Do you every throw things out, or are you a packrat?

Question

I used to have the nasty habit of throwing away a lot of what I owned...For various reasons.

Answer 1

Call me Mr. Rat !

I have been collecting things since my mother sent me down the street with my Red Flyer wagon to raid the neighbours garbage piles for anything useful !
I thought I had hit the jackpot when I finally bought my first house and got a job as city employee as a sanitation liberator :)
Oh boy, the goodies I bought home to my new big back yard!
I had quite the recycling home business going not to mention useful items I found homes for with people that really needed things living on low incomes!
My bosses gave me a hard time for pollicking but I could never turn my back on a good find...

I also collect anything from nic nacs to furniture and I now have a 45' trailer full of treasures some of which I haven't seen since I lived in the beaches in 1982 !

Do I qualify as a packrat? :)
Hopefully one day I'm gonna be rich !

Answer 2

I can feel where you are coming from and the sheer frustration of this. There are many reasons that someone becomes a hoarder. It is an internal issue that has to be worked out or accepted. I know that doesn't help much with this but there are a few things that you might try to reduce the stress from it. The key is to find a way to organize the items that are there. Ask him about items instead of simply tossing out. There are ways to condense it. When you ask, do it in a helpful manner instead of the attitude of he has to get rid of this junk. Coffee Mugs: Buy several coffee display racks and hang them around the house for the collector or sentimental coffee mugs. This is a great way to show them off and stores them at the same time. The ones that aren't collector or sentimental, ask him if you can donate to a local soup kitchen. Plastic Containers: Put the gadgets in the containers and snap lids on them. Then you can stack them in a closet or corner of a room. Any containers with no lids, ask him if you can put into the recycle. Dinnerware: Put what you can in the kitchen cabinets to use. They're great to heat up stuff and to have when company comes. Find out if any are sentimental. Anything not sentimental, ask if you can donate to a local soup kitchen. Newspapers: Will any fit in those plastic containers? If none are for collecting or sentimental, ask to take to the recycle. Electronics: If they are in working order, then suggest that you sell them on eBay to get some extra money. Or you can even do a yard sale and make some money that way. Computers: I got my husband to salvage the usable parts and then we took the rest to the computer recycle place. They used the parts for computer restoration and it was out our house. You can put the parts in those plastic containers as well. On thing to keep in mind is that change can be difficult. Don't hit him with the clean-up all at one time. Do one item category, like the newspapers and then wait a day or two. Then the next one like that. Tell him that you don't want to have to move everything because it's such a big job but at the same time you don't want him to have to give up all his stuff. Look around and see what items of yours you can add to the pile of his items that you are taking out. Good luck!

Answer 3

I used to be an absolutely horrible pack rat. I got much better at throwing things out, but right now it's actually difficult to tell if I'm pack ratting or not. Since my husband moved in, things got more and more crowded in our apt. We have stuff stashed everywhere you can think of, because there isn't any place to put things. It's impossible to sort through.

I believe pack-ratism comes from going through a significant period of time when you went without even the basic necessities, you never want to get rid of anything, because you might need it.

Answer 4

Good word packrat.. I like it.
They say hoarding is bad that you can't move forward in life if you are bogged down with belongings from the past. Personally I think its simply down to space. If you got the room & you want to keep things that make you happy then thats OK.. if you got no room & living in turmoil you're better to have a clear out. It certainly makes you feel better when you do this.

Answer 5

I use to throw things out now I'm a packrat. You never know what someone may but on E-bay ;)

Answer 6

I am a packrat for about 1 year then everything goes no matter what.... thats including boyfriends (...lol...lol...) I have to get rid of almost everything paper, old bills, clothes that don't fit or old furniture I can no longer renew or save or have no use for...I have a small 2 bedroom apt so my space is limited so its a have too thing for me....

Answer 7

At one time I had acquired a lot of stuff. I had to move quickly out of state, I agonized about getting rid of a lot of things I had, Had for years. But I did it and everything I owned fit in a Mitsubishi. Now I keep things simple. I enjoy not having stuff cluttering up my house. I have what I need, I clean out my closet every 2 months or so and get rid of clothes I don't wear or are stained. It makes life easier.

Answer 8

I throw out things I don't need or use,or resell it by having a garage sale in the summertime...My man is a pack rat,so it can be quite trying at times to compromise..=)

Answer 9

I throw things out.

Answer 10

I keep things for a while and then throw them out.

For instance I keep my receipts in my wallet for a few weeks and then throw them all away.