Have you ever met anyone who is the polar opposite of a hoarder? Like someone who cannot tolerate owning stuff and frequently throws out or sells stuff they need which they later need to buy again.
I have a friend who, and this is not a typo, has 39 children, 38 of whom are adopted. She absolutely wants nothing and does with as little as possible, I think it’s just a side effect of raising that many kids.
I have a bit of a split response to this. On one hand, I have a workshop which is absolutely packed with tools, machines, materials and so on. I can make and repair almost anything in there. Many people would look in the workshop and assume I am a hoarder.
But as far as my living space, I love a clean, uncluttered place. I will get rid of kitchen gadgets, books, disks, furniture, clothes, etc if it is not adding something useful or beautiful to my life. I have half a dozen matching t-shirts same for underwear and socks. I will regularly go through out kitchen cupboards and take things we can’t/don’t use to other people or food bank etc. I am a frequent visitor of the “tip shop” near where I live and things get repurposed and rehomed there. I love a clean streamlined life, I would be more streamlined if the people I live with were more into that mindset 😁
Even more extreme, actually. I knew one person who was actually, honestly, voluntarily homeless. For years. Living on the street, no car. No obvious mental health issues, had family who would have been happy to take him in, strong social network, active in the community. Didn’t want to be tied to all of the things ownership of stuff brings, and was willing to make the many and extreme sacrifices that entails.
To be clear, this is not the normal homelessness experience. I’ve known too many homeless people, and the right-wing conspiracy theories of middle to upper class panhandlers on every corner are utter nonsense. Ideologically motivated self justifying cruelty inspiring bullshit. Even when homeless people I have known said it was by choice, I usually knew enough about their situation to recognize it as a face saving salve to their pride (a hard thing to come by in the lower rungs of society, and very precious). But there was that one.
My friend buys a boat, uses it twice, then sells it. A couple months later he buys a boat… This has happened for years. Either he’s really picky about the boat he wants to fish on, or he actually hates boats and fishing but can’t admit it to himself.
My thought as well. If he can buy it used and sell it for pretty close to what he paid, this might just be a more complicated yet flexible way of renting a boat.
Yep, I’m an inveterate purger. I have tried to control the purging with a policy of hanging onto things such as power tools for one year past its last use. And almost invariably, about two weeks after I finally got rid of the thing, I need it again.
In my case, I have a very small living space, so hanging onto things just means they’re in my way. But I was like this even when I had a large house.
She was freaking out about all the stuff I had left in her attic when I moved out (and overseas) years before. I was confused because I didn’t leave that much. And sure enough, my brother looked up there and all that clutter consisted of three small boxes sitting in the middle of a totally empty attic.
Every few years she throws out or gives away anything she considers unused or unwanted, including things that to others would have significant sentimental value. And often she ends up having to buy new items because she threw that same thing out a year before.
I live that way. Religion is on point for some of the people in the community. But most people are chill and just don’t want to feel bothered by having “stuff” around they haven’t used in ages and that just catches dust. For example I love reading books. Most of them I sell or give away to charity afterwards, if I’m sure I will not read them again, so that others can read them too and a new one doesn’t have to be produced.
I think this is me? Though I avoid repeat purchasing.
I do this because I let things clutter and then I can’t think if there’s too much clutter. I’ve been thinking of cleaning out my drawers for a while…lord have mercy on my stuff 🙏
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