Packrat or Hoarder?

The only problem with that theory is that collectors tend to over value their collectibles. So you may think it is worth something but if you need to sell it you may be in for a rude awakening.
I worked at an Auction for a year and it never ceased to amaze me how much people thought their stuff was worth and how disappointed they were with what they actually got for it. Americans have been suckered on the whole "collectibles" scam.

Gee, some of these points are VERY helpful. Some ring very true, like the one if you need something and can't find it, you'll go buy another one! And the one if you can't invite people over, that's a line!
I wish I could see some of the tv shows you're referring to. Do any of them have little excerpts I can access on the internet???

Is there a place for everything?
Is it, or can it quickly be organized so if you had company over they wouldn't notice it? and not just throwing in a room/closet and closing the door)
Do you not invite people over because of the clutter in your house
Do you hate throwing things away cause it 'may come in handy someday" without having a clear idea of what it could be handy for?
Does having all this stuff make you anxious, do you ever wish it (or you) would just go away?

I don't know if this was on the show Hoarders but it's part of a youtube series:


The second is a link to some American Pickers episodes:

http://www.youtube.com/show?p=ktSzs8kP7RE&feature=fvsp

My DH is always telling me that some item of his is worth $XXX. I usually say it's not if no one buys it! That is not to say that he hasn't done quite well with some things. He says I collect livestock.

IMO, it depends on how the stuff is stored. If you have to step around or over stuff to get into or through the house you are a hoarder and need to have some one help. If you have stuff at least piled in specific locations and the living areas of your house are easily usable then you are just a pack rat.

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Remember, when seconds count. . .
the police are just MINUTES away!

Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. . .Davy Crockett

We've had this thread a couple of times in GC or Survival. Whenever I see that show Hoarders, I get paranoid and throw things away...which is stupid since I know I'm not a hoarder...but I think that is the fascination with those shows.

I think that the definition of it falls into the realm of OCD in that getting rid of things that are clearly not useful or trash or even something you do need or want causes anxiety. Decisions about what to keep or throw away aren't easily made and cause stress. That sort of thing.

People who are prudent and who practice good storage of pantry goods and seasonal goods by preserving often are left with a feeling like they have something wrong or may be hoarders, but they aren't. They simply follow a life plan that today's world doesn't understand and today's homes aren't made for.

And having it all over the floor and up to the ceiling is a good indicator, OR it could be someone who is simply a terrible housekeeper. Likewise a hoarder can often have a house that looks entirely presentable in the public rooms and have collections of a thousand thimbles and a holey t-shirts crammed into a private room. I think, truly think, it is the mentality that matters and not the quantity. It is just that people don't tend to draw attention or realize the problem until the whole house is full.

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Christy
Growing Human
http://growinghuman.blogspot.com

When wearing narrow lenses of hate and ignorance, is it any wonder one finds it difficult to see clearly? - Me

Hoarding is an anxiety disorder. Having stuff stacked floor to ceiling is not normal. It's hoarding. Doesn't make you nuts. It can be treated.

There have been many instances where a city or a landlord has intervened and removed a hoarder's stuff. The stuff will reappear. When it reappears it often is worse than it was before the stuff was removed.

It is. Anxiety disorders can run in families.

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

I kept things I liked and thought I could use "some day" when I was a kid. I didn't have much. I grew up in a house where nothing "I had" was safe. Any body that wanted what was "mine" just took it. When I "moved" out at 12 I hoarded everything I could in my shack, an old chicken house. Then my little brother burned me out. (He was jealous of what I had, even killed my dog, only one I ever had) I lost everything. Ever since, things don't mean much. I live very simply. I worry about getting close to anything. Not even another dog. I am like an indian, mother earth will provide what I need. I put up in season what I need when it isn't in season, other wise I do without. I live and eat in a seasonal cycle....James

These are dictionary definitions of those terms-

hoard (hôrd, hrd)
n.
A hidden fund or supply stored for future use; a cache.

pack ratpack rat -n
someone who collects things that have been discarded by others

I, myself thinks that a hoarder buys, collects and keeps things for themselves and can not or will not give it up.
and a pack rat just has too much stuff. but can get rid of stuff and can and does give it away easily. Of course they are just my opinons

For true hoarders, Joshie is right...it will come back. My MIL and her sister lived next door to eachother, and toward the end of the sister's life, there was literally only a path through the house from the front door, around in front of the sofa and into the kitchen and then to the bathroom and bedroom. Literally a one-way path. When she was found dead, she was laying face down on the floor, in this little path. She had been laying there for between 3 and 4 days. There were furniture, appliances, boxes, bags, crates, of JUNK LITERALLY stacked from that path to the walls and then straight up to the ceiling. Literal walls of junk. My MIL Is well on her way to repeating this behavior. Once years ago she asked us to help her clean out her home and property. We did, and she was angry with us afterward even though she acted ok with it at the time. We had to hire a man with a bulldozer to doze out a pit on the back of her property probably 20' wide and 50' long and as deep as the dozer was tall, and it was FILLED with junk that we burned. Paid the guy $400 to dig the pit and come back later and bury it. Within a two years, her home and yard were as junky as ever. Literally just as much junk as I had gotten rid of. In two years time. She hasn't asked again, and I don't know if I could help her again.

Collecting and keeping things to some extent is normal when you're frugal. I have a fabric stash, but it could all fit into two totes if necessary. My canning supplies fit into one pantry closet, and the jars are stacked neatly in boxes beside it, maybe 10 boxes.

Keeping things you use is not hoarding. Losing control of the volume of stuff, or keeping plain junk that might have some use but you never do use it, IS hoarding.