Are you a PackRat or Know someone that is....
By mzbubblie
@mzbubblie (3839)
United States
January 24, 2007 10:34am CST
Do you find yourself keeping thing you know you probably won't ever use? Possibly have a family member or friend who keeps everything they get and it just piles up until you have to find places to put items inside.
Do you find most of their collections outside the home, old cars, motors, household items that are broken but just out on the lawn?
A few weeks ago, I went to Atlanta to visit family and friends, I went to a friend house to hang out for a while as I was in town. The outside of the house was nice, clean yard, paint on the house was nice, landscaping was very good...But one I got on the inside of this 2 story home that had a basement, it was filled with things I wondered, why do they even have them. Old sewing machines, computers, books, old tables etc...I was like wow, and the first thing that came out her mouth was, "Man, I got to start throwing some of this stuff away or give it away" My thought was like why even let it get like this in the first place, futhermore, what caused one to even want to just keep unwanted, or un-needed things in the first place...
Are you a packrat, or know someone that is...Are there things you see that you wonder why they still got it there...
4 people like this
22 responses
@shywolf (4514)
• United States
24 Jan 07
Me and at least one other person in my immediate family are what I would consider packrats. I have a terrible time getting rid of anything that seems sentimental to me or that I think that I might ever need. I even keep too many old papers here beside me at the computer that are probably just full of useless info that I probably will not ever need again. But every time I pick them up and start to look through them, it's hard to figure out what to throw away. LOL. I also have a closet full of junk connected to my bedroom that I bet a lot of it could be thrown away if I would just take the time to go through it again. A lot of it are things from my childhood that I doubt I'm even very interested in anymore.
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I understand that, I try to hold on but then I look at it like ..Am i going to really need this in the future...My mom and grandma are the biggest packrats I know. I can go home and see soemthing I wore when I was 3 months old...I'm like whyyy..or my 1st pacifier..lol I'm 33 years old now and I don't think you going to be passing that down to my kids...whyyy...lol but it's cool to see it when I visit them being all that stuff is not in my home...lol
1 person likes this
@estarga (1188)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I am most definently a pack rat. I am an extremely sentimental person though. I keep stuff for that reason mostly. I still have to this day the napkin my now husband wrote his name and number on the night I met him at the club.
I try to keep it organized and in boxes though. I have the first outfit my kids wore home from the hospital. I have most of the outfits they wore when they took professional pics. I have so much stuff just for memories though. I can't bring my self to throw away anything my husband bought me as a gift. I am just like that. I can't help it.
1 person likes this
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I can understand that, I am a semi-packrat, not too much but enough. I always think what if I move, or got new stuff coming in, That means I have to make room for them so alot of times it's out with the things I don't think I will need in the future..thank you for responding...
1 person likes this
@sweetgirl_k1 (3972)
• United States
25 Jan 07
I'm not a packrat but my husband is. I cannot stand it. I will throw things away and he'll say why did you throw that away. He even wants me to save every one of our son's baby food jars. I don't, I throw them away. He can only use so many in his building to hold nails and stuff. He has a room in the back of our house and I won't even go in that room cause it makes me so mad. He has got all kinds of junk in there that he doesn't need. I will make him clean it out and then it gets piled up again. I'm just going to go in there one day and throw everything away. He'll be so mad at me but I just get tired of seeing it.
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
26 Jan 07
Oh, that will be the day you go clean out his room...He probably have a fit...I know it's probably hard because you are not and he is...And you probably the one who cleans the house...I can understand your frustration...
@WebMann (4731)
• Canada
25 Jan 07
Both my wife and I are a bit of a packrat. Nothing gets thrown away. Well we were like that until we realized how much money we could make on eBay with all the stuff we hung on to. Now if we pack-rat things away it is for a future sale on eBay.
Our home has never been so empty. :)
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
26 Jan 07
hehehehe...Yes Ebay is the way to go..I am a seller there myself...lol...thank you for responding....
@scorpiobabes (7225)
• United States
25 Jan 07
my former MIL and ex were both--my home was so cluttered at one point that I purchased six hole punchers AND COULDN'T FIND ONE! (I only needed one for a GS project). Trash was thrown into boxes of things that were broken or "we might need this one day". It depressed me. When I separated from my ex, I began de-cluttering. I donated or threw away so much stuff (my ex left a boat there and when I couldn't give it away or sell it because the title was lost, my neighbor crushed it and my father sawed the rest up, enabling me to throw it away). The two car garage was filled to about 3 feet high worth of stuff (multiply 27 x 24 x 3 and that's a lot of stuff!)--I tossed, donated or gave away at least half, possibly 2/3! I began to want to clean my home and make it nice. I utilized a great online program, Flylady.net, which helped me to realize that the clutter was hurting me emotionally. I'm still fluttering (a Flylady term) but the clutter didn't get there over night and it's not going to be clean right away. I'm still working on my daughter, who has pack rat tendencies, but I've gotten a lot better!
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
26 Jan 07
Awwww in time you will get there. I can understand where you coming from..But WOW, that's ALOT of stuff..Yes teach your lil one that is a no no..hehehehe Start young...
@cjayden (110)
• United States
25 Jan 07
I was finding myself to start being a packrat till last week I cleaned everything out and actually got rid of things i knew i wasnt going to ever use, but my grandmother in return will always be a packrat, she was even here when i was cleaning out taking things she knew she wasnt going to use they would just sit in here attic.
