Selfsufficientish.com

Hoarding can be a rewarding hobby

Really? You just won't have to clear up after yourself likely?

There is nothing like finding a use for a piece of material, or what have you, that you have kept because it will come in useful one day

Exquisite

I probably lean towards being a hoarder . Blame the parents I say , both of whom wouldn't throw things away if possible. They are both sadly gone now and of course I had to clear their house. Mother hoarded , er sorry kept , clothes , bed linen , towels , soap , tins , as well as bits of paper with the queen on it , father kept bits of bikes , mowers , washing machines and a million and one other things. I did draw the line at buckets and jars of bolts without nuts , nuts without bolts ( none of which fit each other) nails both bent and rusty and broken tools or tools with parts missing. Funnily enough I think it's a generational thing. I helped a friend clear his father's house and found the same things and have done a couple of clearances of similar aged men and found .....the same sort of stuff.
Flo's first post rings a bell too. I recently had a customer wanting a toilet seat replacing because the current one had gone yellow. Other than that it's fine ....and currently living in my garage .

Now you see you shouldn't have chucked the rusty nails. Soaked in vinegar they make fantastic wood stain.

Good one

Skippy wrote:Funnily enough I think it's a generational thing.

Of course it is. My parents both went through two world wars - naturally they never threw anything away. My mother kept several large boxes of paper scraps that were only written on on one side - well, the other side could still be used for a shopping list or so.

Green Aura wrote:Now you see you shouldn't have chucked the rusty nails. Soaked in vinegar they make fantastic wood stain.

Agreed , very clever. The nails etc went to the scrapyard along with something like a ton and a quarter of other odds and sods of steel but there is still an "amount" that I've kept just in case. There was some wood stain as well which didn't get chucked but there was also a small collection of unlabelled bottles of different liquids some of which I managed to get a fair idea of what was in them but others I had no inkling

ina wrote:

Skippy wrote:Funnily enough I think it's a generational thing.

Of course it is. My parents both went through two world wars - naturally they never threw anything away. My mother kept several large boxes of paper scraps that were only written on on one side - well, the other side could still be used for a shopping list or so.

Only using paper twice ! Turn through 90* and use a different pen and you can get four uses

Hmm, I am currently reading a lot about Simplifying, and really like it. Keep trying to chuck stuff out, or take it to charity shop, sometimes intervened by partner, who is always moaning about he amount of stuff I hoard......

Yes it is a generational thing, brother and I frequently tell mum we will be getting a skip or three when her time comes.

How does one decide ? I like the idea of knowing what and where it is, and definitely will be upset to buy something I didnt need to, but just feel overwhelmed by the thought of so much stuff.

skeast wrote:How does one decide ?

If I knew the answer to that I'd be rich - can you imagine writing that book? It'd sell in the millions.

My OH "saves" old screws, hinges and suchlike. Apart from plasterboard screws (this place was originally boarded with nails which are seemingly impossible to rescue/reuse) we've had just about all the fixings we've needed for our renovations thus far. The wooden slats from the old linen cupboard shelves are still proving immensely useful for all sorts of other jobs. The aforementioned little fermenting shelf we used the stair spindles on is the cut out worktop from fitting the new hob. It sat quietly in a corner for a month or two before I had the lightbulb moment how to use it.

Those bits are easy though, you know they're too good to burn or throw away. It's all those other things you just can't bear to part with "just in case" that cause the problems.

skeast wrote: brother and I frequently tell mum we will be getting a skip or three when her time comes.

Wouldn't a coffin be more appropriate?

doofaloofa wrote:

skeast wrote: brother and I frequently tell mum we will be getting a skip or three when her time comes.

Wouldn't a coffin be more appropriate?

Oh dear...



(Actually - with all that stuff saved, why don't we try and come up with some type of coffin made from "pre-used" material? Didn't want to say recycled coffin - that doesn't sound right...)

Pre-used coffin, I'm loving it, and she probly would too. Skip would be cheaper, pile her up in the middle of all her 'stuff', I know she would laugh at the idea and be happy resting in amongst it all. [is it a naughty suggestion ?!]

Sounds like your family has a shared sense of humour. But at least you have made yourselves clear that you are not going to be keeping that which you can't use.