Why do old people accumulate "stuff"?

Just returned from a visit w/ my dad so he could show me the Taurus X he just bought. Nice vehicle, especially for him, but he wants to keep his old Taurus as well. Has it parked right next to the conversion van that hasn't moved in the last 8 years. He's keeping that because "it's got a sweet 302 and I might buy a truck that needs an engine".Never mind the fact that's he's 80 and I told him there's no way I'm doing the swap. Behind those two is his very nice 78 Mercedes 280 that he does drive once in a while but gets mad when he goes to a cruise night and every one is looking at the hot rods and muscle cars. In the backyard (for the last 3 years) is a 97 Saturn that he bought at a yard sale for $200 because "it was a good deal". I spent the better part of a weekend breaking loose the calipers that were all seized because it sat for so long, just so we could tow it to his house.It's almost broke in half, the rockers are so rusted. It hasn't moved since! Behind the shed is a Honda CB500X parts bike that's been out back for the last 7 years. Locked up tighter than two coats of paint but "it's got a good engine". In the garage is a CB750 automatic and another CB500X(both run good). He won't sell them, but there's no way he's ever going to ride them. He garbaged picked an old Sears tractor. That's in there also. So of course he had to find a 'parts tractor' and dragged that home too. Meantime, his nice John Deere garden tractor sits outside, because there's no more room in the garage. Same holds true for food. The freezer in the garage is jammed packed full, but I bet there's stuff in there from 3 years ago. At least twice a year I go and try to clean out the garage. The last time we made a scrap run, he couldn't believe he got $300 for the trailer load of crap.Three weeks later, the place was packed again. Oy vey! At least he's healthy and active.

oh I dunnno......tell him to loan the CB500x's to a guy in west michigan for a few years ;)

Sounds like my father in law.

Oh, E36 M3... looks like you looked 25 years into my future?

I don't know either, but I catch myself starting to do it all the time.

As for the food, we recently moved my great aunt out of her house into a retirement village thing. We're the only relatives near her, so we took on most of the work. We were throwing away food from the Carter administration, and she was getting angry with us for it!

I'm 25 and I accumulate stuff. Most of it is useless stuff, but the vast majority of it is stuff I use depending on season. Camping stuff. Snowshoes. Bicycling stuff and tools. Car stuff and tools. Photography stuff.

Then there is the loads of school stuff that just gets littered about.

PHeller wrote: Most of it is useless stuff, but the vast majority of it is stuff I use depending on season.

Didn't you just contradict yourself?

Accumulating stuff has nothing to do with age. Starts young. More time= more stuff.

I am 47 years old and I have a Datsun 5-speed sitting in my crawl space in the basement. Along with 2 new fenders, 3 windows, 3 seats, two engine blocks, stack of datsun wheels, roadster luggage rack, 3 driveshafts, 2 rear ends, entire 280z engine in parts and labeled bags, front spoiler, and five more boxes of Z "parts".

Why am I hording this stuff? It all ended up as free parts after getting rid of parts cars. Now I am saving up cash to get another Z.

I'm more of a purger than a hoarder. I don't like mounds of stuff. As for old people, I really thought it was that Depression-era mentality. But I don't think I think that anymore.

My grandmother-in-law has a ton of useless things in her basement. She gave us a toaster oven a little while ago because she had three or four extras, all still in the box! And this isn't an old thing, it's a new-old-stock (two years, maybe three?) stainless Oyster super thing, and she has THREE OTHER ONES still in the boxes!

We found brand new in-box parts for sewing machines that are also still new in their boxes.

I don't know. I just don't know.

80? his generation does that. they were born in crappy times and learned to not waste things. my wife's grandparents were the same way and her dad picked it up. he doesnt get rid of anything. i couldnt believe he got rid of their old mustang when they bought a new car. we were in her old bedroom throwing stuff out last week and he was going through the trash claiming her old schoolwork from college had sentimental value for him and shouldnt be thrown away. their basement is scary, and he has 5 houses, 4 are full of crap that he can't throw out.

I just bought an 8800-sq ft building in September & I'm already working more storage, not that I need it - yet - but I know eventually I will!

