How much is enough...

I've been getting a lot of questions about TLC's Extreme Couponing show.  What's the story on this?  Are these people hoarders?  How many bottles of shampoo and boxes of pasta does one need?

I finally watched an episode, and while I am not Dr. Phil, I can see some obsessive/compulsive tendencies at work here:  The couponer's excessive attention to the search and finding of the coupons, then the high of the planning of the attack on the store, the frantic move through the store to gather all the products, their glee going through the checkout line, and finally, standing over their latest haul while they turn their spare rooms, attics and garages into mini-grocery stores. 

From a Professional Organizer's stand point, there's not a lot of difference between a garage full of Christmas decorations, a million past issues of National Geographic, or one full of boxes of cereal.  The extreme collection of items, the attachment to the process, and unwillingness to let go or even use the items, and the loss of the use of the space for what it was intended - all point to something that I am asked to deal with on a daily basis.

Of course, what you choose to keep in your garage is totally up to you and it doesn't make you subject to being strait-jacketed because you don't choose to park your car there.  It's only a problem is if it's a problem for you or your family. If one day you find yourself standing in the garage entry and saying "this has got to stop", and then you head for the local A&P for more...then you've got a problem.

The photo above is from TLC.  I wonder who thought plunking ONE green thing in a plastic bag on the top of the potato chips, hot dogs and bottles of peanuts, would make this all okay?