Lovely, this might be a form of anxiety. Dad has cognitive issues, possibly dementia? We talk a lot on this site about people with dementia who obsess about anything and everything. My mom was one and I know how frustrating and confusing this can be. Add to that the fact that your father gets angry and defensive about his spending and that makes it worse. Have you considered someone getting POA for your father? That would give them power over Dad’s finances. He’d get a certain amount each month and that’s it. Are his bills current?
Try this...chances are when dad goes binge spending, he doesn’t remember what he bought. A day or so later, one of you take him out for lunch or whatever. Someone else go to his house with a cooler and grocery bags and reduce the inventory. Throw out spoiled food. Then take the rest home. If you feel guilty about keeping and using it, donate it to a food bank. Maybe when Dad was younger his family went without food. He may be afraid that will happen again. People of that age often live in the past and it may seem to him like just yesterday he spent a lot of time hungry.
Keep a close eye on his finances. If bills are going unpaid because he’s binge spending on groceries, you are gong to have to find a way to step in.
Lovely244, I am a bit confused by your post, so help me understand. With all the bad weather the nation has been having, are you saying on clear days your Dad wants to stock up on food and other supplies?
It's kinda like how the grocery stores are packed with customers whenever there is a report of a pending snow storm.
My Dad was a storm watcher, totally obsessed with weather as a hobby. That comes from him living on a farm in the mid-west, where weather reports were very important. He would call me telling me that the schools were closed in Chicago due to snow. Ok, since we both lived in Virginia I didn't see the connection. But it gave Dad a bit of adrenaline.
Hi. What i am saying is, he is a bot fixated on food mainly in the summertime. Wants to gain weight, but at 90 that is not going to happen. Thinks he is 50 years old ! He is eating more in the summer also. My question has nothing to do with the bad weather we have in todays world. He mainly buys too much food and we cannot tell him not to because he dosent listen and says its his money and he can spend it as he sees fit.
Try this...chances are when dad goes binge spending, he doesn’t remember what he bought. A day or so later, one of you take him out for lunch or whatever. Someone else go to his house with a cooler and grocery bags and reduce the inventory. Throw out spoiled food. Then take the rest home. If you feel guilty about keeping and using it, donate it to a food bank. Maybe when Dad was younger his family went without food. He may be afraid that will happen again. People of that age often live in the past and it may seem to him like just yesterday he spent a lot of time hungry.
Keep a close eye on his finances. If bills are going unpaid because he’s binge spending on groceries, you are gong to have to find a way to step in.
It's kinda like how the grocery stores are packed with customers whenever there is a report of a pending snow storm.
My Dad was a storm watcher, totally obsessed with weather as a hobby. That comes from him living on a farm in the mid-west, where weather reports were very important. He would call me telling me that the schools were closed in Chicago due to snow. Ok, since we both lived in Virginia I didn't see the connection. But it gave Dad a bit of adrenaline.