A nation of hoarders

[Flo]

It seems that if you want a good way to make money - then set up a site with storage facilities. It's the way that people store all their stuff that doesn't fit in their homes. Excuse me. Have I missed something here? I suppose that there are some circumstances but I am completely bemused if truth be told.

Haven't people heard of reduce, reuse, recycle? Or is the all persuasive advertising making us buy more than we need?

[Odsox]

I have to admit that I have always been like that, as in don't throw anything away that you might need tomorrow.
I'm well known for my penchant to build a new shed when the others get full.
The only problem now is that I know I've got just the "thing" I'm looking for but can't remember where I put it, and searching through umpteen sheds takes longer and longer, so that nothing else gets done for the rest of that day

[Green Aura]

I am a bit of a hoarder too, but mainly yarn, fabric and cookware (I've got all my Dad's old Pearsons pottery stewpots etc, never use them but can't bring myself to give them away). I think I mentioned on another thread that if the wotsit really did hit the thingummy that I could keep us in homemade clothes for years (although there would be some interesting colour combos ). The cookware wouldn't be much good if we couldn't afford to heat the oven though, so they really ought to go.

I've been trying for years to donate/chuck other saved stuff, with some success. The really annoying thing though is that shortly after getting rid of some unused/forgotten object we remember why we kept it in the first place and kick ourselves. I'm still trying to stick to the "if we haven't used it in the last year or so, get rid" ethos though.

I watched a TV show (a few years back) where storage facility owners were auctioned off the contents of defaulted tenants units. It was quite interesting seeing the sort of thing folk stored in them - the main question, in most cases, was "why?".

[ina]

I am a bit of a hoarder too, but mainly yarn, fabric and cookware

That's me, too. And old clothes - waiting for when the fashion comes round again! (Oh, and the figure, of course. )

[BernardSmith]

I am not sure that "hoarding" is the problem here. Hoarders seem to actively collect "stuff" rather than fail to get rid of "stuff" that clutters their living space. Hoarding can point to a form of compulsive behavior that might be pathological. Clutter is different. It's when we have too much stuff for which we don't have a need short term or long term and for which we rarely, if ever use and for which we don't really have room for. Strikes me - and I am not a psychologist - that marketing typically creates a sense in us that we don't feel good but we could feel better; that what we need to feel better is what they are selling; and that we should buy what they are selling in order to feel better. So we buy.. but when we check we don't feel any "better" so we try to understand why we don't feel any better and the next ad comes along and we think ah, yes, that's the answer. THAT's what we need to feel better... and the cycle repeats and repeats and repeats..and we bring in more and more and more "stuff" . But that stuff was "coded" as making us feel better.. so it is a bit of a challenge to get rid of it. It does not make us feel "bad" or "worse" . it simply takes up space but it is coded as "good for us".. If a clear space might be 'coded' as making us feel better we might find it easier to give away "stuff" to folk who truly NEED the stuff we don't need. But for many people space is a lot like silence - It forces you to think about things and thinking about things rather than living on auto-pilot can be disturbing. Just a thought.

[ina]

It's when we have too much stuff for which we don't have a need short term or long term

I think that's the crux of the matter - who knows whether there will be a need, long term? And I've got rather good at ignoring marketing, i.e. adverts... Couldn't think of a single thing I bought because I'd seen an ad for it. That doesn't mean that I don't actually seek out for example the Lidl ads telling you what's on special offer this week - for me, that's information... If it's something I usually buy anyway, it can save a lot of money.

I think most of us would be better off if there wasn't any advertising. Except, of course, those making a living out of it. And the big companies that wouldn't be selling any more useless tat. Everybody could (and would probably have to) work fewer hours - less stuff to produce, because less stuff bought, and less money to be earned to buy that stuff...

