Question Of The Day. Saturday 9th Of Feb. (11th Hour Edition.)

[Norachan]

Sorry, almost forgot about Q of The Day. It's still Saturday in some places, right?

I came up with today's question after reading through a thread AbbysMom started.

How Have You Decluttered Lately?

I thought I was doing a great job at decluttering, having cleared out a few drawers, but then I realised there are a few things I can't resist hoarding.

What do you hoard?

With me it seems to be toiletries and cosmetics. I have a drawer full of them!

My excuses are that because I work free-lance I don't know how much money I have coming in every month. Once I've paid off all the bills and put a bit aside for a rainy day, I buy things like soaps and lotions in case I don't have such a good month next month. Judging by my drawer I've had a lot of good months recently.



It's also cheaper to buy shampoo and conditioner refills in pairs rather than singularly, so I have extra shampoo. (But no extra conditioner, I get through a lot of that)

And, I have to admit, if there is a brand I like and I see something I haven't tried before I can't resist buying the new one. That'll be why I have four tubes of hand cream in different fragrances.

I've also got loads of lip balms, face creams, soaps, body lotions, mascara (They made a purple one! I had to get one before it sold out) and rather a lot of toothpaste. Don't know what my excuse is there. Might have to fight my way through a zombie apocalypse with just my teeth?

How about you, what do you hoard?

 

[verna davies]

Clothes usually. I always seem to say " that might come on handy one day". Of course it never does.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

i don't hoard things. i do buy in bulk on many items, and then sit back and use almost all of the item before 'restocking' though. i usually do this for items that i can find a (very) good price when buying in bulk, and things like cat litter -- which i buy in the spring and fall in bulk, so to avoid needing to haul it around as much during the hot and cold (ie, snow and ice) weather months.

my cats do seem to 'hoard', though! they'll hide certain favorite toys and groups of favorite toys, and then on particular days bring them out to play with again.

 

[jcat]

Toiletries and cosmetics are at the top of the list, but I also tend to hoard food items that aren't available all the time here; there are three squeeze bottles of Hershey's chocolate syrup in the pantry right now.

 

[Mia6]

Frozen food entrees. I like to have some frozen entrees on hand. Mostly Stouffers
or Marie Calender's stuff.

 

[di and bob]

I seem to hoard all those kitchen gadgets and appliances that you just HAVE to have and then rarely use. You know when you get them out of site they are never used. Space here is at a premium, I suppose I'll have to have a big garage sale. I also hoard 'niknaks' I just find another place for them when I buy new, it is getting harder to dust! one thing I do use all the time, especially in the summer, so do leave out on my counter is my new electric pressure canner. i use it often to prepare chicken for my cats, and it is much easier to can a few tomatoes, peaches, beans at a time instead of all at once. Put the jars in, set it and forget it! Much easier and safer than the old way!

 

[Winchester]

Kitchen stuff....I can't help it. I simply can't help it. To be fair, though, I do use everything. Even if I only use it once a year, it's there when I need it. Cookie cutters, geez, I love cookie cutters. Cookbooks! Be still my heart. Cookbooks are awesome. I'm getting a "thing" for rolling pins.

I have two KA stand mixers (used to have 3, until I gave one to my niece). I took Baby Blue to the basement and kept Big Red in the kitchen. During the holidays, I brought Baby Blue back up to the kitchen. And decided to keep her here. I'm using her for smaller batches and I use Big Red for the triple batches of cookies.

Like di and bob one of these days, I'll have to have a garage sale. I'd probably make a small fortune. But then? I'd probably spend it on new kitchen stuff!

 

[rgwanner]

I sew, knit, crochet, cross stitch. I sell things at 2 or 3 craft shows a year. I only have time to make enough for 2 or 3 shows.

So I hoard yarn, fabric, trim, etc. that I find at thrift stores. And buttons!! I LOVE buttons! I have them all sorted and labeled. I have a bookcase with 4 shelves of containers with drawers full of buttons.

I have everything sorted and labeled. A friend says that just makes me an organized hoarder. But I use those things.

I have decluttered in the sense that I recently went through my 20 tubs of yarn and donated probably 2 or 3 tubs of yarn that I realistically thought I would not use. Also I had 3 tubs of fleece that I had gotten to make cat tops to sell. I have decided to concentrate on just tote bags and purses so the fleece went to a volunteer at the shelter who makes beds for the shelter.

