Hoarders

[JohnDB]

Ok,
I admit it...
I'm a bit of a pack rat. Most people are. The older you get the more junk you collect over the years with special memories attached to the things.
And then I watched a couple of episodes of the Hoarders show.

I no longer feel bad.

But some of the same things the Hoarders say I know that I think the same things.
But my apartment is clear and clean. Closets are somewhat full of junk...but....

My place gets cluttered from time to time because of being busy...but it gets cleaned up regularly when I get time. There's laundry and dishes that get done regularly too. Trash taken out...

So... maybe I'm just a tad bit of a pack rat...but definitely not a hoarder.

 

[evenifigoalone]

My mom is a hoarder. Our house is full of stuff we will never be able to use that she refuses to get rid of. But I don't think she's quite as bad as some of those people on tv.

 

[stovebolts]

Ha, my wife is a hoarder.... So am I, but not as bad as her! We both have stuff we don't need, and will probably never use until the day after we throw it away.

She watched that horders show and it freaked her out, so for the past few years she has been "purging".

Instead of hoarders, we are now purgers!

 

[for_his_glory]

My hoarding is kept behind closed doors which I need to clean out and have a yard sale. My two spare bedrooms are cluttered with camping stuff so when I get the closets cleaned out all that stuff can go in there.

 

[stovebolts]

My hoarding is kept behind closed doors which I need to clean out and have a yard sale. My two spare bedrooms are cluttered with camping stuff so when I get the closets cleaned out all that stuff can go in there.

Ha, my wife hides her hoard in closets, drawers and unused "spaces" that are out of site too!
We had 5 or 6 tents.... I love my wife, she is a wonderful person. We ran across a homeless person, so she gave him a tent. We've bought 3 or 4 tents since... It's a great ministry!

 

[for_his_glory]

Ha, my wife hides her hoard in closets, drawers and unused "spaces" that are out of site too!
We had 5 or 6 tents.... I love my wife, she is a wonderful person. We ran across a homeless person, so she gave him a tent. We've bought 3 or 4 tents since... It's a great ministry!

I wish I could leave some of this stuff at camp, but in the winter mice get in there and get into anything that is not in the closets. That is a good ministry.

 

[Tessa]

Hey you're all so normal
I feel so much better now.

I might throw something out 'tomorrow '

 

[stovebolts]

I wish I could leave some of this stuff at camp, but in the winter mice get in there and get into anything that is not in the closets. That is a good ministry.

My wife makes up ministries lol! Lots of need out there, and she seems to find them.
It's funny, in Michigan I think it's universal to put your junk at the street a few days before garbage day so folks can pick through it. More so now that we have a truck than in days past, but I can often be heard saying, "look over there.... No, get your eyes off at that....." And I keep driving. I'm so mean lol.
We furnished half an apartment for a guy one time that way! Really, I should say "She".

 

[JohnDB]

Hey you're all so normal
I feel so much better now.

I might throw something out 'tomorrow '

I was talking with my wife about all the stuff we got...she claims that I have junk stashed everywhere...
Then I mentioned all the many unused notebooks and journals she owns...she started getting grumpy...
Then I went for broke...
I mentioned her books. (We have boxes and boxes of books that won't fit on the 6 bookshelves currently full... enough for a library)
I got some of mine in them too (we both love reading)

And then she went ballistic.
Her self vision of a minimalist hoarder doesn't compute. We both laughed hysterically about it and then got ready for a nice dinner out.

 

[lisa-in-FL]

I keep stuff I think I might need someday and it can get out of hand - especially for craft supplied. About once a year though I go from one end of the house to the other and clear out stuff I haven't touched or even forgot I had. I donate or sell stuff on ebay, depending on the item. It feels so good to get rid of stuff and I haven't once given up something that I later regret.

How about we organize a CT.net yard sale?

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

The only thing of mine that I refuse to let go are my stuffed animals, (and yes I am a twenty-eight nearly twenty-nine year old woman who still sleeps with stuffed animals ) and although I am certainly not a neat freak, I'm nowhere near a slob either.

 

[JohnDB]

To be fair about it all...

If it weren't for "pack rats" some nifty nostalgia wouldn't be available today.

Like them old style barbershop chairs that are so cool.

Or old Coca Cola stuff...

