Don’t Let Yourself be a Hoarder

I rent a house from my parents and we have an agreement that my dad can use half the garage for storage. And by storage I mean he’s a compulsive hoarder. And by half I mean that I thought we’d use the line in the concrete down the middle of the floor to divide it but he went ahead and wedged stuff all around my car (my car fits but sometimes the door gets stuck on cardboard boxes if I open it too far). And by garage I mean that I really held my ground on that one and said absolutely not when he asked if he could start putting more stuff in one of the bedrooms because yes I’d really rather have an almost empty room that only my cat uses.

If you ask my dad about his hoarding behavior, he’ll deny it and then laugh like a manic and you won’t be able to tell if he’s really denying it or being sarcastic. His dad and at least two of his brothers also have obvious hoarding issues and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that there is a genetic component to this sort of behavior. There’s also no doubt in my mind that I walk a very fine and dangerous line (I hear a laughing manic in my head more than often enough).

I practice digital hoarding for sure. My excuse there is that it doesn’t actually take up much physical space (my laptop and a couple external hard drives). I recognize that it’s an excuse and I let myself indulge my urges there in hopes that it will keep the rest of my potential to hoard under control.

Another dangerous area for me is any sort of consumable that I think is a good deal. I try to justify the consumables by telling myself that at least I’ll use them up but now I’m thinking they’re a dangerous path as well.

I used to think it was funny when my dad would come home with from the grocery store with:

• nothing but 20 boxes of brownie mix (and he only stopped at 20 because that was the maximum you could get with the sale price) and milk but only because it was essential to go with the brownies
• sixty 12 packs of Diet Coke and when I commented about how he must’ve filled the trunk he informed me that he could’ve gotten another layer in
• one of nearly everything chocolate flavored that Costco sells and pretty much nothing with any nutritional value

I’m pretty sure that whatever I interpreted as funny then was actually the laughing manic part of my brain.

I understand that stocking up on items you know you’ll use at some point in the future when they’re at an especially good price makes great financial sense but it can also be a slippery slope and pretty soon you’ll be grocery shopping like my dad. I’m nearly there myself.

My rule of thumb is don’t buy more than 3 months worth of food items or a year of personal care items when they’re on sale but last time I bought pasta I bought 6 boxes (for one person) and I love pasta but I don’t love it that much and I’ve had boxed pasta get bugs in it on more than one occasion in the past and you’d think you’d learn your lesson from that but clearly I didn’t.

I also had a lapse at Rite Aid last month with all their free after rebate deals. I got some useful stuff like a Vaseline lotion and some Sucrets but I also picked up multiple types of nose sprays when I hate the idea of squirting stuff up my nose.

It’s time to get back on track.

Who else fights hoarding tenancies? Have you ever caught yourself defying your own better judgment?

Related posts:

1. Arm & Hammer Clumping Cat Litter Coupon

Subscribe via RSS | Subscribe via Email | learn more about subscribing