Are you a pack rat?

[zoebartlett]

I graduated from college 12 years ago. I ended up keeping a lot of the papers/essays I had written for various classes, and now I''m looking at this massive pile that I need to deal with. Part of me thinks that they''d be fun to read over in X amount of years. Another part of me wants to dump them in the trash. I love the feeling of getting rid of stuff, but it''s just so hard to let go of. I think I''m the worst pack rat when it comes to books, papers, and clothes. "I''ll read that someday." "I could wear that again." Yeah. Sure.

If you''re a pack rat, what do you hang onto? Why?

 

[ladypirate]

I''m not a pack rat at all (BF''s comment last night while going through old clothes: "I love how you''re not attached to anything."), but I used to be. My epiphany came after college when I graduated and realized I was never going to look at any of this stuff again. I did a mass purge of papers, notebooks, etc.

My favorite rule for getting rid of stuff: if you''re on the fence, put it in a box in storage. If you don''t miss it for the next year, you won''t. Granted, there have been a couple of things I''ve gotten rid of and later missed, but those instances have been few and far between. I do something similar with clothes--if I haven''t worn it for the last year or it doesn''t fit properly/I don''t like the way I look in it, I give it to Goodwill. I only want things I wear in my closet.

The one thing I still remain a pack rat with is books--I have a ton of them, but I love to read and often read books over again so I don''t feel so bad about that.

Another idea with the papers/essays is to put electronic copies onto a cd-rom. That will take up far less space than the actual paper copies, and then you''ll still have them!

 

[kcoursolle]

I used to be a packrat when I was a child, but then somewhere down the line I changed. Now I am almost a minimalist and throw out/donate stuff almost continuously. Everytime I buy some new clothes I donate an equal or larger number of items. I''m not sure how it happened, but I love having an uncluttered house now. It drives DH nuts, because he wants to save everything. However, he also realizes that it''s easier to clean the house when we have less stuff and goes along with it as long as I let him decide what he should throw away from his stuff.

When I was a packrat I used to save almost everything. I used to save stuffed animals from my childhood even when I was older. I also used to save all of my homework assignments, receipts in a big box, old clothes that didn''t fit me (and never would fit me again), etc.

 

[shortee78]

I''m definitely an anti-packrat. I hate clutter, and I get a rush of instant gratification whenever I throw away a lot of stuff at once Luckily for me, my husband is also an anti-packrat. It would drive me crazy if I saw my house filled with clutter.

I think I am such an anti-packrat because my mom was the exact opposite, and I hated how cluttered the house always used to look.

I second Ladypirate''s idea of getting electronic copies of your documents

 

[zoebartlett]

I''ll admit to having a few stuffed animals in a box. I''ve kept my favorites, and one just because there''s a story attached to it. When I was about 6, I had a friend who was running away. She had it all planned. She was going to take the train to her grandma''s house, and her grandma would take her in. She gave me one of her teddy bears to keep, kind of as a token of our friendship or something like that. I went home and put Strawberry Shortcake perfume all over the bear. I dragged it with me everywhere, and although it''s a little worn, the bear looks pretty good. Anyway, of course my friend never ran away but she never asked for the bear back either. Okay, totally random story, but this is just one example of what I hang onto and why. I can''t get myself to throw it out.

My FI and I would LOVE to become minimalists but it''s just so hard to actually keep a minimal amount of things.

We''re there in thought though...

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

I''ll admit that I am also guilty of having the piles of papers from college (and a few from high school even). I do enjoy going back and reading these papers - if anything they are proof that perspectives do change over the years. I couldn''t bear to part with them, as I felt some day they may serve as very good reminders of how I thought when I was 16 (perhaps when I have a child of my own). So, I scanned all the papers into a file which I burned a copy of. Now I can still read all my old papers without all the clutter

 

[ladypirate]

Date: 6/16/2008 5:25:33 PM
Author: kcoursolle
I used to be a packrat when I was a child, but then somewhere down the line I changed. Now I am almost a minimalist and throw out/donate stuff almost continuously. Everytime I buy some new clothes I donate an equal or larger number of items. I'm not sure how it happened, but I love having an uncluttered house now. It drives DH nuts, because he wants to save everything. However, he also realizes that it's easier to clean the house when we have less stuff and goes along with it as long as I let him decide what he should throw away from his stuff.

