Are you a "user up" or a "thrower out"

That was to ga

That's alright then! I was going to say that is not DH's reaction when something 'goes missing'!
I have to say that I sometimes get accused when things are merely mislaid!

We're both user uppers. DH's workshop is full of STUFF because 'you never know when it will come in handy'

He's right. We're putting a new wash basin in the mobile home shower room and we'd never cope with 'old to new' fittings without all his bits and pieces to call on.

I just can't throw food away so we sometimes have some very inventive dishes.

Oh yes! DH is just like that. His shed is packed full of jars of screws, and other odd bits and pieces. He even asks any repair people we might have in to leave the old bits behind because they might come in useful. And, yes. I know they often do.

Definitely a user upper, me! Absolutely hate throwing food away but I hate clutter so things are 'recycled' on a regular basis! Sister in law throws away leftover anything from a meal, but when I' m there, she knows I'll have 'Red Cross' parcel and packs up everything for me! Quite often we have 2 measles from them! Thank goodness we're all different!

I'd love to try a 'measle' spanishsue Sounds delicious!
I am bit of both. If in doubt chuck it out. I tend to over cater even though I am on my own now so get left with a lot of curled up bits and pieces with blue attachments. I'd rather be safe than sorry but I do eat a lot of stuff which is well past its sell by date. I have a very good 'nose' and rely on that.

At home I used up something the other day that had a sell by date of 1998. And at my mother's I finished up the last of her chicken Oxo cubes - sell by date: 1996. Her Marmite, however was unspreadable with a sell by date of 2006. Will probably do in soups and gravies.

I pay no heed to sell by dates. If it looks and smells okay, I cook it.

However, today the Bodach lifted the hall carpet before the new floor fitters arrived, and I was soooooo tempted to keep the underlay, as " somebody might make use of it ?"

Quite agree Marmight the eyes have it!
My gran would say that you need to work your way down and should use your brain, your eyes and your nose before putting in your mouth!

I'm a bit of both. I throw out foods that smell dodgy (sometimes my imagination maybe?). But I take no notice of use by dates - I just do the sniff test, sometimes the touch test too. If sausages or bacon feel 'sticky' then they go in the bin, not worth chancing.
The cut edge of peppers are inclined to get a bit slimy, but the rest of the pepper's usually OK, so the edge gets sliced off and put in the compost bin.
If cheese develops a bit of mould, I slice it off and use the rest. If it hasn't been wrapped properly and starts to go dry, I wrap it in a piece of wet cloth to rehydrate it - 24 hours later it's good as new!
Some jams can go mouldy on the top, even when stored in the fridge. That gets scooped out, discarded and I use a clean piece of kitchen roll to clean the inside of the jar above the jam line. Everything underneath is absolutely fine.
Apart from food, there's fabric! I'll save a garment if the fabric is good and I might be able to use it. I'll wash it, take it apart, discard waistbands, collars, seams etc and save the rest. Buittons get removed and saved. Even the ribbons stitched into shoulders for hanging get removed and saved!

I'm a user-upper. Hate wasting food. Felt really bad the other day for throwing way a whole pack of tenderstem broccoli - unheard of in this house. But dh had been away 9 nights and I had been on jury service for nearly 2 weeks and couldn't be bothered to cook for one, was eating M&S ready meals each night - another thing that happens once in a blue moon in this house.

I don't take too much notice of dates on tins, as long as they're sound. When we cleared the flat of Dh's old aunt after she died, we found several tins WAY beyond their dates, and by that I mean years, not months. But the tins looked fine, not blown or rusty, contents looked and smelt fine, we used them all with no ill effects.

A user up. I also really hate food waste and my daughter makes me cross at times by not using stuff up.
Things like spices tend to lose flavour if very old as do other things. Sell by dates on sealed jars of jams and chutneys are ignored by me.

I have got into a habit of freezing tired but not really manky veg to use in soups. Those packs of tasty leaf salad you cannot manage to eat before they go off. I freeze them and use in a lovely soup recipe.

Deffo a userupper and so is husband. I also do the fabric thing Indinana. I run my little language school and the kids do a theatrical production every year. The clothes for the little actors and actresses come out of my fabric box - I rarely buy any fabric for them - and my wardrobe of old clothes come in handy too. Husbands workshop is an aladin's cave for anyone who is into mechanicking - is that a word? And he is forever using up old bits to make new things - the fruit cage for the strawberries this year was something else before - as was the shelving in my mothers library - an old wardrobe, i believe. The list goes on...

