Collectors or hoarders?

nvtribefan

nvtribefan

Member
Location
Reno, NV
For those of you who are, or know someone who "collects" things: Where do you think the line is between collecting and hoarding?
 

AZ Jim said:
When you cannot wade through your home, you are a hoarder.
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Yep. What Jim said. When you see instances of people only having a path through their house, and they buy things just for the sake of buying, and are unable to party with anything. Ever watch that show Hoarders? Sad people, there. But those are pretty extreme cases and in those cases what is the difference between hoarding "useful" items, and just being a slob?
 

I'm probably right on the border between collector and hoarder.

I don't have a stuff problem I have a space problem.

I agree with RR, if you can't enjoy your stuff then it adds no value to your life. Better to donate the excess to a group or individual that can make use of it than to hoard it until it has no value or serves no useful purpose.

Hoarding is similar in many ways to The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.

The idea of Diminishing Marginal Utility is that the first glass of water given to a thirsty person is of great value, the second is of some value, the third is of little value and a man in the middle of a flood sees no value.
 
I think I would be considered an organized hoarder. I don't buy for the sake of buying and haven't added much of anything to my stash. Everything is neat, organized, labeled and in its place but I have to much stuff and have a problem parting with it.I'm always thinking I will need this or that someday.
 
The difference is very simple. Hoarding is keeping what should be thrown out. I mean actual garbage. Collecting is having what pleases you. You may wish to look at an item frequently or you may simply enjoy owning it.
 
The only thing I hoard is books and I've been making myself cull them every six months or so. Now I'm hoarding them on Kindle. Ooops.

The worst is animal hoarders. I knew a woman who had 65 cats in her house. Animal Control got called, and they had to destroy all of them because they were too far gone and nearly dead with diseases like calicevirus; cats tend to get pretty unhealthy when there are too many of them in an enclosed space like that. She even had cats living in her lower kitchen cupboards because they were afraid to come out. They did some horrible damage to her home too.
 
Smiling Jane said:
The worst is animal hoarders. I knew a woman who had 65 cats in her house. Animal Control got called, and they had to destroy all of them because they were too far gone and nearly dead with diseases like calicevirus; cats tend to get pretty unhealthy when there are too many of them in an enclosed space like that. She even had cats living in her lower kitchen cupboards because they were afraid to come out. They did some horrible damage to her home too.
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I saw one of those cat hoarders on the Hoarders TV show. Just heartbreaking how cruel people can be. She even had a dead "favorite" in the freezer!

Another guy loved his pet rats, which multiplied into the hundreds, ate through his mattress so he slept on a mattress full of rats. They lived in stuffed chairs, cabinets, cupboards and the walls were infested. He actually cried with grief when the exterminators came. Heartbreaking in more ways than one.
 
Big Horn said:
The difference is very simple. Hoarding is keeping what should be thrown out. I mean actual garbage. Collecting is having what pleases you. You may wish to look at an item frequently or you may simply enjoy owning it.
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Very sensible answer, BH. I'll admit that I have a slight "problem" with kitchen gadgets (but I love to cook and put them to good use), books, and handbags. :shame::chargrined: My house is neat and tidy and no "hoarding" going on, though.

My son converted a regular closet into all shelves so I would have a place to store my handbags. I have 2 daughters and 2 daughters-in-law who I share handbags with when I get tired of them. I used to swap books with my sister, but now we both use a Kindle which has tidied up the book "hoard."

I also have a mild obsession with shoes but I attribute that to the female gene. :D
 
My only book hoarding that hasn't been helped by Kindle is cookbooks. I've made myself wait at least two weeks and if I still want a cookbook, I order it. I like my cookbooks to be actual physical books so I can't hide them with electronic gadgets.
 
Smiling Jane said:
My only book hoarding that hasn't been helped by Kindle is cookbooks. I've made myself wait at least two weeks and if I still want a cookbook, I order it. I like my cookbooks to be actual physical books so I can't hide them with electronic gadgets.
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I have quite a collection of cookbooks, too. I was thinking recently that I would like to get rid of most of them, though. A trip to Goodwill may be in my future.
 
RadishRose said:
I saw one of those cat hoarders on the Hoarders TV show. Just heartbreaking how cruel people can be. She even had a dead "favorite" in the freezer!

