Packrat or Hoarder?

[Navotifarm]

Uh oh, this little AP newsy squib struck a nerve: http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_8545/conte...tguid=EqD6E3Zj
I have about the same timeline, moved into a completely empty new (to me) home and now have books stacked almost floor to ceiling plus clothes and beading supplies and fabric. At first I thought it was because I didn't have anywhere to store stuff. Now I am worried I am nnuts!
Is there a line between disorganized and lost control? I keep thinking it'll get better or I can fix it, but drunks think that, too, and I am very scornful of drunks.
What I especially wonder about the news story, if this guy cleaned out this lady's house but did not allow her to see what was going, took away all her choice in the matter (except since she paid the bill she accepted whatever he did) would that be a crushing blow to her self-esteem? How would she deal with feelings of grief and loss over her tossed stuff?
Has anybody on here ever undergone this tough love therapy or whatever it's called? What happens next after such a drastic cold turkey intervention?

[CarolynRenee]

I think some people would call us "hoarders". Pantry stocked to the brim. Cases & cases of canning jars. Boxes of material. Shed full of different kinds of tools & boxes & boxes of nuts, bolts, screws, etc. Both DH & I have somewhat of a problem ourselves throwing out things that we find may be useful to us either now or in the future.

I think it becomes a "problem" when the stockpiling starts interfering with your normal day-to-day life or if it prevents you from having company over (if you WANTED company over, that is) or you neglect you or your family's health or well-being in order to keep up with your hobby of collecting things.

[Wis Bang 2]

I'm beginning to think this is hereditary! We've been cleaning and throwing stuff away for a few years now. Last fall I helped Mom clean out Dad's stuff so she could sell and move. While I kept a few things [mostly tools] and took a few old things to flea market, I made about a dozen trips to the scrap yard making Mom almost a grand in scrap money.

Then I helped my sister move what she wanted & their yard sale collection to the new house.

Two dumpsters later her old house was empty...

It is the family disease & I have to work to over come it.

[gone-a-milkin]

If you think you have a problem with hoarding, chances are you do.

If you look at your things and feel guilty about the amount, it is time to make some changes.

You can do it. It is only STUFF.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I am a hoarder and proud of it. If done right, it can save a TON of money.

[cfabe]

I think there are two primary conditions that would classify someone as a hoarder in my opinion. One would be that the amount of stuff interferes with daily life and normal use of the home like Carolyn said. The other condition would be the inability to throw anything away or saving stuff that you very likely would not ever use in the hope that maybe you might find a use for it.

People can have one or the other or both of these conditions. Growing up, my family was the first, we had so much stuff in some areas of the house that they weren't usable, but we had no problem going through occasionally and throwing most of it away. I know of a family who is the other example, their house is also mostly functional, but when it gets too cluttered they just pack everything up and store it somewhere, adding storage areas in the house and outbuildings as needed.

Having one of the conditions usually allows the family/household to still function, have company over etc. But when someone has both, then you get the situations with floor to ceiling mounds of garbage like you see on the TV shows.

[tailwagging]

Originally Posted by Matthew Lindsay

I am a hoarder and proud of it. If done right, it can save a TON of money.

LOL very good point.

[Linkovich]

Watch the tv show "hoarders", they have a few videos on their site...it's facinating, but I couldn't stand to live like that!

[Danaus29]

I've got no problem pitching junk, it's the potentially useful stuff that gets to me. Dh has a lot of scrap metal that should probably be turned in but as he says, he'll just spend the money. At least most of the scrap is organized and out of the way.

Dh had a real wake-up call a couple months ago when a close friend passed. The friend saved everything and had all kinds of paperwork cataloged and stored. We threw out so much paper. Then there was the neat stuff, old post cards, pictures, camera and auto manuals that you know are valuable but who would want it? It got dh to thinking about all his "stuff" and what will happen to it after he's gone.

I told everyone in my house to clean up, clear out, pare down, toss and sell whatever isn't useful. I'm moving in approx 5 to 6 years and I am not renting a semi to get their junk from this house to my (still in the planning) farm. Bad enough I will have to rent a semi to move the plants I want to keep.

[edcopp]

You are nuts. So what many of us are nuts too.

[PrettyPaisley]

I hoard food and other supplies I needed to perserve it. Canning jars, lids, containers, 25# and 50# of all kinds of stuff, closets full of canned goods, spices, pasta .... you name it. I also tend to hold on to/buy too many clothes but I figure that they would come in handy at some point as well.

Up until this year I was okay with it all. But over the past couple of months I've become bogged down in clutter. And not in clutter that you can see if you came over, but as in closets. I have piles of stuff for a yard sale and desperately need to clean out the attic, but can stand the clutter that would come of it as I prepare. And I think it is inherited. My mother's mother has so much stuff all over her house you cannot move. But my mom is quite the opposite. Maybe it skips a generation with us.

