apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I spent the weekend cleaning through the few old boxes I have in my apartment, getting rid of lots of junk. I also organized my under sink cabinets. The effort also helped me find a few small items that I thought were lost forever.

I didn't get everything done that I had hoped, but it was still a big step in the right direction.

I work in a field that is very poorly paid (meaning, I am the head of my program, but I'm still just scraping by because my field doesn't pay well except in accolades from the community). Being paycheck-to-paycheck for several years has really deepened my tendency toward packrat/hoarding. In fact, my reluctance to throw things away has always been exacerbated in times when I haven't felt financially secure.

It's not "fascinating," it's simple: it can be difficult to follow decluttering tips if you don't have money for anything other than necessities. One of the big AT rules (and other organizers' rules) is that if you don't use something often you can get rid of it, and just know that if you really need it again in the future you can just get it again. Well, lower income people just can't feel that way, and it causes anxiety. At least for me, it's stressful to consider throwing something away if there's a chance I might need it eventually, because I know that I won't be able to just buy the thing again. Money really is an object...

Which isn't to say that it's good to keep everything... just that it seems perfectly understandable to me that in an economic downturn, people would keep more than they throw away. My guess is that anyone who doesn't understand that trend, hasn't lived long with challenging financial situations.

I never want to live a life where I hold more than I need. I have never had a storage space, I have spare but wonderful furniture pieces, I keep my wardrobe to thirty pieces, and never keep things under the bed. My house burned down a few years ago and it taught me that things are material objects, nothing more. People and feelings matter and keeping a life full of crap and clutter prevents us from focusing on REAL problems.

I've been re-assessing, pulling out items and selling. It's a good feeling to pass along loved-but-no-longer-needed items to a new home and clear my space and relieve clutter. The cash is used for little celebrations: dinner out, doggie grooming, nest egg towards a small remodel project.

I'm purging as we speak - even packed up a bicycle that's been taking up too much room in my apartment and sending it to my Brother in Law in Suburbia...
...planning on getting a folding bike that can easily fit in a closet (and a bus for those rides up the hill) instead.

If anyone wants to witness true hoarding, please come visit Alaska. That seems like a wild generalization, but I feel that I am being fair. I grew up in a pack-rat, hoarding household in the Midwest and have rebelled against that upbringing.

It is now very interesting to live in a state where nearly every person I have met is a self-proclaimed pack-rat. I do realize this happens because material goods are so expensive here and so hard to obtain--yet the amount of stuff in every garage, house, shed, yard, etc. is mind-blowing.

I just went through a blizzard, two volcanic eruptions, an earthquake, and a wildland fire in the last 2 months. Keeping stuff around for "emergencies" is the last thing I want to do. The stuff would have just gotten in the way!

I go through my place every four months and toss, recycle or donate. Every since I started putting everything into a bin or some type of container and labeled it makes its so easy to know what I have and where it is and do I need it to keep it.
Even under my sink I have a bin for dish soap, dishwasher soap, new sponges, and counter spray. It just keeps things looking tidy.

Also allows easy cleaning in those areas because you just take down the bins and do not have to take every thing item by item out and then place back and reorganize every single time.

Paper work is my biggest challenge still trying to figure out new ways of staying on top of it and best ways to file. I have spent time researching different ways to organize paper work and just can't seem to find the best way. I am a stacker and need big time motivation to sit down and tackle it. Where as I could organize my spice cabinet or laundry room all day.

There's a special DAY for me?? Who knew!?

My biggest packrat problem comes with craft supplies. I used to teach art, so (as any art teacher knows) I learned to do a lot of things, not all of them well, but well enough to like to have the appropriate stuff around. And I flea market. So when I find a stretched canvas I could use for a painting or collage for a dollar and know that even at discount store prices it would cost at least five dollars, it's hard to pass up. Or beads for jewelry making. Or rubber stamps. Ir cool trinkets for assemblage...

When we moved last fall I gave a lot of stuff I'd been hoarding to other crafters, but I still have too much. Lately, though, I just don't have the time to sort through it and make decisions and DO anything with it. (Mostly gardening and yard work...)

(I'm a librarian -- we are poorly paid, too. No raises except cost-of-living adjustments, and those are below the actual rate. More expenses with my commute. Same as a lot of folks... And I DO see the value of lightening my load, clearing away the excess... When I have time!)

Right on, jplee. And while selling unused items is a good way to get rid of excess, you won't often get very good prices for
your stuff. You tend to want to hang on to stuff because if you do end up needing to replace it, it's going to cost you substantially. Unfortunately, having enough usable clothing or other necessities *is* a REAL problem for some people.

Of course, the upside (as far as there is any) of not having a lot of income is that you're less tempted to buy new things to clutter your life.

I recently relocated and moved home again after four years living on my own, I have constant arguments with my mother who just can't seem to throw anything out. It's been economically difficult for her for a while know, and I understand how that can make it difficult to get rid of things. But I can't get her to throw anything out and she finds excuses as to why keep everything. There's an extra bedroom in our home, which she uses as a storage room, i've been trying to create a home office in that room, but she refuses to throw anything out, I'm going crazy, i desperately need the space, not to mention the fact that she would feel so much better emotionally if she threw things out....I don't know what to do...

I think the misunderstanding here is the idea that people hoard things with actual monetary value.
I've just landed a new job and I'm not living paycheck to paycheck anymore, but I'm certainly not rich. The things I catch myself hoarding are things that are either
A.) Free to me (found on the side of the road, given to me by a friend)
B.) Broken but I plan to fix (that old chair in the corner)
C.) Virtually no resale value, but I MIGHT need again one day and THEN I will be glad that I have it (like the 100$ worth of acrylic paints from that art class I took last semester)
I'm trying to give away most of the things in group C, fix the things in group B, and weed out the things in group A that I don't need, or like.

