Pack Rat People

[SacredWithin]

I don't know if this is the section to address this, but I live with a packrat. It's very hard because I want to have the house free of clutter and clean and the packrat of the house won't allow it. Does anyoen else have this problem?

I wanted to have a party this weekend in my basement b/c half of it is furnished and the other half is a garage. Even though upstairs is quite decent and considerably spacious, I still want downstairs to look half as good as upstairs. The packrat has packed a bunch of stuff from my greatgrandmother's house. My greatgrandmother is enver going to use her things again. I was thinking of selling them and putting them to go use because a lot of the stuff is in excellent condition. Can anyone give me any advice? The packrat won't let me clean without "supervision" b/c she doesn't want me to throw anything away or sell anything.... but I am so close.

Any advice?

[banondraig]

i'm a packrat myself. i go through occasional "purges" when i start running out of room. (i live in a very small space) maybe you could wait for one of those, if applicable?

[Faeawyn]

I never get rid of anything because I just know that someday I'll need it again :lol: It makes my husband crazy. I have clothes hanging in my kids closets from the 80's because some day, I'm sure they'll come back in style and I'll be a size 7 again :lol:
If we buy new furniture, I hate to get rid of the old.....I have notes from friends from high school still boxed up and I'm 42 :lol: I'm a mess....I know....it's a sickness.

[~*Ginger*~]

Well, pack rats come in many shapes, sizes, and temperments...
LOL!
I come from a long line of them, so I know how you feel, and how they feel as well.
Although, I do believe that my being an Army Brat, and having to move anywhere from 3 months - 3 yrs in time frame, and having a Capricorn moon have been a blessing to me as far as organization go...

If your pack rat, is an elder. Just give it time & respect. (as most of these are set in their ways, and won't budge, and there's no need to stress them)
If your pack rat is sibling. Well, maybe you can come up with some type of arrangement, to at least 1/2 up the space.

Are these 'packrattish' things packed in any type of order?
If not maybe invest in some of those see thru rubbermaid boxes with lids.
You'd be suprised how much better things look when truely organized.

Good Luck!

[SacredWithin]

This packrat is an elder, but not too elderly (in fact, quite young). It seems to run in the family a few generations, but I'm gonna make it stop with me. It can be hard as a Scorpio, but I definately don't consider myself a neat freak. It can get pretty bad after a while. And yes, we do have those rubbermaid boxes but they get piled up just like everything else. I guess I'm just gonna have to live with it. But the house may actually become mine one day and I don't want to have to clean up the mess, you know what I mean?

[Mjollnir]

Packrats are dangerous for two reasons as far as I am concerned................

1) It increases the fire load in the dwelling making it burn hotter, faster and a bitch to put out.
2) It makes it that much harder for us to navigate through all that crap to find the people trapped inside, to find the seat of the fire and put the damm thing out.

We have had a few instances in town that were so bad we had to call the Health Dept. in after the fire was out, one woman's house was so bad that the piles of newspapers were chest high and formed little aisles, like those damm hedge mazes and in anothwer worse instance...but not "pack ratty" really... in the apt. complex we have in town someone noticed the occupant bringing in sheet after sheet of sheetrock. It turns out this idiot had 9 FAMILIES living in their with his and used the sheetrock to partition the place off, luckily someone noticed and told the super, the place looked like a tiny office with cubicles everywhere, if we had a fire in there a whole lotta people would have been killed, including some of us.....................

[Zoritsa_Nepenthe]

.....I have notes from friends from high school still boxed up and I'm 42 :lol: I'm a mess....I know....it's a sickness.My husband just brought MORE boxes of old highschool and college letters,notes,pictures home from his parents attic.It drives me bonkers :bug: !!!What makes it even worse is,he wont let me put them in our attic,so they are in the closet and in the basement...And it's not like he'll actually look through them! :scream:

[badkitty]

I am not a packrat at all and neither is my hubby. if there is something that is getting out of hand, recently this was weapons for the LARP we play, we set an area and say that anything not in it has to go. In the last example with the weapons we got a 55 gallon barrel and said anything not in it.

Maybe with your SO you could do a number of items to keep.

We also always go through and say, yes, no, or maybe to things quickly then resort the maybe's. I suspect we get rid of more that way.

[SacredWithin]

I think I'm gonna try the "yes, no maybe" option. It will work, I'm sure.

As for the case with newspapers, I've seen that on TV before. There was this documentary about pack-rats and they showed a house that had newspapers stacked to the ceiling. What are you gonna save all those newspapers for? lol

I'm so close to trying to get Oprah or somebody at my house. lol I mean, it's not bad when you walk in, but try walking a straight line in the basement. At least this pack-rat hides most of the stuff. :lol:

[MoonDragn]

Im a pack rat too, I can't seem to help myself. Whenever I get something I try to put it into two piles, want and not want. I end up putting the not wants in a corner in case I need it again...