[Skippy]

We have a lot of stuff , although whether it's hoarding or not is a bit of a grey area as far as I'm concerned. My father worked at a council tip and pretty much every day brought something home. Often it was scrap metal but there was a lot of other things too , bikes , mowers and vacuums we had in abundance and toys , books , tools , food , booze and pretty much anything that one could think of . The only thing that didn't come home was the six foot high stack off mucky magazines. I followed in his footsteps when I started work in the building industry . Indeed that's where my nickname of skippy came frrom , I couldn't walk past one let alone rescue something out of it. So stuff that may come in handy , could be sold or could go on the fire .
Later on when married my wife started selling on eBay when our daughter was small and that meant she would buy job lots to split up and sell on. So a similar type of thing to what I do.
Like odsox we have a number of sheds . When we had put one up I said to the wife we have a pop group in the garden. She looked puzzled and I said Shed7 ( look it up if you've never heard of them) . We've got one more now plus two green houses although to be fair one is more of a workshop than a shed.

[Thomzo]

I’m not a hoarder, I just have a substantial collection of miculs -might come in useful later...

[Weedo]

Is it something to do with how we grew up? I know I will throw out anything without an obvious use whereas someone else in the house has a weird attitude to disposal of "stuff" Someone else will quite happily dispose of an antique oak dining table that has been in the family for 3 generations yet argue about a worn out shirt on the basis that it will make good cleaning rags (of which we have a cupboard full). Someone also has a fear of empty shelves, mantles, walls and cupboards.

Try this experiment - look around your lounge room (living rooom, study, shed or wherever you chill) and choose two things you would keep if you had to make the choice. Everything else would go to a useful end (not trashed) butyou can have only two things - however I do make one exemtion; my old armchair does not count as a "thing" it is an entity!

[ina]

Oh no - I couldn't do that! There's hundreds and hundreds of books alone, and I couldn't give away at least half of them...

But I agree, it might be something you learned in childhood. My parents went through two wars, with all the shortages you can think of. My mother took it to an extreme; she didn't throw out anything. When she died, we found two large boxes full of scrap paper in the loft. Well, only one side had been used - you could still use it for shopping lists etc? I'm not quite as bad.

[Weedo]

Really Ina? Which book immediately pops into mind if you ask yourself which one would I keep? I also have shelf upon shelf of books; I am one of those people that actually wears (good) books out and has to replace them. My immediate choice was a very early edition of Dickens "A Christmas Carol".

Anyway, after a quick chat with my eldest daughter about this I discovered we may have a new generation of digital hoarders that keep everything (papers, books (sic), photos, videos, recipes,mementos etetc. in the cloud.

[Green Aura]

Definitely too many books, records (yes I've still got a turntable and vinyl), BluRays and CDs to either lose or choose from. We also have an ever-increasing library of e-books and audio books and our entire music and film collection is saved digitally - hard drive and cloud. I think my OH is a belt and braces kind of chap.

I can't even begin to think what two items I'd keep - this whole house is so full of us (my family) that I can't imagine what to leave/give away.

I just asked my OH this question and his immediate response was "my laptop and router". When I asked why he said "well we'd need some way to keep in touch".

[ina]

All my Terry Pratchetts??? Oh no!

ANd those half finished jumpers - and loads of clothes that need repairing, or altering...

[Flo]

Notification has arrived that the new kitchen will be fitted start of second week of September. This means moving all the contents out of the cupboards for storage elsewhere in a one bedroom bungalow. Could be up to 10 days for me as a wall is coming out and there will be re-plastering of the interior of the external wall over the passage that leads out of the kitchen to the garden. Which has to dry before they give it a coat of paint. So far I have emptied a cupboard that couldn't be used because you couldn't reach the back. The saucepan cupboard has lost a few items that were never going to be used again - think rust. The garden has lost the remains of a blow away green house (return to sender over back fence - who dismantled it with a heavy hammer and kept half a dozen useful bits). Need the space to shuffle the garden bins as the gas meter is going outside on the back wall instead of in one of the cupboards. Also had a shuffle of the small pots in the two ex supermarket baskets (one says Netto - when was that?) residing on the said item blow away item. Now down to one - want the baskets for moving and storing whilst renovations happen. Am looking at a pile of mismatched but pretty plates and wondering why? will I use them? But think I will have space for them as there will be more usable space. Would all be so easy but the greenhouse is full of tomatoes, peppers, aubergines. Just proves that stuff multiplies when out of sight of eyes.

[Green Aura]

That sounds exciting. Enjoy your new kitchen!