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
26 Jan 07
heheh Gotta love the grandparents...lol I know what you mean. My mother can be a bit of a packrat and always want to me help her clean...no way...lol
@paule4129 (968)
• United States
26 Jan 07
thats me i think it was a phycological thing from not havin anything when i was young now i wonder if i should start a chapter of packrats annonymous lol it took me 4 years to stop collectin things i thought were good and building huge piles of things i would never use right away thank you for postin this
@valmiki9 (1171)
• India
25 Jan 07
Yes Iam a pack Rat because the moment i dicard a thing as useless item the very next day a need arises for that item.i suppose iam very unlucky in that respect .Iam not able to discard old pass books and things like that. In our country there is no citizen identity cardevery time the need arises you have to produce very many documents like your ration card, pass port, driving license or some other govt issued document to establish your identity.There are so many restrictions in banking and other financil agencies that a person spends half the time in collecting proof for annual income tax returns.It is called a democracy but actually it is worse than communism.
@beautyoperater (1890)
• United States
26 Jan 07
This is funny but my whole family is a pack rat. We all have big enough houses to just store the stuff away. I finally got rid of alot of mine. We took it to an auction house and made some money.
I got this way because we like to go to auctions and when we buy stuff its stuff we really don't need. My husband says we can have yard sales and sell the stuff. Never do. So finally we packed it up and took it away to be sold.
So far we haven't started over but I'm sure we will. My mother is just as bad. Her closets and basement are full of stuff. She thinks that someday she will use the stuff. Yeah right.
@ineedaname (957)
• United States
26 Jan 07
I am not a pack rat but my best friend and my mother and my son are. My best friends keeps everything in the world. My mother stuffs it in the garage and forgets about it. My son keeps wrappers from his candy bars. I have no idea why.
@lifeiseasy (2292)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I have been know for being a pack rat sometimes my self. It just one of those things that happen... I will see something and think I can fix that or refinsh and then you have a whole pile of stuff... I had a yard sale and got rid of some ...need to do that again now that I am thinking about it ... thanks alot ...LOL
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
24 Jan 07
HEHEH see what happens a post makes...lol makes you realize you got another yard sale coming up...We have them here in our complex, a big yard sale since I've been over here every year I have alot of stuff to sale...
@gypsylady28 (945)
• United States
25 Jan 07
I'm the exact opposite, I throw away too much stuff. I have an aunt who saves everything, newpapers, magazines, everything you can possibly imagine. There is no place to sit in her house, and you can bearly walk thru the hallways. After seeing that when I was younger, I am a neat freak. Help your friend have a big yard sale. Some of the items she has may be worth some money. Or set up at a flea market for a day.
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
26 Jan 07
Yes, I have done that in the past, actually I enjoyed having a yard sale and want to do it again. I have only one son, so every season i'm buying new clothes for him....
@mrsartemisfowl (55)
• Philippines
25 Jan 07
I am a packrat. I guess it has a lot to do with sentimentality or thinking that something will be useful sometime in the future. Whenever I do general cleanings, I find things that are not as important now as the first time I kept them. It's also hard to let go of old things that you have been used to seeing. But then we always have to let go of something if we still want to have somewhere to live inside our houses.
@angel06 (63)
• Philippines
25 Jan 07
I'm most definitely a pack rat. I still have things back when I was a child. I find it hard to let go of things I've collected throughout the years because they hold such dear childhood memories. I think I learned being a pack rat from my mother, she's worse than I am. hahahaha.
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
25 Jan 07
Actually, a lot of members of my family are. i try to avoid it, because we live in a small space. It's hard, because things always seem to be useful or they might be needed later, but you can't keep everything.
@diannebcrs (1549)
• Philippines
25 Jan 07
i have this habit of keeping old stuff... so my closet is packed with old notes, letters, even candy wrappers. i can't afford to throw them out because i feel attached to them somehow. like i know they're just useless trash but they actually have this sentimental value that makes them priceless to me. i guess it's like a reminder of some special moment in the past.
@slavena (87)
• Canada
25 Jan 07
Yes I am a total packrat, I keep EVERYTHING!!! But on the bright side, my apartment isn't cluttered at all because of the big walk in closet =D I guess I'm not as bad as your friend LOL I usually just keep things I think are useful or things I might be able to make some money off.
@dreamsaving (49)
• United States
25 Jan 07
I am terrible with papers. I cannot seem to figure out what to do with mail and papers. It's somewhat organized....but one months worth is usually sitting on the kitchen table.
I throw out mailorder catalogs, junk mail and oddities...usually the same day. But, there is always at least 3 pieces of mail a day that I have to keep. Be it, college letters for my brother, or credit card applications that I need to destroy....whatever. I cannot understand why I don't see this problem with other family members and friends. I might as well add, that I also keep receipts. I have receipts dating back 4 yrs, just to see what I had spent my money on at that time. Initially, they are saved for returns.....just in case. Even though I have rarely had to return anything.
@eternallyredeemed (11)
• United States
25 Jan 07
I try not to be much of a pack rat but unfortunately I keep so many stupid things. Like notes from way back in high school...like 6 years ago at least!!! Give me a break! Who cares about that stuff, throw it away already it's not like you're even going to remember what you were talking about in all of it you know? And I hate to throw away cards I've gotten from friends or family members from years past. Like if I got a Christmas card from 3 years ago from a friend..I still want to keep it, how retarded. It's not like they're hearts are crushing the minute I throw the card away. It's in stuff like that that I am a pack rat, on bigger items I try to get rid of them because they take up so much space in the house.