But I get comfort in knowing Im not THAT bad compaired to some people in this example :

http://www.theplan.com/dmi/pix/examples.htm

[Faeawyn]

Im a pack rat too, I can't seem to help myself. Whenever I get something I try to put it into two piles, want and not want. I end up putting the not wants in a corner in case I need it again...

But I get comfort in knowing Im not THAT bad compaired to some people in this example :

http://www.theplan.com/dmi/pix/examples.htmOMG!! that would make me insane. I may be a packrat....but I'm a clean and tidy packrat. I shove stuff in hiding places....not out where it can be seen. I can't stand a messy house :D

[misschief]

yes!!! i am, but i'm getting better. for the last year or so... if it's not a baby book or pictures or something... if it's not been touched in 6 months, i make myself get rid of it. my main problem is clothes, shoes, purses, etc... i mean, i have like 10 winter jackets.. what the hell do i need that many for?!.. i keep clothes that are too big/small thinking they'll fit later on. i've had my mom come in and get rid of clothes before because i just couldn't make myself do it :lol:

[Carickah]

OMG!! that would make me insane. I may be a packrat....but I'm a clean and tidy packrat. I shove stuff in hiding places....not out where it can be seen. I can't stand a messy house :D
Me too!!! I clicked on the 9 on the clutter scale and nearly got physically ill. I am a packrat, but I also insist that everything have a place and for it to be there unless I am using it (or unless it's at my computer desk, since that is the one part of my little world I can't seem to get the desk cleaned up)...

As to the fire hazard of being a packrat, I know some people are, but mine is either tucked away in closets, under a bed, or on shelves. And I don't keep a lot of paper stuff, clothes are hung up or put in drawers and walkways are very clear. of course it helps that I just moved into a smaller space and had to clean things up some to make it fit.



k

[Yasmine Galenorn]

Im a pack rat too, I can't seem to help myself. Whenever I get something I try to put it into two piles, want and not want. I end up putting the not wants in a corner in case I need it again...

But I get comfort in knowing Im not THAT bad compaired to some people in this example :

http://www.theplan.com/dmi/pix/examples.htm


*runs SCREAMING from the photos*

No, I am NOT a packrat. I am the opposite of a packrat. 2-3 times a year we go through the house and get rid of anything that we don't use, love, or need. I keep the things I really love and do need, the things like Yule ornaments and so forth, but no. I'm O/C and one of the manifestations of it in me is an incessant need for order. I'm not spotless--if I had more time the house would be totally spotless though---but I can't handle clutter in any appreciable form and if it is too bad (and too bad for me would probably be a 2 or 3 on the scale they're using, considering what 9 is), I curl up and start to cry or freak out and totally dive into organizing and cleaning.

Yasmine (who thinks of the show Clean Sweep as the "Happy Ending" Show, as her husband nicknamed it).

[Boogins]

My sister is a packrat. I am not. But, living in the same house with her, it becomes a problem in that she loves to gives little knickknacky presents, and my office is only 6x8ft... and it seems nasty to refuse the prezzies, especially when this woman has really saved my life and sanity several times... but the floor and shelves and even the keyboard stand are filling up with all these bizarre little objects, and there's nowhere else to put them in this tiny house either...

I need to sell my series to we can buy an enormous house for Jessie's stuff.

[SacredWithin]

As to the fire hazard of being a packrat, I know some people are, but mine is either tucked away in closets, under a bed, or on shelves. And I don't keep a lot of paper stuff, clothes are hung up or put in drawers and walkways are very clear.

What if all those spaces get filled up? Do you begin a major overhaul cleaning or what?

[MoonDragn]

Unfortunately for me, those spaces are filled up... I got boxes of collectable stuff, comics, cards etc. Computers, books, clothes including SCA clothes and armor and other gear. So what do I throw away if I can't bear to part with any of it?

Heres another example of what happens when you get too many organizers to organize those things you wanna keep...

http://www.theplan.com/clutter2/index.htm

[Flar's Freyja]

YES - and I live with one, who is the offspring of one. He's even paying monthly rentt on a storage space where he's storing some of his mom's stuff!

Together, we are the worst. Neither of us can part with books; we must think that the written word is sacred. For years, I've been in the habit of immediately tossing junk mail, but it doesn't help. We have collections, toys, etc. and I am bad with clothes and shoes. I can't seem to give them away easily, because I've had experiences in the past where I gave away smaller clothes and lost weight and vice versa.

The only time I really get rid of anything is when I move, so we need to clean like we were moviing around here. Another year and our house will look like those pics!

[Ceres]

i clicked "other" because i am a reformed packrat. i discovered the FREE flylady service and i am cured of my packrat habit. u would NOT believe the amount of stuff i have recyled, thrown away or sent to the second hand store....and the funny thing is, there is always more! we just did a purge as we always do after the holidays because we get so much new stuff.

www.flylady.net

[Yasmine Galenorn]

Neither of us can part with books; we must think that the written word is sacred.

If I like a book, I keep it, if I don't like it that much or can't get through it, I toss it. I have so many books that I have to be somewhat selective.

