Just call me Queen of the packrats!!!!!!!!!!LOL!!!!!!!!!

OMG!! I have so much stuff that I will never use but can't bring myself to get rid of. :-O

I usually am not a pack rat However there are a few items in my closet right now that once belonged to my sweetheart that I just can't bring myself to part with even though My grief counselor has told me that the longer I hold on to those memories the more difficult it is for me to move on with my life and get over her loss.

=) I'm the opposite... clutter makes me cranky.

I used to hang on to more than I needed to. Now that we are in a tiny apartment, I have learned to keep only the essentials, and some mementos, of course.

I am like a Orange County teenage girl: I binge and purge on a regular basis. I can not stand clutter and useless stuff lying around the house or office. I love George Carlin's bit on Stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac (Youtube did not allow embedding the video)

I'm a real packrat too. I have a hard time throwing stuff away. My aunt was one of those people that just has a little cleared trail thru junk piled high in her house. When she died, they didn't find her for days. I try to think of her when I go thru stuff. :-[ I guess it makes us feel secure somehow to have that stuff. ?

I hate to get rid of things. I know I should but i moved from a large house into this much smaller one because i was returning to the States and was just keeping these two small places as bases in Europe,. Instead of getting rid of all the extras, and because I do not like clutter I am now paying for two storage units to keep things that I will probably never look at again but cannot stand to throw away.

Absolutely I'm a packrat. I know too much stuff can be overwhelming but I know I'll need it all eventually. Being able to find it when I do need it will be a different story =0

I'm afraid you have company :-)

Hi I'm Cynstriss and I'm a packrat. How much do I owe for club dues?

It seems in our nation, that 'stuff' means either 'wealth' or 'security.' At best these are illusions. Value comes from the peole in our lives not material goods. That said, we all 'save' important-to-us items, especially those that revolve around our loved ones, things they made have given us, photos of 'times remembered,' and certainly romantic cards and/or gifts. However, I would like to opine about my own truth and what I have gained from the experience that caused it to become 'truth.' Years ago, my exhusband and I built a house by hand. We, along with our two small children literally camped along side of it. We had only been in our completed home for four months when a horrific, tragic and accidential fire burned that home down to the ground. The worse part of this tragedy is that our cherished daughter was inside and perished in it. We could not get in to save her! I was all but 24 years of age when this occured. It was at that very young age that I 'got it!' NOTHING replaces the life of someone, nothing. All the stuff, all the bells and whistles we believe or think to be important are not. It is LIFE, more than anything, that is the true gift of living. Now, many years later ... and remarried ... I have been in awe just how much crap we can acculumate or re-acculumate. Recently, when beloved and I moved, we literally sold everything. We are in a new home, on an island and downsized all that we 'thought' we needed. No more dusting. No more stuff that doesn't mean crap to the real value of being in love, having each other and more, having the TIME together that, sure and enough, will pass all of us in the blinking of an eye! Weigh what you REALLY have! Get rid of the rest ...

I think it is the memories we don't want to get rid of. People are afraid if they throw things away they will be throwing memories of loved one away.

Possible some people think they might have use for them some day.

At its severest, it can be a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. In my case, it is a combination of disorganization, indecision, intention to go back and read everything, and probably a little neurotic stuff as well. It could just be a larger degree of sentimentality. Then there is the procrastination factor. You may just really like all your things. Who knows? I just rid myself of a mountain of clutter - but I have an entire range to go.

I just went through all the answers so far to your question, making comments here and there. Looks like your "Is anyone on AB like me" part has been well and duly answered! lol Just add me to the list. :) What's weird is that I bet there are some things many of us save .. like greeting cards. Then, I'm betting it gets pretty interesting (and individualistic) on what "the packrat in us" decides to keep. You know how we often talk of being "neat vs messy" in a household? Well, I bet there's some kind of magic meter for each person's tolerance level on "how much stuff" is within acceptable limits vs "uh ooooh" vs a clinical problem. I figure I'm in the Uh Ooooohh range. Packrat City. Only real change is that I'm not ADDING to it the way I used to .. for a lifetime. Now, I'm trying to make my way through what I've got! FYI - what's important to me is "the story behind" the stuff often, not the stuff itself. For those, I've begun to take digital photos - write up a few notes or long story (whatever it takes) to go with that - then I can say "goodbye" to that item. Have a bin going. :)

People who tend to keep their items usually means they are holding onto something. It means that you are missing someone or something in your life right now. Removing the items from your life will make you a happier person.

The definition of people who hold on to things is "hoarding". To understand it, see this: http://www.ehow.com/how_2152360_understand-compulsive-hoarding.html

I don't know about you. But, in my case, hoarding was trained into me. Between living with a mentally disabled mother who collected junk, to being taken into the care of my grandparents (who grew up during the Depression), I learned to hang onto what I didn't need--in the fear that I may one day need it again. And then came the everlasting void in my life that I used to fill with things. Once I was able to afford stuff of my own, I bought things that I thought would make me happier. And they did. But it wasn't enough. It's never enough. But until I get what is really enough, I'll hold onto my things (until I'm convinced that I don't need them).