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Post by brenda on Oct 13, 2008 15:37:58 GMT -5
Years ago when I first addressed my problem I was a 2. I did not have any pets which kept things from going completely bad. I was a 0 for years and slipped back to a 1. Thankfully I am back to a 0 but it is taking constant vigilance to not lose ground.
Brenda
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Post by Script on Oct 13, 2008 15:53:48 GMT -5
I joined Squalor Survivors in Oct'04 because I had been in the midst of a huge multi-year struggle to sell a family property (warehouse, storage, retail space). The building was 18,000 square feet; much of it was 3rd degree (rotting food); some was 4th degree (trashed washrooms). I was the president of this company and thus ultimately responsible. My sister and her family were our tenants; the rest of the famiily tolerated and permitted (enabled?) this inexcusable level of dangerous and even illegal squalor (sprinkler system did not work).
In my own home, I have had some very bad issues over my lifetime: *3rd degree (constant rotting food with mould) in a rental unit in my younger years *extreme 1st degree (dust, hoarding of books, music) in my basement ("25 years of dust") *extreme 2nd degree (unusable shower because of leaks; terrible roof leaks; mould) on the second floor when we didn't have the money for replacement and repairs no longer worked.) *I believe my kitchen was also a health hazard before its reno (Oct'07) as many of the areas no longer met building code. Wood rotted; insect damage; grease galore; destroyed plumbing. ETC. Thanks to Mr. Hunk, this is now fixed entirely.
I have also had financial squalor when DH was unemployed and I was working 2 jobs to make ends meet.
Also I consider that I have had mental squalor (severe depression with suicidal ideation) and bodily squalor (bathing issues, skin picking, nail biting).
I am now in maintenance on all fronts. Thank you for asking, on this day: Canadian Thanksgiving
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Post by canna on Oct 13, 2008 16:23:13 GMT -5
When I had my old house with the big yard, it was level 3+ in some of the rooms. Clutterpiles but no garbage. Level 2+ most everywhere else. I had the stacks of papers and magazines to read "the important articles, don't throw it away!" thinking. I had 3 cats at that time and one in her old age started spraying the curtains. I was constantly cleaning those. ick. Kitchen counter corners and buffet table top had the worst paper pile collections. I went to a lot of garage sales, resale shops and I was the one who kept the "old family stuff" all of the old chochki too, sentimental reasons....ha. Then my old cat passed away and eventually the other two also did. Then, I sold that old house and moved to a condo. (Before that, I got another cat who, thankfully, always used his litter box.)
Getting ready to move was a big wake up call. I told myself I wouldn't be taking everything with me. And absolutely no storage locker rental!!! Boy did I get rid of a LOT of things, AMVETS, Goodwill, etc. I remember putting many many bags of donations for these pickups out on the front porch...the porch was just covered with bags&boxes. I got a little angry at myself for having lived with all that stuff for years.
My place is now at level 1- 1+. And much easier to maintain now. Two things I still do not like to do are vacuuming and the dusting I tend to let that go. No paper/magazine piles allowed. I like to keep the paper recycle bin in use! And my bathroom is nice level 0, which has become a habit.
I've cut way down on the garage sale/resale shopping, although I still go on occasion to only purchse things I need. Different than it was years ago!
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someday
New Member
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 54
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Post by someday on Oct 13, 2008 16:57:14 GMT -5
Difficult as it is to admit - I know I am a solid level 3. My dog has gotten so used to peeing and pooping on the carpet, that sometimes she doesn't even bother to "ask" to be let out. I don't know what to do about my horrible carpet. Any ideas?
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Post by metamorpha on Oct 13, 2008 17:13:58 GMT -5
someday, in our bathroom I pulled up the carpet and put down sticky tiles.
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Post by momof3boys on Oct 13, 2008 17:15:03 GMT -5
Well I am new here but I believe I'm somewhere between a 1 and a 2 to the best of my knowledge. I'm working on it. Everyday is a struggle.
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Post by messymimi on Oct 13, 2008 18:37:54 GMT -5
Because I have furbabies and kids, we do occasionally wander into level 3 (cat accidents or kids leaving food somewhere to petrify/rot). We no longer have anyone in diapers, so no more, "I stepped out of my diaper and look what I produced!" on the floor. When that did happen, it was cleaned as soon as I saw it.
The house is a solid level one everywhere except the kitchen and bathrooms. I am almost compulsive about my kitchen (except the desk, paper everywhere) and bathrooms. They get cleaned daily. That way the neighborhood kids can come in from the park across the street and use the facilities anytime they want. Also I can cook for other people, which I would not do if I did not believe my cooking areas and utensils were clean enough.
People come in all of the time in spite of my mess, and we haven't lost use of any rooms or appliances. That is why I say level one, but I apologize for the mess every time someone new comes over for the first time. My standard greeting is, "Welcome to chaos!" with a mumble or two about the fact that the house floods (which it does at times) and that we have to move stuff to protect it (which we sometimes do). The people who come over all of the time are simply used to the fact that I am a disorganized, lousy housekeeper with a hoarding family.