I agree with the Depression era thing. My folks will be 80 next year and they wont throw out anything tangible. They both grew up dirt poor on farms, That isnt an issue for them anymore Dad will fix most things to working order then store them in the basement. Three kids and one granddaughter so far have furnished first apartments from their basement. I have heard the quote as things are leaving "when you are though with that, bring it back cause someone might need it"

The food scares me. Some times Mom will complain because they are feeling ill with an upset stomach. I will ask what they had for dinner last night? Something I found in the fridge/ pantry that we ate "before it went bad" looking at the label reveals that it expired 3 years ago.

my apartment is packed, I keep more stuff in my car, and I have crap stashed at my dad's house, and my mom's house back in Michigan. Who knows what I am going to do with that old 460 in the back corner of the barn?

I've got a friend whom I'm convinced is a "hoarder". Any hobby he picks up immediately becomes his new career, most recently fishing. He's spent every cent he's got on fishing stuff. There must be 500 various rods in his house, tackle boxes to the ceiling, he even bought a $40k skeeter bass boat and doesn't own a running car or truck. There's at least 10,000 fishing books and magazines in piles all over his house. He goes out every day and buys more stuff. He's convinced that professional bass fishing is where it's at, and nothing will talk him out of it.

He still has an unbelievable amount of stuff from when we were both into RC stadium truck racing for a while. Boxes upon boxes of new suspension parts, engines, etc... He even has a bunch of "rare" trucks he's convinced will be worth something someday, brand new in box. The dining room table in his house is piled with this stuff with a seriously thick layer of dust on top of it.

He hoards broken cars and boats too. His truck was wrecked 5 years ago, but he used the insurance money on something else, so it'll never get fixed. The other vehicles I know of are a 240z, an audi 5000, at least 3 motorcycles, a RV, a jet boat with no floor, and I'm sure there are others. Most of these have been sitting for at least a decade and aren't worth anything. I know the boat and the z have been sitting for, at the very least, 30 years. He bought a new sportbike last summer but the tire went flat and it's sat for 4 months now. I doubt he'll ever ride it again. He's probably spent $4k on aftermarket parts for it already, none of which will ever get installed or sold.

I don't get it.

I'm packing my folks to move them into the retirement community this week. Holy-bleeping-crapola...I never saw so much junk. Either stuff that should have been thrown away years ago (calendars, never opened, from 10 years ago) or stuff my Dad recently bought like a cordless drill.

Dad, you're moving into a retirement community. You won't have anything to drill holes into!!!

80's not old enough to have firsthand memories of scraping through the Depression, except perhaps as a young child. It was more than 70 years ago. They certainly were not running a household.

SVreX wrote: 80's not old enough to have firsthand memories of scraping through the Depression, except perhaps as a young child. It was more than 70 years ago. They certainly were not running a household.

When did the Great Depression end? I'd say around 1942ish. By that time my grandpa was 17. He is 85 now. Any one who is in their eighties was at least 12 by the time the depression ended, which is surely old enough to remember the hardships. To this day my grandparents hate eating chicken, because that is all they could afford to eat as far as meat goes. And that was a lot better off than most folks.

My wifes grandmother is the same way...she keeps everything...Take out came in a nice plastic container? Keep it...mail order arrived and the box was pretty good? Keep it...I mean, theres at least 4 microwaves in her basement shes never even opened that she received as a door prize or for opening an account a the bank. If there were ever the end-of-days scenario where a killer mutated bacteria makes everyone go crazy, i know where Im going...her basement has a dry pantry with- Im not kidding - enough to feed 5 adults for at least 2 months - canned food, dry food, MRE type stuff, you name it. Her hoarding is not as bad as you see on TV and such, the place is quite clean and organized, but shes wanting to move into a condo (the 3 bedroom 2 bath 2 story with full basement that she maintains by herself is getting to be a bit too much) and I know 100% without a doubt whos back is going to be sore from packing the trailer with all her crap, and hes typing a post on a web board right now.

I think it is an I-survived-the-great-depression thing. She grew up int he hills of virginia in the 30s on a small farm. Her mom saved everything - she used to say that when they killed a chicken for dinner, even the feathers got saved for making new cushions and pillows, and all that got tossed was the bones...and I believe it.