I throw out anything past its sell- by date except for herbs and spices and even those I do check from time to time. I tend to be a daily shopper so food usually gets used anyway and there isn't much to throw out. DH would eat things regardless so.i have to discard before he gets his hands on them. I had to laugh about Jacky's garden rake with the one "tooth" as it sounds so familiar. We have a few rusty implements too but they won't be thrown away. I have to double wrap anything I want to get rid of so that it's not on show from a cursory look inside the bin liner.

I'm a User-Upper, I quite enjoy the challenge of creating a menu (for myself) based on what's gone out of date.
Mrs.HBZ is a Thrower outer and it's drives me nuts.

Steve "HoweBzar" (HBZ)

Definitely a user up. Food is used never thrown out even if over date. Otherwise I freeze it. we have a quick sniff, cook it and eat it. Don't think many younger folk do the same, it's just thrown away if a day or two over. Apparently every family throws out £20 of food a week, well someone else Is taking my share.

Definitely a user-upper-comes from being brought up by a family who lived through the war and,before that,in a small mining community where life was tough.
I always use food up and clothes are kept,re-modelled or given to charity shops.Old sheets become rags for cleaning though I draw the line at cutting and sewing them "edges to middle" as my gran did!
Re-cycling and thrift are second nature to me but I guess that makes me quite trendy!

I think I am a user upper but when it comes to food I usually end up throwing it away as I have saved it to use up for far too long - note to self - just throw it away!!

I'm so on your case! I hate throwing out food and fabric. My daughter and I have a saying for using up bits of food that needs to be dealt with - ready, steady, cook!!! I did come unstuck yesterday though - needed to use up some mushrooms and some milk so decided to make some soup. Milk smelt ok and was only a day out but when added to the mushrooms etc. It curdled!! I wasn't very happy as the whole lot had to be ditched.

When I was young my mother was a nightmare for leaving things to go blue-mouldy in the fridge. Her hygiene was nonexistent and she would store cooked and uncooked meat together and open.

My sister's reaction to this is to 'buy and chuck' on the whole while mine is mixed. This morning, ahead of going away for a week, I sorted the fridge out. Things clearly 'gone' like salads my son bought which are now liquid in the bags went straight in the bin. However, I found various veg like peppers, cherry tomatoes, onions, peppers and mushrooms, and have roasted them for filo tarts and for freezing.

I will also keep things way past their sell-by if they smell and look fresh or even 'fresh enough'. I have never, ever thrown an egg away for being too old and I have never had a bad egg. I have a small bottle of beer that I bought when my son was born in the back of my cupboard. He is 27.

i'm a bit of both. if there's something in the fridge we took out of the freezer to cook and haven't actually got around to it then it's thrown out [reluctantly i must admit]. and the leftovers from the childrens' meals are scraped into the bin - not worth keeping.
i don't take much notice of use by dates - especially tins and herbs - and if food looks and smells ok then it's usually ok to eat ........... never poisoned myself or my family yet!
but i've got clothes in my wardrobes which have been there for at least 15 years!! can't get into them as i put weight on but maybe one day i'll be able to get into them again - i don't keep track of fashion but, if i like a top then i'll wear it however old it is!
and i'm a hoarder - there's loads of stuff in my house which has been kept "just in case" - if it's broken then it's waiting to be repaired!!!

I used to be a user upper.

Then my daughter became dangerously ill ( along with 12 other people at the same wedding ) suffering for over a year, from eating something that was well past its sell by / use by date.

Now I am a lot more cautious.

Both, depending on what it is!

User upper. Again,not just food - those hanger/ribbons in clothes - get used in card making; ends of balls of wool - used to make blankets for Dogs' Trust or makes for the homeless - that's just to name a few areas where I use up.

My husband SAYS he's a user-upper, but in fact he collects odds and ends, saying that they might come in useful.

Do you have any ideas for his latest? - two of those lidded coin containers that were used by bus drivers.

I'm definitely a user upper!! My DD throws so much fresh fruit and veg away it's criminal! When you think l am caring for the DGC1&2 so she can go to work and not pay out for Childcare. What a waste?