3 pairs of scissors!!!

We used to have a skip every couple of years,but they've shot up in price recently.

Sneak tactics. take those yellowing papers from the bottom and quietly put stuff aside to bin and wait and see if he notices!
What really worries me is the amount of paperwork he keeps.He keeps till receipts and bank statements going back years. He has all the documentation for all the cars we have ever had. I say to him "Doesn't it worry you that I will have to work through a forest of paper when you drop off your perch". His answer is "No. Because I will be dead and have nothing to worry about.

I'm finding great comfort in reading these posts,as my DH is the same. His answer is that he needs more space for his stuff. What's the benefit of keeping every single magazine that you buy,might read,will never read,never know you have? Don't get me started on piles of newspapers...at least with those they can be gently disrupted so they fall over. Jenga for adults. What a shame that quiet persistent discussion ,or even a fishwife special rant makes no difference. Anyone have any helpful suggestions?

He knows he has a problem and wills himself, sometimes, to look away when I'm suggesting a clear-out. People like him get terrified of losing stuff that might have a use. The best I can do is to say it is going to a Charity shop, or, in the case of worn-out clothes, to be recycled as carpet underlay. It's discardment leading to destruction that bothers him. I try to be positive. He is so frugal it allows me to spend. He is generous with money and is wonderful with his children and grandchildren; helps with housework and is fastidious with personal appearance. You can't have everything, can you?

We or rather " He" also has an old chest of drawers in the shed,filled with stuff which may one day be needed/useful. I just think about if/when we have to move. He says he will sort it out, and has spent several afternoons doing just this, but the sorting out so faradds up to ONE thing being thrown away. This is going to be a long, and painful job

Beammeupscottie It seems that your DH has developed an attachment to things .
unfortunately even if you manage to sneak some stuff into the bin , it will mostly likely be replaced with other stuff.

A friends mother collects newspapers and bottles, she does recognise that she has a problem and will allow her daughter to have the occasional sort out .
However the newspapers and bottles soon build up again.

I suppose it depends if your DH thinks he has problem.
Will your DH talk to you about why he feels he needs to keep so much?

Your GN name is probably very apt & expresses how you feel.

PRINTMISS, don't dispose of your chest of drawers, Upcycle it and sell it for a fortune a la " Money for Nothing" programme.

I try to sneak his rubbish in the bin when he is out. I hide stuff at the bottom. Sometimes he finds something and brings it back in and starts ranting that I have no right to throw away his things. It's a battle,

Beammeupscottie I think its in the genes!
I'm sure early caveman had a very useful stash of mammoth bones and flints

I feel like weeping sometimes when I see what he is hanging on to;
Old stereo equipment from the seventies; old batteries; old curtains for dust covers; old shoes; old clothes; unused furniture and table/standard lamps; old tins of paint and terrible old brushes for said paint. Old newspapers; books, magazines and brochures/leaflets. And one old woman who is nearly at the end of her tether.

Beam me up scottie, yes. I too will get a skip... one a week for quite a while. Mind you I hoard too, old lawnmowers and garden stuff. Lots of good intentions.

Thanks choc, just watched M M's 'Man Drawer', hadn't seen it before. Can't remember when I last laughed so much!

My interpretation of a great wife - definitely not me, my head is a bucket!

My DH has turned the garage into his workshop, I swear he has every tool known to man, throws away everything he doesn't need/want and knows where everything is. He'd have made someone a great wife

Vampire My DH has kept his drills/toolbox/and everything else known to man in the boiler cupboard for the past 8yrs and anything that wasn't being used on a regular basis was stored in the loft and we also had no outdoor space,but hey-ho our new bungalow had the base for a "man-shed" and the DCs bought him a shed for his birthday last week and everything has been moved outdoors along with a comfy chair and radio he can even pick up wi-fi,so my home is clutter free at last and he is under order's not to let anything creep inside again.

Just watched the Michael McIntyre man drawer sketch. Absolutely brilliant .

I've never been in a loft because my grandma told me when I was young that not only did the bogeyman live in lofts but that he threw big spiders at your head. Now whilst I don't believe that I will run into the bogeyman up there I can't quite shake off the idea that giant spiders will hurl themselves at my head as soon as it pops up through the hatch.

DH has not only one man drawer but a three drawer chest of drawers and two stacking tool boxes with drawers as well as the lift up toolbox bit. The drills (yes plural) live in their boxes on top of the chest of drawers. The mitre saw, jigsaw and sander live on a shelf in the boiler cupboard. We don't have a garage or room for a shed so everything has to live in the house.

Same here Beammeupscottie & NanaK, several skips would be needed which are not available here in rural France. My husband has two barns full of useful stuff and now has shed envy after seeing a friend's new shed. I have put my foot down firmly.

Well now, yesterday we finally did it. Yes! we emptied the old chest of drawers which has been standing in the corner of the garage inaccessible for ever. I have arranged for someone to come from Amberley Museum and take away all the old tools etc., which had been collected over the years - must admit I was tempted to save some, but only for sentimental reasons, but no, they have all been sorted and in a pile ready for Tuesday. Then we have to dispose of the chest of drawers and some other bits and pieces, but we should have a nice clear garage before the winter sets it - see, I am giving myself plenty of time.

DH is just about to put up shed no4 (they are not small) and is promising to remove the motorbike and parts from my Dining room along with the parts that are in kitchen cupboards and hallway ! He has the biggest load of junk stuff going, he even has more bloody motorbikes stored with friends 400 miles away. Every part he buys (£300 on ebay last month) is as rare as hens teeth !!! I have banned him from every selling site and wont even but the local paper as it has a for sale section. But seemingly it is our pension fund and i should be glad that he can spot a bargain.
Dont start my on the "just in case" box in the bottom shed, junk just absoloute junk

Cherrytree I didn't know the person giving the gift had to attach the money to it then the recipient give it back - we've been doing it wrong all these years!!

Michael macintyre's sketch about the man drawer in the kitchen is so true to life! In my kitchen dh has one man drawer and three cupboards! However being an engineer he does repair everything.........but he does have a huge shed just a few minutes walk away.

Mine is just as bad - I refuse to go into the garage, it looks like one of those hoarder programmes! He's had to rent a second garage for his beloved vintage sports car as it won't fit in ours. Said car never goes anywhere, just sits in its garage after DH spent a fortune restoring the thing. I have to watch him like a hawk as he tries to take over bits of the utility room with more 'stuff'. Grrrrr.

Vampire queen I agree
there are sheds and garages the length and breadth UK full of male paraphernalia that's far too important to be skipped .
They can even watch the TV programme Shed and Buried

Nana They must have used the same mould

Oh heck. I didn't know that Jalima!
Is there a time limit, will Monday be too late?
Three pairs of scissors=three lots of bad luck

Now you come to mention it I remember my mother giving an electric knife as a present and doing something similar.