OK Hoarders, Fess Up

My friend Tim has probably 20 guitars: though, he only brings 5 out on tour with him. Getting him to part with any of them would be like getting him to part with his tattoos.



*and yes, only about 3 of the 8 guitar changes you see your favorite rock star doing on stage are in fact, necessary. They figure hell; they brought them along so they might as well play 'em.

Yeah, I kind of figured that about the guitar switcharoo on stage.

Me, I'm not even in a band, so yeah - really don't need more than 1 guitar. Especially as the one I do play is soooooo much better than any other guitar I've ever owned.

What I want to have, instead of a dozen guitars, is to have one really nice unit of most instruments: guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, drum kit, microphone, violin, flute, the list goes on...

I've been involuntarily hoarding toys for about 5 years.

And sadly, none of them are mine.

STOP buying my kids crap!

I collect Chihueys.

What could I say? They were inseparable.

Chris P said:

I hoard double-edge safety razor blades. In a fit of anti-consumerism, I refused to pay $30 for a set of four multiblade razor blades, so I bought an old timey safety razor for $10. But then I needed blades and figured they wouldn't be available forever so I went on a buying spree. I have enough blades to last 30 years. I am well prepped

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Wouldn't it be easier to just, I don't know, stop shaving? One of those things that make me go hmmmmm?

Fingers said:

Wouldn't it be easier to just, I don't know, stop shaving? One of those things that make me go hmmmmm?

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I'm with Fingers on this one.

I hoard rocks. And beads. Both of which may or may not mostly be shiny. Don't ask me how many beads I have. My husband has banned me from getting any more until I use up some...

...speaking of the hubby, he hoards empty boxes. For "the next time we have to move". Do you KNOW how many empty boxes I have shoved in my storage closet?? *sigh*

Books should go without saying. In fact, I think an exception needs to be made for books. They don't count. I'm preserving works of art. Yes. That's what I'm doing.

Frank's Red Hot sauce. Several large Costco-sized bottles. Love that stuff!

tiddlywinks said:

I hoard rocks.

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Rocks are cool. I have a few. One, a piece of quartz which probably isn't quartz, but which is similar enough to quartz to pass for quartz at least to me

If I find a product I like, I don't care if it stops being made. I just haunt online until I find stocks of it. I have cases of shampoo and conditioner I like, and perfume, and face products and, well... let's just say my hubby rolls his eyes when he sees packages from various points in the world containing a $30 bottle of shampoo that used to cost $3 when it was widely available.

Cathy C said:

If I find a product I like, I don't care if it stops being made. I just haunt online until I find stocks of it. I have cases of shampoo and conditioner I like, and perfume, and face products and, well... let's just say my hubby rolls his eyes when he sees packages from various points in the world containing a $30 bottle of shampoo that used to cost $3 when it was widely available.

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Oh, if I could find Gentle Touch soap again, I'd buy it by the caseload.

Nail polish.

And hobbies.

And the supplies necessary for said hobbies.

And... other things.

stormie said:

Oh, if I could find Gentle Touch soap again, I'd buy it by the caseload.

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Have you tried asking The Vermont Country Store? They specialize in bringing back old favorites. Here's the soap page. Jergens isn't there, but they do special orders from manufacturers if they think there's enough of a call for it. Here's the request a product page. Just a thought.

I throw out consumables after a couple of years because the ingredients tend to go "off." Even if it's unopened, it still doesn't last forever and I don't know if it's okay or not ahead of time. So with the oldies but goodies, if it's no longer manufactured, I (regretfully) settle for something that resembles it instead.

Okay, okay. *lowers nose* I hoard pearls. All kinds. I am obsessed with them beyond all reason and can't stop. There, I said it.

Yarn. I even knit some of it.

And cross-stitch kits, though there's only a few I intend to ever do anything with. The others were gifts by my mother or my sister, who seem to have the idea that because I like cross-stitch and because I like cats, I must like kitschy cat-related cross-stitch kits. I don't. I like this kind. But they're well-meant gifts, so I can't make myself get rid of them.

