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Hi, AmyGrace:

It seems to be true that people "hoard" more as they become elderly. I don't think it's restricted to one gender, but I do find that there are more men than women who are hopeless pack-rats. (I am married to one, so I know.)

It's a losing battle to try to change the behavior of a life-long pack rat. We all become set in our ways with the aging process, and I sense that our worst qualities often become "enhanced" while our body gradually declines. I also believe that having "stuff" gives some people a sense of security; everything else in their life may be falling apart but, by golly, they still have their possessions.

I've just accepted the fact that if my husband dies first, I will need to hire somebody to help me clean out the house. I've told my husband that he has the "Midas touch" - where everything he touches turns to crap, rather than gold!
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What a great question and hilarious responses. Just emptied my folks place last month. Fortunately...no pack rats...but savers...children of the Depression. In my case...and maybe for some of you...look carefully at pockets, envelopes etc. Open everything. I had a friend help me. She said when she cleared out her parents place she found $900. When we worked on mom's place, my friend found $1500. Of course junk is junk, but check things that could hold surprises.
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One thing my divorce did for me was to make me unload all the refuse in my life. The only things I have now are my computer, clothes, rabbit, and inventory. Alas, everything else around me will pass to me in the will. Thinking about this, dying the week before my mother is starting to sound better. My brothers would have to deal with the multiple albatrosses. Maybe I'll just take the first flight to an unknown destination and let them deal with everything, anyway. Then I wouldn't have to die first.
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Too late to go back and fix the grammar and punctuation.He really hasn't had all his clothes on since 1950
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My mother saves used Dunkin donuts coffee cups and my father has all his clothes from 1950 on plus he likes to pick up towels from the tennis club (he stopped playing last year).
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cwillie. Yep, which is why I'm on a campaign to get rid of anything I don't use. All of a sudden it has become a heavy weight.
Patooski, I know just what you mean. When my mother's husband died, she was in her 80's and left things as they were. When we moved her to IL, my sister and I both had panic attacks getting rid of stuff. After a while, we just started chucking it all in the dumpster because if she didn't need it, if we didn't want it - what were we to do with it? Put it in our cellars? No way. I guess that's why I'm on a campaign to get rid of stuff - because I realize you can't take it with you. That means if you are not using it and you don't need it, there is no sense to have it!
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I agree Jesse, there are men and women pack rats in every generation. Sometimes it is laziness, sometimes it's something pathological, sometimes things just get away on people as their health declines and they are unable to keep up. Lets face it, almost all of us have way more "stuff" than we need.
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I don't give so much credit to the Depression. I know in my mother's case it was laziness. They had 3 back rooms after the kids moved out. When something was no longer useful, it was easier to stick it in one of the back rooms than it was to donate it. It was easier to set the decorated synthetic Christmas tree in the back room and pull it out the next year. Pretty soon the three rooms were impassable. In 2005 we had a major cleanup effort just to clear paths to walk through. In 2009 we had to repeat the cleanup before I moved in to do the main part of it.

It was easier to let the boxes of paperwork mount up than it was to sort through it and shred. It was easier to just keep buying food than it was to figure out what was needed. I don't blame the Depression when lack of will explains things nicely. Of course, I grew up here so I got to experience lazy as I was growing up. Our parents are just humans, though we like to think of them as above the common human faults. Even lazy people have kids.
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Dad was WWII/Depression era. Same thing. Saved everything. The auctioneers who gave us an estimate thought they had a handle on it. Took them way longer. Every corner, places they couldn't really see, full of stuff. All cared for and organized, but full. They were incredulous at the endless supply of old chairs and furniture coming out of the attic. One said you could have opened up a business!

When Dad passed I did have panic attacks over it - a first for me. I was executor and I was absolutely overwhelmed. Also I was grieving and emotional - family home, stuff of several generations. It felt like such a burden.
I was immobilized until my wonderful sister came and said - "OK we're doing this with that... etc..." got things moving.

I think the Depression was a big factor. Plus the pride of providing for the family and being self sufficient. And as someone said, the rewards for their hard work.
Also my Dad was creative and always had a project going. He actually used a lot of his "stuff". And then there is the "man cave" thing - a place to get away with all the things they use and like in it. His was the garage and the cellar. Both chock full.

