Author Topic: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?  (Read 2999 times)

Poundwise

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How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« on: April 07, 2017, 08:36:00 AM »
I was just saving the bag from a box of cereal to reuse for vegetable storage, or for shaking meat in flour and breading, and remembering my godmother, who taught me to do this. She was a wonderful old lady and a fantastic cook. She lived in a cluttered (with frilly knickknacks) but neat home. Unfortunately, when she passed, we opened up a door and found that the entire basement, including up the stairs, was entirely filled up to the ceilings with things she had saved "in case"-- furniture, photos, newspaper, old butter wrappers saved for greasing pans, stock certificates from the 1950s.  She had grown up during the Great Depression.  It took her nephew 3 years to go through everything.

I too own more stuff than makes my spouse comfortable, although in recent years I have been finally getting rid of things a little faster than accumulating them.  However, to prevent myself from being like my godmother, I limit the number or volume of things that I save.  For instance, I only save 3 cereal bags, and after that number, I have to throw them away. I can save only one newspaper for spreading under messy projects.  I keep sentimental cards, letters, photos, etc. in a box and if it is getting full I have to throw some out, instead of starting a new box. I think that helps.


Just Joe

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2017, 08:46:10 AM »
We've been on a cleanout too. It feels GOOD to see empty space in our house.

bacchi

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2017, 08:50:46 AM »
I save too many building supplies. That scrap piece of 2x6 might be useful someday....

BlueHouse

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2017, 08:53:09 AM »
I was just saving the bag from a box of cereal to reuse for vegetable storage, or for shaking meat in flour and breading, and remembering my godmother, who taught me to do this. She was a wonderful old lady and a fantastic cook. She lived in a cluttered (with frilly knickknacks) but neat home. Unfortunately, when she passed, we opened up a door and found that the entire basement, including up the stairs, was entirely filled up to the ceilings with things she had saved "in case"-- furniture, photos, newspaper, old butter wrappers saved for greasing pans, stock certificates from the 1950s.  She had grown up during the Great Depression.  It took her nephew 3 years to go through everything.

I too own more stuff than makes my spouse comfortable, although in recent years I have been finally getting rid of things a little faster than accumulating them.  However, to prevent myself from being like my godmother, I limit the number or volume of things that I save.  For instance, I only save 3 cereal bags, and after that number, I have to throw them away. I can save only one newspaper for spreading under messy projects.  I keep sentimental cards, letters, photos, etc. in a box and if it is getting full I have to throw some out, instead of starting a new box. I think that helps.

Great subject! 
I can definitely start if I don't think about it and keep on it all the time. 
At my last place, I bought a great wall storage system (with doors) and I really didn't want to just end up accumulating more stuff, so I actively sought out pretty boxes (Thomas Pink, Tiffany, etc) to put in these empty spaces.  Then I got kind of "hooked" on the boxes and when I moved to my new place, I found myself packing (and protecting in wrapping paper) these empty boxes!  Thank gods my sister intervened and showed me what I was doing!  I still have a pretty big supply of old cigar boxes, but I'll try to find a use for those soon.  :)

I never want to keep anything that has been used previously, like anything that held food.  So no old jars, and def no old butter wrappers!  Wow, that's not good. 

I think if there's the thought that I might need something again, then I want to hold on.


iris lily

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2017, 09:53:44 AM »
 I think about how I am like a hoarder when this happens:

I get rid of something, and months and years later, I still think about it.  But I do not have feelings of sadness or panic or desperate and happiness. I simply think about these items, not even wishing I had kept them. Although frankly there is one thing  I wish I would've kept because it is a naturally occurring piece of nature and I can't go out and buy another one.

Of the hundreds and hundreds of things I have jettisoned, I have  had these thoughts about a handful of items. And frankly most of them could be replaced if I went out and looked for them on eBay.

I think that hoarders must have crippling emotional feelings at the thought of getting rid of something that later would be needed.

Dave1442397

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2017, 11:04:02 AM »
Anything on paper in our house gets scanned or photographed and then tossed.


FIRE me

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2017, 11:50:58 AM »
Like a hoarder:
If I think it may be useful in the future, I save it. Like OP Poundwise, I limit some things such as empty jars and plastic containers. having a few of each type on hand is enough.

I also save metal, wood, wire, and fasteners. I strip broken items (like car parts and small appliances) of useful parts fasteners before disposing of the rest. All the above proves useful to me and saves both money and time.

Not like a hoarder:
Everything has to store away neatly with no visible clutter.

Mezzie

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2017, 02:37:29 AM »
I grew up with a hoarder and am not sure if I inherited the associated mental illness or just learned the behavior, but it is a constant struggle to fight against it. Sometimes it can be hard just to break down a useless box and recycle it.

But I DO fight it, and I've become better and better at winning with time and practice. The amount of clutter in my home has decreased significantly and has not built back up. Because I own less, I can get rid of furniture for storage (shelves and such) which makes my home much more open.

Silverado

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2017, 05:56:25 AM »
Like: i keep too many lengths of wires and cables and electronic components. I am not dedicated to complete more than about 10% of my ideas every year, but I have enough extra parts to complete 200%. I'll strip off transformers and switches from old power supplies before tossing.

Not like: I have no feeling of attachment to junk from my past. I took some pictures of some shirts, football jerseys, etc a few years ago and tossed them all. I even had a crazy array of little league pins that took up no space at all. But I laid them out, snapped a picture, and tossed them. No interest at all, if I lose the memory of those days, oh well.

SpeedReader

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2017, 11:44:57 AM »
Like:  I joke that I'm a food hoarder... but after cleaning out my pantry this week and finding some unopened items dated 2013, I'm not sure it's really a joke. 

