I'm a pack rat and need help?

Question

I think this may be from growing up poor lol or inherited from my pack rat grandma..I have cabinets just full of old magazines , i have every Halloween custom my son had ever owned put up, i cant seem to throw anything out..i throw away common kitchen trash , food boxes stuff like that but i just have a hard time throwing away anything else .My house is sarting to look like thrift store ..any advice on what i should throw out ?? i guess thats my problem i dont have the simple common knowledge to know if it should stay or go..any suggestions

Answer 1

Only keep the things that you or your immediately family will likely use again. That means keep Christmas ornaments, get rid of old magazines; keep tools, get rid of old Halloween costumes.

My pack-ratism was tied into not wanting to get rid of potentially valuable stuff. I solved that by having a friend post stuff on eBay for me. If it sold, great, I got my money out of it. If it didn't sell, that told me that I was holding onto something worthless.

Put those old magazines, costumes and such stuff on eBay. Decorative tins that food came in, like some of those big Currier & Ives design on the lid stuff, might sell, too, bu tmost food boxes and shipping boxes are WORTHLESS and just taking up space.

Answer 2

I used to watch Clean Sweep. The organizers on the show gave some very helpful tips for getting a room or your house in order. First off...any travel books you have that are more than two years old are not really current and are there for no longer of use. And all those magazines you've been saving---well chances are the articles you meant to read and didn't aren't going to matter much so you can toss those away and be rid of a bunch of dust collectors. As for an over abundance of knick knacks and costumes....have a yard sale. The memories that those items hold are in your heart, and hopefully in pictures, so it is time to move on a little.

Hopefully this will help a little. Good luck.

Answer 3

Congratulations!!! You have reached the first step in your problem, admitting to it.

I'm serious, at least you can recognize that this has become more of an issue in your life. Most people can't admit to something like that.

Anyway, try cleaning one area at a time. This helps you from feeling overwhelmed.. As you clean, think to yourself, "when will I ever use this again?" And really think about it, then places it all into a box labeled donations. You can either give it down as a hand me down, to others in your family, or you can donate the entire box to a thirft store or something. I do it every season.

You can keep up by doing a cleaning 4 times a year to throw away things that you will never use or wear or play with. This way if you think "ok maybe you will use it again or wear it again etc" If you end up not doing so by the next season, you will know that for sure you will have to throw it away the second time around.

Try this, it works for me, I hope this helps!

Answer 4

Have a yard sale with everything you haven't used in 6 months.Go slowly thru the stuff.It can be tricky living in the clutter.Toss and forget about the un-needed stuff.get someone to help that will be able to toss or put in sale.Good luck,been there done that.

Answer 5

If it is a non-sentimental item, and you haven't used it in 6 months, get rid of it (this means those magazines! They are a fire hazard anyways.)

For sentimental items, ask yourself honestly if you really need the item to keep the memory. Do you have pictures of your son in those costumes? If so, keep the pictures, get rid of the costumes. If not, they may not be as sentimental as you think.

If you don't NEED it, LOVE it, and USE it get RID of it.

Answer 6

If you haven't used the item in 6 months, include it in a yard sale. and at least make some money back on it,,, if not used in 6 months chances are it won't be used again