Do you have a tendency to collect stuff, or are you a person who only buys what is absolutely necessary?

I’m a huge and unapologetic materialist. I like stuff.

I have a ton of stuff that isn’t necessarily usable, but I wouldn’t call it junk either. I am really into art, design, and engineering, so I tend to amass things that I think are beautiful or interesting to look at and feel, even if they have no use.

I have way too much crap, movies, video game magazines dating all the way back to 1989, pillows and cushions. I don’t know if I’m a hoarder, but I do tend to collect many things, and I never seem to get rid of anything, no matter how useless it may be.
I also tend to buy a lot of things that are not necessary, at least when I have money…which I should probably use for food, but eh.

I do buy unnecessary things like clothes I wear once and shove in a box or junk food I dont need lol.
But I do collect alot of things like TY beanie babies, porcelin dolls, cds, movies, books, and such things,... But I deffinately dont hoard things.

Vintage stuff. Art, 78s, books, furniture. All from the early teens, 20’s, 30’, and 40’s.

I collect books, anime DVDs, and shoes. I’m in the process of rebuilding my anime DVD collection. I had sold most of the ones I had a few years ago when I was moving and I always regretted it.

Oh and I love buying new shoes!

The former, working hard on becoming the latter – slowly. But with intent.

With most things, I tend to buy only what I need, but there are a few items that I often buy/collect more than what is necessary.

* Music/DVD’s: I tend to go a bit spend crazy here, and have amassed quite a collection over the years. Some of it I barely watch/listen to anymore, but I still hang on to them.

*Books: These never get old, so I buy them often. Every time I see a garage sale, I stop by to peruse the used books. I have a couple of bookcases in my room and many more books that reside in boxes.

*Maps/Navigation tools: These are purely for aesthetics and nostalgia. I find navigation (especially the more primitive means of doing so) pretty fascinating, so I have a collection of antique maps, compasses, sextants, etc., around purely for my enjoyment.

I collect very little but the things I do have around have a very soulful connectedness to me and are usually quite practical. Above all they have age and significance whether that be provenance or a story. A vintage set of cutlery, a beautiful copper lamp etc. I buy collectibles but only to resell. I enjoy them for a week. I don’t get attached to things by necessity. It’s my livelihood.

I do own more coffee mugs and sweatshirts than I actually need, but I just can’t resist those souvenirs!

Although I live quite simply, stuff tend to accumulate. Antique radios, phonographs, weapons, farm machinery, old cars and motorcycles. I have more old stuff than I could ever restore, accumulated mostly to save them from destruction.

I’d love to restore our 1895 Birdsall steam traction engine, too many other projects, but it will sit protected for someone who can. I’m tinkering with a 1949 M-B 170D, body style from the 1930s, that might be restored in my lifetime. Most of our farm machinery is over 50 years old and still giving good service. I have to be a packrat about spare parts to keep equipment like that operating. Parts of our farm are steampunk nirvana, our backup generator is run by an 85 year old diesel that is started by manually turning an 8 foot flywheel after stuffing a wad of nitrated paper into the combustion chamber. Two of our wind turbines are 1930s era Jacobs units, in perfect condition. Our working farm could double as a museum.

I also can’t go past a used book store without exploring it. We’ve got about 5000 volumes now, very eclectic; we still use a card catalog, the cabinet salvaged from a nearby town library.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land I use a card catalog to organize my 3000+ volume collection. I also buy most of my antiques just because I a: like them and b: know I’d take better care of them than most/save them from destruction…

Are you sure you aren’t my dad?

Ever since cleaning out my grandparent’s estate, I refuse to collect things. They were not horders, but they kept everything! Which is good, because I, like @Symbeline keep alot of the unique items and use them. I have the coolest old nut grinder than I use to grind pistachios for salads.

I used to be a pretty big consumer. I loved to buy clothes, but now I really don’t buy much. I am trying to minimize the things I own.

Most of the time I buy only what I need or would have regular use for. Unfortunately I can be a bigtime packrat. My attic and basement are both filled with stuff that should have been thrown out long ago. I have gotten rid of a great deal of things I’ve horded however. I even have my original Atari system/games from the late 70’s/early 80’s yet.

@Jabe73 I still have my Atari system too. Even that stupid Journey game. ;)

I’m a horrible packrat when it comes to some things. Movies, games, computer parts and especially car parts. I take after my dad; if it looks like it could come in handy I’ll keep it for years. Of course as soon as I get rid of it I end up needing the damn thing. Murphy’s law.
I brought a fender all the way up from Arizona for my car, but before I could get the other side the salvage yard that had the pair crushed everything they had. I’ll often go to great lengths to get things I need for projects, but aren’t absolutely essential.
In short, I often end up spending money I need for important things on less important things that I deem important at the time. If that makes any sense :P.

I love stuff and have way too much of it. But everytime I try to divest myself of some of my stuff, I find that the day after I donated it I have an intense need for whatever it was that I donated.

i collect patches – mostly police and fire depts, but i now buy patches as souvenirs from places i’ve travelled. i used to collect salt and pepper shakers – i have a lot of old ones, figurine types. now i won’t go out of my way to buy them, but if i am in a store i will buy some only if they’re unusual. i have at least 600 police and fire, which is a lot. one day i will frame them, but they would take up a lot of wall space, so i need a whole wall to spare, which i don’t currently have.

i can’t resist buying nice smelling (exotic scents) soaps if their price is right. i have a whole bunch that no longer fit in my bathroom cabinet.

i buy books, although i try not to, but if i see one at Costco that seems good and/or is by an author that i like, i can’t resist.

if i see unusual placemats, napkin rings, or other table ware (I guess that interest stemmed from the salt and pepper shaker collection), i can’t resist that either. my house is set up to have great parties and holiday dinners. when my daughter is older we will do that stuff.

i buy for my daughter stuff but children have so much, and so much is given to them by others, so i try to curtail that purchasing.

my grandmother was a big saver, and when i was little she had one of those houses that had decades of stuff that is now considered collectible – great old books, gadgets, things like opera glasses, charms from Cracker Jacks, some cool clothes that would now be called “vintage” – you name it, she had it. when she got sick we cleaned out her room and threw a lot of stuff out. now i wish i had it, for sentimental reasons and because it was such cool stuff.

Anyone want to sell any of it. Just let me know.

I hate having extra stuff around. The only thing I really collect is mugs. Otherwise I just get rid of it if it hasn’t been used in awhile. I feel suffocated by too much clutter. The only thing I keep around that I don’t use all the time is a box I’ve designated for special things like my journals and letters from family members and friends.

I have some old greeting cards that were given to my grandparents back in the 50’s and 60’s. I wish i had more of them, it’s very sentimental to see what friends and family wrote to them. I save many cards that are given to me, as a result. not all, but many. I have cards that were given to me by my mom and my grandmother from when i was a child. i know my mom has up in the attic, cards that were given to her when i was born. that is something that i think can be passed down and may be treasured by future generations.