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The Cure for PRD*: How to Throw Away the Right Stuff

*Pack Rat Disease

 

By Jan K., The Proofer and Rick Subber

Pack Rate Disease (PRD) is an equal-opportunity affliction. Young or old, rich or poor, at some point we’ve all struggled with the primary symptom of PRD: the inability to throw stuff away. We’ve got completely justifiable reasons for keeping stuff: “It’s still good,” “It still works,” and the killer motive for keeping even the most ridiculous stuff: “I might want to use this someday.” However, there does come a point at which you’ve got to deal with all the stuff you’ve kept. Maybe it’s a move to a new place or finally taking over the youngest daughter’s room now that she’s been married for three years, has two kids of her own, and likely won’t be coming back to live in the room that looks like a college kid just walked out of it yesterday.

When your closets, basement, garage, attic, and spare room are bursting with boxes, bags, suitcases, foot lockers, and even that old army duffel bag filled with whatever it is that’s in them, it’s time to face facts: you’ve got to start throwing stuff away. Where do you start? How do you decide what you simply must keep? And what do you do with the stuff that you are going to get rid of?

If you haven’t got a clue and are about to give up and accept the fact that your PRD is incurable, then check out these tips and ideas for how to deal with all that stuff. You might just find that you can be cured.

Should I Keep It?

The best way to attack the problem of deciding what stuff to toss is to determine what your criteria will be for keeping stuff. Ask yourself these questions (and answer them honestly):

• How long has it been since I even thought about this?
• How long has it been since I used this?
• If I needed it tomorrow, would I be willing to dig out this old one and use it?
• If I needed it tomorrow, would I be more likely to just buy a new one?
• If I needed it tomorrow, and it is too expensive to buy, can I rent it or borrow it from a neighbor?
• Do I remember how this works?
• Do I have all the parts, pieces, and most important, the manual that explains how it goes together?
• How likely is it that I’m ever again really going to want to use it, wear it, play with it, or exercise with it?

If your answers were something like…

• I can’t remember.
• I can’t remember.
• Probably not.
• Probably.
• Probably.
• Nope, haven’t got a clue.
• There was a manual that went with this?
• Not bloody likely.

…then you need to get rid of it. Don’t look back. Don’t think twice. Two years from now, you’ll forget that you ever had it to begin with, let alone remember that you got rid of it.

But, This Stuff Gotta Be Worth Some Money!

Fine. Have a garage sale. Tag everything so that it is priced to sell quickly (if you were looking for one at a garage sale, tell the truth--what would you pay for it?). Rope your kids into running the garage sale for you, and let them keep the money. Get with your neighbors and have a “Several Families” garage sale. The more the merrier! Now that silver-plated chafing dish that someone gave you--gosh when was it? Christmas 1992?--will finally be of some use…to someone else.

How Can I Throw It Away? It’s Still Good!

With landfills taking on geologic proportions, you might be hesitant about adding to the mountains of refuse that dot our local landscapes. You do have a few options. Once you’ve decided that you are not going to keep it for yourself and you’re not the “have a garage sale” kinda person, you have three alternatives to putting it in the dumpster:

• Give it to a family member or friend
• Donate it to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, Amvets, or your church’s thrift shop
• Donate it to a local shelter

For alternatives 2 and 3, get a receipt for it. Assign it a nominal (…now, be honest!) value, and use it as a deduction on this year’s income taxes.

Bonus Tip: TurboTax has a nice program called “ItsDeductible” that can help you set a fair value on stuff you donate to charity.

I Just Can’t Bring Myself to Get Rid of My Stuff

It’s really hard to throw stuff away, especially if you saved it with loving care or with the noblest intention to use it somehow. So, ease into the “letting go” idea by practicing the rule of “Pass it on.” Select one or two things from all that stuff that’s in the basement. Give these things to a family member, coworker, friend, or the local homeless shelter. Give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back for helping out a neighbor or someone you don’t even know. That’s right, feed your own ego. Enjoy the warm fuzzy.

Now…do it again. And again. And again. Before you know it, the basement will be empty, and you can finally finish it off and have that nice family room you’ve always said you were going to have.

You probably saved a whole lot of your stuff for the wrong reasons. OK, so it’s “still good” or it’s “worth keeping”--but you’re the wrong person to keep it if you’re not going to use it! Give yourself credit for recognizing the value of that stuff, and then tell yourself how brilliant and generous you are as you sell it or pass it on to the person who can use it and should be keeping it! Once in a blue moon--aw, heck, you know that means hardly ever--you’ll realize you should have hung on to one of those things … so what? Go get another one and keep it with the rest of your stuff that you actually do use.

So, stop feeding the Pack Rat who lives within you. Here’s how:

• C’mon, just admit it: you save too much stuff. Decide to get rid of some of it--the goofy stuff, the broken stuff, the ugly stuff--right now.
• Go ahead, give yourself a break: keep the “sentimental” stuff for the time being. Work on that later after you’ve gotten used to getting rid of stuff.
• Go through your stuff and look at each thing. Be honest--if you can’t think of a real purpose and a specific timeframe for using it, then why the heck are you hanging on to it?
• If the thing “still works” or it’s “worth something,” then be generous--and smart--and give it or sell it to someone who will use it.
• Not ready for the full Monte? Just can’t bring yourself to throw that stuff away? No problem, there’s even a cure for that: “Loan” it to a family member, coworker or friend...what do you want to bet that you never take it back?

PRD is curable. You do have the “right stuff” to throw away stuff that isn’t right for you! And that thought is the one thing you do need to hang on to!

And now that you’re on your way to recovery, be sure to check out Pack Rat Disease, Part 2: “How to Keep Only the Right Stuff” (http://tips.janktheproofer.com/Pack-Rat-Disease-Part-2.htm).

Jan K., The Proofer is a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. Visit http://www.jansportal.com for more information about Jan's free crafts, recipes, tutorials, other resource sites, and free content articles, as well as Jan’s business services. Be sure to visit Mom's Break (http://www.momsbreak.com/) for free printable crafts and projects. © Copyright 2005 to present. All rights reserved.

Rick Subber, retired, was a planning and market research manager for The Morning Call, based in Allentown, PA. He is now an adjunct faculty member at Moravian College, teaching management, marketing, and other related business skills. Visit Rick’s website at www.rsubber.com.

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