As annoying as it is, I know I am like that at times (and Im not even 30 yet). My garage is filled up with crap. We havent even had this house for 2 years yet, and already. my garage is a mess. I built new shelves, bought one of those black and decker 5' tall storage lockers, added a floor in the attic over the garage for storage, and re-arranged the workbenches to make more storage space, and I still dont have room. Sometimes I have to take a real hard look at wht junk I have laying around, and ask myself if I really am going to use it. When I get into clean up mode, a good question to ask myself is "when was the last time you even touched this thing". If the answer is when I unpacked from the move, then its out. Sometimes, I just gotta face reality and toss stuff I really wanted...I just gotta walk up to the crap pile, close my eyes, and pick up the first thing my hand touches, and thats where I start. Usually, Im so much happier with the result, its worth potentially tossing a few bucks into the trash bin.

All that said, the wife and I already have an understanding that the next time we move, it will be into a house we design. That house will have an attached oversized 2 car garage...and a seperate 2 car garage for my stuff

mtn wrote:

SVreX wrote: 80's not old enough to have firsthand memories of scraping through the Depression, except perhaps as a young child. It was more than 70 years ago. They certainly were not running a household.

When did the Great Depression end? I'd say around 1942ish. By that time my grandpa was 17. He is 85 now. Any one who is in their eighties was at least 12 by the time the depression ended, which is surely old enough to remember the hardships. To this day my grandparents hate eating chicken, because that is all they could afford to eat as far as meat goes. And that was a lot better off than most folks.

End of the Depression is a little undefined- late 30's early 40's. I'll take your 1942.

Like I said, if he was 80 he was probably not running a household. At 85, his memories are stronger.

And most people who lived through it were not poor. 25% unemployment meant 75% employed. My Grandfather (born in 1903) had vivid memories of it, but admitted it didn't directly effect his immediate family as much- never lost his job, had plenty too eat, etc.

I am certainly not discounting your grandfather's experiences (or anyone else's). I'm just saying there's not a big correlation between old, the Great Depression and accumulating stuff.

My folks grew up on the farm both born in 1930. They had what they needed to survive but nothing extra. American culture encourages excess and not having extra during their childhood years when their ideas of need and desire were forming has left them afraid they will be without. The result being they hang on to things incase they need them.

SVreX wrote:

mtn wrote:

SVreX wrote: 80's not old enough to have firsthand memories of scraping through the Depression, except perhaps as a young child. It was more than 70 years ago. They certainly were not running a household.

When did the Great Depression end? I'd say around 1942ish. By that time my grandpa was 17. He is 85 now. Any one who is in their eighties was at least 12 by the time the depression ended, which is surely old enough to remember the hardships. To this day my grandparents hate eating chicken, because that is all they could afford to eat as far as meat goes. And that was a lot better off than most folks.

End of the Depression is a little undefined- late 30's early 40's. I'll take your 1942. Like I said, if he was 80 he was probably not running a household. At 85, his memories are stronger. And most people who lived through it were not poor. 25% unemployment meant 75% employed. My Grandfather (born in 1903) had vivid memories of it, but admitted it didn't directly effect his immediate family as much- never lost his job, had plenty too eat, etc. I am certainly not discounting your grandfather's experiences (or anyone else's). I'm just saying there's not a big correlation between old, the Great Depression and accumulating stuff.

just because you were employed doesn't mean you weren't dirt poor... my Grandfather worked for the state (hwy dept) they were given a choice ... 50% pay cut or leave... he ended up loosing his house , but they managed to survive .... eat a lot of turnips, cabbage and what ever else they could grow in the back yd, but they made it

ddavidv wrote: Dad, you're moving into a retirement community. You won't have anything to drill holes into!!!

What, they don't have furniture?

I'm 24, and I'm just as bad. I haven't lived through any major economic downturns. My Grandparents grew up in the mountains of VA, so everything was saved. I guess I picked it up there. I moved into their house when my grandma went into the nursing home. She seriously has clothes from 1970 in her closet.

My understanding is that my grandfather was rather different. The only thing he had in excess was tools, and that's because he was a former mechanic. He did like to hang onto cars, but he had no qualms about getting rid of them once he had no use for them.

They grew up in the same area, I believe one mountain apart.