buy when they’re essential. Under those 2 basic rules, I've been able to live with my mom pretty peacefully.

In another matter, to create a clean living environment, I also encourage my mom to deep clean with me once every two weeks. Usually, on Sunday, a lady comes to our house and collects garbage that we can turn into extra money. While the amount isn’t a lot, my mom feels happier because she gets extra money, and I am so glad because we’re getting rid of things inside the house.

I can’t stress enough that living with a hoarder has its own set of challenges. How I approach shopping and how my mom does it is entirely different. While temptation remains high, it’s a slippery slope that I’ll turn into a hoarder but as I have seen the good of living as a minimalist, I definitely would opt that lifestyle than being a hoarder.