Retaliatory cleaning. It's a thing!

[wolfie]

You'll probably have to look into getting a DBA (Doing Business As) or Assumed Name Certificate (whatever it's called in your area). They're usually relatively inexpensive. Here where I live, they're something like $25. Something is better than nothing, but it's cheaper than an LLC, which will probably run you around $300 or so.

$300 for an LLC? Don't know ANYWHERE you can get one that cheap - but it's in the ballpark for incorporation. Not a lawyer, but my understanding of the progression is:

DBA: Business has a name, but legally it and you are the same entity. It's basically a registration of the name, so that in your field and the area where you're doing business, the name is yours and nobody else can use it.

Incorporation: You and the company are separate legal entities (i.e. each has to file a tax return).

LLC: Increases the separation between owner and company, so that in the event of the company being unable to pay its bills, owner's liability is limited to what they have invested in it (i.e. creditor can go after equipment owned by the company, but not house owned by the owner). Not really viable for a one-person company, since anyone lending the company money would probably require a personal guarantee from the owner (i.e. they're personally liable in the event the company can't pay), but pretty much necessary if the company goes public. For example, in the recent GM bankruptcy, shareholders lost everything they had invested (not enough assets to cover the liabilities, so nothing to be distributed to the shareholders, share price went to zero), and any new shares sold were effectively from a new company, but the trustees handling the bankruptcy weren't able to go after the old shareholders and tell them "You own 0.00001% of the outstanding shares, so you owe 0.00001% of the excess of debt over assets, which comes out to $12,345 - pay up".

[mjr]

$300 for an LLC? Don't know ANYWHERE you can get one that cheap - but it's in the ballpark for incorporation.

Basic LLC in Texas: $300.

https://www.incorporate.com/texas.html

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/forms/205_boc.pdf (page 3)

[mathnerd]

My parents had a period of "retaliatory throwing away." It wasn't a super fun time for me, living at home. It started with some flowers which were leaning into the walkway between the house and garage. Apparently gladiolus lightly touching my step-dad's ankles was unacceptable. He pulled them up and threw them away. This upset my mom, who was irritated that my step-dad kept leaving his dress shoes in front of the door, basically tripping anyone going in or out of the house. So when my mom saw what he did to her flowers, she stomped back to the house and threw out his shoes. This went on for a while, I don't remember how it ended.

I live in about 435 sq ft. Mostly the place stays clean, but I hate when I let cleaning slide. It's such a small space, it starts to look terrible immediately. On the plus side, it doesn't take too much time to clean. I feel so much better when the place is clean. I have a giant pile of fabric that I need to give away, and it's just sitting in my already small living room, mocking me.

If you wanted, you could start a blog. People would follow you, and that would be a start.

Oh, my! I would never actually throw away his stuff. I'm just condensing and organizing and making things look nice. I even scrubbed the kitchen ceiling!

And hmmm, I need to consider the idea of a blog. That would get me some exposure and a place to send people to look at what I have to offer.

[dalesys]

... look at what I have to offer.

Soda speak!

Rule #1 warning needed!

[mathnerd]

Soda speak!

Rule #1 warning needed!

Snork. I'm still brain fried. I've been working really hard the last few days and was looking forward to a break from the really heavy work today. I was only planning on doing light, decorating stuff today. That got shot to hell when Mr Mathnerd informed me that he's probably going to bring his mother here for a few weeks, and might arrive as early as tonight, though maybe not until Tuesday. That's not a problem except for the bed in the guest room is just a mattress on a two inch high wooden platform, which isn't reasonable for an 85 year old woman. My finances are really tight so it's not like I can go run out and buy a bed. I did search craigslist for something cheap, but no luck. The only other solution was to switch that bed with the one in my oldest kid's room. So guess what I've been doing all day? And did I mention the kids' rooms are on the third floor and the guest room is on the first floor?

[Racket_Man]

I am going through this right now.

When I moved in with now deceased GF 9 years ago, she already had the house with STUFF already in it. I moved in with MORE STUFF. Yeah we did kind of go through my stuff and her stuff at the beginning but both of us punted for a few years. Then she got sick and everything got put on hold.

After GF passed away. her DD is going through her stuff and donating most of things like clothes.

