Over years when money was tight, I was reluctant to throw away anything. Now, I am aware of this problem and routinely purge. The feeling of lightness and wellbeing when there is less stuff in the house (but money in the bank if you need to buy stuff) is immense.

Anonymous wrote:
Hardly anyone is using the term hoarding, but it would describe some of you pretty well.

If you don't see yourself as a hoarder, please pay attention to the feelings of those living with you, regarding the amount and organization of stuff in your home. Or the reaction of your friends and family when they come to visit.

Yup. Sounds like hoarding to me.

Im thrifty because I'm a minimalist. I don't bring crap into the house we don't need just because its on sale. I'm certainly not going to store a box of junky valentines for a year just because they were a dollar. On valentines I will ask my children what they want to do and either buy them for $5 (OH MY GOD!) or they will make them like my 7yr old elected to do this year.

If i needed to i could have my house ready for sale with only a weekends notice. Guaranteed my minimal lifestyles is way easier and way more thrifty than the lady up thread whose running around stuffing a dozen totes with clearance items.

I'm thrifty and as a result my house is decidedly un-cluttered. We only buy what we need/use. If we no longer need/use something, we pass it along (either sell or donate). Life is much simpler (for me) without clutter.

Hardly anyone is using the term hoarding, but it would describe some of you pretty well.

If you don't see yourself as a hoarder, please pay attention to the feelings of those living with you, regarding the amount and organization of stuff in your home. Or the reaction of your friends and family when they come to visit.

I'm thrifty. I'm also messy/cluttered. The two aren't related in the sense that I buy more than I need (i.e. - buying too much in bulk). They're related in that I have a hard time getting rid of things because I "never know when I'll need it again." I'm so averse to the prospect of having to spend money to re-buy something that I've thrown away because of space constraints that I keep too much.

Decluttering for when we sell is going to be a nightmare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our house is cluttered but not so much with stuff we bought. We get a ton of stuff from our friends who are all a lot better off financially than us. (they make six figures)
We get lightly used sports equipment, furniture, kids clothes, etc. We might not need it right now (or ever) but we keep it because we could want it someday and I know that we won't have the money when "someday" gets here. It all gets passed along in the end but in the mean time, we have a lot of stuff.

Saddest post ever

Sacrasm noted. It's pretty great, of course. We get so much help and understanding from our friends. We get to live in a house, inside the beltway on a HHI of about $60k. Thousands of other families do the same with a lot less help! (back to the topic, it is handy to use a friend's Costco card when we need bulk foods)

Anonymous wrote:Xfor example, if you saw next year's valentines at 90% off ($.29), would you buy them for your kids to give out next year? Would you buy 3 bags of chocolate for fifty cents each knowing you'll donate them to you kid's class party in 3 months (well before the expiration date?), orig price 5.00?

I wouldn't go for it in either of these situations, here's why:

Valentines are cheap, and they're cheaper to do home-made. Buying things a year in advance for kids is risky business - this year they love Paw Patrol but next year they won't want the same characters on their valentines. Finally, saving 90% on an item that costs a few dollars is not worth having junky paper valentines taking up space in my house for a whole year.

Same logic for the chocolate. It's inespensive now, it will still be inexpensive in 3 months, and meanwhile you don't have chocolate taking up space that entire time.

I wasted more money attempting to be thrifty and buying in bulk or buying on sale or ahead of time.

I realized that most good deals on household products and food always come around again.

For clothes and other items, I only buy stuff now that I really love and want and would buy even if not on sale. I used to get sucked into buying things I only kind of liked because it was only $5 or $10.

My house feels a little cluttered because it is not especially large and storage space is minimal. So I do try to buy certain things in bulk or on sale, but then I'm stuck trying to figure out where to put them. Like toilet paper - my tiny linen closet is pretty full as it is, so I need to clean it out for a space for more TP. My pantry is super tiny, so if I try to buy more than a couple of boxes of cereal at a time, I have to put a box on top of the fridge, which annoys me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've had to curb this over the years OP. We actually have a large basement with a storage room so the clutter is in check, but here is what I say to myself. "You know what saves even more money than buying this thing cheap? Not buying it at all."

Now obviously if it's stuff I KNOW I will use I find room for it. Such as kids clothes/shoes on clearance in the next size.

What's the difference between getting kids clothes on clearance and next year's Valentine's on clearance? I wonder if part of the reason I'm a millionaire next door type is because I am thrifty like this. Once, ever, did I buy diapers at full price. Once, ever, did I buy Valentine's for my kids' classes at full price. I may have more things stored in my home, but I also know that it is either used within a year OR donated (this includes pantry items, gifts, etc.)

I have no problem with the V Day example because I'd put them in my unfinished storage room. I wouldn't buy them (at any price) if they were going to create clutter somewhere visible. The kids clothes/shoes I buy ahead are put in the back of each kid's walk-in-closet, sorted by size and season.

Very thrifty here and at the moment the house is a bit of a disaster, but we're moving things between 4 different rooms. Once everything is settled we'll be back to normal. I have a tote (at least one) for every season/holiday, so the Valentine's I bought this year at 90% off go into that tote (being so cheap I don't care if they don't get used, but obviously I hope DD decides those will be good).

Same for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc. I also have a tote for school stuff and one for gifts (really good for last minute "crap Z's birthday is tomorrow and I completely forgot", which for me happens often lol.). It's the only way I can be thrifty and stay organized. The house was overflowing with stuff before, but it's gotten MUCH better.

Best Advice - If you don't have a place for it (even if you're just storing it), then don't get it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Xfor example, if you saw next year's valentines at 90% off ($.29), would you buy them for your kids to give out next year? Would you buy 3 bags of chocolate for fifty cents each knowing you'll donate them to you kid's class party in 3 months (well before the expiration date?), orig price 5.00?

No, never.

I definitely do this. I feel like a fool anytime I pay retail for anything.

Thrift but not cluttered. The cost of my mental health living in a serene environment is worth more than having piles of stuff lying around.

I'm not thrifty but my house is a lot cluttered.

I'm thrifty. I'm also hyper organized and don't use 10 of each product. I have 2 hair products that work great for my hair. I only allow one shampoo and one conditioner into my shower. It's easy to stock up when you don't have lots of brands you use. I keep all the Charmin in the linen closet down stairs and only bring a few rolls to each bathroom. That way I can visually see when the rolls are getting low (which usually coincides with when Costco is running a sale on Charmin or Bounty).

DH wrote me a funny valentine about how true love is never running out of your favorite razors or deodorant.