Yazza :colorful:

[Carickah]

What if all those spaces get filled up? Do you begin a major overhaul cleaning or what?
Well, my recent move did a lot for me, there. Because of this divorce, I am starting quite nearly over again, and with finances in shambles, it should be quite a while before I get to "critical mass" and have to have someone help me go through everything and trim down. I have been known to ask some people to help me store things that have an especially high value to me.



k

[SacredWithin]

I have been known to ask some people to help me store things that have an especially high value to me.

Oh no, you shouldn't do that. You'll start a whole new chain! lol

[Carickah]

Oh no, you shouldn't do that. You'll start a whole new chain! lol
It's only ever been a few items, such as a buddist temple my grandfather brought back with him from Japan or my old violin, and usually only at a time of great need, although the friend that has those items still has them after almost 10 years....

oh, and he's not a packrat. Just a good friend who I have trusted for years to keep certain things safe.

k

[Yasmine Galenorn]

It's only ever been a few items, such as a buddist temple my grandfather brought back with him from Japan or my old violin, and usually only at a time of great need, although the friend that has those items still has them after almost 10 years....

oh, and he's not a packrat. Just a good friend who I have trusted for years to keep certain things safe.

k

~grins~ I trust this isn't a "full sized" temple? Really though, that sounds lovely. And do you play the violin?

Yazzapanther :colorful:

[~*Ginger*~]

Oh my Gosh!
no...
i take it back I'm not from a long line of 'pack rats', if that's how pack rats are...
Must be a different breed or something.

I've never been to any one's house that looked like what's shown in those pictures! :lookaroun

what I'm related to is a much more tidier blend than those!
If there is a name for such...

[gurlygurl2004]

I used to be really bad, but then again I grew up with Pack rat parents. I've cleaned up my supermessy room this year(in the beginning of...) and I couldn't believe the stuff I found and threw away or donated to charity. I mean I didn't even remember half this stuff. But I'm more incline to throw stuff aways now or give to charity more. In fact that whole experience made me love gathering and taking out trash, it's like a release.

[Carickah]

~grins~ I trust this isn't a "full sized" temple? Really though, that sounds lovely. And do you play the violin?

Yazzapanther :colorful:
:jawdrop:
:collapse:
oops, I guess I did say that... no, it was a small replica. And yes, at least I used to. I haven't picked up one in quite a few years.



k

[Penguin]

Since there's a good chance she doesn't even remember all the stuff she has could you slowly eliminate things when she's not around? Maybe shift the load so it's not obviously missing? I have been occaisionally known to clean my son's room with a very large trash bag in hand when he's at school. Also if you have any pets you can blame it on them(but don't let her beat the dog, remember you have to catch them in the act or they don't know what you're upset about) Wonder what the heck Granny had in there!? Fluffy/Spot just went nuts over it & ruined the whole(whatever) HAD to throw it out. Other good reasons to get rid of stuff include mice, water leaks, & somebody else who REALLY NEEDED one of those doohickys. With a little imagination & some perserverance I'm sure you'll be OK. Or you might resort to bribery.LOL!

[Yasmine Galenorn]

:jawdrop:
:collapse:
oops, I guess I did say that... no, it was a small replica. And yes, at least I used to. I haven't picked up one in quite a few years.



k

*snickers* I was wondering, dearheart. :hmmmmm: It sounds lovely though. What did you play? Classical?

Yazzapanther :colorful:

[Carickah]

*snickers* I was wondering, dearheart. :hmmmmm: It sounds lovely though. What did you play? Classical?

Yazzapanther :colorful:
Yeppers, classical and some show tunes, mostly with school orchestras. I was 1st chair 2nd violin in high school, played a little when I got to college. after that, it was just a little solo stuff for fun... not so much these days. one of my biggest pet peeves is watching people play on TV and movies and seeing them slide the bow along the strings instead of or while drawing it across them.


k

[Yasmine Galenorn]

Yeppers, classical and some show tunes, mostly with school orchestras. I was 1st chair 2nd violin in high school, played a little when I got to college. after that, it was just a little solo stuff for fun... not so much these days. one of my biggest pet peeves is watching people play on TV and movies and seeing them slide the bow along the strings instead of or while drawing it across them.


k

I'd love to have a piano, even though I'm barely able to muddle through a simple song on it. I love writing--it's what I always have known I'd do since I was three, but I admit it--I'd LOVE to be able to make music...but it sure ain't gonna happen from my singing!

Yazzapanther :colorful:

[MsFireHaven]

www.flylady.net

thanks for the link

[MoonDragn]

My apartment is full of musical instruments that I would someday love to be able to play, Piano, drums, flute etc. It all starts to clutter up and take up space. I don't think I can even walk to my piano right now without bumping into something.

[Yasmine Galenorn]

My apartment is full of musical instruments that I would someday love to be able to play, Piano, drums, flute etc. It all starts to clutter up and take up space. I don't think I can even walk to my piano right now without bumping into something.