When I was a packrat I used to save almost everything. I used to save stuffed animals from my childhood even when I was older. I also used to save all of my homework assignments, receipts in a big box, old clothes that didn't fit me (and never would fit me again), etc.

I do admit to saving receipts, but it's because we enter them into a spreadsheet to keep track of spending. At least they're in a file and not just a big box!

ETA: I also have a couple of stuffed animals that have special meaning attached--I don't think there's anything wrong with sentimental things, as long as there are only a couple of them!

 

[gwendolyn]

I was until I moved across the Atlantic. You learn how to downsize pretty quickly when you've got two suitcases to store what you'll need for a couple of years.

 

[fleur-de-lis]

If it helps, I found that if I allowed myself to keep the 10% of which I was most proud, I had no problem tossing the other 90%.

Interestingly enough, I selected hardly anything from my major, but to this day I still think my in-class notes form my astrophysics classes are a thing to behold for their beauty. Which projects of yours are your favorites?

 

[diamondfan]

I have a throwing out phobia. I hate to do it, since I know the minute I do toss things I will want them again! I also have moments where I am merciless and toss tons of stuff, but it takes a lot for me to get there. I hoard and stockpile it is really not good.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 6/16/2008 5:53:15 PM
Author: fleur-de-lis
If it helps, I found that if I allowed myself to keep the 10% of which I was most proud, I had no problem tossing the other 90%.

Interestingly enough, I selected hardly anything from my major, but to this day I still think my in-class notes form my astrophysics classes are a thing to behold for their beauty. Which projects of yours are your favorites?

Who, me?

Actually, I was a history major in college but I have my masters in education. So, really, the papers from college aren''t as interesting to me anymore. I went from publishing to teaching, and never needed those darn history papers again. I thought I may need them again to help me study for the Praxis (test) when I had to meet "Highly Qualified" status to continue teaching. I never looked at them once. I do still have my education books and papers though. Those may come in handy...for real.


Okay, they''re gone. In the trash. It felt GOOD! What else can I go through? Books. Yes, movin'' on to books. Oh this is going to be fun.

 

[jewelerman]

I just graduated a year ago and had to face the same challenge...I kept only what one storage tub could hold and then made sure i had the rest on discs...I kept only a few books so i would have room for my jewelry and watch research books...I keep all reciepts in a single folder and go through them every 6 months...i used to keep clothes for years but found that i can get by with less in my closet...but i do keep ties and shoes for way too long.

 

[Circe]

To paraphrase the old Hair Club for men ads - I''m not just a pack-rat, I''m their queen. I collect everything under the sun (anything shiny, sharp, made of velvet (bonus points for hitting the trifecta), peacocks, perfume, pens (this section brought to you by the letter "P"), books, paintings, weird little toys ... seriously, everything), and I find it impossible to part with any of it. Occasionally - like, say, if I move - I''ll weed out some of it: but then I find myself missing completely useless items. I moved to California last summer, and gave away a ton of winter clothing ... but once in a while, I''ll still find myself thinking wistfully about, oh, my black Burberry winter coat. And the hell of it is, I actually kept an identical red one! That I haven''t had any reason to wear in over a year!

It''s a sickness, I tell you (or is if it gets to the level of hoarding, anyway): the only cure I know is William Morris''s: keep nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. The only problem is in the subjectivity of those decisions ....

 

[isaku5]

Well, I''m definitely not a pack rat, but DH takes the concept to extremes!

During the last year we''ve been renovating and redecorating, and I had hoped that he''d get the "urge to purge" along with me. Not a chance. This man will throw nothing out. As a result, our basement, garage, and a corner of our backyard are totally jam-packed.

Everyone in the family has offered their help to clean up, but the answer is always the same, "I want to do it myself." That would be great if he actually did something, but instead the junk keeps spreading like a virus

.

It''s reached the point where counselling is needed, but he won''t agree to that either. Anyone have suggestions for me? I''m desperate

 

[monarch64]

As long as I have adequate space to store things that aren''t being used in an organized manner I hang onto them. The minute a closet or other space starts to overflow I go into purge mode, though. I tend to go through clothing twice a year when I "season-ize" our closets, so I donate things that no longer fit, are out of style, or just won''t be worn again in this decade. I''m bad about saving cards and letters...I have a couple large plastic bins full of correspondence from my family and friends. I do throw out paper media every so often...magazines, newspapers, things I''ve saved for some reason that don''t get used because I didn''t make a scrapbook, or use a recipe, get recycled.

