# What do you have too much/many of? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 6, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828 "2015-06-06T23:36:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/21 "2015-06-07T01:58:11Z")
Bows and arrows, I build them obsessively for no other reason than to build them. I have hundreds. About once every few years I have a big bonfire. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/22 "2015-06-07T01:58:21Z")
And we also have WAY too many musical instruments. Seven various sorts of ukuleles, two guitars, a banjo-uke, a four-string banjo, multiple saxophones, a bassoon, a pocket trumpet, an electric keyboard, more than one recorder, more than one harmonica, two dulcimers (one in need of rehab and stringing), five computers in various states of use and/or repair, etc. And furniture. Chairs and desks and bureaux out the wazoo. And old English silverplate. Old china (multiple sets). Coffee mugs in spades. No, we don’t entertain. We are packrats. And my spouse refuses to throw out any glass bottles. Cuz he recycles his leftovers in them. Forever. Infinitely. :o ☹ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/23 "2015-06-07T02:30:19Z")
Cat toys. Seriously. And when I go to throw one out, one of the wee beasties immediately finds it _fascinating_. > [@troubledwater](#): > > Dishes, glassware, and silverware. Ditto. I could open a restaurant. It was handy when I hosted Christmas/Thanksgiving dinners, but these days…nope. It’s me. My family won’t come north for the holidays. So I really could do with a four place settings. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/24 "2015-06-07T03:07:42Z")
Socks! I hang all my clothing in my closet - shirts, dresses, whatever - and everything I can’t hang up is sorted into bins on the closet floor. The sock bin is overflowing, and a significant percent are holy/worn out/stained/uncomfortable, but it’s just one of those things I never quite get around to fixing. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/25 "2015-06-07T05:17:59Z")
Outdoor trash cans. When I bought my house the previous owners left like 4 of them here. I managed to throw one away and then I used 2 others for storing stuff and one as a trash can for my garage. I didn’t want to use them for my bagged trash because I didn’t have much trash - I just put bags on the street once a week. Then I decided I didn’t want to put bags on the street so I purchased a critter-proof trash can and used it for my trash. I painted my address on the lid and inside the can. Then we got recycling so the city gave us brown recycling bins. Not a trash can per-se but a bin for outdoor trash. Then the city changed its mind and issued us all gigantic trash cans and recycling bins (which are exactly like the trash cans but green and slightly smaller.) So now I, a single person who makes one full bag of trash and one small box of recycleables about every 9 days, has 6 outdoor trash cans (the nicest of which has my address painted on it) and a large brown recycling bin. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/26 "2015-06-07T05:33:57Z")
I knew I had a problem when I was shopping and the salesman called me a “purse junkie”. Shoes, I wear 'em into the ground. But purses, bags, totes, I got way to may of those. I’ve pretty much broken myself of the habit, but I spend way too much time trolling purse and luggage sales–then not buying. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/27 "2015-06-07T05:48:38Z")
Functioning brain cells. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/28 "2015-06-07T06:59:39Z")
Dog hair, most assuredly! (But I try to get rid of it on a regular basis.) Clothes and shoes, probably. I’ve been better lately - got rid of everything I’ll never hope to fit in again (size two? Are you fucking kidding me?!) and shoes that I bought for looks and just could not wear due to discomfort. But I still have a big closet half full of my own stuff (and half my husband’s,) plus two large chests of drawers, plus the overflow closet, which the little girls will eventually want for themselves. Christmas dishes. Who the hell needs service for 20 in Christmas dishes? (Not my mother, which is why I now have service for 20!) And books. But I love them so much that it’s hard for me to admit any amount is “too many.” Bookshelves full, boxes underneath the hanging space in that giant closet, stacked next to the big soaker tub in my bathroom, stacked on the sideboard in the dining room, on the table next to my chair in the living room and my chair on the back porch, on top of and under my bedside table… Too many books. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/29 "2015-06-07T09:46:33Z")
Unfinished projects. ---
**Author:** ![StrangeBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@StrangeBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangeBird)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/30 "2015-06-07T10:04:01Z")
Colanders ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/31 "2015-06-07T10:22:42Z")