That's one reason I don't have an easel, even though I do paint on occasion. I just can't handle my space being cluttered by things I marginally use. Someday, when I can afford to own my own house and it's big enough, I'll have a piano and an easel and a few other things (along with a MUCH bigger home office here), but until then...I just freak if there's too much cluttering up the space. Don't function well at all. :)

Yazza :colorful:

[MoonDragn]

Even though Im not diagnosed with any kind of mental disorder, I think I have a tendency for compulsive obsessiveness. I also exhibit some of those manic symptoms bi-polars usually talk about. I go into a store and I absolutely have to buy something, sometimes I can spend hours in there because I can't decide what. I also tend to jump on a new project and just not finish it.

[Yasmine Galenorn]

Even though Im not diagnosed with any kind of mental disorder, I think I have a tendency for compulsive obsessiveness. I also exhibit some of those manic symptoms bi-polars usually talk about. I go into a store and I absolutely have to buy something, sometimes I can spend hours in there because I can't decide what. I also tend to jump on a new project and just not finish it.

I'm definitely a bit O/C and bi-polar. Most of my focus tends to be in a need for order, with the OC stuff. It's not out of hand, but it means that I never collect clutter in closets unless it's absolutely things we need to keep (like the Yule ornaments), etc, and it means the house never gets really out of hand. If I had more time, it would be spotless and you'd be able to eat off the floor. I've often said, and mean it, that I'm pretty much Monica off of Friends.

I almost always finish every project I start...my bi-polar seems directly related to my creativity. If I'm not writing, the depressive phase gets a lot worse. And also to my husband's health...the more worry we have on it, the worse I get. I try to keep as balanced as I can because I can't function if I let fear in--anger, yeah, I can use as fuel...but fear paralyzes me.

Yasmine :colorful:

[MoonDragn]

Man, I wish I had one of you around Yasmine, I would just for once like to finish one project. I have this bracelet made out of silver wire weaving that I never did finish. I have cuts of leather of all sizes and shapes I was going to use to make leather armor and clothing that I never got around to do. I have yards of fabric I was going to use to make new Ren clothes that I stopped using after I made 2 shirts and 2 pants. I got a playstation in a million pieces that I was going to mod with a chip so it could play japanese games. I have a dremmel and a roto zip saw but I never actually used them for any projects. I have a nice piece of birch that has a few nice twists at the bottom which are natural I was going to turn into a staff that never went anywhere. So many projects :(

I want to learn another musical instrument now.. maybe a violin or a flute. I probably will never learn it though :(

[Yasmine Galenorn]

Man, I wish I had one of you around Yasmine, I would just for once like to finish one project. I have this bracelet made out of silver wire weaving that I never did finish. I have cuts of leather of all sizes and shapes I was going to use to make leather armor and clothing that I never got around to do. I have yards of fabric I was going to use to make new Ren clothes that I stopped using after I made 2 shirts and 2 pants. I got a playstation in a million pieces that I was going to mod with a chip so it could play japanese games. I have a dremmel and a roto zip saw but I never actually used them for any projects. I have a nice piece of birch that has a few nice twists at the bottom which are natural I was going to turn into a staff that never went anywhere. So many projects :(

I want to learn another musical instrument now.. maybe a violin or a flute. I probably will never learn it though :(

Okay, if you still have the remnants of those projects around, go through each one. If you really WANT to finish it, put it in a container and label it. If you know in your heart the project is doomed, then toss it and don't look back. Then, pick the one you want to do most and finish it--don't let yourself start anything new until it's done. If you find yourself balking, then maybe you don't want it that bad.

I still have a piece of blue spruce and oak in the closet that I need to make wands out of, but it's not been the right time for it. In a year, if they're still there, I'll toss them.

Prioritizing helps...what do you love to do? What do you really want to do? Sometimes it's just easier to buy something rather than make it because what you want is the finished product rather than the process of creating it....I have no qualms about buying what I want that I know I can make but won't be able to push myself through. And I ask myself before I begin any new project, "Do I think I will finish this? Is it worth it?" If I really want to do it, I proceed. If I have doubts, I put it away for a bit and often find myself thinking later, "Well, I didn't really want to do it and thank gods I didn't waste my time on it."

:hugz:
Yazzapanther :colorful:

[Raidenmaru]

It's true, I have a problem with packrating documents. On computer, it's always so easy to organize files because you don't have to deal with the objects and you can put them in a nice deep structure.... but IRL I have three boxes of archived written word. I also have a tendency to keep things because "i might want them later"... and a messy floor. But overall I can organize things fairly well, if what you mean is "out of sight, out of mind".

In related news: sometime tonight I'm going to mark off the floors in the unfinished basement. I never understood how cardinal directions got into spiritual practices, but nevertheless I'm marking the headings with chalk. I know it's a bit awkward to sleep with your head to the north... my heading is 320 (Nw) so I wonder if that counts...
My favourite locations strangely enough, are the middle of Westwood Park in Greenwood Village, in a foresty spot, and in the backyard near all the trees and flowing water. I never understood that.