The first time the pastor of our church happened by (he was in the neighborhood) I felt awful. The next Sunday he worked a comment into his sermon about how the Almighty does not judge us by _____. He filled in the blank with many things, including by our housekeeping! If other people wouldn't have misunderstood, I think I would have kissed him after church!
messymimi
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Post by molly on Oct 13, 2008 18:44:35 GMT -5
When I came here, it was a solid 2, and a 3 in some places. It's been at 0 for the past 3 months
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Blackswan
Banned
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 6,388
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Post by Blackswan on Oct 13, 2008 23:23:16 GMT -5
I am currently level .5 in my bedroom (3 bags of laundry, but it is bagged up and ready to be washed, stacked in the corner), level 2 in my son's bedroom (some piles of clutter), level 3 in my living room (guinea pigs and old drink cups), level 2 in the bathroom (dirty clothes, shoes, makeup clutter), level 2 in the kitchen (bags of clutter from cleaning out my car trunk six months ago), or maybe it is a 3 because there are dirty dishes in the sink and a 3 month old taco pan on the stove, yes it must be a 3. My car was a level 1, but turned into a 3 today when my son spilled a whole thing of chocolate milk in the backseat! I had just taken it from a 3 the other day too. Hmmm. so I guess I can see my first goals: wash the dishes, clean the darn guinea pig cage/vacuum shavings off the floor, and clean up the milk in the car. Will I do it? Probably not, demand resistance. It was very interesting though to think about the level of each room, helps me to prioritize. Now I need to use my procrastination on the hard things to help me work on the little things!
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Post by UdderChaos on Oct 13, 2008 23:31:47 GMT -5
I am at a level 1 - 2 in most rooms. Some are worse than others. Except the kitchen. That's a 0.5 - 1 Oh...and outside the front door. There's a small patch of level 3. Sometimes a few days goes by without me taking the poopy nappies to the bin. They kinda sit in a little pile, stinking the place up.
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Post by eatingbonbons on Oct 14, 2008 16:45:18 GMT -5
We're a level 1 and a level 3. We skipped level 2! We have too many animals (rescue) and we do get messes. We clean up immediately but over a period of time, a smell does accumulate. We have no bugs or rodents (except for Chloe & Claire in their habitat), no decaying food, no food or trash where it doesn't belong. But we are stumbling over animals here. And the level 1 is mostly my fault; too much scrapbook stuff, too many hobbies & interests and not enough organization. I don't have enough homes for the stuff I have so too much of it is just laying about. The solution should be obvious, huh???
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booboo
New Member
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 20
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Post by booboo on Oct 14, 2008 18:55:47 GMT -5
In general, I fluctuate between a low 3 and a severe 2. I just got a new kitten who decided that peeing on the bathroom rug was just as good as peeing in the box. Yeesh.
Right now, I'm at the worst I've been in a while. I haven't done dishes in weeks. ...going to tackle the sink--and the flies...*sigh*--tonight.
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Post by pegasus48 on Oct 14, 2008 19:57:55 GMT -5
The degree depends on the room. The front of the house (kitchen, diningroom, livingroom, front hall) is probably a 1 or 2. The main bathroom is a 0.5 to a 1. Dad's room is a 1 and his bathroom is a 2. Spare room comes out at a 2, and my room varies between 2 and 3 (I have the cat box in my room). The garage is a 2+, I think. Of course, don't look in my cabinets and drawers!!!
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Post by stressedbythemess on Oct 14, 2008 22:01:27 GMT -5
Growing up after...some interesting things happened to my family- i've realized I was easily a very bad 1 or light 2 for years and years. IT stayed that way untill freshman year of college (6 years ago), when I lived with an OCD neatnik (we had SO many other issues that one seems so minor by comparison!). I actually managed to keep things to a 0-0.5 out of sheer terror/hatred of this girl. (Of course it was never good enough because it wasn't a true sparkling 0 constantly). After that the next place I lived was...a problem to start with and it was a bad 2 - bugs everywhere, no rotting food or things like that but a bad roach problem dishes undone etc etc. It stayed that way even with other roommates moving in for that year.
Afterwards we moved, got rid of the bug problem that tried to come with us (thankfully), and I tried to clean up. Fought like hell with one of the two roommates at the time who was "clutter" everywhere - all her things all over the place. I eventually put shelves in the living room and tossed her things in about 6 bins and told her it was all in there- unrboken. Oh was she angry.
We eventually split ways and the other girl stayed, and there's now a guy in her place. I've been living with the one girl who stayed about 5 years now, the guy about 3. I've tried really hard (or so i think), to work on this but there's just so many issues. That said. In the time I have lived here in this apt (inc with the other girl)
Living room - Gone from a very bad 1 or a 2 to a very tame 1. Kitchen - constant struggle. I want it to be 0, it stays around tame 1. Hallway - 0.5 and can't get better. Car - another struggle. At a 1 right now. Can't get better than a .25 for the things I can't fix/repair/clean on it. Bathroom - 0.5 and staying there. Used to be 1, maybe 2 because of all the mold I got rid of a couple months ago. Bedroom - light 2. Still. Eternally. Perpetually. Porch - 2 right now because of all the recyclables. I'll get it back to 0 with a few hours of work though and I need to do that tommorow after work. Porch closet - 0!!! from a very disorganized 1. Bedroom Closet - 0.5 - it could be better but it could be oh so much worse. Used to be a bad 1 (as in couldn't close the door for the mess everywhere) Entry Closet - 0.5 used to be 1.
I guess that isn't as much progress as others, but it seems really hard for me to get the bedroom back from the mild 2 (2 because I have a huge bin of stuff in here and things on EVERY surface..covered...argh), and aything else past where it is. I haven't really dropped degrees anywher ebut i'm at least better within that degree i think.
Right now my biggest problems are 1. craft supplies - as in constant purchases 2. craft projects everywhere i dont finish 3. Laundry 4. Ironing 5. Things thta should be replaced b/c of the cat. Namely 2 pieces of furniture I can't replace yet. 6. The hug bin of stuff in the bedroom I don't know what to do with.
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Post by Alexandra on Oct 15, 2008 13:08:57 GMT -5
Probably no more than a 2 at worst, and that was years ago. My husband and I have been working on the living room and his computer area isn't the disaster area it had been and my kitchen has been at or near maintenance level for the past week or so. Put this way, our place is nowhere near being a biohazard!
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