Old collectable cars

Or even old Bibles...

Old China
Old silverware
Old coins

bunch of antique stuff...

 

[JohnDB]

Now to be fair...
I collect stuff...I have a library that many preachers would envy. I have read the books and since many are resource type books I feel I must hang on to them...for whatever reason.
I am also a Chef... growing up I got cook books from everyone before going to school...as well as during...so there's that library as well. I've bought a couple since that time...but the guys who wrote them I know....but I do use those ones...then there's the menu collection...sigh

Then I became an electrician. It took a fair bit of class time...and more books. I keep those too. Codes, and motors and stuff...
I loan these out to budding young electricians.

Then there's all the leather craft supplies...

And fancy dishes as well as our day-to-day dishes.

Then all these obscure ingredients that I can use...
Juniper berries, saffron strands, and Prague powder and the specialty liquors...and when it comes to gadgets and cake pans....sigh

maybe I have a problem...

Cleaning up around here would be easier if we/I got rid of stuff.

But that's the real problem.
This stuff has value to me...and very occasionally is useful. Probably not to anyone else but me...no one else has the memories and the friendships associated with the stuff.
And deciding what to get rid of and what to keep is going to take forever.

 

[Corn Pop]

I'm the opposite of a hoarder. The less I have the better. I don't like having too many things. I acturally throw things out I then sometimes need to use again. Where is that, oh yeah, I gave it away or put it in the rubbish last year. Lol. Im shocking.

 

[JohnDB]

I'm the opposite of a hoarder. The less I have the better. I don't like having too many things. I acturally throw things out I then sometimes need to use again. Where is that, oh yeah, I gave it away or put it in the rubbish last year. Lol. Im shocking.

What about fishing tackle?
Lures, line, poles...

 

[stovebolts]

Now to be fair...
I collect stuff...I have a library that many preachers would envy. I have read the books and since many are resource type books I feel I must hang on to them...for whatever reason.
I am also a Chef... growing up I got cook books from everyone before going to school...as well as during...so there's that library as well. I've bought a couple since that time...but the guys who wrote them I know....but I do use those ones...then there's the menu collection...sigh

Then I became an electrician. It took a fair bit of class time...and more books. I keep those too. Codes, and motors and stuff...
I loan these out to budding young electricians.

Then there's all the leather craft supplies...

And fancy dishes as well as our day-to-day dishes.

Then all these obscure ingredients that I can use...
Juniper berries, saffron strands, and Prague powder and the specialty liquors...and when it comes to gadgets and cake pans....sigh

maybe I have a problem...

Cleaning up around here would be easier if we/I got rid of stuff.

But that's the real problem.
This stuff has value to me...and very occasionally is useful. Probably not to anyone else but me...no one else has the memories and the friendships associated with the stuff.
And deciding what to get rid of and what to keep is going to take forever.

Yup, your a hoarder...

 

[stovebolts]

What about fishing tackle?
Lures, line, poles...

Hey, that's not fair! I'll use them.... One day...maybe...

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

Hey, that's not fair! I'll use them.... One day...maybe...

I will tell you what's not fair,.. you're trying to steal my job as the forum jester! XD!

 

[sunflower]

I am not quite a hoarder in that the floors and corners are not packed full of things; but I won't even describe the closets and so called, "Kitty's room" or two storage sheds in my backyard. Maybe you could consider me a "collector". I try to get rid of the old but sooner or later something not as old replaces it and because I get it second hand I tend to think that is okay. I like Stovebolt's description of being a purger. That is what I need to do more ..purging.

 

[dianegcook]

To be fair about it all...

If it weren't for "pack rats" some nifty nostalgia wouldn't be available today.

Like them old style barbershop chairs that are so cool.

Or old Coca Cola stuff...

Old collectable cars

Or even old Bibles...

Old China
Old silverware
Old coins

bunch of antique stuff...

I wish I had some of that stuff I threw away.
Be worth a lot of money now.

Take cars for example, my husband had a 67 Dodge Coronet RT 440, probably worth near 60,000 now.

I love antiques!
I will never throw them away now.

Every time I watch that show, I end up cleaning my house, lol.

At least, I haven't found dead cats that are smashed like pancakes, lol.
Most of those people are just plain lazy.
I mean food laying around, trash just piled up, disgusting.