[Yasmine Galenorn]

It's true, I have a problem with packrating documents. On computer, it's always so easy to organize files because you don't have to deal with the objects and you can put them in a nice deep structure.... but IRL I have three boxes of archived written word. I also have a tendency to keep things because "i might want them later"... and a messy floor. But overall I can organize things fairly well, if what you mean is "out of sight, out of mind".


I have three filing cabinets in my home office--two full size, two half-size, for my active files, and I keep my manuscripts that I'm forced to keep for legal reasons in plastic tubs, neatly stacked in the closet. We need more storage space because some of this stuff I just can't get rid of. I use a color coded filing system, which helps me keep track of whether the project is fiction (three different colors for the two series I write, plus general fiction), nonfiction, misc., or financial. Makes things easier to sort.

Yazza :colorful:

[SacredWithin]

Okay, apparently I have slight symptoms of being a packrat. I just cleaned under my bed and I found some old notebooks I used in school a few years ago "in case I need it again". I threw everything under there away seeing as I haven't gone back to see "if I need them again" in quite a while. It feels good knowing I don't have to worry about hiding everything under my bed. Now let's keep it that way. :fpartyhat

Anybody else wanna share a story?:D

[Yasmine Galenorn]

Okay, apparently I have slight symptoms of being a packrat. I just cleaned under my bed and I found some old notebooks I used in school a few years ago "in case I need it again". I threw everything under there away seeing as I haven't gone back to see "if I need them again" in quite a while. It feels good knowing I don't have to worry about hiding everything under my bed. Now let's keep it that way. :fpartyhat

Anybody else wanna share a story?:D

I never really hoarded anything...but the push into ultra-order came when I was thirty years old, just out of a nine-year abusive relationship, and I decided I hated my job and my life. I quit my job, gave up everything--and I mean EVERYTHING--except for my books, my cats, clothes, crystals, what I needed to write with, and basic living supplies (a pan, a few dishes, a few items of sentimental value), moved into a 32' long school bus, and lived there for awhile, roughing it. I learned just what I could give away/get rid of an still feel okay.

Yasmine

[DragonDawn]

Being a pack rat runs in my family.

[Rowenna]

I am a "recovering" packrat. And it runs in my family too *LOL* When my grandmother passed away, it took my mother and one of her sisters an entire year to clear a lifetime's worth of things out of her house, including clothes saved from the 50's and 60's. Her house was never messy, but it was sure full!! I was always on the other end of the spectrum, really disorganized and messy, along with tons of junk. I am getting away from that now and getting things in order. I also use Flylady. It is a great system, and I would highly recommend it.

[SacredWithin]

Yay! I recovering packrat! :lol:

Yasmine...it must have been quite rough for you. :rubhead:

[MoonDragn]

Well, I can't stand to throw anything out because I know I'm gonna need it sooner or later. I love the process of creating not necessarily the end product. I've enough money to spend on frivolous things as it is, I just like the creative process. However any projects that take up more than a day I just can't seem to stick to.

I really wasn't this bad til I got out of a bad relationship and was in a rut for a few years, I didn't want to do anything and I immersed myself in a computer game or two. Funny thing is, I was having problems with my inventory management in the game too. My bank and bags were all filled with quest items I was never going to get to.

[Raidenmaru]

I don't clean, I just increase the size of my household territory. In the words of my former mathematics professor Ronald Brainerd (yes, that's his REAL name, brain nerd):
"I have a way of infecting the front row of all my classes. I start with the lectern and then spread it out all over. It looks like a viral pathology demo, someone should just spray me with the Lysol. "

And of course, my grandparents, who one year found some ancient artifacts, incl. a pack of meat from 1997 and undated green peas, in the chest freezer.



I really wasn't this bad til I got out of a bad relationship and was in a rut for a few years, I didn't want to do anything and I immersed myself in a computer game or two. Funny thing is, I was having problems with my inventory management in the game too. My bank and bags were all filled with quest items I was never going to get to.

Hm....
recipe for Water Mage Apprentice's Ring, requires create lvl1, bismuth, blah blah...
recipe for Two-Handed D-Grade Sword, requires create lvl3, iron, charcoal...
recipe for GM's favourite citrus avocado cheese dip, requires blender, lime, avoc... WHAT?!

[Yasmine Galenorn]

Yay! I recovering packrat! :lol:

Yasmine...it must have been quite rough for you. :rubhead:

Actually, the hardest part was to get up the guts to leave (it took getting hit). Getting rid of my stuff and quitting my job was easy at the time because I felt that I didn't have anything to lose at that point.

:hugz:
Yasmine :colorful:

[Zophael]

I am a packrat. One packrat technique for getting rid of things is to put stuff you don't use daily away somewhere out of sight, like an attic, basement, grandma's place, etc. After 6 mos. pass anything that you didn't need or want to use in that time, toss it, you obviously don't really need it. I've had some success with this. If they really insist on having stuff, it should be limited to their own personal spaces and any spaces that are shared storage.

