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I am a packrat. A major packrat. I keep everything and today it dawned on me while I was watching Oprah...is it because of how I was raised? I mean, like what class I was? So, I was poor growing up. I didn't think I was poor, but I did tend to hang on to things, because I wasn't sure if it would be replaced if I needed it again or something. I think it's that way with clothing. If I get rid of it, will I be able to replace it? When I was younger, the answer would have been 'no'. My mom had 2 foster boys after I got married and was out of the house. They were both very young, the oldest was 3, but he did something so very sad. He would take the food off of his plate at meal time and would hide it in his pockets. When they came to my mom's, they were both very under-nourished and very small for their ages.
I just got to thinking today, am I a packrat because I still somewhere deep inside feel like I might not be able to replace something? Is it because I have a deep-seeded fear from my childhood? That's why I would like to know, if you are a packrat, did you grow up poor or with not much money or if money was tight? Or did you grow up with more money? With everything you needed or wanted? If you grew up with money, everything you needed, do things mean as much to you? I think if I am right, I have a psychological reason for being a packrat and maybe I can get over it.
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I am not a packrat, but my MIL is. She is more of a stockpiler to the extreme. She grew up in a family with 18 children on a farm outside of Chicago and they had an alcholic father and were very poor. They went without food alot. Now she stockpiles food and health/beauty supplies and just about everything you can think of, she buys excessive amounts of it. I never understood her need to stockpile, because she really doesn't talk about her childhood. I had actually read about her childhood in a book that dh's aunt wrote about her life. It opened my eyes to why she is the way she is!
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I do think you are on to something. However, I voted against your theory, Not a pack rat but did grow up with little or no money.
I am not a packrat, per say. Do I save things yes. But if I haven't touched it in 6 months, in the trash it goes.
We had very little money growing up, I still remember these horrible baby blue cordury pants my mother bought at a garage sale that were two sizes too big so that I could wear them for more than one year...oh it gets better, there was a pea green pair to go with it. And when they were too short...oh yes...they became shorts.
I guess I am fortunate that I do not have to go to "garage sales" for my children like my mother did, so I have done the opposite. Now, dont' get me wrong I do not go crazy. They get the good deals at Target or Pennys and so on. I do not buy "name brands" or anything like that. I do have a very hard time spending a lot of money on cloths, but I don't look for 50 cent deals either.
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Good theory!! But I am not a packrat and we really did not have any extra money growing up! My dh is a major packrat (I am slowly breaking him of this after 22 yrs!) and he grew up quite comfortable.
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Interesting theory. I'm the opposite of a pack rat - I throw and declutter as much as I can. My parents had a comfortable income so I wasn't poor growing up.
My MIL is also a packrat to the extreme. They had little money and her mom was widowed at a young age and had to support three kids on her own.
Safe to say that we both support your theory! I wish I had seen that episode of Oprah!
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Well, I have to disagree with you on the theory. I think it is how you were raised to treat things and that has nothing to do with you had money or not. You could have had tons of money, but things were not as important as people or vice versa. I have known rich packrats, poor packrats, you name it.
Oh, and I consider myself a recovering packrat, for lack of a better word, who didn't really have money issues growing up.
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To support your theory ... I was raised in an upper middle class family. Yes we had money concerns at some points (my mom caused lots of medical bills) but we were comfortable. My parents sent us to private schools so even if we were a little tight for money, I was surrounded by plenty of people who werent'. I'm a huge declutterer. If I had a choice I'd live a minimalist lifestyle - lots of open, unused space.
Alternately, my husband the packrat, comes from an extremely poor family. He definately suffers from the fear that anything he has may be the last time he'll be able to buy it. He MUST surround himself with stuff to feel comfortable. If there is empty space, he has a need to fill it. The problem is, his constant need to accumulate STUFF is putting a strain on our finances. All that stuff might make him feel wealthier but it is actually making us very poor. If I could only get him to accumulate investments (sound investments) instead. I'd love to be able to declutter some savings bonds.
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I'm not a packrat I HATE clutter!!! We weren't poor, but my mom was a single mom so we were paycheck to paycheck. My nana is the biggest packrat I've ever met and I spent alot of time with her at her house so I think that is why I throw everything out, I don't want it to be cluttered like hers!
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Hmmm interesting. I think I have pack rat tendencies... but I just asked my mom if I am a pack rat and she says definitely no. I feel we have so much stuff that I must be a pack rat, but she says that I get rid of everything, so therefore, am not a pr. We have a lot of "turn-over" of STUFF in our house...
I never felt poor. We grew up modestly, but so did everyone I knew. I never wanted for anything. We were not wasteful, we took care of our things. But I do have 'leanings' toward, "I can't throw that away! I could use that SOMEday." I am a creative type, so sometimes I think of different uses... so I'm always battling that side of me that likes to keep things just in case.
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dh is a packrat. what do you need with a binder full of math homework from almost 10 years ago???? so i secretly throw things out. he wasn't poor when he was growing up either, he would have been middle-lower income. we were the same, but i am not a packrat, my father didn't like clutter and we weren't very cluttered. i clear things out about 3 times a year.