PowerSwitch

Some time ago there was an excellent thread about de-cluttering. I didn't used to be able to understand how people got cluttered in the first place, because I didn't have a family, but, erm, now I do.

What we are running into here at Chateau Renewable is more the opposite: thoughts of imminent poverty, inflation, power-cuts, etc etc have moved me from my former minimalist self to, well, something of a "That might come in useful", or "those might be very rare/expensive in the future, perhaps not put it on the Oxfam pile right now" sort of person. It was the afternoon spent clearing the garden path of firewood enough for me to be able to walk down it that finally brought it home.

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

My Dad used to save stuff that might be useful, and I caught the bug. However, by the time it was needed, either:
1) It was rotten, corroded, damaged or lost
2) It was out of date or unsuitable
3) It took so long to find under all the crap, that a 5 minute job took 5 hours

Stuff stored for future use needs to be managed properly, and that's where people tend to go wrong!

Yes quite.

However, as Mum it's my job to know exactly where everything is. You know: the coat, the roll of odd-coloured cloth, the spare lightbulbs, the spanners, the second football boot...

I am a bit of a hoarder, but am now very much better organised so as to ensure that stockpiles are easily located, in date, and still relevent to todays needs.
I have certain dates for the checking and replenishment of stocks so as to ensure that all is well.

Last week of November, Check stocks of disposable batteries for dates, condition and suficient stocks. Replace all batteries in seldom used or critical equipment.
Done at this time of year in order that outdated or part used batteries can be used in Christmas lights or given to neighbours for kids toys.
Also check parrafin stocks, parrafin lamps (including wicks, glasses, mantles, vapourisers and other spare parts), candle stocks, and related items, this could be done at any time but as it all relates to emergency lighting it is sensible to do all related tasks together.

Christmas holiday.
Deep discharge test of emergency lighting batteries.
Done then because any sudden extinction of the lighting matters little as battery Christmas lights, oil lamps, and candles are in use.
Other rechargeable batteries checked and replaced if needed as it makes sense to do them all together.

Mid January
Check stocks of non perishable foods and liquor.
Done now as special offers often on in the shops, and supplies may have been consumed over the holidays.

Good Friday, annuall checks and reviews of technical stores and supplies including tools, maintenance supplies, electric cable, light bulbs, spare parts etc.
Test air conditioning before warm weather is expected.

Midsummers day (approx) Laundering of articles that only need infrequent washing including blankets, winter clothing etc.
Done now as fine weather expected for drying bulky laundry.
Also check stocks of linens, blankets, basic clothing etc as this is a related task.

11th September, a sadly memorable date.
General disaster preps to be checked, geiger counters, gas masks, chlorine tablets, first aid kits, fire fighting equipment, bug out bags, shelter in place supplies.
Also checks of building fabric and structure for any repairs before bad weather is expected.

I'm a terrible hoarder too, but the stuff I hoard often comes in useful for the most obscure things.

I'm particularly sad when saving anything made of tubular steel, I just know that one day I'll need to weld it into something

RenewableCandy wrote:Yes quite.

However, as Mum it's my job to know exactly where everything is. You know: the coat, the roll of odd-coloured cloth, the spare lightbulbs, the spanners, the second football boot...

Well my Mum didn't know where any of Dad's stuff was, although her hoarding was better organised, and didn't fill several sheds!

I lost a lot of my stuff when I sold my last house and went travelling. Every so often I want to do something, think of the ideal thing I saved to do the job, and then remember I haven't got it any more .

I'm a hoarder. Several years ago, I decided to better myself by throwing some things out. One of those things I needed two weeks later, so it's merely reinforced the condition - arrrrgh!

It was recorded by several reliable witneses that on Good Friday 1998, that I removed EVERYTHING from my workbench, and threw away about 10% of it, before replacing the rest, after dusting it.
This grand clear up is still disscussed, but is now considered to be an unreliable legend by those to young to have witnessed it.

The trick is knowing under what circumstances something will be useful, whether the item will still be good when that occurs, and whether anything widely available can do as good a job.

Example: I freecycled a bunch of bubble wrap and packaging stuff as I can always wrap things in raw fleece to post, and I have plenty of that and it's renewable.

I no longer save jam jars as I have *gasp* enough of them, and they're all full of jam. When we eat more jam, we'll free up more jars, but a cupboardful of the stuff is enough.

When the space I've allocated for random useful containers is full, I don't start a new pile, I say I have enough for now, and recycle/freecycle elsewhere.

I've also learned that things I keep for sentiment have a sort of emotional half life that eventually expires, especially if I look through them every six months or so; that seems to set the memories in my head, and then I don't need the thing anymore.

Good luck. I sympathise. I constantly fight the tide of stuff that everyone else acquires and puts down.

When it comes to the cluttered basement, workshop, closet,house competition I am definitely a contender.
There are some things that I find prudent to keep in stock even if finding a place to store them escapes me. Going through the list I divide it into the different systems of the house and look at what I might have to do without resorting to going to the hardware store.
plumbing: torch ,solder and flux. A spare valve, some fittings and elbows and a few caps so that I could cut out a section of burst pipe and solder the feed end shut. Some faucet washers and O rings for faucets that use them. A couple of pieces of 1/2 & 3/4inch pipe. Wrenches, wire brush, Teflon thread tape.
Electrical: tool belt with strippers and wire cutters etc. wire nuts, lengths of wire, switches, receptacles, and a spare breaker for the panel box. a ceiling light fixture
heating: stove pipe 8"& 6" with one elbow each. Chain saw, axes, maul, peavey, crow bar, wedges, safety gear, gas cans, spare bar, chains , files ,dermal with saw stone,
Propane: flareing tool,copper gas line, spare valve, flare fittings, mantles for the gas lamps at hunting camp.
Carpentry,: Saws, levels , drills, hammers, nails ,screws, lag bolts, chisels
measuring tapes, staple gun, plastic sheeting, pry bars
Autos &appliances: tool box full of wrenches ,ratchets ,sockets ,drivers,
ramps, jacks, oil drain pan, summer tires, voltage tester 12V & 120/210V
Garden tools . lawn mower, rototiller, snow blower,
etc. etc, etc,
Then you have the two college apartments worth of furniture and bedding that has come home but is not yet ready for the dust bin.
Yup I'm a contenda.

I am a hoarder too. I reuse lots of things. After my pipes burst over Xmas, I double insulated them with bubble wrap saved from various deliveries in work.

Whenever I throw useful things out, invariably I find a use for them the next day or week - sod's law. So now I don't throw useful things out - problem solved!

Every year we do a "tidy-up" which involves going through one of the hoarding locations we have in our house (we have great eaves) and throw maybe a third out after much consideration and reluctance. But at least it does free up more space for future hoarding!

But when TEOTWAWKI comes, I will not be caught short.

snow hope wrote:But when TEOTWAWKI comes, I will not be caught short.

A motto to live by.
How would you translate TEOTWAWKI into Latin?

Today, on the knowing-where-things-are front, I surpassed even myself. I managed to organise the retrieval of Fille's long-lost and beloved camera from a cafe in the Yorkshire Dales. It had been there for over a month.

Don't know where my diary is, do you?