[MoonDragn]

All of my storage places are full... That is a terrible thing to do because if you put stuff out of sight, you just end up making more.
I swear they multiply in that closet!

[Verthandi]

I'm a packrat. Whenever I'm cleaning up my room, I'm always thinking, 'What if I need that down the road,' even if it's just junk in my hand!

[Zophael]

I'm a packrat. Whenever I'm cleaning up my room, I'm always thinking, 'What if I need that down the road,' even if it's just junk in my hand!

Yeah, that's the mentality passed down in my gene pool.

[MoonDragn]

Yeah, I kept some computer cases in case I need the metal to make something.

I kept an old apple III computer for the longest time because it may come in handy as a boat anchor.

There are some D&D modules I've designed back in the 80s that I still have in case by some quaint twist of fate I ever play D&D again as a GM and need a dungeon.

I still have clothes that are 20-30 years old that would probably look good on a 10 year old.

There are plastic blocks from when I was a kid just in case I need them for some craft.

I still have model trains from my teens and those plastic dinosaurs.

[Zookeeper]

I'm Sorry!! I'm the One who taught the rats how to pack!!

[squerrik]

Yes I am in particular with books
I moved into this house about 10 years ago and still have not unpacked all the books. Add to that all of the books I've collected since then and I have stacks of books all over the floor and all the bookcases filled at least 2-3 layers thick.

[rain_fallen_tears]

I'm a major packrat, but surprisingly neat! My closet for example is stuffed to the max, I mean NOTHING else could be stuffed in there but it is supremely organized...the only time I have trouble is when I let it get down from a holiday or being sick....it takes me a while to work up the energy to straighten it out again...my brother is another story hes the classic pack rat...lots everything, everywhere. So I clean up when hes not around and even if he gets in a huff, t takes him a while to make it a mess again, than the process starts over again. :shhhh: :)

[kissesree]

my hubbie and I both have "packratitis" and I like it! http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_1_118v.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxdm41496US)sometimes I feel like this guy, cause I can never find anything.

[MoonDragn]

I'm a major packrat, but surprisingly neat! My closet for example is stuffed to the max, I mean NOTHING else could be stuffed in there but it is supremely organized...the only time I have trouble is when I let it get down from a holiday or being sick....it takes me a while to work up the energy to straighten it out again...my brother is another story hes the classic pack rat...lots everything, everywhere. So I clean up when hes not around and even if he gets in a huff, t takes him a while to make it a mess again, than the process starts over again. :shhhh: :)

Where can I get one of you to come live with me? I'll pay!

[soilsigh aingeal]

Yes, I'm horrible. I had a BIG tote in my closet filled with memorabelia from high school, and things that've happenend since. I would go through it and throw things out every now and again. I would never get rid of anything though so one day, I just took a BIG trash bag and dumped everything in it. I have no idea what was in there, other than the possibility of my year books and diploma that are now gone...

[Zoritsa_Nepenthe]

I comprimised with my husband.He can keep all his notes,letters,pictures from gradeschool,highschool and so forth,as long as it fit in a plastic bin(with lid) that he bought.So far,2boxes and 1 drawer have been cleaned out and 2 more boxes to go :woot:

[Nova Starlight]

im forever buying books all sorts of books. im moving home soon and cant bear to get rid of any of my books. and i know i will keep buying more books.

[wolf]

Once purchased, books, even really horribly stinky never going to read again ones, are nearly impossible to part with.

Few that get purchased are really horribly stinky never going to read again types too.

A lot of what I have has some kind of collectors value.

But there's no darn way I'm willing to sell any of that stuff.

It's quite the conundrum.

Maybe I could try parting with something like one of the less-favored Xena collectibles, but nobody's getting my 12" Darth Vader ... no way.

[Niamh celtic mist]

I'm a pack rat. My mom was really bad and now with the help of my husband..I'm a little better. My husband is a scorpio and he hates clutter.I feel I can never have enough shelves to put all my knicknacks! I love antiques. We have no storage where we live at the moment and before we moved here I had to sort through a ton of clutter..it was very painful letting that stuff go but...I feel much better about it now...but at the time it was awful....I gave a few antiques away to my friends..ones they had admired and its nice to hear from them how much they enjoy having them...My hubby was very supportive through the process of weaning through the memories but he was also firm..that helped me . He wasn't a complete oger...he let me keep my one Fonzie sock ....(Oh geesh that makes me feel so old...there are people on here who don't even know who The Fonz was lol!) :hearthear The things that I have a danger of clutter with now is craft projects and books! He loves books too...what helps is the library..we only buy ones that we absolutely can't do without... :)

[Bec_W]

We're both packrats, DH is worse then I am, he WILL NOT throw anything out. His mother keeps sending us boxes and boxes filled junk, I mean literal junk and I can't even get him to go threw them and we have no more room. Both of our wardrobes a full to bursting, I can't even get our clothes in there anymore. It's driving me nuts!

