Are you a pack rat?

I'm not a pack rat, but I know one. Its annoying. Throw it away! Several times me and members of my family have secretly thrown out this person's trash, but it does no good, cause they just get more of it. Our garage, living room, weight room, attic, dining room, have all been turned into crap you don't need collection areas. My dad is building a bigger garage now to help out with the load, but I'm sure that will be filled too. Some people really need help.

Good for you, this was actually one of my New Years resolutions. I keep everything too and for the same 'you never know' reason. We have two of those stupid Magic Bullet blenders in the cupboard and I can't make myself get rid of one. What if the other one breaks (even though we never use is)? I started going through the spare bedroom last month, which is kind of my storage room, and I got rid of a bunch of stuff. I had a box of nail polishes in there that I remember packing and moving with me from more than one apartment - meaning some of the bottles are like 5 years old. No more. All the crap I don't use is getting chucked or donated.

I have trouble getting rid of things too. I got it from my grandmother. I'm not as bad as she was though. You could barely see her kitchen table when she was alive. She kept bread bags and butter containers and everything like that. I don't keep that stuff but I do notice I have a hard time getting rid of things. I feel your pain. We moved 7 times in 8 years and each time we moved it took longer to pack because we always had more crap. lol.

I may also qualify as a pack rat. I have great difficulty to part with dresses and material objects. May be because we do connect them a lot with memories in our culture. Sometimes I feel that I'm an anachronism in the age of 'use-and-throw'. May be it's a good idea to move on to a house with some real problem, and I'll learn to get rid of some unnecessary things!

Hey kats! I know exactly how you feel! I had the same problem when I did my major clean out when I had my apartment painted and my boyfriend made me throw stuff out that I had been keeping for the last 28 years to make more room for his stuff and stop the overcrowding! I had a hard time in the beginning but as I began throwing stuff out it got easier and easier and then I started feeling better and lighter! So once you start getting into it you will find that you really will start feeling better too!

I am a pack rat of sorts. We just moved into a new house and I wanted to start out fresh so I weeded through alot of my junk and threw alot of stuff away or gave it to someone that could use it. Now we have been in this house for about a month and a half and would you belive our storage is FULL!? I never thought I was a pack rat. I had an aunt whose house was so full of junk that you could hardly get in. That's how I always picture pack rats. I guess I am a "closet" pack rat. I blame it on Walmart, I always hold on to my boxes for 2-3 months after I buy something at Walmart, just in case I have to take it back. That in turn has started a habit of me holding onto things I don't really need.

I tend to be a pack rat too, I get it from my mom. I am trying to be better about it and get rid of things. I got rid of tons of stuff when I moved. I lived in the house for 20 yrs. so you can imagine all the crap that I had. If it wasn't worth moving I got rid of it. Its unreal the amount of stuff that I got rid of. The garbadge people were hating me. The Goodwill people and some of my neigbors were loving me. I only moved next door too, but it was into a smaller house and you only need so much stuff. Good luck downsizing.

Phew! I'm glad it's not just me then! lol You are SO brave getting rid of that stuff - hopefully one day I will be able to part with my broken jewellery (that you always think you'll fix), furniture that I have no use for, and clothes that I know I will never fit into again (but I can dream...) lol

I would have to say that I'm definitely a pack rat! I don't really mean to be, but I do have a really difficult time getting rid of things. I always think that I'll find a use for things, but then it ends up just taking up lots of space. My husband and I just moved, and I am finding so much random stuff! We've been unpacking for the past week or so, and our new house actually has a little less storage space than our last one, so finding a place for everything has been a real challenge! I am finding things I never even remembered that I held onto. I have gotten rid of a few things, but it wasn't easy!

With my recent break-up and move, I got rid of a lot of stuff. I went through boxes and closets and found stuff that I wondered why I had ever moved it (twice) to begin with lol. And moving from a 3 bedroom house, with an attic and basement, to my daughter's (basically a bedroom for mystuff) I really had to go through and get rid of things I no longer needed or wanted. This is the second time I've done this for a move. I carried off 6 large trash bags of clothes, to charity, and probably 3-4 of just plain trash, not to mention the old documents and papers I shreaded lol. But, when I got through, it all fit in my Blazer, kinda. lol with the exception of one box, that is being shipped to me.

I don't really have too many things and I seldom get the occasion to pack or throw away things. My wife on the other hand is a freak for throwing or giving away old things. Cheers!!

Yes, I would say I am a pack rat. I know whenever it is time for me to move I throw out just about as much stuff as I move. Moving time is about the only time I actually get rid of things. Good luck with the packing and sorting out of the things that you really don't need. You could maybe toss a few empty boxes to the kids and have them pack their own stuff up.

Oh yes, oh yes! I used to have a house which I only returned to a couple of times a year. I'd spend a couple of weeks clearing out all the junk. yet it would mysteriously be chock full again the next time I was there! I don't mind giving stuff away or selling it, but chucking things out just goes again the grain and if something could possibly be 'useful' someday then I have a horrible tendancy to stash it away somewhere until someday comes around. Unfortunately, when someday does, I've forgotton where I've stashed it LoL Needless to say, I'm having plenty of storage space built into the new place :-)

It seems that every time I throw something that I don't think I need away, a day later I find myself in dire need of what I just threw away. I'm not superstitious but it never fails. If I throw it away, I'll need it for something again. But if I keep it around, I'll never use it again. Life has a funny way of saying, "whatever you do it will be wrong."

Yes thats's me. I always have the time to organize my things but I never do it , my stuff are piling up and is everywhere , it takes me a lot of hours to find some thing. I want to finally organize my things ans this is my goal and thanks for reminding me with your post.

My husband is a pack rat, the older he gets the more he saves, I just can't keep up with him. I like to weed out things that are worn, and also to small. Give them to Good Will or a local charity, or have a rummage or garage sale, and make some extra cash.