How many of us could qualify as hoarders?
By SomeCowgirl
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
United States
July 17, 2010 12:23am CST
Thinking about the television show, I was wondering how many of us mylotters either now, in the past, or even in the future, could qualify for the television show "Hoarders". I am sure there are a lot of us that could, whether we would want to admit it or not. My husband and I both come from a family of hoarders, actually I think we're the worst kind, we're the pass me down hoarders. If someone offers me something, seldom am I going to say no, whether or not I know whether I could use it or not.
Woo that last sentence there was a tongue twister. Anyhoo, I am sure the "hoarders" crew would have a field day with some members of my family, my mom especially. I love her but she just shops way too much and has too much stuff, stuff she doesn't even use. My grandmother was the same way, well until she found she had no more money 
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I could vow all I want to never be that way, and I probably won't. That is to say, I won't BUY the HOARDS of stuff, but I won't say no to getting it for free 
So are you a hoarder?
What's your favorite thing to hoard?
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I could vow all I want to never be that way, and I probably won't. That is to say, I won't BUY the HOARDS of stuff, but I won't say no to getting it for free
So are you a hoarder?
What's your favorite thing to hoard?14 responses
@hellcowboy (7374)
• United States
19 Jul 10
I know you would not think that so many people are hoarders and I know we are bad about hoarding stuff,and I think our children will be even worse,and my mother hoards some stuff but not as bad as my grandmother and great grandmother who hoard everything,and my great grandmother hoards so much when they cleaned out her house they had to make five trips to the dump because of the trash she saved in her junk room,and I know your mother shops too much but that is just the way she is and she is not ever gonna change,I love you with all of my heart and soul.
1 person likes this
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
19 Jul 10
Yes well we both come from a family of hoarders so our kids are going to have it rough. I know it's amazing, five trips to the dump, that is a lot of trash to have saved up for so long.. but one man's trash is another man's treasure, so I suppose it was her treasure.
Yeah I know my mom will never change about shopping, and now that I think about it I am sort of surprised my grandmother stopped as she could be just as worse.
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@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
19 Jul 10
Yeah I know what you mean it wouldn't surprise me one bit to find out that he did go through all the stuff. Being the oldest child though he saw things first hand, where even though your grandmother can be just as bad she was younger and so didn't get it as bad...
I am surprised my grandfather isn't any worse then he is as he's about as old as your great uncle and all I know of he saves is coffee cups from restauraunts, spoons and forks from restauraunts, he reuses paper towels, and he saves receipts or used to.
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@hellcowboy (7374)
• United States
19 Jul 10
Our kids will get double the hoarding genes since they will get them from both of us and yeah I know what you mean,and that reminds me of my great uncle Jake who does not get rid of anything either,if he had known all the stuff that went to the dump he would have saved it,just like I would not be surprised if he went through the stuff going to the Rescue Mission since he is the oldest child and just as big a hoarder as my great grandmother,I love you with all of my heart and soul.
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@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
18 Jul 10
DAughter says I am a pack rat but if I think I can use it later I do keep it but most of the time it goes in the trash as useless.
My SIL is worse on car parts my dog run is ful transmission motor or other car parts and he is useing them wehn he can till he finds they no longer work!
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@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
20 Jul 10
souvenirs and heirlooms are a no no. If I was ever put on that show the people would knwo then and there if they touch our heirlooms and souveniers they are toast.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
19 Jul 10
I feel like it even if I have no use for it now, if I can get it for free or cheap might as well get it as it'll save spending money later when it does come in handy. Even if it doesn't, it just goes back to pass me down stuff.
When it comes to things, I also feel like ya might as well use them until they are useless, no longer fixable...
I'm not too terrible a hoarder yet, more like a pack rat I guess but I am sure hoarding isn't far down the road.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
17 Jul 10
I tend to hoard, but not nearly to the extent those people on the show do. Most of my stuff is more or less organized and stashed away in closets or a store room downstairs. I don't have that much compared to some people, but I do have more hoarded than I need.
There. Truth will out. :)
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@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
17 Jul 10
An organized hoarder? Hmm I think me and hubs are at that point, but I'm sure we will progress to hoardomaniac at any time lol. Like I said above don't ask me if I want something, I'll say yes even if I don't need it lol.
@cristi12 (378)
• Romania
17 Jul 10
If a shrink could see my room or office right now he would easily categorize me as a level 1 or 2 hoarder. But actually I'm just a little disorganized and messy. I think most people are like that.
I don't stack things up, and I don't attach value to stuff that doesn't have any. I'm just too lazy to clean my room, my desk or my car's trunk/glove compartment.
But I do know people who hoard all kinds of stuff. My relatives for instance. One of my uncles used to have this problem, untill my aunt made him get help. But recently my cousin seems to be stepping down the same path. He doesn't admit it, but come on, he has a 2 room apartment which is full of pc's and other stuff. He's balcony is inacessible due to the stacks of computers which fill up 80% of it. Also he has about 5 cars of which only 2 he can actually drive. The rest he stores in a lot somewhere.
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@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
17 Jul 10
Right now if a shrink saw mine and my husband's room he'd probably say the same thing, that we're level 1 or 2 in hoarding. We're in the process of moving things to a building to store until we can get our own place... but I won't bore you with that. In any case, now cars I can sort of understand, some people like to collect vintage ones to work on, computers I can sort of understand too but there's a point between using it and never using it again, and that goes with anything, lol.
Now I do attach value to things, some weird things, but usually they're used up quickly so it's not a "hoarding" situation there.