[omar]

This packrat kept some stuff around for 15 years & as soon as I through it out I needed it. ouch.

[evie_mun]

I'm a packrat and it's very much a psychological thing for me. For instance, I really hate wasting anything, so before I throw something out I try to think long and hard about how or why I would ever use it again. I'm terrible because I've always got that little paranoid voice in my head going "Wait! What if I might need this again in the future??"

Let's just say I only finally got around to throwing out some old school papers from fourth grade because my mom forced me to.

[AutumnWitchie]

Having to move 6 times in the last 10 years(twice with the Army) broke me of the pack rat habit. My thing now is if I haven't used something in the last year and I haven't missed it, it must go. I try to purge at least once a year. I come from a family full of pack rats(my grandma, dad, little brother). We have let things get really bad a couple of times in the past and I never want to deal with that again. Besides, with me being bipolar things will pile up a little and I'll then get overwhelmed. I try to keep things only a little cluttered so that I don't get overwhelmed and freak out. I like to hide clutter in pretty baskets and boxes until I go through a cleaning frenzy. Books and magazines are the things I tend to allow to pile up. I try to take my books to a local "no kill book shelter" (nickname for the the local used book store). What books they won't take as trade or cash go in the store freebie bin so the books can find a new home.;) I love the Lifetime Network show "How Clean IS Your House"! It helps me see that even when I feel overwhelmed, my house could be a lot worse. I use that show as motavation to keep fighting the good fight for a clean(or only comfortably cluttered) house.:)

[Jenne]

Oh it sucks, but I am. A closet one. My dad used to call me "pile queen" growing up. I do get rid of things, but loooong after their time!

[9-2-2]

Roomate "Bob" is a packrat. And I *HATE* it. His trash is useless, he never looks at it, and he's filled *MY* bedroom up with his wasteful garbage (hello? He hasn't LOOKED at that crap in 6 months!). His piles of crap all stink, and I wouldn't doubt it if there's a roach nest somewhere in his junk. This is the same guy who didn't hand out his 24 yr. old toys to poor kids, because "it was my favorite toy when I was 2 (now 25)!", but would rather cram my closets and bedroom floor. Put it in his room? Yeah, right. His garbage has formed a little hallway from the door to his bed. What about his closet? Oh please. That thing is just a convenient, semi-spacious niche to put more useless crap where a wall doesn't conveniently exist.

Heheh... I don't hate people who are packrats, I just detest the behavior that's putting my home into shambles. The ant mound out back is more freaking organized, for Gods' sakes. :confused:

[Cyzarine]

It depends. I am sort of. I go through things when I need more space and throw out what I feel I don't need anymore. My father is a major pack rat though. He has stuff from like 1960 something still in his bedroom from when he was a teen...like comic books and clothing...even though he doesn't fit in them. Oh yeah, and his scuba tank from diving which he can't go diving anymore because of some medical condition.

[Astara Seague]

I am!!:(
My daughter says my house looks like a gypsy wagon!!

[PoisonIvy]

Ok,so I admit it! I have a bedroom in my house that no one is allowed to go in because it is so cluttered up. Well,I guess it could be worse!?8O

[Moon_Huntress]

yes, yes, YES!!!! I collect everything it seems like - I collect Florence Ceramic figurines (don't ask......just google!), tea cup & saucer sets, hand painted plates, other old fashioned lady figurines, old 'stuff'............ I love antiques/old things! What's worse is I inherited lots of neat old things from my grandparents and cannot bear to part with them and quite a bit from my mom when she passed. Get rid of Grandma's old Dazey churn?! - no way!! Mom's Fenton & crystal? Uh-uh! Great-grandma's old 'gone-with-the-wind' lamp?! NOOO!!!!! Some things are just irreplaceable - like family photos (current to back in the mid-1800's!). My favorite photo is large portrait taken of my great-aunt who passed away when she was nine from influenza in 1899 - spittin' image of my daughter! I've got a very small watercolor portrait that my great-grandma did almost 80 years ago. She was a wonderful artist (runs in the family) and supposedly a witch, err...... 'involved in the magickal arts and held seances.......

I'm horrible.......I collect coins, silver mostly and ancient Roman coins.

I have many hobbies......currently back into sculpting. *sigh* so sculpting stuff in one of the living rooms.......it sometimes spills over into the kitchen area and by my puter desk.......... I sew, I restore figurines, I paint, I draw, I play piano, I read avidly (yeah, can't throw books either!). My house is cluttered!! I go on cleaning binges - they don't last long enough. It even gets on mynerves, not as bad as it gets on the hubby's nerves though! At least the stuff he collects fits into tidy little boxes! I can't help it if I don't collect little things like knives, stamps & arrowheads! Oh, wait, I do collect arrowheads.......they're in pretty old mason jars that I like to collect too.......put other old things in them.......old marbles, buttons; sometimes even herbs and other useful things........

*sigh* I'm hopeless.....

yes, I have plastic totes! :boquet:

[wolf]

I am about to face the most horrible thing possible for a pack rat person ... moving, sometime in the next six to eight months, from a place I've lived in for 11 years.

