Do you save everything? Do you find that you'll always keep just a bit of something "just in case"?

Or do you "carpe diem" and make sure you use every drop of whatever it is?

I swear I've got nine bottles of shampoo with just a drop left, seven soaps that are half used, salsa that I'm not sure which NBA final we bought for, and bits of string and ribbon for that one day I'm going to need one "for a costume." I've got tons of costume junk in my house that I've never used.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

Answers

I could never use any of the food stuff that came with dolls. You'd get a doll that came with food in a packet so it could poop it out. I would never use the foodstuff because then it would be gone. I'd rather have it and never enjoy it than use it and not have anymore left.

Same with those little ovens. What were they called? Anyway, they came with, like, four boxes of pudding or cake mix. I never used it. Couldn't stand the idea of not having any more.

Or those dolls that had hair that you could cut, then push a button and more hair would grow. But, eventually, you'd run out of hair to cut. So, I wouldn't cut. I'd just braid.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

I save EVERYTHING, I quilt alot so I save all of the tiny scraps of material from my old quilts so one day I can do a patchwork of some kind and old clothes that have holes or what ever for the same patchwork quilt I also save all my clothes that don't fit because some day I will be able to fit into them, you never know I could shrink down three or four inches. All plastic take out containers because someday I could bring my lunch to work (although it has not happened yet). So I guess I am a hoarder. I think I have always been this way too even when I was a kid if I had a sticker I would never put it on anything because then I would not have it anymore stuff like that

-- Anonymous, July 02, 1999

Pack rat! That's me. I justify it by reminding myself that while I put a premium on sentimental items, I don't place any on cost. So I can keep seven boxes of old notebooks and high school souvenirs because I don't own a television or a stereo system or furniture.

[Before you ask, I share a house with a person who owns all of these things. Life is good.]

-- Anonymous, July 02, 1999

I hoard boxes, especially interesting-looking boxes. Especially interesting-looking, tiny boxes that can't hold much at all. Almost all of them are empty, because nobody could possibly hoard enough teeny-tiny-fits-in-little-decorative-boxes stuff to fill all of the boxes I hoard. I'm going to have to move in with someone who collects thimbles and spoons from around the world.

-- Anonymous, July 02, 1999

I still have two leftover Cadbury creme eggs from Easter on my bookshelf (yes, that's the most logical place for them). Every time I think I want to eat one, I think, "But do I really NEED to eat this creme egg right now?" Because, you know, I want it to still be there when I absolutely need to eat it.

Of course, I do not doubt that when I finally decide that I need it it will have those whitish spots all over it from being so old.

-- Anonymous, July 02, 1999

I am a hoarder and it is genetic. Our family motto is, "It Might Come In Useful Some Day," supplemented in my case by "I Must Think Of My Biographers."

Apropos of today's entry I must mention my Chocolate Archive. I collect chocolate from different countries, always thinking that one day I will organize a comparative, scientific tasting by impartial connoisseurs. It'll probably never happen, but imagining it makes me happier than eating the chocolate would

-- Anonymous, July 02, 1999

Ummm...as gross as this is going to sound....I still have candy canes from Christmas.....*hiding*

-- Anonymous, July 03, 1999

I don't hoard stuff. I just wanted to tell you that candy is my favorite food group, so I'll help you out with that box, if you'd like.

-- Anonymous, July 03, 1999

Well, I inherited being a hoarder from my mom. When she finally moved to Arizona a couple of years ago I could not believe how much stuff she had to give away. Now, just the thought of having to deal with all of the junk that has accumulated makes me nauseated. I'm doing it though, I vow to get rid of all of the junk that is plaguing me! I think I would be happier if I didn't have any possessions at all; it is just something else for me to worry about.

Anyone want to trade? I've got some interesting, though useless, crap!

-- Anonymous, July 07, 1999