My dad is a what I like to call a "pack rat lite". One of those people who buys 10 of everything, just because "it's on sale." And I'm not taking about things that you'd use 10 of, like t-shirts or canned tuna... but like, flashlights. Seriously? Who needs 10 flashlights in a 700sq ft home???
So yeah... I grew up in a house that was always full of clutter and crap. I definitely have pack rat lite tendencies at times but I'm getting better at catching myself, and I always feel the need to purge my home and just get rid of things that I don't use. Even in "these hard economic times" I'm still tossing and donating stuff. Having less stuff to think about makes life less stressful and more enjoyable... even in a crappy economy. :)

I'm a pack rat when it comes to food, I guess. Like Sparkle, I buy two or three of an item and store it in the cupboards when it's at a good price.

Additionally, I'm also the sort that keeps a perfectly good sock without a mate to clean up stains in the carpet, or shreds and old t-shirt for rags instead of donating either.

I like to consider myself a frugal person, a pre-cycler. Pack rat, though? No, I don't keep a lot of useless, needless items around just because I can't stand to let them go.

I agree that a lack of finances sure can cause a person to hold onto items they are not currently using. After my last move, I was shocked at how much stuff I had crammed away in boxes through the years. Luckily, I had no problem getting rid of ALL of it once and for all. I vowed to never save anything, other than holiday stuff, that I don't use on a regular basis. I felt so free and clean.....and totally unburdened.

On the one hand, I don't think there's any question that compulsive hoarding is a problem. On the other, one of the biggest "pack rats" I've even known was my friend's mom, who grew up during the depression. She saved everything - fabric scraps, minute bits of leftover food, even those plastic scoops that come in laundry detergent.

She used every. single. bit of it, though. The fabric was stitched into a quilt for her granddaughter and the food went into a (quite delicious) casserole. The detergent scoops? She used them to make favors for her church luncheons. So I find it hard to condemn folks who have more stuff than I do, simply because it's more than I would feel comfortable living with. You never know what someone else will find a use for.

I'm a pack rat and right now I feel like I will weather the current economic crisis better than most because I already have everything I need. My stuff is important to me - I feel comfortable in my surroundings. I can not live in such a sterile environment as most neat people have.

Note to mns2000 - please leave your Mom alone - it's her house and it's her stuff. She can't live in the environment you are trying to create in her home.

I'm the polar opposite of pack rat; the current economy just reinforces what I've always done. I typically purge every six months... hey, if I haven't see it in that long, I probably don't need it! And I buy many of the things I DO need secondhand... if they're still good when I'm done with them, back into the cycle they go.

Definite packrat. I agree with Star Princess--this is what I feel comfortable in.

Though I'm also trying to get the basement cleaned out in an older relative's house, because that's where I'm supposed to be living. It's tough, because she's old enough to absorbed the don't-throw-anything-away Depression mindset, and I think that side of my family is genetically predisposed to packrat behaviors. Keeping -all- that stuff is not comfortable. It's coming along though.

This bag says it all-
http://shop.moderntoss.com/comics&books.html

I am a pack rat by nature and yes economic times are tough so my gut instinct tells me to clean and throw stuff away but I don't. I don't know why. I go to clean my closet and end up with a grocery bag of items when I know good and well I could give away more.

I think it has to do with the "I won't throw away my old layering tanks if I can't get new ones" which then I don't get because the economy is bad so I don't throw them away. **sigh**

I really need an intervention. Like to put on everything that is in my closet outfit by outfit and donate/recycle what doesn't fit or is in bad shape...and perhaps keep going into house stuff and furniture. Any takers in Canada? lol

bad economy my clutter = lots of charitable donations

i can't afford to give cash donations anymore but i know that my gently used (& sometimes never used) stuff can help a good cause. i donate about 4 to 5 boxes of clothing, small appliances, etc. to the vietnam vets of america (v.v.a.) every month.

I'm a pack rat from childhood. My mom is a pack rat. My daughters have "Pack rat-itis" - " clutter. It -is-what-it-is ! Being a pack rat- and it robs you of quality time with your family and the things that make life a blessing in so many ways. My grandchildren can't get around their homes or mine. I don't want this to continue.I'm working hard on making a plan and sticking to it. I have the Pack Rat how-to books, and tons of info. I have video tapes, I have even tried some of the " Oprah "based programs, HGTV ideas, working with a buddy ( I find I have to make my own choices- it's hard to have someone tell me what has to go or stay).I haven't been too successful. I have to get going and stay committed to the process. My question to Medusa is - HOW did you get your wardrobe down to 30 pieces ? Please tell me- I'm also open to any other suggestions from anyone. I don't want my grandchildren to follow my pack rat ways. Thanks

lorisf: that's a great find. Sad but true if you look at the US economy stats. Perhaps if we sold those in the bookstore I work in we'd be able to survive.

I keep things I never want to spend a dime replacing. The problem is when you have so much stuff you can't find what you need and end up spending to replace it anyway. That is the catch-22 with most pack rats. An endlessly perpetuating cycle. If you are going to keep things, try to be organized.

Those of you that "hoard"/keep for re-sale, keep in mind that you are not an expert in the field. You likely won't fetch prices you have seen in auctions or from reputable dealers. You might be lucky to sell your stuff to such dealers for 50% or 60% percent of retail value, but it's unlikely that you will be able to fetch "retail" prices yourself.

For piez- really good advice. Organization is critical- my problem is getting started and finding something that works for me. I started reading the other postings to get some more ideas -