I guess I am somewhat of a pack rat, but I also hate clutter. I just purge on an as-needed basis. It''s that whole "everything in moderation" thing with me.

 

[iheartscience]

I am a total packrat!

I keep clothes for way too long, although I do take a lot of clothes to this boutiquey consignment shop in my area 3 or 4 times a year. It''s just so hard for me to get rid of clothing, especially if I still like it, even if I just plain don''t wear it.

I also keep every book I buy or get as a gift, so I have literally hundreds, but I can''t bear the thought of not having them! However, I pretty much never reread books because I can always remember everything that happened, so I should just get rid of them or take them to a book exchange or something.

I went through a Japanese collector toy phase so I have tons of cool little Japanese toys. They''re neatly displayed in a cool case, though, so I don''t mind them.

What else...I still have notes and pictures and such from old boyfriends...each one has his own box.

I also keep really random mementos that I find or buy...I have a little clump of lambswool from when I went to some farm in like the second grade.

I have a bunch of shoe boxes full of little mementos and stuff that I call my sentimental value boxes, and I move them with me every time I move. I just have to have them with me!

I''ve gotten a lot better about it in the last couple of years, and I actually do like throwing stuff out sometimes. Last weekend I went through all of my old papers and notes from the last two semesters and tossed them and it felt so good!

 

[Selkie]

Date: 6/16/2008 9:04:35 PM
Author: Circe
I collect everything under the sun (anything shiny, sharp, made of velvet (bonus points for hitting the trifecta)

Well, that conjures some amusing images!

Zoe, my parents' attic is still full of old college papers, plus a Mac SE that REALLY needs to go to the electronic graveyard in the sky. I like the idea of scanning the papers, I'll have to do that next time I'm in MA.

 

[miraclesrule]

OMG, I''m not alone....

When I was caring for my father, it disgusted me how much crap I had to go through all the time. Granted he was sick, mentally and physically, but one day I got really scared. My Mom and Dad had been divorced forever and my Mom was remarried. They recently retired. I got really sick at work one day and had to have my Mom and StepDad come and get me and one of them drive my car to their house as it is close to my work. I was still lying in my Mom''s bed, when I looked around the room and realized that all her clothes were stacked on the floor because she never cleaned anything out of her closet. Then I looked around and realized that they had EVERYTHING they have every had. I totally freaked out...between vomiting...and told my Mom that between her and my biological Father, I was toast. I must have gone on and on about it because my Mom called me a few weeks later to say that she had gone through her closet and tossed almost everything out. She even found a lot of cute keepsakes from when me and my siblings were little.

For Mother''s Day this year I asked my daughter to either buy me a personal consultation with a space planner or a subscription to an online ebook I found called "Declutter Fast". She did the latter and the information is still sitting in front of me as I type. But in my defense, I am stressing out over her wedding next month and will be taking weeks off after the big day to finish my renovation and I am going to do all the things in the ebook. I did sign in last week and starting reading.

It''s so easy to be a packrat. But there have been times when I have purged...sometimes my entire house and wardrobe and felt so free. I just don''t know how it acculates so freakin fast.

Good Topic...and if you need advice, I have a 72-page ebook on my desktop we can consult...errrr, wait, that would be a copyright violation. I''m INNOCENT.....

 

[Circe]

Date: 6/16/2008 10:58:21 PM
Author: Selkie

Date: 6/16/2008 9:04:35 PM

Author: Circe

I collect everything under the sun (anything shiny, sharp, made of velvet (bonus points for hitting the trifecta)

Well, that conjures some amusing images!

A jeweled dagger in a velvet sheath? SCORE!

Isaku, hoarding is (as I understand it) linked to anxiety disorders and OCD, both connections stemming from the worry that the things in question, whatever they are, will someday, somehow, be useful or even necessary. If your husband wants to do it himself, will he agree to set a day (or however long is required) to go through them with you, so that you can enjoy the attached memories and still gently point out that Betamax lost, and that nowadays, even VHS is outdated? I get my packrat instincts from my mom, I think: we only just got around to throwing out a bunch of my childhood clothes, books, and toys, and even then, my dad and I had to insist on tossing some stuff despite the sentimental attachment, because the drawbacks of the clutter just outweighed it. And when *I''m* lobbying to toss stuff, you *really* know it''s outlived its purpose ....

