Hi too much to handle,

Yes, you can get rid of it without getting money back. The money is already spent. gone. Paying to get rid of stuff in the hope of getting a return is like continuing to gamble because you need to cut your losses.

If your weight was threatening your health, would you decide you had to stay overweight because you spent so much money on food?

Your stuff is threatening your quality of life. By all means sell some of it if you can, but some of it probably needs to be given away or even thrown out. If you pay taxes you can donate some for tax credit. You may be able to donate some to help causes that matter to you.

What you can do to help with your economics is not buy anything else unless absolutely essential. This will make sure you aren't just bringing in with one hand while discarding with the other. Need a gift? Can you make one with some of your beads? Pass on an item that would be valued by the recipient? Can you use any of your stuff to barter for things you do need?

You may not be able to do this quickly (I've been digging out for almost ten years and now live in a house that is mostly just "very full") but you can do it.

The ten years might sound overwhelming, but there successes along the way - daily victories of being able to find something, the joy of inviting a friend into a clean living room, the ability to cook dinner and eat at the table without a majjor relocation drill....

The key is to start anywhere and just keep going.

Hi, there?
I can totally understand & relate to what youre going through. It is very similar to my situation. It sounds like you have already started making good decisions towards getting things under control. I wish i had some great advice, but im struggling with this same thing...tho i do know what traumas initiated mine, but as to any kind of insight to answers or solutions, i dont know of any except just getting started with small steps & just see what works for you. I try out different things & always praise myself when i accomplish anything. Often lists & goals & being organized helps, tho looking too far ahead can also be overwhelming. You have already gotten started & seem to be approaching it reasonably. We have an active thread in the Daily Chat called 'what are you doing today?' where we post about our daily struggles & achievements, etc. Please feel free to come over there for support, if youd like?! I know that huge shock feeling i went through in the beginning, just like youve described & i know it can be hard, but you can improve your situation! We are here for you! :D

I finally got my eyes opened by seeing a friends place who started piling up huge containers etc. in his yard. Seeing his mess with items I don't care about, opened my eyes to what it looks like in our house to our friends (the few, that are allowed to enter)..... if you know what I mean.

Since that time I want to get rid of all my stuff ASAP, but I am so overwhelmed by looking around. Every area is packed, from garage, to wood shed, to yard and naturally the house.

My issue though is, that I spent a fortune on all those things I acquired. Over $30,000 in beads, b/c I had the idea I want to make jewelry - what never happened. Now I'm sitting here with this value of beads and have no clue how I can get some of my monies worth back. The same goes for clothing. Bought a lot on sale, thinking I can re-sell for profit since I don't have a high income. That goes also for collectibles. I started collecting anything and everything.

Now, about 3 weeks ago, I realized what is going on and I want the stuff gone, BUT I cannot part without getting some $$ back out of it. Posted a view items on Offer up and craigslist and sold some. But some stuff doesn't go, especially the antiques which are worth a lot more, then what people wanna pay.
I called an estate sale company and they came by, stating I have a lot nice and valuable things which they can help me sell. But since I don't have a free space in the house, stuff needs to be first boxed up and taken to their site where they sell it. Sounds all great and I started packing up, but read now on BBB that these folks had 3 complaints in the past year by holding back the monies they promised paying for the sold items. Giving BS excuses as, they had to move the stuff several time which was costly, they had to take unsold items to the dump, which was costly, so all in all they claimed "it's a wash". Reading this, gave me a panic attack and threw my right back into the not doing anything.... I contacted now another company with yet to wait the outcome of their estimates.
For this I have to pay first for the service and have to hope, I will get something in return.

Main thing is, I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M DOING WHAT I'M DOING... I want to get out of this vicious circle and not buy any crap at all anymore, but how??? Been to several counselors, which ask me why I'm buying all the stuff. Heck if I'd know and know how to stop it, I wouldn't need to go see a counselor.
Just thinking to go thru all this, having the house taken care of and nice looking again and evtl. ending up like this again, scares the Bologna out of me.
Thinking back, I recall buying stuff, collecting since I've been a little girl. Thinks which been cute like little animal glass figurines, stuffed animals and the older I got, the more I collected. I hear so often hoarding has mostly something to do with loss of some kind. But if I've been hoarding since my childhood, how can I find out what the trigger is/was??