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I am afraid of being poor, of not having enough money to get what I need. I always need a stash of things that I can use to "make do"....a survivalist mentality. But the bad thing is I have more than one of everything because I can never find what I want when I need it and end up buying a new one, anyhow. (which makes me wonder why I bothered to keep the first one, like can openers....I probably have 4 in my kitchen, right now....but can't find them....)
I was raised by people who survived the Great Depression when you really did have to wear out EVERYTHING before you replaced it. (What if they quit making this ____ then what will I do?) Stacks of stuff lined the walls of everyone I knew. It has been a way of life. I am always looking for a good deal, to make my money go farther.
But things are starting to get out of hand....as people die and leave mountains of stuff for me to assimilate into my house.....it's not sentimental attachment, it's fear of Waste Not, Want NOT.
My spouse has the same thing going on, and we are having to deal with his widowed mother down sizing to an apartment from a big farm house. (It's so much easier to see when it's someone else's problem.....why can't my husband put his tools away....it's the same reason I can be reading 5 books at the same time with them left in abandoned piles.)
But I do see disaster looming. Pat is very "crazy" about her possessions in a life-and-death manner. I would find it liberating to be told to pick the best of everything I own and walk away from the rest....let someone else handle the yard sale....I love the idea of taking bare necessities and traveling, but this is exactly what puts my MIL in panic-mode. I know she is going to bring too much to the new house and morn all the things she left behind. I think Dave is right in guessing that she has a lottery idea that one of her treasures will be "discovered" on Antique Roadshow and sell for enough to save the family farm.
My own issue is a matter of not having enough trust in my present lifestyle. I am not hurting for anything, yet find myself stockpiling for future disaster. I can see myself using the "I will not starve" montra as I discard things...better yet, I'll try "God will provide"...
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