Not like:  I don't "collect" or overbuy other items.  And I cannot stand having stuff on the floor. 

misshathaway

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2017, 06:21:30 AM »
My parents both grew up in the Depression. Their house, which I live in now, was packed to the gills. Entire cabinets in the kitchen full of plastic containers. Newspaper and magazine piles in the den with tiny paths to walk between them. It has taken me years to gradually go through all of it and I'm still not done. Trash, yard sales, eBay, craigslist, just leaving it on the curb with a sign. I still make myself list one thing on eBay a day.

You would think, after all of that, I would not have a problem tossing anything. Not so. To my horror I cannot bring myself to throw out or recycle the cute little jars that Medaglia D'Oro instant expresso comes in. I have started a collection on a shelf in my basement. Someday, I tell myself, I will use them for a project.

I have the psyche of a hoarder, but hopefully the awareness to keep it under control.

Villanelle

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #11 on: April 09, 2017, 06:31:15 AM »
We move far too often, and into houses far to badly designed, to really hoard.  Every move is a large purge, and ever move in to a new house is a challenge to find places for all of it, which floor plans not at all ideal for us and storage not optimized.  (Gad, I miss having a garage!!)  So we have to get rid of stuff or look at it sitting around for the next 2-3 years in stacks and piles.

That said, we put 5 crates of stuff in to storage when we moved overseas, thinking it would be 2.5 years.  It's going to end up being ~9, minimum.  We aren't paying for that storage, but I have a feeling that when I finally open all those boxes, I am going to wonder why the hell we bothered to save at least 70% of it, and another 10% will have been made redundant by things we purchased during that almost-decade during which we couldn't access the storage.  (For example, we stored our dining room table, fearing we'd not have space for it and doubting we'd need it for 2.5 yeas.  Now, Husband is in a position where he will have to entertain somewhat regularly, and the folding card table won't cut is, so we are trying to find a used table, even though we have a perfectly good one in storage.) 

VeggieGirl

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #12 on: April 09, 2017, 09:48:27 PM »

I still have a pretty big supply of old cigar boxes, but I'll try to find a use for those soon.  :)


How about diy cigar box guitars? They're pretty cool guitars made from old cigar boxes.

Chris22

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2017, 08:05:17 AM »
Had friends over this weekend, showing them around the house and they said "it's awesome  how you don't have shit piles in the corners of every room like everyone else."  Given that we downsized by half and had to purge a lot of stuff, wife and I were pretty happy about that comment.

golden1

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2017, 08:16:25 AM »
I have a hard time throwing away my kids projects.  I have tons of plastic bags sealed with kids projects in my basement.  I also am afraid to throw away paperwork.  I am worried that I will accidentally throw away something really important.

Almost everything else I am pretty chill with getting rid of.  I hate clutter.  My daughter is similar and likes a clean space.  My son is a hoarder in training, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word.  He, from a very young age, shows emotional attachments to objects.  When he was 5 years old, he had a dresser that doubled as a changing table.  Obviously, by that point, we didn't need the changing table anymore, and it has some broken drawers and stuff, so we got another dresser.  He was horrified at getting rid of the changing table and when we put it on the curb, he stood at the window crying saying "Goodbye, dresser!  Goodbye!"  It was funny at the time and he eventually got over it, but I worry about this aspect of him as he gets older. 

BlueHouse

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #15 on: April 10, 2017, 09:43:34 AM »

I still have a pretty big supply of old cigar boxes, but I'll try to find a use for those soon.  :)


How about diy cigar box guitars? They're pretty cool guitars made from old cigar boxes.

I had no idea that was a thing!  Thanks for info.  I might try one out and see if I can sell it.  (people around here will buy anything because no one knows how to DIY at all!)

marielle

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #16 on: April 10, 2017, 10:00:46 AM »
Like a hoarder:
Food and spices. I have close to 75 different spices. Possibly more now but I'm scared to count. I also have bins and containers of many different types of beans, rice, flours, etc. When I move, half of my stuff is food related. I also have a blender, toaster oven, double waffle maker, mini deep fryer, bread machine, crock pot, and immersion blender. I may have a problem.

Not like a hoarder:
I go without a lot of things that most people would think is crazy:
I don't have a dresser, I put socks and underwear in cloth bags attached to clothes hangers in my closet. Bras hang from clothes hangers as well.
No end tables, ever.
No non-food storage bins of any kind. If it needs to be organized, it needs to either be thrown away or put in a cardboard box.
A cardboard box used to be my laundry hamper until my boyfriend bought me a hamper.

Half the furniture/stuff I own now is due to complaints from the boyfriend. I was perfectly happy without a boxspring (to make the bed "normal" height), ottoman/coffee table, nightstands, kitchen table, laundry hampers, etc.

My previous roommate literally lives in an empty apartment and sleeps on the floor. He complained that I provided a bed for him (maybe not complain, but said he preferred without). He's just not home enough to use the furniture and has less back issues sleeping on the floor.

Poundwise

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #17 on: April 10, 2017, 10:04:20 AM »
You would think, after all of that, I would not have a problem tossing anything. Not so. To my horror I cannot bring myself to throw out or recycle the cute little jars that Medaglia D'Oro instant expresso comes in. I have started a collection on a shelf in my basement. Someday, I tell myself, I will use them for a project.

I have the psyche of a hoarder, but hopefully the awareness to keep it under control.

I have that problem with tea tins.  The answer is to limit the number that you save.  I let myself go up to 15 (the number of kids in preschool class; often teachers like to use them for crafts) and donate them before I can start saving them again.  Anything over 15 has to be recycled.

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Re: How are you like a hoarder? How are you NOT like a hoarder?
« Reply #18 on: April 10, 2017, 11:16:38 AM »
I hoard the surf wax on my board.  I don't think I've changed it in over 15 years.


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