This Week's Off Topic Topic (16/04/12)

[Ludwig Venter]

My wife is a compulsive hoarder...... everything and anything given to her suddenly gets a sentimental value and it is stashed away in a drawer somewhere or put out for display on the coffee table or where she finds an open space for it.

My kids are both into their 30’s already and she still have boxes and boxes full of their baby clothes and toys, which she claims to be keeping for the grandchildren to play with one day..... some of these things are so old they’ve become collectors’ items..... But..... she’s keeping them for the grandchildren one day..... (It has become a nightmare when I move house...... moving hordes of useless stuff to a new house and finding space for them..... I usually have to hire a bigger removals truck at great extra cost)

How much of a hoarder are you??..... do you keep any items purely because it has sentimental value for you..... ?? If so... what are these items and why the sentiments??.

 

[Salam]

Let's put it this way - our double garage is filled with crap sentimental stuff.

 

[Squidward]

Uh oh.
Don't let my Mrs see this thread

I am a compulsive hoarder. I keep everything. Drives my Mrs mad. Our loft is full of my stuff (magazines, books, clothes etc). Every cupboard jam packed. Piles of my papers everywhere.

I do see it as some sort of problem
And I think, ok, I will have a good cleanout and get rid of tons of this stuff I am never going to use. But I can never seem to bring myself to do it. I make I tiny pile of things I can bring myself to get rid of. But the vast majority is "so so so important".
Ludwig, I can well identify with getting too emotionally attached to things.

 

[CezzaXV]

I'm not a hoarder in the sense that it has sentimental value, but I'm one of those "just in case" people, who keeps things in the highly unlikely event they might ever be useful again.

I do a lot of sewing and crafting, and I end up keeping boxes of ribbons and fabric and scraps of all sorts of stuff that is realistically too small to actually do anything with.

I also do a lot of writing and write books in my spare time. I always write the first draft by hand, then type it up and print it off for proofreading, then print it off and proofread it again, and again, and again. Over the years I've accumulated a massive collection of various drafts of all the different books I've written. I've always felt like if I ever had a copyright issue with someone else claiming my work was theirs, these handwritten and subsequent drafts are something the other person wouldn't have as evidence in a court of law. I also think that if I ever had a dispute about something in my story (it happens quite a lot during redrafting) I can go back through the drafts and see exactly how they changed and what the original version was. There does come a point though that I need to get rid of this stuff. My room is in the middle of being redecorated at the moment and I had to clear my stuff out and throw a load of stuff away. I've kept the original handwritten versions and of course the final versions, and that's it.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I am not a hoarder, but don't want to seem like I am not sentimental. We only keep things that we need and donate stuff when we buy new. Before every Christmas my kids make a donate box, which is a good lesson in itself, and leaves room for Santa to spoil them

I am a sewer and crafter too and have shelves of fabric, and ribbons and things also. {I guess that is where I am a hoarder} I am hyper-organized close to being OCD though, so it is all setup very tidy.


I do have 6 fish tanks, but unlike a hoarder.. We got rid of a couch to fit the biggest one. A hoarder would probably have kept the couch and the tank



ps: Cezza I make these neat little postcard quilts, uses up all those tiny scraps and loose lonely buttons and things. Then you can mail them in the actual mail for Xmas or give them for birthdays.

 

[moochy13]

ive got some sentimental stuff, some stuff that i might have a 0.1% chance of needing, and some just because i cant be bothered to get rid of it. and some that i will eventually use. im not tight with my money, but i dont like to waste it. i subscribe to a classic car mag, and i know i'll generally only read each mag once, usually within 3 days of getting it, then it goes on a pile and stays there for at least a year. i keep ones that have specific things in to my car, but i eventually give the others away when it looks like the shelf their on is going to collapse. one of my mates usually takes them offshore with him. i threw 6 quality street tins out yesterday, had them since xmas and decided i didnt need them. no doubt i'll be after one next month.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

lol I am extremely organised and everything has it's place in my house. In fact I find getting rid of things very therapeutic as it just means my house is that much tidier! My husband on the other hand really likes to keep things so I have to make "rules" for him or just throw things out without him realising it, he never notices. For example, he is allowed ONE magazine file full of magazines (when we got married he had boxes and boxes of them). He also likes to keep the boxes that things came in because it increases their re-sale value...WHAT!? We've got several boxes that his precious Apple Mac products came in but I just chuck one or two out every now and again and he's none the wiser!

 

[moochy13]

check this out, my first ever cuddly toy that i just cant throw out. im 27 this year :

and in this photo - a 'lightbox' i made at college, which was 8-10 years ago. photos printed on acetate, turn the light on inside and the photos are illuminated, and the box lights a room nice and softly. except ive never plugged it in since i left college, im keeping it for when i eventually get my own place. 2 tour programmes behind it, totally useless never read them, but they cost a tenner each so im not binning them to the left a rolled up piece of Oasis artwork, that im keeping, but im not sure why. and a Horus statue thingy, got in egypt, brought it because he seems to be the god of taking it easy and being relaxed about things. at least in my loose interpretation of egyptian mythology. it hasnt moved since i got back off that holiday, years ago.

 

[FishFanatic04]

lol cute puppy. That's what a loved stuffed animal should look like.




Ugh...my husband is the same...He is easily a hoarder, but he is confined to his dresser drawers and closet. The deal is that I don't even look in them, and as long as they can close all the way, I leave him to it.

 

[CezzaXV]

ps: Cezza I make these neat little postcard quilts, uses up all those tiny scraps and loose lonely buttons and things. Then you can mail them in the actual mail for Xmas or give them for birthdays.

How creative! I've often thought about making a quilt or something out of them but just thought I was being crazy lol.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Now I'm "off-topic" on the Off-topic lol but here's a pic of some of them. They are about 6"x4"

There are some books out there with patterns, but it's easy enough to think something up. The bank robber was for a kids B-day and I made a pouch on the back for money to sit in. hehe It's an excuse to save event he smallest scraps!! {hoarding} Even down to less then an inch wide hahahaha

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Oh my word...

Hoarders of the world unite!!

I am soo not that creative