How do i get my husband to throw out old junk?

Question

My husband is one of those guys who does not throw anything away. He has old ticket stubs, old magazines, old shirts that are out of style from 10 years ago...its so annoying cause our storage spaces are all taken! We cant even put away our vaccum! I kepp talling him over and over to throw some of the stuff away! Ill feel bad if i just throw them out. What can i do? Im running out of ideas!

Answer 1

You sound like my GF, "Why do you need 1000 DVDs?"..."He has old ticket stubs, old magazines, old shirts that are out of style from 10 years ago...", so where's the junk? this all sounds pretty important to me, it helps make his identity, he could sell it on ebay in 40 years for thousands.

Answer 2

Do not, I repeat, do not throw away anything without his permission. This will accomplish nothing except create a serious rift in your relationship should he ever find out. It is seriously disrespectful to throw away things you know he might want or is emotionally attached to.

I am somwhat of a pack rat too coming from depression era parents who held onto everything. My wife tends to be a minimalist so it has annoyed her but I have, through time, learned to let go of alot of things...with her help.

Here are some possible approaches:

Have a yard sale with the focus, at least initially, being your excess stuff and stuff he doesn't care about. Suggest, without demanding, that he include some things as well. Once he gets rid of something that he wouldn't have initially and then realizes he doesn't miss it, the ball has started rolling.

Gets books by Cindy Glovinsky (better yet, check them out of the Libary!). Here are two titles you can research on Amazon:
"Making Peace with the Things in Your Life: Why Your Papers, Books, Clothes, and Other Possessions Keep Overwhelming You and What to Do About it".
"One thing at a Time: 100 Simple Ways to Live Clutter-Free Every Day."
Also, try this book by Barbara Hemphill:
"Love It or Lose it: Living Clutter-Free Forever."

There are some great quotes out there about how you should only hold onto things that have utility or are beautiful. Also, if you put something away and don't use it for a year (or less) you probably never will use it. Try to find the actual source of these quotes and post it on your refrigerator.

Again, I would highly recommend you take a suble approach here and respect your husband's emotional attachment to some things. First try to have him identify the less important of those objects and focus on letting go of those first. Let him know that his prized possessions are safe with you otherwise he will dig in his heels and you will get nowhere.

Good luck!

Answer 3

whats junk to you may not be too him. liek they say one mans trash is another ones treasure. I bet he keeps them because he has good memories and he's affraid once the stuff is gone that he will lose those memories. Tell him you understand that the stuff is important to him, and you want him to keep some of it, but the storage room isnt big enough for everything. Ask your husband if he'll go through that stuff if you go through it with him. Sort the stuff from "keeping" "garge sale" and "thrash". take his old ticket stubs and make them into a cool poster memorblia** so he can have that memory of that stuff he loves so much. and take soem of his favorite old jerseys or whatever he has in there and put those in posters too.

In this situtaion its a little give and take, you tell him you want him to keep some of his memories but also make some room in storage ^_^ and it will also get ya a little hobby to do while you both make his cool poster memoriblia*

hope my advice helped

Answer 4

Sounds like he may be a hoarder. Its a type of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and is very hard to treat. There are medications and therapy that can help though.

I would nip it in the but now. Many hoarders are reluctant to seek help but you don't want to know what your life will become if you don't help him now. Just do a search on Google.

A friend of mine is a hoarder. It started out as saving a few things over the years. Her house just seemed to get more and more cluttered over a period of 10 years. Now it is a pig stye and you can't even walk through it. Every day she says she's sorting and getting rid of stuff, but it never gets better. She's been swearing for years she wants to clean her house but can't seem to get rid of anything. If she does, she immediately replaces it with something else.

Answer 5

Get a new hubby....the new one will sure help you clean out the former spouse's stuff! But, if he is a keeper.... check online and put together a list of what this stuff is worth. He may say : "sell it on Ebay". You may make enough money on that one "ticket stub" from the Beatles at SheaStadium, front row to build a new room on the back of your house or take a winter vacation to Aruba.

Answer 6

Whatever you do , do it now!!!

A friend of mine husband died. he had the same problem.
She found everything from pen collections to porn pictures!!

She knew he had a problem with the junk before she married and moved in with him.

When he would go to work she would go to the basement, and start throwing stuff that looked like junk away.
You can't get rid of stuff that they will notice. So start small

It is a shame that they don't realize that they have a hoarding problem.

Anyway, when he died, his mess became hers to deal with. She didn't have the heart to throw away some of the things, and still hangs on to them herself.

I guess I should tell the truth, it's me that I am talking about. Good luck, but don't give up ,stand your ground.
People need to have connections to people, not things.
Explain that to him.

Answer 7

I'm a self-admitted hoarder, and it is tough to get rid of things that have even one memory attached to them. But selling books on amazon, and having yard sales and the prospect of ca$h! is much better than them collecting dust.

You can't make him let go of things, but if you dangle the prospect of money in front of him, and maybe mention it could go towards the next vacation, concert, car, dinner, whatever, that could get him to let go.

Answer 8

I would try to reason with him and suggest that he choose certain things that he absolutely must have and get rid of everything else....or call one of those shows on TLC. They can come in and throw it all out. haha!

Answer 9

I think we're married to the same man. Our 2,100 SF basement is full! I look forward to reading the answers.

Answer 10

Yikes, tough call. He could be emotionally attached to some of the stuff. Wish i could help ya. Some pack rats just don't ever change.