I don’t mean the compulsive hoarding of things or pets–though you can certainly check in here on that subject if you wish. I mean other things that you tend to want around in greater quantities than you probably need.
I always seem to be picking up more Scotch tape than I need because I sell a lot of stuff online and am afraid of running out of it and having to make a special trip. I’ve also ended up with quite a bit of sunblock and skin lotion. I use it, yes, but it will probably last me another year or so unless it goes rancid before then.
And throw pillows…Gah, how did I become the owner of so many?
I seem to hoard salt, on accident. When I’m at the store, I often have these thoughts that we’re possibly running low on salt, and salt is relatively cheap, so I figure what’s the harm in picking up another container just in case … and then when I get home and unpack the groceries, I realize I have a backlog of about ten salt containers, nine of which are unopened. It’s probably literally a lifetime’s worth of salt, in my kitchen cabinet right now.
It’s not really hoarding, but I have this habit at work where if I am on a long phone call, or a conference call, I will pick up a paper clip and start bending it in different ways. We got new office furniture about a year ago, and when they moved my desk, there was an enormous pile of bent up paper clips under it. I was seriously a little embarrassed about it, it’s like throwing away office supplies.
Um… everything? News articles about oddities. Receipts. Old school papers. Clothing. Some day I want to scan the paper things so I can get rid of them.
Books and board games. I love them both and never have the time to do either. Its an addiction, keep me away from any Barnes and Noble or a Games by James.
must have more…must have more…must have more…
I need to know that there is an ample supply of toilet paper in the house, and for some reason I end up with tons of shampoo and lotion. I’m trying to use up the shampoo and lotion before I buy any more. It’s hard…I’m down to 3 bottles of shampoo in the shower. I also have a neverending supply of tea candles. My mother gives me one of those 50ct bags every Christmas. I’m trying to use those up too. It’s taking a while. The only other thing I can think of off-hand is music. I have over 8000 songs on my other laptop.
It wasn’t a conscious thing, but somehow I seem to have accumulated a lrge quantity of batteries and glue sticks. The batteries I can sort of understand, as I kept misplacing them, but I have no idea how I ended up with a half-dozen glue sticks.
delphica you do exactly what my mother does. She thinks she needs something, when it’s not on her list. This spring I cleaned out a couples drawers in the kitchen. She had 6 containers of ground black pepper. One opened and almost full. Five unopened. :smack:
Toothbrushes. I tend to go through them faster than most and often find myself thinking ‘I just opened a new one, maybe it was my last one. I’ll grab another. Might as well get two so I’m not in this position next time.’ I probably have 2 dozen.
I’m ashamed to admit it, but I tend to hoard condiment packets and other such riff-raff that one gets from a drive thru. On the plus side, if I ever need a wetnap, spork, straw, or mini salt and pepper, it’s right there. Also, if I want hot sauce, other than the stuff in my fridge, I can choose from KFC, Taco Bell, and Skyline Chili hot sauce. The down side is that some of the stuff dries up (wetnaps and Skyline Chili hot sauce in particular). Anyone that saw the full drawer that those things take up might think I’m some sort of kook. Yeah, well this kook, has more packets of horseradish sauce, sweet and sour sauce, Arby’s sauce, and chopsticks than you buddy! I don’t keep the ketchup and mustard ones though, my roommate is addicted to mustard and buys the Mega-ketchup, so there’s no need.
Books and craft stuff. Oh, yeah…and crackers. Like Delphica and the salt, Hockey Monkey and the bathroom stuff and Kakofonous and the toothbrushes, I seem to pick up a box whenever I hit the grocery store. Right now, I have a collection of All Bran rosemary and olive oil crackers, Triscuit garlic, cheddar Goldfish, Wasa, and whole wheat soda crackers…looks like maybe I should make a pot of soup, no?
Another toilet paper hoarder here. That’s about it, though. Toilet paper. Lots of toilet paper.
Blankets!
I love blankets, from bed-size to cuddly throws. Fuzzy micro-fiber ones are the best, but cotton waffle-weave are good too. They are cat-magnets. On chilly days, the dogs won’t settle unless they are draped with blanket. And of course we humans snuggle under them to read, watch movies, and astonishingly, even sleep. Nothing’s better than being wrapped up cozily under a blanket on the screened porch on a frosty autumn morning, with a book and warm beverage. So I can’t pass up a nice soft blanket for a good price. Consequently we have a surprising number of them.
But we need them all!
And possibly more!
Since I don’t make a shopping list I will occasionally get it into my head that I am low on something and then buy it every week for weeks. I currently have 5 bottles of shampoo in the closet.
Sometimes I will find something that is working for me in some part of my life then buy umpteen of them. I recently found that the 5 hour energy shot gives me the boost I need and I currently have a few hundred bottles.
I’m sure I’m not the only one, but any free mag/newspaper/weekly I can find on the street.
I walk around carrying a bag, which I have to empty out every two weeks or so because it gets too heavy. I probably only read about 10% of them.
A funny anecdote: About a year ago I was driving in Cambridge with a friend who was completely wasted. He suddenly saw one of these newspaper dispensers on the street, I believe it was for the Boston Phoenix, and he NEEDED to have one. “Stop the car!” He shouted and leaped out onto the curb. I figured he’d take a mag and get back in.
Nope.
He didn’t need the paper, he tried picking up the entire newspapers dispenser and try to fit it in my backseat. “Jesus Christ Tom, you can’t steal that whole thing!”
“I want it, I could use one!”
“For what?!”
“I don’t know!”
Eventually he wedged in my backseat. I think he still has it. For what, I’ll never know.
I travel a lot and stay in pretty decent hotels. I always take all of the shampoo, conditioner, razors, q tips, etc. Not sure if this is hoarding. we have a big bucket full of this stuff. Whenever the bucket gets too full, we give away a bag.
I never ever buy any toiletries except deodorant and maybe Tom’s of Maine toothpaste these days.
I feel nervous if I have less than 25 items on hold at the library, and downright panicked if I have less than ten books in the to-be-read pile. I don’t get very much time to read, so even if I only have a couple of things, I won’t run out before my weekly trip to the library, but still! What if I’ve read all the good stuff? What if the library isn’t going to get any more of the kind of stuff I like? Aieee!
Toilet paper. At the worst I would have had… about 54 rolls in the house. Now I’m trying to keep it down, but I still get nervy if there’s less than 18 at any given time (I buy in 9-packs).
Chick peas were another big one, but we haven’t been eating as many curries of late and I’ve been purposefully not buying them, because we aren’t eating as many.
I’m showing this thread to my husband tonight! The worst I’ve ever gotten up to is 5 unopened packets of toilet paper. I’m clearly an amateur.
At the last count I had 250 rolls of toilet paper under my house. I am hopeless.
Swimming goggles. I have kind of deep-set eyes, and finding a style of goggles that fits good? All but impossible. After having had found a style I liked, only to find that they immediately went out of production, I now stock up every time I’m at the swim- or sports-store. I’ll just stop in to get a new suit. And a couple pair of goggles. Well, maybe 3-4 pair. And the counter girl gives me an odd look. 'Cause she knows I bought 2-3 pair last month. And, really, I could probably open up my own swim goggle store (with very limited selection), since I keep using the same pair until the gasket has all but rotted away… but, eh. I like being prepared.