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@celticeagle (168119)
• Boise, Idaho
19 Jul 10
No, I am not a hoarder. I do save things from my past that I probably should get rid of but not that much. I think my mom and grama could have defined as hoarders. They came from the depression era and they kept all kinds of stuff they thought someone might be able to use at some time down the road.
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@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
19 Jul 10
There are things from my childhood I wish I would have taken better care of. There's a lot of things that were hand me downs so not necessarily my fault when it comes to the condition they were or are in. A lot of things I am sure are laying around somewhere in my mom's house or grandmother's house, I just don't know where!
I can understand hoarding when it comes to being from the depression era, so I think your mom and grandmother are probably very smart.
@bounce58 (17385)
• Canada
19 Jul 10
I've seen the show, and I've known some people who are actually hoarders. I don't really consider myself a hoarder, except for clothes. Up until recently, I had a lot of clothes in my closet. And a lot of clothes in my children's closets. I didn't know what to do with them, and I wasn't really sure if anybody would want our old stuff, so I just keep them around. Clothes even when I was in college, and kid's clothes when they were babies.
A few months ago, I've learned to let go. I've discovered a place where to donate them, and I've recovered quite a bit of closet space.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
20 Jul 10
We're actually going to be looking through clothes of our own but not to give away, to put in to storage. We're pretty bad about holding on to clothes, but our place of choice is goodwill when we do get rid of what we don't ever wear.
@goldeneagle (6745)
• United States
23 Jul 10
I do hesitate a little when it comes to throwing things away. I have no problem hanging on to things for a while if I think I may have a use for them in the near future. However, I also have no problem tossing things out once I figure out that I have no use for them anymore...
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
18 Jul 10
I have way too many things. Moving is a scarier idea than divorce. lol What I hoard the most is books...
@Elixiress (3878)
•
17 Jul 10
I am hoarder in the fact that I don't like throwing anything away that has a monetary value. Anything I don't use, I try and sell online, if it doesn't sell then I keep it thinking it will sell at some point.
I have a huge box of books that I am selling / exchanging for other books. And quite a large bag of oddments that I want to sell for a pound or two each.
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
17 Jul 10
Hey Cowgirl! I love hoarders, but not those kind where you can't
find the bed or bathroom and it's all dirty and stinky! I just
keep buying things, but I'm a shopaholic that then turns into
a sort of hoarder! I buy stuff that I don't need, don't know
where I'm going to put or do with! I buy mostly nic nacs! I used
to worse, but since my bf moved in I have alot less room and he
hates clutter so he made me clean out alot of my stuff that I
had collected over the 27 years (that was almost 3 years ago)
when he moved in. He got me to just throw stuff out! And then
I threw a few things out in haste that I really regreted later!
My problem now is I have found it way too easy to "buy things
online"! Now that is trouble for me bigtime! So, slowly I see
things getting a little more piled up, not hoading yet!
@much2say (55901)
• Los Angeles, California
17 Jul 10
Ha! The question I would have liked to asked!! I don't actually watch the show, but I do watch those commercials . . . and then I look around our place and cringe - hee hee. Our place really isn't THAT bad, but it is rather messy . . . our stuff and kids stuff all over the place. I know with a bit of cleaning, this place could be maintained. I don't buy a lot of things simply because we are on budget. But whatever we have had throughout the years, I don't like to throw out . . . I just hold on to things thinking we might use them. Well, thanks to Craigslist and Freecycle, I can get rid of things and know that someone else can use my stuff (I don't like just giving away stuff to thrift shops) - so I'm not so much of a packrat like I used to be. I am an artist, and I used to hoard loads of art supplies - and in a way, I still do hoard stuff that can be used to make things!
@Lunaxh (45)
• China
17 Jul 10
It seems that a woman is easier to become a "hoarder" than a man. I think i am a hoarder too. When go to shopping with friends, i always unknowingly buy many things, a lot of them i don't even use. What a waste of money! I really want to get rid of this bad habit. I tried hard and found a good way. Now, before go shopping, i make a list of what i want and what is useful for me. It helps, i do my best not to buy the things not in the list.
@for3verfamous (2190)
• Canada
17 Jul 10
I couldn't qualify for the show, but some may consider me to be a hoarder. I buy A LOT of makeup. Half the time I never even end up using it. I just try it once then never look at it again. I have about 30 empty mascara's and I mean completely empty. I don't know why I haven't thrown them out yet. It's like I've been telling myself they're still full when deep down I know they're not.
My mom has a friend who I think could qualify for Hoarders though. She constantly goes on ebay to buy purses and handbags, really nice ones. They're all designer and fairly expensive. She has over 300 purses!
@Lunar01 (151)
• United States
17 Jul 10
I wrote a lot of stuff but then something funky happened and I can't paste them on this thing. I hate this stupid system.
Summary of my comment: only buy what you need. Otherwise it will be hell when you move to a different house.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
17 Jul 10
You have to have 500 posts under your belt to copy and paste here on mylot, I know it's really stinks lol, but you'll be there before you know it.
We've been passed down furniture that's heavy, so that alone will be a headache to lift and all, but we hope that won't be too much of a bother to get in the house. I asked my dad if he'd build us a deck / stair for the house and he already agreed, now all we need to do is raise the money for the house, and here I am getting off subject a little, lol, very sorry.
Hoarding runs in both of our families, worse, we get stuff passed down to us to hoard on top of what we already hoard. You might see us on that show in about ten years lol.