Only tangentially related, and possibly unique to me: one of my worst habits is what Marge Piercey once called "a life wrapped in tissue paper"; acquiring and collecting beautiful things, and saving them for Someday while ratting around in old, useful, good-enough items. That one''s almost as hard to break as the initial packratting habit!

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Bonus points to Circe for intellectualizing this thread!

Now that I think about it, I hoard bikinis. I have, over the course of my lifetime, spent so much time looking at my pasty pre-summer-tan flesh under fluorescent lights in department store at the beginning of the summer season looking for swimsuits and ruing why, exactly, I was so against breast implants and whether a little UV-induced skin damage is all THAT much to pay for "a little golden glow", that when I have found a bathingsuit that looks good, the idea of parting with it at a later date in the spirit of purging plays out like a scene in the movie "Sophie''s Choice".

(Seriously, I know that the "bra top" style is either (a) never going to come back, or (b) come back so far in the future that I''ll be too old to wear something like that, but I just can''t do it! The red one gives me an enviable bustline, and the blue one is just too pretty and will always be a tangible memento of Bora Bora!)

 

[monarch64]

MiraclesRule: my heart goes out to you for what you described in your above post!

Fleur-de-lis: I will never, ever give up my string bikini with the tanga bottom...it is a great reminder of what a great booty I used to have...lol! Even if I can never wear it again, it takes up a very minimal amount of space, hee hee.

Your story of your bikinis and memories was too cute. I have a hard time parting with swimwear myself...glad that I had lots of pics taken of myself back when I was fit enough to do them justice. My mom still has a lot of her bikinis as well, for the same reason. Since they don''t take up too much space, we are of the same mind in keeping them!

 

[zoebartlett]

Miracles, I would LOVE a consultation with a space planner/room organizer! That e-book sounds interesting too.

 

[Itgirl76]

I used to be a major packrat before I finished college and now I am a super minimalist. I throw away everything.
My reasoning used to be that I would need it, read it, or use it later. Then I realized that I never did.
If it is papers from college and such If you have the capability at home maybe scanning some of them and keeping them on a file on your computer.

 

[Delster]

Date: 6/16/2008 11:06:21 PM
Author: miraclesrule
OMG, I''m not alone....

When I was caring for my father, it disgusted me how much crap I had to go through all the time. Granted he was sick, mentally and physically, but one day I got really scared. My Mom and Dad had been divorced forever and my Mom was remarried. They recently retired. I got really sick at work one day and had to have my Mom and StepDad come and get me and one of them drive my car to their house as it is close to my work. I was still lying in my Mom''s bed, when I looked around the room and realized that all her clothes were stacked on the floor because she never cleaned anything out of her closet. Then I looked around and realized that they had EVERYTHING they have every had. I totally freaked out...between vomiting...and told my Mom that between her and my biological Father, I was toast. I must have gone on and on about it because my Mom called me a few weeks later to say that she had gone through her closet and tossed almost everything out. She even found a lot of cute keepsakes from when me and my siblings were little.

miracles I''ve had this thought. There literally isn''t a surface in my parents'' house (including in the attic) that isn''t jam-packed with just stuff. I dread the thought of one day having to clean it out. And I feel like such a bad person for even thinking about that

 

[rockzilla]

I am guilty as well...I think it stems from when I was a little kid...I would watch stuff go into the trash truck and get crushed and smooshed. I was too young to know that inanimate objects can''t feel pain, and I felt SO bad for everything that was thrown away. I literally thought it was being killed.

I know better now, but it is still hard for me to toss stuff. Moving will clear that up quick, though!

 

[AmberWaves]

How fitting is this. I''m a packrat. A hoarder. My name is Amber and I like to keep crap.

It''s funny because I was just talking about this to my husband last night. I totally keep things thinking I''ll need them later for some random reason. I keep old letters and pictures, stuffed animals (kept in a closet, mementos) beautiful dresses that I can''t fit in, but love love love... Yeah, it''s a problem.

 

[Dreamgirl]

I unfortunately am the ultimate pack rat. I have boxes upon boxes of my old stuffed animals and Barbies sitting up in my parents garage. As well as all the other stuff I keep like papers, magazines..etc... LOL!