Pack rat husband

[irishdancemomma]

Let me start by saying I love my husband! He is really the greatest guy. However, while he says he's on board with getting rid of things there are several things that we never use that he just won't let go of. Honestly, I have a hard time letting go of things but because we have a tiny house I do it out of necessity. I get upset with him because I get rid if so much that I would love to hang on to but he isn't willing to do the same. The things I'm talking about are books and DVDs (he is a collector of both, but we never read/watch them more than once), hoodies (he literally has like 10 or 12), tee shirts (this one bothers me less because he does wear them, but who NEEDS 25 tee shirts?), and odd little trinkets he has had since he was a child (a cardboard hat thing, a bobble head armadillo, etc). He also continually buys things online that we absolutely will never need (ear plugs, a little cardboard version of himself, etc). How can I talk him into letting go of some of this stuff and tell him to stop buying online without causing a big stink? Help!

[feelinfroggy2]

when you figure the answer out please let me know. My husband is a hoarder and I am not. We argue a lot because he wants me to not touch anything of his, just leave it and I CANNOT do it. We have two girls now and I refuse to let the house get the way it was. we could not even walk around or eat at our dining room table. It was ridiculous. His piles of papers feel like they are closing in on me. i really hate to fight but draw the line at a cluttered house again. The basement is a disaster. and I am not cleaning it again. I did it already TWICE! no more. Sorry for venting.....

[adjroberts]

My husband has 74 tee shirts. And he works 6 days a week, wearing business casual. He wears like one tee shirt a week. I feel your pain :/

[lizxvx]

Does he have a desk job? My husband keeps his little trinkets on his desk at work so they aren't sitting around the house.

We got rid of our huge DVD collection and replaced it with a Netflix subscription. However, we kept some of our favorites and the classics so now we own about 10 DVDs. Do you have a subscription? If not, maybe you could convince him to let go of them by buying him a subscription as a Christmas gift.

[Riverleaf1772]

My husband has about 100 tshirts. Some are still in boxes from our move a year ago and he hasn't noticed yet, because he too wears polos all week and maybe 1 or 2 tshirts a week. He also has over 500 DVDs and CDs that I can't convince him to get rid of. I feel your pain.

[irishdancemomma]

Yikes! It sounds like I have it good. Lol!

We have a Netflix subscription which is why we never use DVDs and I would like to get rid of them.

Would getting rid of things I KNOW he won't notice be bad?

[indigo152]

Originally Posted by irishdancemomma Would getting rid of things I KNOW he won't notice be bad?

Yes, it would be bad because as soon as you get rid of something, he will immediately "need" it. Some kind of Murphy's Law about purging your husband's stuff

I won't attempt to count the number of old tshirts my DH has. He has soooo many that he only wears when doing yardwork. They are too old to actually wear in public.
I think I have given up on trying to nag him to purge anything. I also have learned my lessons about purging his things myself. I think we had a slight breakthrough recently, tho, as my DH told me to continue "doing what you're doing" in regards to purging and organizing. I really didn't feel that he was onboard with my initial efforts, so I kind of stalled a bit. Maybe he actually did notice a neater home, and kinda likes it

[Marbie]

What about putting all his movies in one of those big CD folders with the individual pockets for each CD/DVD? Then you could get rid of the cases, which really will save a lot of space

[irishdancemomma]

Originally Posted by Marbie What about putting all his movies in one of those big CD folders with the individual pockets for each CD/DVD? Then you could get rid of the cases, which really will save a lot of space

Good idea!

[mrspopo]

Haha, sounds like my DH. Very frustrating because I get rid of things that I would like to keep too. It feels like he isn't willing to part with his silly little things. I give him some space in his room that he can keep his things, but everything else in the house is more or less fair game. A lot of it I just chuck when he's not paying attention (he suddenly becomes attached to anything about to leave), it's all just clutter stuff, nothing he values. But if there's something I'm on the fence about that he may miss or may have other value I'll consult him.