Luckily my baby sister recognizes this is becoming an issue and has a date on the calendar to come force me to get it purged at the end of September if I don't do it before then. And I want her help. So much so I may just wait for her.

But she knows the food stashes are off limits.

[Jan Doling]

If I admit to being nuts, will everyone just leave me alone about it already?

I want to get it organized into plastic bins, marked with labels, and have a warehouse quality storage area....but so far no luck. Maybe when the horrid hot weather abates I will finally get to it...I have the Shark Pocket Floor system and Shark Pocket Cleaning system now, which will make things a lot easier.

We are going to the Thrift Shop tomorrow for a few school outfits so tonight I plan to pack up a few large black yard-sized trash bags from our closets to deliver to them. That way I will have closet space so I can sort and hang things stacked around the room.

I would love an organized home....it's just not in my genes.

[Callieslamb]

My thought is that if I can't find it when I want it -it's useless to me. When a closet gets away from me- it's time for some tough choices. If you can't find it and it's something you need, you will just buy more. In that respect, you don't always save money by stuffing things everywhere.

[SueMc]

DH and I were just talking about this the other night while watching American Pickers. It's funny that if you're a man with acres of stuff or two or three huge buildings stuffed to the rafters, you're a "collector". If you're woman with a house full of stuff you're a "hoarder".
I know that's a generalization but it's interesting that the shows Pickers and Hoarders pretty much looks like the same thing (to me), but socially and psychologically portrayed differently.

I don't like a lot of stuff. DH on the other hand.....

[QoTL]

Originally Posted by SueMc

DH and I were just talking about this the other night while watching American Pickers. It's funny that if you're a man with acres of stuff or two or three huge buildings stuffed to the rafters, you're a "collector". If you're woman with a house full of stuff you're a "hoarder".
I know that's a generalization but it's interesting that the shows Pickers and Hoarders pretty much looks like the same thing (to me), but socially and psychologically portrayed differently.

I don't like a lot of stuff. DH on the other hand.....

That IS interesting.. and true! Dh's garage has SO much stuff... but no one ever thought to call him a hoarder.

Now if MIL comes over, you know who she 'speaks to' at about socks behind the dryer

[Kmac15]

my sister and BIL are hoarders.
It is no longer safe for my nephew to live with them, he now lives with his grandmother.

There is a huge difference and there is no doubt when the line is crossed.

[Sanibean]

After watching Oprah yesterday ( a show on Hoarders ) I've realized I hoard fabric. Some going back to when my son was an infant. (he's now 36). I've asked my hubby to get some boxes and what doesn't have a project to do in the next six months is going to local animal shelter to use as sleeping material for dogs and cats. I haven't sew in 3-4 years, so what evers in there, I've lost interest in.

[Patt]

I have hoarding tendencies and I have had to learn to just let go and give stuff away. The vast majority of what people hoard will just sit in their houses going to waste, I say find someone who needs it and pass it on.

[dixienc]

Twice a year I clean out our house. If an item hasn't been used within the last year it gets pitched or sold. The only thing off limits is basic needed items likes jackets, hunting supplies, fishing supplies, sewing supplies, canning supplies, and keepsakes. My DH seems to be a collector of fishing supplies. A month ago when I started the summer cleanout I found 4 grocery sacks of lures and stuff still with tags in little bags. I just threw them into a box and told him to put them in 'his' barn. Myself I have a fabric and yarn fetish I think. I do sew and knit and crochet alot through the year, but my pattern magazines and sewing patterns sometimes get overwhelming. When this happens I clip out patterns from magazines and put them into a binder and toss the magazine out. the sewing patterns are easy, if it isn't a size that fits anyone in the house anymore or peices are missing they get tossed too. It is amazing how much stuff can accumulate in a years time for one family.

[Txrider]

Originally Posted by SueMc

DH and I were just talking about this the other night while watching American Pickers. It's funny that if you're a man with acres of stuff or two or three huge buildings stuffed to the rafters, you're a "collector". If you're woman with a house full of stuff you're a "hoarder".
I know that's a generalization but it's interesting that the shows Pickers and Hoarders pretty much looks like the same thing (to me), but socially and psychologically portrayed differently.

I don't like a lot of stuff. DH on the other hand.....

I look at it this way... If the stuff you pile up is worth any money, if you can sell it for cash, your a collector. If it's junk that only has value to you, and would not even sell at a lawn sale, you are a hoarder.

Personally I clean out my belongings every few years, and toss or sell off anything I kept last time I cleaned stuff out thinking I might use it, but haven't touched it or thought about it since last time.

If it doesn't get touched or thought about in 3-5 years, out it goes. If I ever do need it I'll go get another one.