NOW I REALLY have to go through my stuff and yes I am going through it. This is especially important IF I can not purchase the house myself from the estate (got to go through Probate Court and see how much the estate owes in medical bills and court costs and other related expenses and I have already been preapproved for a mortgage that is substancially lower than market value about half the market value).

[mathnerd]

(((Hugs))) Racket Man. That sounds like just an all around difficult situation.

Part of the "stuff" problem in this house is for similar reasons. Mr. Mathnerd's wife passed away in 1998 and he's just never been able to deal with her things. He's got a borderline hoarding problem anyway, but add the emotions of losing his wife, and it was just impossible for him to do anything about it. And he didn't have to because they bought the house together, so he didn't have the estate issue you have. I've done my best to be sensitive with her things. I carefully packed things away and stored them safely, and certain items I cleaned up and displayed. He saw pictures (he's still out of town) and freaked out a little bit, but then I said something to the effect of "but now they're out in a way that you can look at them and enjoy them, and her memory through them, instead of buried under several feet of clothing, trash and dust." He seemed to like that idea, but he's still a little freaked out about things changing.

The more I think about this, the more I think that starting a business might be a good idea. I was initially just thinking about hoarding and pre-hoarding houses, but estate clean ups seem to be a need as well. I know when Mr. Mathnerd's mother either passes away or moves out of her house (the latter is the most likely to happen), dealing with all the things she's collected in the last 50+ years of living in that house is going to be an enormous job. I imagine there's more than a few families dealing with the realities of aging parents who would be willing to hire somebody to come in and get things so that they're more manageable. I have to think about this.

[Racket_Man]

One never really realizes how much stuff one accumulates when one stays in a place for say 12 years. THEN to combine that stuff with someone else's lotta stuff is truly amazing.

Relevant George Carlin bit

[mathnerd]

We had the advantage that I didn't start out with much stuff. I moved to California with only what I could cram into my little Honda Civic around three boys, a mastiff and a little rat terrier mix. And a wheelchair. I did accumulate a little bit more stuff between when I moved to the state and when I moved into this house, but not much. And I've gotten a lot more stuff since then.

I've sent him a bunch of pictures of what I've done. He's theoretically happy. I know there's going to be some tension as he gets used to it. He does not handle change well. But long term I think he's going to be a lot happier. Part of that is because I will be able to do a better job at daily upkeep, but the other part is he can be proud of his home again. He's admitted that he was extremely embarrassed the first time I ever came over here over what the place looked like. He's also admitted he's lost more than a few potential girlfriends over the issue, which is a net benefit for me, but had to be rough for him. It had really gotten to the point where he just had no idea how to even start. I looked past the mess, but long term, I really can't live with it any more than he can live with daily upkeep not being done.

I still have some issues, but now it's to the point where I can close closet doors and not see the stuff. I figure I will give it a few months where he can see the difference in how I manage the house, and then start working one closet at a time and work on actually getting rid of things that are just collecting dust, not useful at all, broken beyond repair, and not sentimental. I have managed to get him to let go of a few things over the last two years, and I figured out the key is to do it in a way where he knows it's going to a good cause. For example I donated a bunch of old towels and linens ti a dog rescue group and a whole bunch of children's winter clothes to a group that's helping resettle Somalian refugees in Canada (the clothes are from when he lived in CO, when his now 31 year old daughters were 5-7 years old...we live in SoCal and have teen boys, so they were of no use to us). Next up I'm going to try to convince him to donate some of his late wife's nursing stuff (stethoscopes, etc) to a group that helps inner city people get what they need to go to nursing school. I think she would have approved of that, so I'm going to propose that in a few months. The key with all the rest of the stuff is to figure out what's going to pull on his heartstrings. I'm in this for the long haul with him. I honestly can't imagine a life without him, so this is a delicate, long term operation, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make us both happy.

[mjr]

but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make us both happy.

Seriously, for Mr. Mathnerd, consider setting up a Kanban system for him. If you want more detailed info on it, PM me. But I think it might be helpful for him and/or both of you, as far as cleaning and organizing.

