Are you a packrat?

[LordJezo]

NPR ran a great story about people who can't throw things out and the obsession of keeping everything you have ever owned, collecting things you'll never need, and being afraid to part with things you have had for a long time.

Listen to the podcast of the show here. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10235358)

How about you guys? Where do you stand on this? Do you throw things out or are you a keeper?

I am bad at times but I have a method of inviting my friends over for a "Purge Party". I feed them and give them beer and they toss out all the crap that I will never need and should have never had in the first place. When I moved out of my parents house into my condo I somehow had over 15 garbage bags worth of stuff that I threw out. Right now I have a my whole second bedroom dedicated to the stuff that I don't want to throw out. I have two boxes of action figures, two big boxes of comics, tons of books, and a box of old things like Christmas cards. I'm slowly getting better but I still need to get rid of a lot of stuff.

After listening to that NPR show I feel the need to start my process of purging again and finally clean out the room.

They also have a part 2 of the story:

Pack Rats' in the Digital Age (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10238217)

"While old comic books and clothes clutter house closets, old emails, photos and music files can take up space in your digital closets. Today's pack rats are hoarding gigabytes of data and finding that pressing 'delete' is just as hard as tossing old belongings in the trash."

I might suffer from that one even more. I am up to 500 gigabytes of hard drive space plus a older 40 gig sitting next to my computer.

oof.

[Bob Impact]

I don't know if I would be called a packrat, but i'm a saver. I keep a lot of small parts and whatnot at my job, but it's worked out in my favor so many times when I need that part a year later and we can't order it, but I have it. At home, I'm sentimental, so I keep a lot of stuff I should have thrown out a long time ago.

[cupcakelove]

I used to be, but having moved several times over the last few years, I've learned to get rid of things I don't need. It makes me a lot happier when I finally do get rid of something that had been sitting in a corner for 6 months collecting dust.

[King Hippos Bandaid]

im the opposite, i hold on to nothing

:king:

[DonInNC]

Digitally, I save e-mails. I don't delete them unless I'm absolutely sure I won't need them for future reference. I'll even keep away-messages in case I need to later use a person's vacation as a time reference for something else.

I also have a tendency to hold on to books, which irritates my wife. I still have most of my textbooks from college, some of them from fifteen years ago. I still refer to the some of them occassionally, but I haven't touched others since since I graduated.

Other than those thing, it's more a matter of being too lazy to throw stuff away.

[MellySmelly]

Paul-O will throw absolutely nothing away. He keeps junkmail from 20 years ago, clothing that has been ripped to shreads, receipts for every purchase ever made. empty bottles, old expired food that is starting to explode in the can, buisiness cards for businesses that are no longer in existance, those little parfume samples that you tear out of magazines, condiment packets from every restraunt ever imagined, old pillows that are losing their stuffing, broken pots and pans, pot pie pans, tv dinner containers.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea!

[jennysmurf]

I went from having an apartment to having one room in a house. It's amazing what you can live without when there's nowhere to put it.

[Fat_Sunny]

F_S Is The Opposite Of MellySmelly. Fat Likes To "Travel Light". If He Doesn't Wear Or Use Something For Three Years, He Figures He Never Will, So He Puts It Out On The Curb With A Sign That Says "FREE".

[MellySmelly]

F_S Is The Opposite Of MellySmelly. Fat Likes To "Travel Light". If He Doesn't Wear Or Use Something For Three Years, He Figures He Never Will, So He Puts It Out On The Curb With A Sign That Says "FREE".


I throw everything away, Paul-O is the one that won't throw anything away.

[Fat_Sunny]

I throw everything away, Paul-O is the one that won't throw anything away.

Yeah, Fat Just Figured Out What You Were Saying When Paul-O Mentioned Your Name On The Radio.... Just This Minute!!!! You Two Are Felix And Oscar!

[J.Clints]

I keep my boxes to almost everything. My wife gets so pissed off, But it is something I do.

[JPMNICK]

i throw EVERYTHING away. i would rather rebuy it then keep shit. if i do not wear something for a year or 2, I give it away or chuck it. the one thing i have the hardest time throwing it away is magazines. I think in my mind i think of them like a book, which i keep on my bookshelf. every 3 or 4 months i see the pile getting bigger, and i just grab all of them and throw it out.

[Leticia]

I am a definite packrat. I have clothes from 6th grade still (which I don't fit into of course).

I have soo many clothes that people always think that I'm out shopping all the time for them. But the truth is that I never throw away any of my clothes and I wear the same thing I wore 7 years ago.

I also save reciepts that were fro people's birthdays(but not related to) and aniversaries. I can't help it! I always think, aww this is the first time I took the NJ transit to meet my boyfriend's parents. I also keep little bottles and things that are cute because I always think I might use them one day....


I can never have a bookbag big enough to hold my maguiver stuff so I can be ready for any situation. Things like A&D ointment for cuts and tattoos, band-aids, alcohol pads, Q-tips, and other things of this nature which can POSSIBLY save someone's life,lol.