Another guy loved his pet rats, which multiplied into the hundreds, ate through his mattress so he slept on a mattress full of rats. They lived in stuffed chairs, cabinets, cupboards and the walls were infested. He actually cried with grief when the exterminators came. Heartbreaking in more ways than one.
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The woman who had the cats isn't evil, but she lost touch with reality. I feel very sad for the man with the rats and my heart goes out to him because he obviously loved them very much. If he wasn't harming anyone by having them, the government should have let the man and his pets live in piece. They could have at least been humanely euthanized or, better yet, relocated if they actually posed a threat, something that I doubt.
 
I sorted my cookbooks a while back, so everything I've got now I'm keeping.

Every six months I go through my regular books and take what I don't want/need to the VA. The local VA has a long-term rehab unit which is for the most part guys who've come back from combat with major injuries. The first time I took books to them, the unit supervisor called and told me it was like Christmas on the unit. The guys are bored out of their minds so they love a new supply of books to read.
 
Smiling Jane said:
I sorted my cookbooks a while back, so everything I've got now I'm keeping.

Every six months I go through my regular books and take what I don't want/need to the VA. The local VA has a long-term rehab unit which is for the most part guys who've come back from combat with major injuries. The first time I took books to them, the unit supervisor called and told me it was like Christmas on the unit. The guys are bored out of their minds so they love a new supply of books to read.
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What a great idea!
 
If you are keeping a lot of stuff that you have not used in years and you cannot find the stuff that you do use easily then you might have a hoarding problem.

I know I do.
 
Wife used to be a "saver" quite a bit, until she met me. She was pretty thrilled that I "grabbed the bull by the horns" and helped her get rid of a number of things. Through garage sales and taking stuff to the Goodwill and Salvation Army, we have really "downsized" quite a bit, but more to go before we move next year.

As for me, I basically had nothing, but clothes, when we met. I rented rooms in houses and a condo. The rooms were furnished. I only bought a small Black and White tv from the Goodwill. The black and white was fine for me, because I didn't watch much tv back then.

We have got collections of things, like my wife's Angel collection and our collection of Star Wars Figurines and Space Fighters (like an X-Wing Fighter and Vader's Tie Fighter).

Now, OTH, I use to know a lady that was a REAL "hoarder". Not in her house, but in her garage. Went into it once and it was jammed packed full of stuff. Boxes upon boxes and even an old car sitting in the corner with boxes on top of it.
 
C'est Moi said:
I have quite a collection of cookbooks, too. I was thinking recently that I would like to get rid of most of them, though. A trip to Goodwill may be in my future.
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I recently went through mine, it was hard, I have one that I got 40 years ago as a wedding shower gift. I kept it and mostly the older ones, took some to Goodwill. Now I just save the ones I see to my favorites in a folder labeled recipes. Which I will most likely loose when my computer dies. If it's a real good one I print and file it.

I could be a hoarder if my husband didn't keep me in check. Mostly sentimental things I just can't part with, anything that belonged to a family member. I still wear my Daddy's socks it just makes me feel closer to him now that he's gone.

I've done good though at least I'm an organized collector/hoarder. I have boxes stored in our shack labeled with who they belonged to....LOL
 
In order to be a hoarder you have to buy lots of stuff, in order to buy lots of stuff you have to have money.......I'll never be a hoarder.
 
IKE said:
In order to be a hoarder you have to buy lots of stuff, in order to buy lots of stuff you have to have money.......I'll never be a hoarder.
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I knew a woman who hoarded things like fleece infant blankets; she got all of her things from the oudoor as-is lot at Goodwill. The most I ever saw her pay for a shopping cart full of nasty used blankets was 10¢. They should have paid her for hauling that trash away.

She had a great laundry room with floor to ceiling storage on 3 sides. She had stuffed all of all of that storage full of her Goodwill treasures, and her husband ran around buying hampers and storage bins to keep her from filling all of the closets and corners of their house. She washed everything when she got it home, but it was still stained.
 
I was married to a hoarder for 15 years.

Not a pretty sight. When you open the front door and have to pick your way among the debris, or you go into the attic and can barely open the door, you know there's a problem.
 
My wife told me “if you find things we don’t need or will not use again, go ahead and take to the Goodwill. Just please don’t tell me about it.” I really liked her telling me that.

There are also some things we buy, but don’t end up liking, so put them into a Christmas box to send to relatives and/or friends for Christmas.
 
Noah-Hoarder.jpg
 
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