Hoarding...not just on TV

valk_scot

lostinrates wrote: »

..who else hoards in their bags?

I only own one handbag but I'm used to finding odd leftovers in holdalls. So I made a point of going through all the pockets of the dozen or so travel bags I put in the CS pile today. Most of them were fine, just the usual assortment of pens or packs of tissues. The one my OH last used...best guess, six years ago....contained two pairs of underpants, fortunately clean, a pair of old bootlaces, the watch he's been accusing DS of "borrowing" for several years now and two handfuls of loose change in eurocents. I showed this motley collection to him when he got back in from work and he promptly told me it was my fault all this stuff had been left in the bag as if I had done his unpacking when we came back from holiday I'd have done a better job. :mad:

How many potential murder weapons are there in two pairs of underpants, some old bootlaces, a watch and a half kilo of loose change? I could tie the loose change up in the underpants and beat him over the head, no? Or strangle him with the bootlaces?

whitewing

Was he ridiculously pleased over having his rediscovered pair of underpants?

Send him to search down the sides and backs of the chairs and sofa as a useful punishment for his ingratitude.

valk_scot

whitewing wrote: »

Was he ridiculously pleased over having his rediscovered pair of underpants?

Send him to search down the sides and backs of the chairs and sofa as a useful punishment for his ingratitude.

Actually he was most pleased at the discovery of 31 single eurocent pieces. He uses them as weights for the bases of the little model wargaming soldiers he paints. :rotfl:

And the kids excavate the sofas on a regular basis for me. They get to keep the loose change their father drops down the sides, I get the biros and knitting needles and, on one occasion, a rather disgruntled cat.

Contessa

LIR,

Ones in use also usually have a dog lead (you never know when you might need a dog lead, i have caught stray or lost dogs with it, horses, and runaway calves and cows!)

You've done your bit in catching stray animals-pass the mantle (?) onto some other hero/ine And ditch the bag!

[Deleted User]

The bag must go

One reason why I quite like darn facebook thingy is that I get to hear of neighbours collecting the dreaded stuff* for a charity car boot sale. So, a bit more of the last remaining mini-clutter can go....

hmmmm...

I think stuff I haven't used for 2 years? Therefore the nice footspa (8 years unused) the bamboo beach mats (3 yr) and a good root out of books.

I've been toying with the idea of another good book sift - reduced by around 30% a couple of years back. Now I'm thinking of re-reading a few, and recycling/giving them.

One thing I've found helped me when buying or receiving new objects is the "1-in then 1-out" rule (especially books, clothes, shoes) and this week freecycled the previous pressure cooker (we use ours a lot as hubby is from south Asia & we lots of dal/lentils) as someone gave me a shiny lovely new German one (itself a pass-on) and also freecycled some excess houseplants (one of everything is quite enough now) and some decorating-related stuff from the teenytiny shed.

* I do actually quite dread getting given more of the stuff unless it's something very sentimental, or very useful. I'm a nightmare to buy for - I guess I should tell them: get me big pants, socks and chocolate!

alec_eiffel

Well done for getting rid of the bag. DH said to me once that if I needed to explain to him or myself why I wanted/needed to keep something then it had to go, and he was pretty much right!

I used to keep "useful" stuff in my bags but then I got rid of all but 3 bags - one for going out, one for summer and one for spring/autumn/winter so nothing needs to be kept in them. Prior to that though I always had a sewing kit, nail glue (I don't wear false nails but I always come across women who "need" it on a night out so I bought some) and all that stuff. But I'm not an emergency service so why do it?

The dog lead thing is something that we're kind of discussing at home this week. DH did find a dog the other day too but a lead would have been useless as it didn't have a flipping collar on. Anyway. The whole being the saviour of people, dogs, things has been the hot topic, I have had a hard time letting go of the idea that things are my responsibility - like if a local shop closes I feel bad that I didn't use it more etc. I've tried really hard to get away from that line of thinking, so I was surprised the other day when I told DH I'd stuck to my shopping list and didn't buy a lot of reduced falafel from M&S. He said he would have bought it because it will go to waste otherwise, I said that's not my problem and he said waste kind of is our problem if we didn't do anything to reduce it. It's an ongoing discussion!

bobble_hat

lostinrates wrote: »

I found the bag and guess what its going IN THE BIN.

Well done lostinrates - You managed to look at the bag with a new eye and saw it fresh, that's a heck of an achievement for a hoarder. :T :T :T

I have lots of bags, I've managed to whittle them down but MIL bought me a beautiful Radley bag for my birthday, so I am determined to remove one from the collection, I only hold onto the amount of bags which fit onto my handbag holder on the back of my door. I only applied this rule since coming onto this thread. So CS'd a few old ones.

I'm going to invest in a handbag orgnaniser thingy as I change bags frequently depending on whether I have the toddler with me or not and the occasion, but I clear them out every time, and there are the staple items which I always carry but get forgotten when I swap. This way I will always have what I need no matter which bag and I will not hoard in the others.

skipsmum

I use my bags as a sort of filing system. I use one until it is so full of reciepts that there is no room left, and then put it in the wardrobe and take out another.
It works really well becasue if I need a reciept for something I just have to remember which bag I had with me when I bought it. For some reason I can usually remember!

I also have the compulsory sanitary towel, hand wash, dog poo bag, pen, plasters, paracetamol, insect bite cream etc etc - AND A DOG LEAD!!

skipsmum

I have a problem with aspirational bananas today.
No one ate them, so they have gone brown, and I thought I could make banana cake with them. But I'm lazy/have no time/have no walnuts (recipe says walnuts needed)/can't bake anyway.

DHs boss's wife bakes all the time and sends him in to work with cake to share, including banana loaf. Her house is tidy and her kids have clean clothes and go to be at 8pm. I aspire to be like her, hence hanging on to the bananas.
Now I have thought this through, I am going to get up and put them straight in the compost bin.

Then I will only have to deal with the box of aspirational apples.

alec_eiffel

Aspirational fruit can be a problem. I have to keep walking every time I see a mango at the supermarket.

Why make cake when someone else will do it and bring it in for you, win win!