Why do people collect/keep valuable but meaningless things? (stamps, shoot, paint)

[Joe_Ryder]

Originally Posted by christina0001

...and already I am depressed at the amount of space being wasted on other people's junk.

You have no idea how much I empathize. Hoarding is a disorder some associate with OCD. To them, nearly everything is valuable. That BETA videotape player still works. Those pants that are so old they couldn't survive even one wash cycle may come back into style..... I so understand your pain.

Here's the ugly truth. There is no cure. They don't have a problem with the clutter and the mess, you do. You need to learn to tolerate the clutter or if you can't tolerate it you can expect your relationship to be a constant battle.
Before you think that love conquers all, take into consideration it only gets worse as time passes. People start becoming more obsessive about holding on to their stuff as they get older.

I may be presuming too much but the tone of your post sounds like the guns are just a small part of the issue. I noticed you said "other people's junk", not his junk or his family's junk. I'm kind of getting the impression that you live with someone who inspects the garbage to make sure you're not tossing any treasures like an empty bottle or rusty spoon. If your SO is a hoarder, as the tone of your post strikes me, in 15 years he'll be bringing in stuff faster than you can toss it out. You'll own a pickup truck and be on a first name basis with the guys at the dump and you'll spend an enormous amount of your free time just cleaning up and moving stuff so you can walk.

I'm sorry if I read too much into your post but "other people's junk", and "depressed" raised a red flag. If that's the case you have to either accept it or walk away. When you asked "Why" they do it I suspect what you really wanted was a strategy to make them stop doing it. Unfortunately, that strategy doesn't seem to exist. Arguing or complaining won't make them quit and it will just make both of you angry. There are all sorts of people in the world and not all of them are compatible.

Good Luck.

[texdav]

They like them.

[Huckleberry3911948]

guilty as charged.
compulsive behavior?

pdclipart.com
free clipart

i'll come quietly do i get a phone call first?

[Urth]

Just throw everything away and experience a freedom you never new! When you don't have anything you are free to do anything. You have to stop and ask your self? What does this stuff do for me? It nothing but a ball and chain... Let go and get free from your JUNK!

[k.smith904]

Not everyone, but some people do it just to say that they have it. I think its insane when I see a Hot Wheels toy car sell for 6 figures. To each his own, though...

[wyoquilter]

You know there was this story about a guy who kept everything. I mean just darn near everything like baseball cards, toy cars, cereal boxes, flour sacks, magazines, newspapers...etc. If it wasn't nasty, gooey or would spoil he kept it. Stuff that others thought was just junk. He had been collecting his "junk" for quite a long time close to 50 years. Then one day the man ended up losing his job (he was getting close to retirement age) and his home and all he had left was his "junk". So the man decided to sell off his "junk" so that he could buy food and such to survive. Well by the time the man was done selling his "junk" at auctions he made enough money to buy himself a mansion, a new luxury car and live a life of retirement.

People collect things for various reasons, some because items are valuable and others because of sentimental reasons, and some because they just like whatever it is they collect,(maybe nostalgic reasons) while others just collect for the sake of collecting.

Whatever their reasons, one thing for sure is never under estimate the value or sentimates of a person's collection. Just because you may see what a person collects as junk or useless doesn't mean that it is. If you do not want to acquire or keep a person's collection because it's not your taste or you hate clutter, don't just toss it out. You should check with auction houses or people who hold auctions and see about auctioning off the collection/s. Some items may sell quite well individually while others may do better in lots.

Believe me, the person who collected the items you do not want was not the only person collecting those items, nor will they be the last. I bet that you could find a buyer that would be willing to pay a nice price for those items to either 1) enhance their collections, or 2) start their collections.

[Bluesbabe]

I don't think there's any one reason people collect things. Some are related to memories (for example, souvenirs from each hotel you stay at on trips). Others you like them because of the art form (for me it's Art Deco, so I have a sideboard topped with beautiful old Deco collectibles, AND small paintings). Some are actually used, like the old dress clips that I wear on my berets (and I'm the only person I know who owns these pieces of jewelry).

My husband, however, will do things that occasionally makes me wonder if he doesn't need a long vacation. For almost 20 years we've had an old rusty lawn-mower shell that he refuses to get rid of. I've no clue why he holds on to it, but I'm not one to get presumptuous and throw out something of his without consent. (I damn sure wouldn't want him doing it to me.)

One time he brought home this bag FULL of lids-covers for hospital dinner plates. He thought I might "find a use" for them. I think I had holes drilled into one to use as a planter, but the rest got thrown out. Couldn't believe he did this. I still laugh when I think of it.

[Puru]

My mother is a pack-rat and my father is very "it's useless so I'll get rid of it". My mother's house is full of useless junk and clutter (she collects those stupid little trolls with the funny hair and annoying grins and has hundreds of them). My father's house is the necessities. I know that in the future I will be inheriting old, crystal punch bowls and tea cup collections and silverware. And many dressers. I think my siblings and I each have at least one dresser and other piece of large furniture (including tables) that we've inherited from our grandparents and great grandparents.

It sort of frustrates me because I have no room for any of it and probably won't for many years to come.

[Urth]

Originally Posted by wyoquilter

You know there was this story about a guy who kept everything. I mean just darn near everything like baseball cards, toy cars, cereal boxes, flour sacks, magazines, newspapers...etc. If it wasn't nasty, gooey or would spoil he kept it. Stuff that others thought was just junk. He had been collecting his "junk" for quite a long time close to 50 years. Then one day the man ended up losing his job (he was getting close to retirement age) and his home and all he had left was his "junk". So the man decided to sell off his "junk" so that he could buy food and such to survive. Well by the time the man was done selling his "junk" at auctions he made enough money to buy himself a mansion, a new luxury car and live a life of retirement.

People collect things for various reasons, some because items are valuable and others because of sentimental reasons, and some because they just like whatever it is they collect,(maybe nostalgic reasons) while others just collect for the sake of collecting.

Whatever their reasons, one thing for sure is never under estimate the value or sentimates of a person's collection. Just because you may see what a person collects as junk or useless doesn't mean that it is. If you do not want to acquire or keep a person's collection because it's not your taste or you hate clutter, don't just toss it out. You should check with auction houses or people who hold auctions and see about auctioning off the collection/s. Some items may sell quite well individually while others may do better in lots.

Believe me, the person who collected the items you do not want was not the only person collecting those items, nor will they be the last. I bet that you could find a buyer that would be willing to pay a nice price for those items to either 1) enhance their collections, or 2) start their collections.

Hello,

You missed the point! Point is: Stop giving material things value and seek the real fruit in life! Go out into the world and investigate what nature has to offer and share this experience with your mate, friend or childern.

[Urth]

Originally Posted by pigeonhole

My wife is a "messie". She collects all kinds of paraphernalia that she deems useful or antique, like tools, old cans of paint, old furniture, flowerpots, second-hand clothing , books, tupper/silverware, toys, racks of paper or tissue, old pepper grinders, etc.
I have to rent a garage where she can store all her things, but that's not nearly enough, now the bedroom has been transformed in a storeroom (she keeps the key, allows no one to enter it), and we sleep in the livingroom (we have only one bedroom), she stacks things also in the toilet, in the kitchen, in the hallway, in the garden, everywhere, you name it.
I think she badly needs counseling, what do you think ?

That is a sickness, she needs help!