re: How do people live in filth?

There was always clutter in my house growing up. Not talking gross stuff like food out or dirty floors, but just a plethora of STUFF. If there was a surface, it had things on it. No space was empty other Than the basic living areas.


And unfortunately I brought it with me. For years where I lived, each place, would fill with STUFF. I didn’t use it mostly, but didn’t get rid of anything because of the what-ifs.

Caused constant frustrations in my marriage because she wasn’t a good housewife and I was a denizen and cause of clutter. And i’d Come home and be angry because the house wasn’t clean.

Fast forward a decade of changing...eventually I had a good friend and roommate help me get rid of stuff, consolidate, make the nice things I had actually have a USE.

Now, almost every space in my house has a purpose. I can entertain and be proud of my humble home. Every space doesn’t need to be filled, and the empty space makes the filled space seem purposeful.

Plus i’ve Got a good woman who keeps an excellent house, I come home and it’s clean, I feel relaxed, there’s not a mess immediately frustrating me and causing strife.

Escaping clutter Is beautiful

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Had a roommate that was so nasty that he had mushrooms growing in his closet (not the good kind). He would play Everquest all night and order delivery and just throw the trash and bones on the floor around his desk. I had to keep Glade plug-ins in every outlet in my room and the common areas.

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I had a friend that’s house was so dirty that you had to wipe off your shoes on the doormat when you left his house.

Paper plates, to the trash for the win

You need to define filth first


Generally at least your bathroom and kitchen should be clean unless you are OCD and clean them like 3 times a day

Work areas can be exempt. Garages are for tinkering and office space should fit your work so "clutter" works if it makes you personally work better.

Formal areas like dining rooms and living rooms should always be ready at moments notice but TV room can be a bit more relaxed.


Filth to me is...
Food left out to attract vermin and insects. A half eaten pizza from last night is one thing but when it it still sitting there 2 weeks later is not

Too many pets where a house gets overwhelmed

Bathrooms that remain uncleaned after months or years

Piles of laundry that remains untouched after weeks or months


I did work as a college landlord for a period of my life and the horror stories were pretty bad but the worst was an asian kid who had empty food containers that literally were as high as his bed and covered the room. Not only did it smell to high heaven but it had become infested with roaches like I had never seen.

My wife grew up in a filthy, disorganized house and that all seemed normal or no big deal to her. Although she is better now, it’s been a continuous source of strain in our marriage and embarrassment for me. Little things you take for granted like sending kids to school with their hair fixed in unwrinkled clothes, she can’t wrap her head around it. Getting stains out of clothes...why do that? Just wash/ dry them and hopefully no one will notice the big blotch. I swear it’s like some kind of mental blindness.

During my days as a home health nurse, I visited a home where food was scraped off plates onto the floor if the garbage was full, every surface in the kitchen was covered with dirty plates, pots, flatware and roaches. The living room had knee deep trash on the floor that I had to wade through to get to the patient. I only went there twice and refused to go back because conditions were too dangerous.

You should probably have that checked out is disorganization gives you physical pain.


And just because you cooked something Wednesday and left it in the pot on the stove until Friday doesn’t make it not ok to eat still.