pack rats

I think I am a pack rat 

    Jackie asked me about the 3 t-shirts I have sitting on a chair.  I said I am saving them for someone doing kid crafts who may need shirts to protect clothing.

    Then I started looking around.

    I have 3 tubs of old batteries.   They were in flashlights, radios, smoke detectors...and other small devices.   I took 1 tub to a battery shop in Sycamore last week only to discover the battery shop was not in Sycamore.  It's in Rockford.  

    I have a bag of paper towel  and TP rolls.  Again, saving for someone's craft project.

    My box of wine corks is almost full.  I hopefully will find someone who can use them for a craft.

    Last week I went to hang a picture.  I brought up 4 white nails and a box of larger nails, just in case.

    I used 1 white nail.  The other 3  I took back down to the basement and put in the correct drawer with the hundreds of other white nails.  I just could not throw them in the trash.

    Aluminum cans?  They  go  in a container that when full goes  to Eswood School in Lindenwood because they do a can collection to raise money.  

    Scrap paper gets saved to use for Wordle.  I make anagrams using the letters I know plus letters I think would fit.  Sometimes it takes a lot of paper.

    Plastic take out containers get stored in the drawer under the oven.   These are great for sending home leftovers and not having to worry about getting the containers back.

    But all that saving has a cost.  Sometimes the stuff piles up to the point where I have to do something, like with the 2 garbage bags of plant pots that could find new life at the high school if I contact them.

    Or the 2 boxes of wood flooring scraps I saved for use in backyard campfires.  I have had the boxes stacked in a corner of the garage since the floors were installed.  That was 2012.   Not a single piece has been burned.

    Then there is the laminate counter top that would be great for someone's workshop.

   And the 5,000 lottery tickets that I have not tossed because I want to check them again to be sure I did not win any money.  Well, maybe not 5,000, but a lot.  Several.  A few.  Whatever.

    If only I could save dollars like I save crap!  I could retire!

    Oh, wait.  I am retired.

    I just need incentive to get rid of it all.

Peace and Love