[MalPixie]

I can't wait to move that wasy I can find things that I didn't know were there and keep or throw them!! Somethings won't get packed and others will get thrown in unpacking! I wish it was Now!!:hehehehe:

[Astara Seague]

I thought I was a packrat until I saw a news report last night on Hoarders! I had no Idea it was that serious, and a mental condition no less..Scarey! At least I know Im not one of them!:foh:

[The Lady]

I'm not a packrat but my sister and mother are, they keep EVERYTHING! My mom is better at it, she keeps her home tidy but there is stuff everywhere. My sister is the box queen! :lol: Her boxes are labelled and sorted by date. :lol:

I'm a clutter bug who once a week cleans house and puts everything back where it should have gone earlier in the week. :hahugh: I have things that I can't part with and they all fit in the top part of my closet. I keep only the most important things, except when I got divorced I threw tons of stuff out because it is the end of something and the beginning of something new. I am still sorting out stuff (10 years later!), because I am very different now.

I don't like a lot of 'stuff' in my life. It takes a lot of work to keep it so I only keep what I believe is worth the effort.

However, BOOKS, are almost a fetish for me. I love them!!! I like to give them away too! I have my own little library on almost every subject and if I don't have it now it is because I gave it away to someone else. :boing:

[Merewyn]

OMIGOD, both my SO and I are packrats. I am a packrat with Books and art supplies and papers and notebooks and journals, and he is a packrat with any type of computer or electronic gadget, and vintage gaming stuff and we live in an increasingly smaller 2bdrm apartment.

When we were planning to make the serious move of having me *finally* move in, our packrat tendencies could have potentially clashed. Because we're both packrats, and we understand the other person, we couldn't really tell the other to get rid of stuff. I really made an effort to get rid of a number of some of my items (two car-trunkfulls), and we talked about renting a storage facility for some of his equipment (so he still *has* it), but that wasn't going to work out for a number of reasons.

Finally, I approached him with, "Honey, I don't think I can move in because there isn't any room. Maybe we should just wait and start looking for a larger apartment, or maybe we can start looking for a house." But it was a very big deal for him to have me finally move in so guess what he did? This sweet pack rat cleared out 2 closets worth of stuff, gave some of it away, or finally tossed it - just so I could have room and have my own closet space. He even bought new bookcase sets so we could organize our stuff - and I even got a whole large bookcase just for me (the other 5 are filled with his DVDs VHS, and Video Games [for every console]).

Even though it is frustrating, whatever you do, respect the packrat, and they will respect you. Also - to avoid having the packrat feel threatened, organization helps a great deal! We bought underbed, closet, and other such organizational tools, and we really make the most out of our space without looking cluttered! Hope everything turns out ok!

[Moonlite Faery]

my SO and I are both BIG pack rats. And it doesnt help having 2 dogs either. Ever since we have been together we have had WAY to much stuff and NOT enough SPACE! We hope to move this summer to a much nicer apartment, but we will be taking a S.F. cut so we are going to have to part with some of our crap. Which I dont think will be a bad thing, it will just be tough

[Philosophia]

I'm a packrat. I collect books, art supplies, statues, candles, pens, paper, and computer/electronical stuff.

[Willow Rosette]

Im a pack rat 8O I just collect crap.

[Cindlady2]

I'm a packrat. I collect books, art supplies, statues, candles, pens, paper, and computer/electronical stuff.

Were you spying on me? LOL!

[Hærfest Leah]

I'm not a packrat but I see the value in keeping something that belonged to a gr grandmother. We go thru everything we own probably twice a year and toss things, we love our tuperware.

[Aleannah]

Hubby and I are both packrats...I come from a l-o-n-g line of them, and have made great strides in not saving just everything. :lol:

[piratess]

For one, you should definitely express that there is no need for those items and suggest that if she doesn't want to get rid of the furniture to at least put it in storage. I understand not wanting to sell antiques especially if they could be used in the future and they are family heirlooms... it is a sensitive subject for many so I would use caution. BUT this does not mean you should suffer! A storage space is a perfectly acceptable and reasonable suggestion... try that out.

Also, I am saying this as a packrat myself... if there's one book you could get for this roommate of yours it is Karen Kingston 'Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui' - it honestly is not so much about feng shui as it is about really going through your stuff and realizing the kind of negative energy and psychological dependencies packrats create with hoarding "stuff". Since I read the book, I have periodically been good about clearing out stuff I don't need or stuff that doesn't truly bring me a lot of joy!

[MankyCat]

I'm a half packrat and half declutter bug. It's a very odd mix for me at times.

Add in that I've been trying to be more frugal (not that I wasn't before, but now more so), and the scales seem a little more tipped towards the packrat.

Where is the balance??? *grins*

[Myrr]

I'm a packrat and I live with one too.

[VioletJadeWolf]

Yep. I've kept things I've had for years. I think I still have my award certificates from grade school somewhere.