Hi Ellen :)

I had that same problem!
This is what I did to make it a little better.
First, I stopped buying him socks and told him he would have to buy his own socks from now on.
Then I took ALL his socks and dumped them out on the bed.
It made a HUGE mountain of socks. LOL
Had him sit there and sort them all out and toss the ones with holes or that he did not like.
Once he had them all sorted I told him to put all the "keepers" in the one dresser drawer.
The drawer over flowed since there were still so many and a lot of unopened packages too.
I then asked him if he still needed to buy more socks and he said that he had enough, for now.

Sometimes people need to see all of what they have.
When things are out of sight in dressers, closets, boxes or bins they don't realize just what they have and fear they need more.
Many people need a way to store their things so they can visually assess just how much they have.

Good luck with your sock problem. :)

On Black Friday a local chain store has 1/2 price on any socks. My hubby has probably over 100 pairs of socks that are not opened. He wants me to buy more. Twice I took 2 eight packs of nice thick Nike socks to a drive for the Homeless and he did not even notice. Help!

I took an early evening nap. Now I'm awake in the middle of the night and doing some "cruising" of older posts before I hit the sack again.

Ah, the sock question. I may discuss the oh-so-important (ha) issue of my colored socks at another time. These days, I'm more inclined most days to wear just plain old white socks with blue jeans. I started to go to the doctor Thursday and discovered that my latest collection of white socks contained almost no socks that looked decent. I started trying to trim off stray threads to improve their looks, but it was futile. Fortunately, he didn't end up needing to look at my socks. : )

I decided a while back that I deserved socks that didn't have holes in the toes, and that when they got to that point (too thin or with holes), it would be time to buy a new package. (Obviously, I haven't bought a new package lately, or else I wouldn't have had so much trouble getting ready for my doc visit.)

I decided that I would give my "holey socks" one last, good use before tossing them. I use them to dust my computer desk or something, then toss the dirty sock. I think my conclusion after reading these posts is that it's time for a new package and lots of dusting.

As I've said in posts elsewhere, it's a major step forward for me to be willing to throw away any type of clothing, any "cloth" item. Next step: buy another package of socks. I like the packages of six pairs each. That way, they all match each other.

Time to hit the sack again. Tomorrow or Monday I can hit the socks.

27 pairs of socks! You play hardball!

I don't think I can do that, but again, that reminds me about how you think and that is a very helpful parameter to be carrying in my mind.

I am seeing if I can recreate part of the open sorting space in the living room and draggin 6-7 boxes of other stuff upstairs, things that I think will be easier for me to deal with with the reminder from you and Mrs Dave looking over my shoulder. I am hoping I can get up to the 90% range on those boxes for trash, recycle or donate.

Thanks for the push!

I just checked and I have 27 pair of assorted thicknesses of socks that take up a space of 12 inches by 8 inches in one drawer.
I do wear socks all the time except in the summer but even then I put on socks at night after I moistureize my feet.
Mr Hoarder has hundreds of socks and yet he always feels that he doesn't have enough and often buys more & more and he never tosses out any old worn out socks & keeps them mixed in with all his other socks.
He keeps his socks everywhere but he does have two dresser drawers stuffed with socks.
Marty likes to sleep in the drawer because it is never closed. :D

diane,

The immediate problem I was working on with emptying the 2 dresser drawers was being able to have some working room to keep a cleaned off bed clean. The two boxes have gone to a cleaned out space in the living room (another problem). I can't deal with a final "sock solution" at the moment because of other more pressing sorting needs.

The details of a final solution will differ somewhat for each of us; however, I think there are two common starting points that we can each use to go towards the final solution. The first starting point is a constraint, that of space. You live in a trailer, I live in a house with a basement. The other end is needs (and desires). Based on such personal characteristics such as lifestyle, physical issues such as allergies, psychological issues such as loose socks to sleep in, and so on, what types of "under shoe" footwear do we need?

Bringing the keep or go types of questions such as; Do I like this? Will I use this? Is it what Dr. Zasio calls a "classic" item I need one or two of regardless of frequency of use? to what we have "in stock" will then hopefully get us to a more rational level of socks in our lives.

Thanks Dave, nice to know someone has as many sox as I have. I was afraid to admit I had a drawer of each color and we are talking big drawers, thanks for being so honest. I would think I could get rid of 80% and still have enough. Thrift stores are so easy to acquire excess. I have 5 pair of really good wool sox I bought for .50 each. I have only one pair in a year, but looking at them, and how good they are, how can I give them away? I bought several pairs of cross country ski sox from sports store several years ago, they are still in original packaging, never worn, so how could I give them away? I tell myself, they don't take up much room so it is ok, well it is not ok to hoard and be indecisive. Nice you understand what I am saying.

Dave how did you decide how many pair of socks did you decide to keep. I have way way way too many. I have a big batch of singles, that I have saved to match up. I think years of hanging on to singles is hoarding. Now that they are all in one place, I can see how ridiculous it is.
Love the stones and their motto, yes, you can!