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Hoarding Help Message Boards : Why Do You Hoard? (NEW!) : Fear of things becoming unavailable as a hoarding trigger
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Fear of things becoming unavailable as a hoarding trigger
   

ShedTheShame
Posted: 29 March 2016 - 07:19 PM
For YEARS I did not have a floor mop that I liked. The one I used for the longest time had a black plastic handle you had to grip to wring out the mop, and it would stain my hands black. I tried wearing rubber gloves to prevent my hands from getting stained. But my hands would get all sweaty inside the gloves, and that was a turn off to mopping the floor.

Finally, I found the mop of my dreams. It spins dry, so no more wringing. I love how easy it is on my hands and how I no longer end up with stained hands! The mop head size is perfect for me - not too big, not too small. The mop head is easily washed and re-used. I can honestly say that I enjoy mopping my floor now!

A couple months after I got my dream mop, I got a promo email from the company with the same model on sale for a GREAT price. The compulsive hoarder in me said, "You need to buy a spare for backup in case anything goes wrong with your dream mop. AND it's on sale for an amazing price!"

The reason it was on clearance is because they came out with a new model. I'm actually not interested in the newer model because the mop head is oversized. It's a European company, and apparently the US distributor is now only offering the oversized mop head. (Maybe because in America the tendency is to go for bigger & better? I dunno.)

Anyway, I resisted the urge to buy the spare mop. Even though unassembled, the box isn't very big. I told myself, "Maybe the box isn't that big. but it's one more box to store when you already have more possessions than can fit in your cupboards and closets."

I was proud of myself for resisting that urge. But every time I mop, I worry about my mop breaking. And how I won't be able to get another one in this same size. And how the oversized model is going to be too unwieldy for me.

Then I have to remind myself, "You're worrying about something that hasn't happened yet! Be present in the moment. Yes, maybe this mop will break. Nothing lasts forever. But you don't know what will be available if and when that happens. There could be an even BETTER mop available at that time. So calm the heck down."

These are the types of never-ending debates that go on inside my head. Yes, I was able to talk myself down from the floor-mopping ledge this time - but the process is nevertheless exhausting.
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CriticalMass
Posted: 05 March 2016 - 02:03 PM
"Discontinued"

"Out of Print"

"New and Improved" - but it's not, and I want the older one to still be available!

I have long been a book hound, since way, way before Amazon. And a person who likes re-reading favorite books. I vividly recall the days when it was difficult if not impossible to get an out of print book. Now it is much easier - for most of them. But when it was more difficult, that was a factor behind a lifelong habit of collecting and hoarding books. It gave me a sense of power.

I also have an OCD completeness quirk. I remember clear back in grade school, sometimes I'd be reading a series of books and the library would only have certain ones of the series. Maybe the public library would have some of them. But sometimes neither library did. I always thought that was stupid why the libraries didn't make sure all the books of a series were available for readers! When I was in college I learned to use Interlibrary Loan. But I still wanted not to have to give up the book that was so difficult to find. I even xeroxed some of them! And still have some of my pirated copies, which I'm going to replace with legitimate copies and then recycle the xeroxed ones - but only of the real "keepers."

I've come quite a ways in learning which books are truly keepers, too. If it's a popular author and I can find the books readily enough at the library, I'm getting rid of my copies of those if they aren't ones I'll want to read over and over.

Discontinued products - that's a driving force behind compulsive acquisition. And stores seem to discontinue things ever more rapidly. But I'm working on self-talk about this anxiety. Telling myself "Let It Go!" so much that I sound like Elsa in Frozen, LOL. Still, there are times when it's annoying to not feel pressured to make a decision on something I'd kind of like to purchase, but maybe could talk myself out of. The fear of it being discontinued tempts me to go ahead and buy it. Here, too, Ebay and Amazon are somewhat helpful. If I can tell myself not to buy the thing, and that if I later decide to get it I can get it online, sometimes I'll forget about it. It's like having an inner 3-year-old at the grocery store! Sometimes if you can distract them they'll forget about the candy bar. Sometimes. ;)

"New and Improved" - I hate change. Gee, is that a hoarder thing or what! But there are times when the newer version of a product really doesn't have a property I appreciated in the older one, or is cheaply made and a waste of money. So I hoard some things for that "they don't make 'em like they used to" reason. Toothbrushes - I want the old-fashioned straight handled ones and I found some on clearance, so I have toothbrushes for as long as I have teeth or am alive to brush them. But those don't take up too much space, so I am okay with that. Older style lightbulbs that don't bother my eyes the way CFLs and LEDs and all these newer kinds do - I have a hoard of those too. I wanted to hoard more but didn't have the money to buy them when they were being discontinued. But what I have should do, and again is not taking up a huge amount of space.

Okay, who else wants to cop to their experiences with these hoarding triggers?
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Hoarding Help Message Boards : Why Do You Hoard? (NEW!) : Fear of things becoming unavailable as a hoarding trigger

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