Pack Rats

buckeyebabe99

Anyone out there a pack rat? DH is and it drives me nuts.  We have t-shirts from the 80s (no lie), sports jackets and suits that clearly don't fit from the early 90s, and even buck skinned shoes!

He refuses to throw anything away that he paid over $50 for. Rockports that are so worn that no one will even take them.  Now we're arguing over the deck swing. It's big, bulky and takes up a lot of space. We used to sit on it for a few summers but since the canopy has ripped off and the cushions aren't removable, they are green gross.  I want to toss it (we paid $99 about 4 years ago) and he wants to keep it just because we paid $99 for it.  If we didn't use it for another 5 years, he'd say the same thing.

buckeyechik

I am an absolute packrat.  Ugh.  Anything I have any sort of memory of, was given to me, I paid a lot for, I didn't get much wear out of....it's still in the house.

That said, DH made me realize how complicated our life is and that we would need to simplify it before a baby came along....so that's what we've been doing.  He's finally gotten me to the point where I can let go of some stuff.

brandonsgrl

You helped us move...wanna tell me if my DH is a pack rat or not?? LOL It drives me nuts, too.

brainstorm102

Oh yeah, Josh is too. He has tons o' boxes of crap from when he was a kid that he still has at his parents house. Our basement is completely over-run with his multiple collections. Possibly every t-shirt~ make that clothing item he has ever worn that is beyond donation, cause no one would want it. And let's not forget all his old college textbooks and random packaging that he thought was cool and things "we have no use for now, but may in like 10 years (or more like never!).
I get keeping mementos, but they could start the "Life of Josh Gibson Museum" and it would be crammed full and he's only 30.

playindagamewell

lol i am guilty of :

"I am an absolute packrat. Ugh. Anything I have any sort of memory of, was given to me, I paid a lot for, I didn't get much wear out of....it's still in the house."

so we moved eveyrthing over, but alot of the stuff I have left in the garage with the plan (SERIOUSLY) to dump some of the crap.

Aaron is the COMPLETE opposite... he has such little stuff, i assume alot his mom still has, where as allllll my stuff of being little I have, at our house...

Lol my really guilty part is with clothes
i have clothes that don't fit anymore
that i am like I WILL FIT INTO THESE AGAIN
which i don't know lately seems to be less and less likley.. but a girl HAS to have HOPE right?

buckeyechik

Simi, just make sure they'll still be in style once you DO fit into them again....that was my big mistake for a long time.  I finally got rid of the forest green and purple jeans I have from high school....hehe

Mrs.SabrinaM

Ok, so while I'm not a pack rat my FIL is. Why does this apply? because we are disposal central for our MIL. Anytime she wants to get rid of something and he doesn't  she'll bring it up around  us and we know that's our cue to helpfully pipe up with what could be done with it, what it's useful for etc. Which then leads to my FIL offering it to us because it seems we can use it.  We usually just end up donating it or getting rid of it but he feels much better giving it to someone else than just getting rid of it. What do we end up getting out of this bargain? well sometimes we get some stuff we really could use, other times we just get the joy of my MIL not being stressed out about stuff. We do occasionally have to keep it just long enough for him to see it in our house, but once he sees it once he never asks about it again.

It's much easier to justify giving something away for them than to just get rid of it. If he'll give it away my suggestion is to find a willing friend or family member to bring in on the game.

playindagamewell

Lol Allison, most of the stuff i have worn is actually pretty classic and not very easily out of fashion, or at least out of MY fashion.. lol i'm not a hip and trendy dresser.. i like comfort

But yeah I did find a box of "hoochy" clothes, tube tops and such from the fun days of college when i was ok with wearing a little less cloth I doubt even if I can get back into it that I will ever need clubbing clothes again since it's totally NOT aaron's cup of tea.. maybe those could go

Busty_Wench

Yes!  Our whole basement is full of crap - most of which we don't need/use at all.  I really want to get it organized this spring but we'll see if I get motivated to do that. 

YourSong

I have the urge to pack-rat.  But, my mom raised me with specific anti-pack rat goals.  So, I'm always torn.  After developing some rules, I don't beat myself up anymore to keep something, or to toss.

hippohat

Guilty as charged! But fortunately I'm also the anti-clutter and organizer person in the house. So at least it's an internal battle! Ever seen the TLC show clean sweep? Sounds cheesy, but use the basic concepts in your house. My dh helps me out a lot with this - we'll go through stuff together, and help each other purge things. Pile of trash, pile of donations, pile of stuff to sell, and then we'll re-organize what's left. Also, having a garage sale/yard sale (especially community ones) helps a lot, or e-baying stuff - seeing money exchanged for things you're no longer using helps inspire getting rid of more! The Cols. Freecycle web site is also fantastic - if it's not worth selling, and is too random to donate, it's almost guaranteed that someone will find a use for it.

tbonegrl

We both are, to a small extent, so every time amvets or salvation army calls, we always tell them we have things for pickup. That forces us to go through and donate stuff, and it's great at tax time.

I just went through my closet and donated stuff from college and high school. I'm 1/2 way done.