Difficulty throwing things away

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I always have found it hard to throw things away, even if they are old and worn out, and I don't know why. If I had to guess, I would say it was probably because I have a tendency to personify inanimate objects.

Does anybody else here have this problem?

Yes, very much a problem for me and while I'm not sure if I personify objects I do tend to develop some weird sort of loyalty to them and it's difficult to dispose of them.

I don't throw things away. I'd rather donate. I have donated my seventeen magazines to Goodwill and have given away my Gameinformer mags on Craigslist. I do not want things to go to waste.

I have lot of DVDs I don't want and video games I don't play but I have difficulty getting rid of those. I also have too many clothes and I don't wear lot of them. I also have difficulty getting rid of those. Some of them are worn and I still wear them. I have managed to get rid of some of my clothes but the rest I feel too attached to. I even refuse to get rid of my old coat and it has a rip in the sleeve but I still wear it and I can't even zip the darn thing up anymore. My hubby didn't get me a new coat thank god. Now he thinks I need a new car and I am saying NO. No one can force me to get rid of things. My parents had to fight to get me a new bed when I was six and I was in protest. But I had no choice then, they were the grown ups and they dragged us kids down to Portland to one of the malls to the furniture store that is now no longer there and they had to pick out a bed for me because I refused. But when they bed came, I loved it after they put it together. See change wasn't so bad.
My parents tried to get me a new bed again when I was 19 and I dug in my heals again and said no. My mom got as far as getting me new sheets for my bed that were adult looking than child looking. I'm never fond of getting new things and I always hated when I outgrow my clothes. But then I'd like the new clothes I'd get, same as shoes. I'm still that way. I even wear worn out shoes until they feel uncomfortable on me. I have thrown out three pairs in 2009 and now I wear my Sketcher shoes I got at a thrift store four years ago almost.

I'm a big packrat. I have a very hard time throwing things away because I just MIGHT need them someday.

I don't see why people do throw things away, unless they're upgrading a phone or something, and even then I'd probably only sell the old one if I need the money.

You never know when things might come in handy!

That's my issue too.. I don't want to "abandon" things. Part of it is that I feel like I'm useless and no good, so I shouldn't judge things as junk and get rid of them, because it would be hypocritical of me.

yes. at one point, you couldn't see the floor in my room. i do get attached to old things and will wear shoes, clothing until they're held together by who-knows--duct tape, safety pins, etc. but i also wonder when they might be useful again. i have difficulty prioritizing---i'm never sure when it's time to throw away old paperwork, receipts, etc. (but i can never find them when i do need them, so... oh well.)

That's an interesting perspective. I never thought about the possibility of sympathy for the object being misplaced sympathy for myself.

I'm not as bad at this as I used to be. My main problem is magazines and newspapers. I just can't stand the idea of throwing out really good articles that I might find useful one day. I mainly collect music magazines and sometimes you do forget to look up a band that you might end up really liking.

I have an early memory of being sad and reluctant to throw away my old pair of sandals. I just really felt it was an injustice to them; they had character and had been loyal. I was three.

Ever since then, I have found that I grow very attached to objects, often right away, sometimes after some time.

I've been through extremely disordered stages in life and now I'm over it. For me I realised that objects require cleaning and I'm just not up for that right now. That really, really helped me to realise that.

Basically I've pared down everything I own.

But, when I do throw things out, it's nearly always in a 'frenzy' - it takes for me to get sick of not throwing things out before I do it and then I can work through and throw "nearly everything" out. I try to get rid of everything because I know I'll always keep some stuff no matter what I tell myself.

Best of luck to all

I detest throwing stuff away. I just hide it away if I don't like it

I also have difficulty throwing things away, I'm a terrible hoarder.

Ditto

Yeah I have the exact same problem

That's me, too. That's probably one of the reasons why I find it virtually impossible to organize my apartment -- I just have too much junk to sift through. Even om the rare occasions I get my apartment to the point of looking somewhat neater and more organized, two of my three closets and overloaded with massive amounts of junk I don''t know what to do with. When company is coming (pretty much the only time I can force myself to clean) those closet doors just don't ever open.
My boyfriend S is currently studying in California. Since he was pretty much the only regular visitor I had, the state of my apartment went seriously downhill after he went away to school this past Fall. Then, he came to visit a couple of weeks ago, and I spent the days before the visit frantically working to clean everything, and get my apartment looking acceptable. I actually did manage to force about 15-20 bags filled with garbage down the incinerator on my floor. Those two closets were still loaded with piles of stuff, and I made sure their doors stayed closed during the entirety of his visit. It's really remarkablee how quickly massive amounts of garbage pile up in my little studio apartment. Ever since S left a little over a week ago, my apartment has already deteriorated dramatically again. Part of the issue is not wanted to throw things awa in case I might need them. Part of the issues is being unable to summon the mental energy to sort through piles of stuff in order to figure out what I do and don't need. Thus, when I am forced to clean, piles of stuff are shoved into one of my two overcrowded closets, allegedly to be dealt with later.

the worst part is knowing that due to my aspergers and being generally repulsive to men, i will eventually end up homeless or living in my car. because of that, i constantly worry about how to save my things by finding place to hide/bury/store them when that time comes.

i desperately want to go through all my boxes, throw things out, convert things to digital, and get down to as many belongings as can fit in a car. but i know it'll never happen. having a digital camera helps, you can take as many pics as you want to "record" things you've owned for posterity, at least.