Are all men hoarders ?

[Happymouse]

My husband has been driving me crazy over the years hoarding stuff but I blessed him today. In his shed I have found enough poles to make my own greenhouse and 3 cold frames. With some cheap fleece from Wilkinsons and piles of bubble wrap from the shed I should have a sooper dooper made to measure hideyhole to escape to...... and grow veg in !

[Ian F2]

Yes we are, because we all know that if you throw something out you find you need it the very next day.

So we have all learned from our experience

[p.r.]

sure enough....its the certanty of chance, keep it 10 years never need it. throw it out, you need one the next week. guarenteed, cast iron, definate fact...paul.

[p.r.]

thats certanty with an i by the way.

[peter]

Not me I'm afraid, tongue in cheek.

If it is useful I'll keep it, , depends on your definition of useful. Plastic pots, canes, bits of wood, nails, screws etc, etc. If it works and I no longer use it, but have space, then I tend to keep things. Dragon-32 PC anyone?

However I am currently clearing an elderly relative's house as she is moving into a care home and believe me it is really putting me off hoarding anything.
What use are all the explanatory leaflet's for Council Tax since 1997?
Enough buttons to equip several pearly kings & queens?
Every cooking utensil, tin and gadget known to man?

Mind you she experienced the depression as a little girl and went through WW-II and rationing, so I suppose that colours one's attitude as to what is useful.

[lizzie]

My partner chucks everything out. He's terrible. I've even put a cuppa down to go the loo, come back and the mugs washed and put away!!!! That really winds me up. He doesn't keep anything.

Now his mum is a prize hoarder. She's terrible. She even keeps the crap out of Christmas crackers and then brings them here to give to our youngest!!!.

[Chantal]

If you think men are hoarders it's only 'cos you've never met my mother. She's a magpie but I'm pretty sure she get's it from my grandad, so back to the men again. I'm the total oppostive, I think I rebelled when I left home and I'm always being told off for getting rid of things, often to my mother who can't say no!

I remember my grandad, my dad and my uncle having a big clear out of grandad's shed, the back of which hadn't been seen since 1946 (this was in the 80s). When they turfed everything out they even found his bike which he had when he was 14 (he was in his 60's by this time. Anyway, they loaded up the car and the trailer and went off to the the tip/dump/recycling yard place and were gone for hours. When they came back, the trailer was still full and we thought the place must have been shut. Not so, this was all "good stuff" they'd found whilst they were there. To make matters worse, an hour later a neighbour pulled up by the shed with a loaded trailer and said "I was down at the dump and found all this really good stuff, so I brought it back for you Tommy". It was all the crap they'd taken out of the shed earlier, they got the lot back with interest. The shed was repacked, the door was shut and that was that. After he died I think my grandmother hired a skip for the shed and contents

[Beccy]

In our family it was definitely every one that hoarded, but we are clearing out my Dad's house at the moment and that's not going to be me

Coal bills from the early twentieth century.
Records of which sermon was preached where for several members of the family, in some cases going back to the nineteenth century.
Various peoples college lecture notes, in some cases going back to the nineteenth century.
Twenty years worth of the Observer colour supplement.
Broken toys belonging to children who grew up, at the latest, thirty years ago.

I could go on and on and on and that's the obviously 'useless' stuff

[peter]

Some stuff that you would throw out can be useful, but not in the ways you may think, , depends who you know and what their hobbies are. One of my friends will take almost anything made of bakelite, or electrical based on valves.

Social history?
This weekend I found a 1980 catalogue for Rivers Nursery, "Englands oldest Nursery", it's gone now (nursery that is), but I will be scanning it and if anyone wants a pdf I'll work out a way of getting it to them.

You'll have to wait a bit , cos the scanner is on order , only way I could think of, with reasonable cost, to ensure all the family get copies of old photo's going back to late 1800's of ancestors.

[lizzie]

It's worth remembering that some of the stuff you think is useless can provide links to your family history. I have a letter from around 1906 when my Uncle died in his infancy, before my father was born. It's given me the location of the church to find Parish records and dates to apply for birth and death certificates.

Check first cos if someone's doing your family tree, there are goldmines to be found. Especially war records, birth, death, marriage certifcates.

I'm doing mine at the moment and it's fascinating.

[Beccy]

I didn't mention the family letters, probate copies of wills, birth, death and marriage certifcates for that reason.

Although as everyone has had a chance to take what they want I think it will all be recycled.

[Tigger]

I'm the hoarder in this house and husband is the one that stands over me and makes me sort it out. He has been known to lock me in the house (to prevent me from escaping to the garden) with several bags of papers and piles of magazines to sort. It's the same at work - my admin clears out my office, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get to my desk.

[Diva]

It's not just men that are hoarders. I must admit to being one myself .

My friends call me the 'extreme recycler'. I hate to throw anything away that someone else may be able to use, but then again I find alternative uses for the most strangest of things. If world war three breaks out, many of my friends have said they're sticking with me as I'm very resourceful. I'm taking it as a compliment

However, I've now discovered the joys of 'Freecycling' http://www.freecycle.org but it also means that you can take things as well as give them away. Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

[pigletwillie]

Its the OH in this house. Mrs P`s handbags always have at least 6 packets of mints in that have only one mint left, phone numbers on envelopes and reciepts for things bought years ago.

As for the wardrobes, well its painfull to watch her trying to throw any clothing out. Its a real wrench for her.

I am the opposite and get rid of anything of no relevance or use, sometimes to regret it once the bin men have been!

[lizzie]

My Old Man still has an awful 80's shirt that looks like someones been sick on it. Plus the jacket with the suade on the elbows.

He has more clothes than me but refuses to throw his naff clothes out. The stuff he's got was never fashionable in the first place