I don't think it is hoarding if it is something that realistically will be used, at least that is what I tell myself.

 

[LTS3]

Boxes and not just for the cats I like to keep boxes of various sizes around to use to send gifts in. I take whatever empty box I find at work.

Empty toilet paper and paper towel tubes. Those I collect and donate to the shelter for the small critters to play with.

 

[neely]

Can't think of anything I hoard because my husband hoards enough "stuff" for the two of us.

 

[susanm9006]

Tools. I pick them up at garage sales and thrift stores and have a basement and garage full. I do like to build and renovate furniture and having the right tool for the job really helps but I can’t explain why I have duplicates and woodworking gadgets piled everywhere. I mean, I might need them, right?

 

[Boris Diamond]

Rocks! I love agate and jasper. They are relatively inexpensive and I have boxes everywhere!

 

[sabrinah]

Toiletries, cosmetics, office supplies, and pet supplies. Any pet supplies I see on sale that I'll use I generally get multiples of. For example, I bought 2,000 doggy poop bags. The cost per bag was cheaper than any other possible buying options and I have enough bags to last approximately 5.5 years. I also bought a full year of cat and dog Cosequin when they were on sale, and 6 months worth of generic Zyrtec (for my dog). Oh, and I have A LOT of cat food, dog food, and treats. I'm terrified of suddenly not having enough money to buy anything so I like keeping a few months worth of all necessary pet supplies around.

 

[1 bruce 1]

We hoard the living crap out of pet food of the raw and frozen variety because if we find a deal we can't pass up, we buy it.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I live in a 400 square foot apartment so I'm limited in what I can "hoard," but I do have a large yarn collection that does actually get used frequently.

 

[AbbysMom]

Everything. Candles and bath and body products are probably the worst though.

 

[aliceneko]

My grandfather's family have always been terrible hoarders so we pretty much hoard everything under the sun
The other year I found my mother's first television she owened as a student which miraculously still worked!

 

[Jcatbird]

Art supplies/ paint and rocks, fossils, minerals. I’m getting into downsizing so.... if it doesn’t fit in the glass cases or craft cabinet, it’s at risk! Lol

 

[muffy]

I hoard house hold supplies, food and cat food. I am partially disabled and it is hard for me to get to the stores so when I can get to a store I load up especially when they have sales.

A few months ago my sister came over and helped me clean up my kitchen and it looks a lot better. I plan on getting the whole house done a little at a time.

 

[margecat]

I try not to hoard anything. I have a rule about storage areas: I will only keep what can fit neatly and tidily in those areas. I also have streamlined my cleaning products. Vinegar and baking soda take care of many cleaning jobs. I have bought a couple of floor cleaning appliances, though, since, with so many cats, cat fur is a bit of a problem. I have a floor steamer I rarely use; I've been using a spray mop in its place.

I used to volunteer at a non-profit's restaurant. The woman who was in charge of the kitchen is a borderline hoarder. I'm the opposite. She drove me crazy. I managed to have them buy an oven (she wanted one), so we needed baking pans, etc. for that, which I bought. However, due to the junk she kept, there was no place to store them. It angered me--she hoarded pickle jars, the cardboard header tents from packaging (those fold-over cardboard labels the have a hole to hang on a display, along with the cellophane sack the item came in), and assorted other broken junk that was given second-hand to us--and she wouldn't throw this junk out. She kept broken small appliances (again freebies that we given to us), even though she bought a new one. I made up my mind that, if I ever volunteer anywhere ever again, I will NOT do so if the person in charge is a hoarder.

Several times each week, I take a look around the house and garage, and see what isn't being used, and donate or trash it. This is the best way to keep things organized and tidy---which, BTW, are words that we use to mean the same thing, but they don't. Tidy just means things aren't scattered around. Organized means there is a system to the tidiness, such as keeping like items together, labeling, etc.

The closest thing I have to hoarding are six plastic shoe boxes of silk flowers from about twenty years ago. I bought them at a fabric store 90% off, and used many of them to trim 1860's bonnets when I was a Civil War reenactor. I stopped doing that about fifteen years ago, but they come in handy for other crafts projects. I have them sorted and labeled by color, in a cabinet. I have not bought any more for many, many years. I'm trying to use them up!