Are you a hoarder?

[RoGeorge]

In the words of the late George Carlin, "Have you noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff?"

George Carlin Talks About "Stuff"
CappyNJ



 

[Bicurico]

Here is my serious contribution to this thread:

1) I am 54 years old and I have started to think about all the tech gear I own and what will happen with it afterwards. The thought came after reading about people concerned with this and about people having to dispose all stuff they inherited from their parents. So yes, it does worry me a bit, as I don't want to be leaving a burden on my daughter.

2) Am I a hoarder? I would say no. I do collect vintage computers and TV/CATV/SAT field meter. Also, I own lots of technical stuff, from HIFI gear, to computers, including a good collection of game consoles. However, I don't collect newspapers, garbage, etc. And I do have space to have everything stored properly, so that a visitor would not necessarily notice my collections, except for my home office work space, which is crammed with screens, computers, broadcast reception, distribution and transmission stuff, etc.

3) All the stuff I own is in working order (with some few exceptions). Most stuff is used occasionally, if not to at least to switch it on/off and charge the batteries or do some maintenance.

4) I do have space to store everything. I live in a big house. I have a flat (rented) that has a private garage where I keep a lot of stuff (including furniture and things from my late parents - these things I keep for sentimental reasons and because I might need the furniture to equip the flat, once the current tennant leaves). I also own a holiday finca with even more space.

Now here is my reasoning:

I could call some guys who would take everything from the garage for free and leave the garage empty. This could be done in a matter of 1-2 weeks. Since I don't need the garage (flat is rented and the garage is painful to access with a big a car like mine), I prefer to keep the stuff, in case I need it (and knowing it could be sent away easily). Especially the furniture.

All my collections (vintage computers, calculators, consoles and test equipment) give me joy.

The finca, though it requires much maintenance (big garden), gives me joy and keeps me busy in my free time.

Yes, I could sell it, I could throw everything away and/or sell my collections. But then what? Enjoy an empty home? What would I do in my free time?

If/when I pass away, I intent to leave enough wealth to my daughter, so that she won't mind the trouble of getting rid of the stuff. Some might be worthless by then, but other stuff will be quite valuable. She won't have to pay to get rid of it, she might actually make money out of it.

And the finca? I expect it to continue to raise in value. Apart from being a nice holiday place or place to spend retirement in, it is an investment like any other. Perhaps shares can raise more in value (or not), but you cannot spend the weekend inside the shares...

Conclusion:

What is a hoarder?
Is it like those TV shows, where the whole flat is crowded with garbage, boxes and newspaper? If so, I am not a hoarder.

Is it like me, who keeps all his mobile phones, who collects calculators and consoles, etc.? I know I can only use one at a time and after having an hp 50G and a hp Prime, what's the point of having more calculators? Well, I simply enjoy having them and playing with them, seeing how they work, etc.

Is it wrong to be the second type of hoarder (like myself)?
Perhaps. The reasonable thing would be to get rid of all unnecessary items in my home. All that is not used, could be sold or disposed of. That would be the rational approach.
Also, why live in a big home? Why have a garden (when you can go to a park and spare yourself the gardening work)? Why have more than one computer? Etc.
I have friends who maximise all expenditures so that they get maximum tax benefits. They will use all opportunities to save money and sell any item, like a smartphone, when replacing it with a new one. And they are rational with everything else they own (house, car, etc.).

BUT: I wonder if they are happier? Where is the joy and emotion if you only follow reason?

I for one, prefer to have my stuff. I still own my first computer I got when I was 12 (1982): a ZX81. And it works! I still have my first C64 and its periferals. Do I use it? No. But I still own it. It means a lot to me, it has a history and it shaped the person who I am today. Many other things I own or would like to own shaped me (like the Epson HX-20 I used at a deparment store in 1983 onwards - if I had a good deal on one, I would buy one, just because). And I like to have a big house with lots of space and rooms.

If this is "hoarding" as in a mental disorder, so be it. It makes me happy.

BTW: I started to buy second hand vintage and antiques from flee market and then I restore it. Like for instance a grocery scale. These items go to my finca, where they thematically fit the decoration. The rule is: it has to be in full working order.

[nctnico]

if u live in a rubik's cube, spatial awareness & storage efficacy is a must.

We do have cube houses in Rotterdam, without vertical walls the amount of storage is limited 

I visited those a few weeks ago. Only an architect from hell can design a home which is so impractical. AFAIK these are cheap rental homes for people with low income nowadays; some refuse those houses due to impracticality.

[Bud]

I could not understand what it means a cube house with no vertical walls?...So i went and googled it...And I was like - is a shortage of mental health practitioners down there in Rotterdam ?

[all_repair]

First half hoarding, second half supposed to be throwing, so my children don't end up throwing everything and know whats left behind are treasure.  Way over second half now, and you guys please stop keep recommending, doing unboxing and doing teardown 

[Kjelt]

I could not understand what it means a cube house with no vertical walls?...So i went and googled it...And I was like - is a shortage of mental health practitioners down there in Rotterdam ?

You can see it as art, most artist fall in the same category 

[schmitt trigger]

Sometimes, being a hoarder yields some unexpected treasures.

Look what my son found on his in-laws basement; check out the newspaper’s date:

[RJSV]

   I save odd-ball mechanical things, along with IC's common, like 7410, and especially Lm324 and Lm339...for many years.
Radio Shack closure influenced some increase in that.

   How about asking:  "What interesting / unusual things saved".
Unfortunately, some folks maybe save something GROSS, like hair or teeth...or worse.  But that's pathological hoarding.

   I noticed a fellow, pretty much a loner, kept so much paper and crap on the kitchen table, you could glance, at the single chair, and start reducing that the hoarding behavior served as an isolation tool...;  literally discouraging any company, at that table...quite clearly.

The rest of that individual's house, was filled with things like;  multiple boxes, containing more multiple boxes.

Also,  multiple plastic food containers, each stuffed with things like plastic lids,  I mean;  to obvious excess.

Multiple glass 'jugs', some with half full of water, and things like '16' egg-crates, just stacked up, there.
I spent some number of days, there, and casual assumption is, the clutter has some protective effects, or intents,  in maybe twisted logic, but most therapists might say those 'junky' items play a crucial part, of the person's defense mechanism, even if might seem strange.

[Homer J Simpson]

Check this out...

[Halcyon]

Hoarder? No.

Collector of valuable vintage computers/part? Yes, absolutely.

I see it as no different to people who collect coins, stamps etc... My collection just takes up a lot more room.