Alcohol.

So much alcohol...

I used to live in a town that was 17 miles from the nearest store so I got into the habit of hoarding toilet paper. I have so much tp that it has grown out of the cabinet and is stacked on top. When the dryer spins, rolls of toilet paper fall off the cabinet and go bouncing all over the bathroom! Every now and then one will land in the toilet and become a soggy, nasty mess that has to be fished out by hand! By my hand because my kid says I'm insane!

The weird part? I moved from that town ten years ago. This town has a store with a whole shelf of brand name tp--just down the street! --s6

I live in a 300 sq foot apartment, so I'm unable to hoard. When I downsized, I had no choice but to turn two large, double-stacked-with-books shelves into a single narrow bookshelf. And yet I still have over 300 books after getting rid of most of them... -_-

But I always tell people: Books will be somewhat rare and valuable one day, particularly high-quality, hardcover and/or illustrated books. So I collect them (sort of). I'll never buy a Kindle! Even if it means climbing over books to get to my bed.

Cathy C said:

Have you tried asking The Vermont Country Store? They specialize in bringing back old favorites. Here's the soap page. Jergens isn't there, but they do special orders from manufacturers if they think there's enough of a call for it. Here's the request a product page. Just a thought.

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Thanks! But yes, I did. Three times over the past few years. No response. I've even done a search online several times. But that is a great store for finding items from the past.

Books, but I think most everyone here does. Tons of fingernail polish...and I rarely ever paint my nails--the colors are just so stinking awesome and I use them in artwork sometimes. Candles, I love candles. Stationary and art supplies. I'll never use even a third of what I have, but put it on sale or clearance and I can't walk away from it.

I may or may not have purchased 3 cases of Ortega Chipotle Taco Seasoning. (It was only on the shelves for a few months, but it was so good.....)

And toilet paper. I feel right with the world if I have at least 6 big bags of it in the garage and two big bags in the house.

I have a small closet jam-packed with mailing supplies: Envelopes and boxes of all sizes, sheets of bubble wrap, sealed air bags, etc. They're all neatly stockpiled in plastic containers stacked in the closet, so I can easily find 'em on those rare occasions that I actually need to mail something.

For some reason I can't resist buying that kind of stuff whenever I see it on sale at a discount mart or dollar store, so the stash will probably keep growing and growing. Oh well...it beats paying the exorbitant, unreasonable, rip-off, highway robbery prices they charge at the post office or the UPS Store or wherever.

CrastersBabies said:

And toilet paper. I feel right with the world if I have at least 6 big bags of it in the garage and two big bags in the house.

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Same here. And thankfully we have a large basement for storage. I also hoard paper towels. Hey, when they go on sale and I have a coupon, watch out!

Empty wine bottles. I visited friends in Chicago Heights, Illinois a couple of summers ago--my old college roomie, her mom and sisters. They sit out by their garden on summer nights, drink wine, tell stories and smell the flowers. When they finish a bottle of wine they push the empty into the ground around the border of their many flower beds. It seemed like such a fun, quirky border that I tried to do it here in Kansas. Unfortunately the ground is a hard and unforgiving as the rest of this state. I might wedge one or two in, after a big rain, but, as you know it almost never rains here. The bottles do pile up. I keep them in boxes. Largish boxes.

At first they were on the deck but after the third box I started stashing them under the porch. There are quite a few now, waiting for the rains. I can't take them all out at once. Not in a small town like this. So I pop a few in at a time. It probably looks like I might have a problem to the termite inspection guys and the meter reader--s6

Shoes, but the thing is I am NOT a shoe person. My feet are apparently smaller in a shoe store than they are anywhere else. So I have all these unworn shoes that don't fit.

On that note I am currently in the process of decluttering my house and am having a huge garage sale in the spring. I. Can't. Wait.