God bless 'em.
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My mom is a pack rat and she is 82 years old. When she was living in her apartment, she saved everything. Under the guise of trying not to damage the apartment she would cover all doorknobs with toilet tissue. Her pocketbook is always teaming with newspapers, toilet tissues, notes to herself, etc. I think senior men as well as women are pack rats these days.
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Sounds like I'm going to have to live with it. My mother remarried years ago - to a packrat (when they moved we found a toilet seat in the basement, and a rotten park bench) She did her best while they were married, used to take one thing a week and put it in the bottom of the garbage can!
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Quote: "I've thought the best thing I could do is to put a For Sale sign in front of the house, and include "All occupants and contents included."

LOL!! Ah, at least we can fantasize, right? ;)
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Between my mother and father, their house was unlivable when I arrived. It took 2 years to get some semblance of sanity to the place. Their are still two rooms and three closets that are nightmarish. I've thought the best thing I could do is to put a For Sale sign in front of the house, and include "All occupants and contents included."
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Yep, the saving! My FIL had his own place, and yes, he also has receipts and tax records from the 1960's!!  The 60's!!!  We're starting to sort and burn it.  Good times.  He also has boxes and boxes of random stuff; much of his stuff is still there, but slowly, my husband is bringing the "stuff" (I use that term loosely, what I want to say is cr@p) over to OUR house!! The other day, DH was at FIL's house, and I told him to just bring the necessities - cold weather clothes, and Dad's beloved coffee maker. DH arrives home with an SUV full of cr@p!!! I told him if he brings home one more thing from Dad's, I'm putting something of hubby's in the trash. And I'm serious.

Honestly, I think it's the WW2 generation. They remember a time when you had to save and re-use EVERYTHING - whether it be a piece of metal, an old shirt, or wrapping paper. My own father has a 4 car garage with no cars in it - and it's FULL!! Floor to ceiling. I told him that when he passes away, I'm not dealing with it, I'll just put a sign out front that says, "Make an Offer."
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Oh lordy! The sneakers! Yes, I had about 5 pairs, one for dog walking, one for gardening and one for good. I just threw away the gardening one! LOL!
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Anyone else's sig other addicted to the internet? I'm embarassed to see the mailman - anything he can think of he might possibly need - Amazon, E-Bay etc. We get at least a package a day. Things keep coming in, and nothing goes out. He doesn't have "time" to go through the 15 pairs of jeans, 22 shirts, etc only a few which he wears, or the cameras, or all the rest. It just keeps collecting dust and building up. Sometimes I want to run away. I love being in our camper - there is just so much room and I have a place for everything. I feel so unburdened there!
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When it came time for me to remove everything from my parents house, I found tons of pill bottle caps... I think maybe they were "trophies" for being able to open up those prescription and over-the-counter containers :)

And yes, old things he wanted to fix or to use as parts for other items.  Oh also his pay stubs and income taxes going back decades, hey you never know when you want to see what payroll taxes were taken out of that 1952 paycheck !!

My Mom saved old sneakers. A couple of sets were for indoor use... couple of sets for yard work..... and brand new ones for doctor appointments.

Now my sig other, who is a senior like I am, doesn't save anything, not even bill invoices. Thus if he needs to call an utility company or whatever, he has nothing to reference.... [sigh]... so saving and not saving has its issues.
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My father built a fort of plastic boxes around him. They were boxes that held the hand wipes. I imagined that they had all kinds of useful things and mementos that he wanted to keep close. After he died I discovered that the treasure boxes were mostly empty. A few of them had a few little trinkets that weren't worth anything. The rest of the fort was just empty boxes. Maybe they gave him a sense of security, or maybe he felt he would need them one day. They all made it to the recycle bin when he was gone.

He also saved all the bills and records going back to the 1980s. It took me weeks to get everything shredded. He bought a lot of stuff in his last few years that were really silly. Most of it was worthless, much not even worth donating -- trinkets and fake medals and fake coins. Oy. He had a job where he had to order things, so I think ordering stuff was a holdover from his early days. He had just lost the organization and reasoning that keeps it meaningful. Men! What can you say?
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Yes, they do.
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The typical man has a growing stash of stuff he plans to fix "some day", as well as all the new toys he feels he deserves because he "works hard". Oh, and once they retire they "helpfully" take control of the budget and purchase things in bulk, but then keep finding deals on more... and more. LOL
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