Originally Posted by Rebecca VLQ
^^^I think that's the difference w/fabric, craft supplies, etc...versus hoarding. I mean...you COULD be a fabric hoarder. If you didn't dig into your stash ever...if you just acquire more and more and don't put it to use.
(which is why I felt a little pang of guilt when I opened this thread. Am I a hoarder? A fabric hoarder? I make things...don't I? That means I'm not a hoarder...right? Nevermind that I have a thousand yards of fabric...I'm gonna use it...right? ;) )
I'm not so sure. I've got craft supplies I've "saved" that are now no good (example: a Costco "case" of gluesticks that have dried up).
I learned a LOT going through my parents' house after they died. They didn't necessarily "hoard" - because the house was always neat and roomy, but they sure didn't throw *anything* away. If it could possibly be useful at some time, it was saved. I think living through the depression did that to people.
I threw away utility bills from houses they didn't own for 40 years that my dad had saved. He also kept ledgers of bills... going back to 1930. It was interesting from an historical POV to see loan documents for a 5-year loan for 65 dollars, and how much the medical bills were for my birth, but I don't know that we need to keep such things or enshrine them.
However, my mom's been gone since the 12/02 (when we "closed" their house) and my dad's been gone for almost 2 years now, and I still have probably 20 or more boxes of papers packed and waiting for me to go through from their home. It doesn't help that my mother was a novelist and I've got 40 or so manuscripts that I am not ready to simply throw away.