Yups.

[drjoek]

When I was young I was a terrible pack rat used to collect all kinds of stuff kind of a Beaver Cleaver situation. But as an adult Im just the opposite. My favorite appliance is now my shredder. Everything goes in it no mercy. I don't hold stuff nearly as dear anymore and feel like If I can't put my hand on stuff etc I buy another.

[JPMNICK]

I am a definite packrat. I have clothes from 6th grade still (which I don't fit into of course).

I have soo many clothes that people always think that I'm out shopping all the time for them. But the truth is that I never throw away any of my clothes and I wear the same thing I wore 7 years ago.

I also save reciepts that were fro people's birthdays(but not related to) and aniversaries. I can't help it! I always think, aww this is the first time I took the NJ transit to meet my boyfriend's parents. I also keep little bottles and things that are cute because I always think I might use them one day....


I can never have a bookbag big enough to hold my maguiver stuff so I can be ready for any situation. Things like A&D ointment for cuts and tattoos, band-aids, alcohol pads, Q-tips, and other things of this nature which can POSSIBLY save someone's life,lol.


Yups.


you live in NYC, there are places open 24 hours all over the place to get all that shit, why carry it all around!

and throw those clothes out or donate them

[Snacks]

I don't know if I would be called a packrat, but i'm a saver. I keep a lot of small parts and whatnot at my job, but it's worked out in my favor so many times when I need that part a year later and we can't order it, but I have it. At home, I'm sentimental, so I keep a lot of stuff I should have thrown out a long time ago.

thats what a packrat is. own it dont run from it!

I have a cousin who is like this. He keeps everything:tongue:

[PapaBear]

A while back, my boss had me sell a bunch of shit on ebay for him. We made good money, but there's all this other crap left over that's not worth putting on ebay. He told me to throw away what I couldn't sell. This is driving me nuts. I don't need any of it, but I can't bring myself to throw it away!

There have been times when I've gone nuts tearing the house apart, looking for a power cable for a computer or monitor. Now I have like 20 of them. There are these two D-Link switches and hubs, a modem, a dot matrix printer... I CAN'T THROW IT AWAY!!!

[Fallon]

Hell no, I hate clutter. If I have no use for something anymore it's out in the trash.

[Friday]

Paul-O will throw absolutely nothing away. He keeps junkmail from 20 years ago, clothing that has been ripped to shreads, receipts for every purchase ever made. empty bottles, old expired food that is starting to explode in the can, buisiness cards for businesses that are no longer in existance, those little parfume samples that you tear out of magazines, condiment packets from every restraunt ever imagined, old pillows that are losing their stuffing, broken pots and pans, pot pie pans, tv dinner containers.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea!

You shall be in charge of cleaning up all of this crap when Paul-O kicks the bucket!

Seriously my dear... try to get him to throw some of this junk away...
Mom died in November. I am JUST NOW getting finished cleaning out her apt. And I have a storage unit filled with things to go through/give away to family/sell.

Throw it all away, people! You can't take it with you!!!

[PapaBear]

Throw it all away, people! You can't take it with you!!!
Says who?
http://www.e-gifts-etc.com/Qstore/uploads/e110.jpg

[FUNKMAN]

when i lived in the big house I wasn't a packrat but it seemed the more room you had the more you held onto because you just had the room. now that i'm in an apt I won't store anything I do not need...

[PapaBear]

I had no idea Funkman did time.

[Chigworthy]

You Two Are Felix And Oscar!

This year, Melly's gonna clean up at the OSCARS!

[Gvac]

I despise clutter.

I even delete emails and PMs the second I read them.

I open my mail over the garbage. All inserts and non-essentials immediately go in there.

Being a packrat is a sign of mental illness. You're just a poorer version of Howard Hughes for Christ's sake.

[Fallon]

I despise clutter.

I even delete emails and PMs the second I read them.

I open my mail over the garbage. All inserts and non-essentials immediately go in there.
I do the same! I save only emails with information I need in it's own "saved" folder, the sent and inbox are always clean. Text's are gone as soon as I read them too.

[topless_mike]

physical garbage, i enjoy discarding (recycling if possible- save the earf)

digital garbage, i am horrible. i have a huge folder of funny emails that i just cannot seem to let go. that and the 65 gigs of porn that i just cant seem to delete.

[Friday]

Being a packrat is a sign of mental illness.

Thanks for the Analysis, Judgy McJudgerson!

[runnerkid]

i cant throw away sneakers. i even have boxes of old track spikes.

[thejives]

Being a packrat is a sign of mental illness. You're just a poorer version of Howard Hughes for Christ's sake.

I have to agree with that. It's one step away from having 19 cats.

In this world, all you need is the clothes on your back and the brain in your head.

Oh yeah, and a cell phone to give you brain cancer and a computer to crash when you need it most.

[Crispy123]

I packrat mail and papers and stuff. My wife hates it & makes me throw shit away all the time.