[AccountingDrone]

I can totally understand ... my brother died last month. Intestate. [without a will] So, given out mother is still alive but totally gonzo with Alzheimers and now in a care facility. According to NY laws, food chain for someone dying intestate is 1- spouse, 2 issue [kids], 3 parent, 4 sibling. So, he had been batching in the family house first caring for her until she got to where she needed to be in a resident facility, then basically taking care of everything until she passed [the terms of the will are selected items go to us along with any personal stuff, then everything gets auctioned and we split the money] however, he woke up dead [well, actually he had pneumonia complicated by a pair of mysterious masses in his right lung. I moved back in to take care of him, he woke up unable to breath so I got him to a hospital where they admitted him and a week later he passed from the pneumonia.] So, I first have to deal with getting administration of his estate, then I get to convince the state to let me become my mom's guardian as Danny died and she is totally unable to indicate she accepts me as her guardian.

I have some 93 years of accumulated stuff of Mom's, some 88 years of Dad's accumulation, married accumulation from 1949 - all needing sorting and cleaning and packing [I figure if I get a head start prepping it for auction life will go easier - she was an antiques dealer in art glass. She also collected marble topped furniture. NOBODY needs 13 marble topped tables...] And she is now the proud owner of everything Danny owned [several thousand DVDs, CDs, electronic stuff ranging from 6 kindles to 2 apple laptops, 4 nonapple laptops and several ipads, tablets and suchlike] and his accounts except for one retirement account and an insurance policy.

And I am still working on the personal property claim from when our damned house burnt down last August ... I would seriously hire someone to help me sort and organize the crap in the place. I do know that when I get control of some money and things are sorted out better I am hiring a commercial cleaning company to come in to do a thorough cleaning. The carpeting needs replacing, and both bathrooms wallpaper is long overdue for replacement [or ripping down and the damned walls painted, I frelling HATE wallpaper.]

[protege]

One never really realizes how much stuff one accumulates when one stays in a place for say 12 years. THEN to combine that stuff with someone else's lotta stuff is truly amazing.

I've been in my house almost 10 years...and the amount of crap that's "followed me home" is mind-boggling. Most of the time, the house is clean. Well, at least the living room, my bedroom, and kitchen, anyway. Otherwise, I don't bother certain other bits. For example, my office and basement workshop are currently a mess right now. Mostly because I've been trying to get rid of stuff...and because I have too many projects going on. There are piles of books, magazines, model kits, and other things stacked everywhere. All this stuff is either being worked on or read, and will eventually get put away.

One major project I've been doing, is attempting to digitize all of the hobby magazines. While I was able to find Trains magazine on DVD, most of them aren't available on that format. When you have decades of reading material (I don't toss them, since they come in handy when building models) to deal with, it's going to take a bit. But, at least it's easy--cut the magazines apart and drop them into the scanner. Scan one side of the pages, then flip them over and do the other side. Use Paperport to "reassemble" the articles and crop out any ads. Time-consuming, but I'll have less crap in the office, and I'll be able to access anything over the network

[mathnerd]

AccountingDrone, that's exactly the type of project I'd be chomping at the bit to be hired for! I thrive on the challenge of turning chaos into beauty and organization. I know there's a need for this type of service, I just have to find the people who are local to me who need it.

[Food Lady]

I think generally there are two types of people in the world: those who hate clutter and those who hate dirt.
I'm the former and I had to do years worth of actual cleaning this past week because of an apt inspection. I like when the dirt is gone, don't get me wrong, but it actually physically hurts to get down on all fours and scrub stuff out. So I'm conditioned to not notice grime as much as some. I really should do better with that, though. It was disgusting under the kitchen sink and my friend scrubbed it for me because I wanted to throw up.
But I don't allow stuff to accumulate for too long. It goes to recycling, Goodwill, wherever I can get rid of it. I've moved too many times in my life and I do not want to haul this stuff the next time I move.
My mom lives with a dirty hoarder and she's too old and sick to do any revenge cleaning. She just lives in the filth and I'm too many hundreds of miles away to help her, sadly. She says once her hubs dies she will have the "yard sale to end all yard sales."

[Sarlon]

I've lived in the same house for the past 9 years now.....when I move for this job at the end of the year I have a feeling its going to be bad.

I keep the house clean, but I tend to tuck things away for a "rainy day" and never get around to it.

Add to that probably moving to a smaller apartment (prices up north are scalping prices >< seriously $900 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment?! I could own a house down here for that!) and even LESS storage space. I'm gonna have to consolidate.....