Books, (I’m starting to win the battle, but the real problem is the constant acquisition!), fabric, yarn and craft supplies, (I’m a home sewer, who keeps inheriting things from other people’s Moms who were home sewers, yikes!), glass jars, (I purge regularly and yet still they accumulate!) And, of course, seashells, feathers and curious rocks. I simply cannot resist. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/32 "2015-06-07T12:52:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Firearms. I’d like to sell most of them, but it would be hard to choose which ones. (I have a surplus of AR-15s, so I might just keep the Colts.) Me too. Though not any AR’s. I used to own 40 acres that I could target shoot on. Selling that land was a good move but I miss it. I really don’t like shooting ranges. I own 10. They have lot’s of sentimental value, I didn’t purchase a single one of them. They where giving to me by family. ---
**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/33 "2015-06-07T13:24:21Z")
Dandruff. Bottles of wine that people have gifted me over the years, even though I don’t drink alcohol. Hair on my ears. Potions in Skyrim. Fillings in my teeth. Spoons. I have a dozen of spoons, but I never eat foods that require spoons. Even my soups are thick enough to be eaten with a fork. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/34 "2015-06-07T13:34:01Z")
> [@Atomic\_Mama](#): > > And we also have WAY too many musical instruments. Seven various sorts of ukuleles, two guitars, a banjo-uke, a four-string banjo, multiple saxophones, a bassoon, a pocket trumpet, an electric keyboard, more than one recorder, more than one harmonica, two dulcimers (one in need of rehab and stringing), five computers in various states of use and/or repair, etc. I have too much sheet music. Some might also say I have too many instruments, but it doesn’t look that way to me, because I find each one useful. Though I may have gone overboard with ocarinas, as I found nine of them once when I was cleaning a shelf. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/35 "2015-06-07T15:31:37Z")
It’s amazing how much moving twice in 2 years while downsizing each time will help you reduce the excess. I’ve still got an excess of winter clothes compared to my need, even considering my frequent wintertime traveling. And a few too-seldom used cooking gizmos, mostly for specific cuisines or ingredients we no longer favor. But overall I’m close to the right amount of stuff. I certainly have more than I strictly need. But I have space to store all of it neatly with room to spare, so in that sense it’s not an excess. Clutter drives me wild. Ref **Atomic Mama** ’s books: we should have contacted you to take the 103 boxes of hardbacks we gave to Goodwill during the moves. We kept 4 boxes, and most of those are actually overage too. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/36 "2015-06-07T17:09:27Z")
I would say books. But what I find noticeable is that no one is saying they have too many boyfriend, girlfriends, lovers… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/37 "2015-06-07T17:19:23Z")
I have lots and lots of books, but too many - hush yo mouth. I do have to much fancy silverware and dishes, since we inherited from my parents, her parents and my aunt. We never, ever use them. But we can eventually dump them on the kids. And jigsaw puzzles, since they are so cheap at the thrift store. I give away most of the ones I’ve done, but I still I have too many which I consider too valuable or cool to get rid of. But the prospect of paying to move them will motivate me for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/38 "2015-06-07T17:30:59Z")
Clothes and shoes. I have about 60 pairs of shoes and I’d say probably 150 pairs of jeans or pants. Too many! ---
**Author:** ![Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nikki_Tikki_Tavi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/39 "2015-06-07T17:32:32Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I have lots and lots of books, but too many - hush yo mouth. Exactly. Unless they are rotting in the basement or you’ve never read/are never going to read them, having a ton of books doesn’t fall in the “too much” category for me. I _do_ have too many clothes and shoes, though. I work in jeans and sneakers 6 days a week, so there’s no reason for me to have 30 dresses and a whole storage bin of high heels. A lot of the shoes are vintage hand-me-downs from a friend’s grandmother, though, and when that pair of yellow zip up clogs goes with an outfit perfectly… I just can’t get rid of them, no matter that I wear them once a year. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828/40 "2015-06-07T17:43:39Z")
Plastic bags from the store. I use them for the litter box, but have entirely too many of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-have-too-much-many-of/721828.md?page=3)