I mentioned the Hoarder thread to a gal , she claims I am a hoarder

there is a wall in the garage that's 2/3 full of stuff and a 10 foot wall of stuff in the basement thats full as well.

I admit that 50% of the stuff has not been touched in 14 months.

( somebody will have a need for something, some day)

Question:
between you and your spouse,
who collects the most stuff?

not stuff you use , just stuff !
that just sits there .

Choices:
neither of us , stuff gets tossed
both of us , and we have room for more
me, but my stuff is really good
the spouse, why ? I don't know
the kids need to come and get their stuff

 

I have a lot of stuff. Periodically, I go through it and throw some of it away, but I still have a lot of stuff.

I can't begin to count the times having that stuff has come in handy. If I want to make something, chances are I have some, or even most, of the stuff to do it. If I want to repair something...likewise.

I hate not having stuff on hand. If I need a couple 10-32 by 2" brass oval head Phillips drive screws, I'll buy a box and stash the rest. If I need 3 feet of 1-1/2 square tubing with 3/16" walls, I'll buy a 20 foot stick and stash the rest. Etc.

Wife just sees "stuff" and wants me to throw away what I don't use. I told her she can have a yard sale and a big dumpster when I assume room temperature. Until then, I'll keep it mostly organized and out of sight, and she can just suck it up.

bump

Living in the country, you accumulate stuff.

Like PhPaul says, I hate not having what I need on hand. If it's not here when I need it, it's usually a 2 hour trip to go get it and get back here.

My wife and I both have stuff that sits around, but after a certain amount of time (a year or two) we eventually go through it and start throwing stuff away and "start over" if you will. Living in a condo at the moment, we simply don't have the space to accumulate junk that we never use.

Now with a two year old, we have three people in a relatively small space just accumulating stuff. We have no choice but to stay on top of it.

My wife without a doubt. Total junk and stuff we don't need collector. I bought this because it was 75% off! Something we will never use but it was 75% off. she goes to benefits for people she don't know just so she can bid on stuff at their silent auctions. In February she brought home a brand new lawn mower and a unfinished park bench.

We had 3 feet of snow on the ground and I have a brand new lawn mower already. I lost my cool. I looked at her and said " Do you see anything around here that needs to be mowed?? Where am I going to put this bench?? What the hell are you thinking??

I called a friend whom I knew to have a crappy mower and said I have a brand new Toro in the box and it's your's if you want it. Two conditions. You come get it today and you take a unfinished park bench with it. He was here in ten minutes and it was gone. Wife was pissed but I was more pissed.

She will do it again because she can't help herself at these silent auctions. We will be having this conversation again.

I see a pole building in your future

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:


I see a pole building in your future

Tried that. I'm out of real estate and the guy who owns what's behind me is a complete jack wagon and won't sell me an inch even though he doesn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of!
He's one of those guys who gets enjoyment out of owning something he knows other people want. Like the guy who has a 70 Chevelle sitting in a field rotting away in full view from the road.

Just likes to say no to people who pull in his drive way and ask about it. Yeah I've been down that driveway a time or two!

The only thing my wife "hoards" is canned goods, paper goods and household supplies. Not a bad thing but there's about a year's worth of TP and paper towels stashed in the basement at the moment...

I am a shop teacher. When I got married 30+ years ago I had several goals (other than that). One was a workshop in the basement. Another was to have misc. hardware, etc. so if/when she had a project for me I didn’t have to run to the hardware store or lumber yard.

So now I have a great workshop and a really good selection of stuff as I need it. Problem is now I forget where it is! So I go to the hardware/lumber yard, buy it and come home to find the stuff the next day.

A friend came up with what I consider to be the perfect solution - when he dies there will be a notice in the paper :

“John Smith died 1/1/20, Funeral will be held on 1/6/20 at 10 AM. Auction at noon”

Me all the way, my wife is not a collector of anything. My house is as neat as can be, my office is a mess! Not dirty just filled with books, camera equipment, some artwork not unpacked from our move 13 years ago etc.

I started a new hobby about 8 months ago, collecting and polishing rocks. It's taken over part of the garage, my wife is tolerating it but only because she gets first choice on finished stones.

I joined my wife with little more than I could pack on a motorcycle. I could leave with little more than would fit in a pickup.

16 years ago we moved, it took 2 24' moving vans, they were tragically over weight. I will not be tricked into naming who is responsible for the shear tonnage of detritus from 33 years of marriage. I will say this though, we are well on our way to insulating our house with folded quilts.

I have 2 pole barns but need another.

Well.... I have tools, and parts, and gear. Semi-organized. My wife keeps "crap", because she doesn't organize or clean anything.

Thank God I've trained my children to clean...

My issue is a lack of space, and a lack of time. In my house we have "clean areas" and "storage areas". My blood pressure rises in the storage areas, and I go into them just long enough to grab what I need or put something away. Last year we implemented a bin storage system with an inventory. All of my things stored are still where they are listed in the inventory. The rest of my family....not so much. My kitchen is kept immaculate (I'm the only one that cooks), as is my dining room and front living room. I go there for calming space. My office is a mess, and I really need to do about a years worth of filing. My toolboxes are perfectly organized, my work bench is piled with things that need to be put away, but don't have a home yet. We're coming up on 19 months since moving...and I'm just happy to be out of boxes. By the 2 year mark I want my office and garage/workshop to match my kitchen in organization and utility. Everything in it's functional place, neat and tidy. I've given up on my bedroom....

quote:

Originally posted by 95flhr:
Living in the country, you accumulate stuff.

Like PhPaul says, I hate not having what I need on hand. If it's not here when I need it, it's usually a 2 hour trip to go get it and get back here.

This has been my problem for years. There's nothing worse than wanting to work on something now, and having to wait 2 weeks for a small part or piece of hardware to arrive. I could probably spend 8 hours a day just organizing my garage/workshop and be very happy doing it. Generally if I have to order a part or drive a distance to get some hardware, I buy 3.

My stuff is more useful. The wife's stuff is more meaningful. My spring project is to organize things more efficiently.

I'm the opposite of a hoarder. I want to get rid of anything that I don't see an immediate use for. Wife likes holding onto everything just in case. Somewhere in the middle is probably the sweet spot. Sometimes I get rid of something only to have to buy it again. Some things we both know we will never use again, but it'll sit there forever because she won't let me get rid of it.

quote:

My office is a mess, and I really need to do about a years worth of filing.

One thing I'm anal about. I flew a desk for the last 10 years I was on active duty and we all know that the Military runs on paperwork. Having and using a logical filing system was critical to survival.

I have two filing cabinets in the den/office/computer room/man cave and I have three in-baskets on top of one of them. Medical, Financial and Receipts. When they start getting full, everything gets filed.

Once a year in January, I go through all the files and weed out files older than 5 years or receipts/manuals for stuff I no longer have.

In fact, I have an 8" stack of paper that needs to be destroyed. Used to do it in the wood stove but we didn't use it this year.

Neither of us we are traveling around in a motorhome. If she buys something something of equal weight has to go LOL

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
The only thing my wife "hoards" is canned goods, paper goods and household supplies. Not a bad thing but there's about a year's worth of TP and paper towels stashed in the basement at the moment...

When the SHTF you'll be glad you have all that....

flashguy