Keep or Toss?

I still have an unused stereo amplifier that I bought when I was in the Navy.(I'm almost 71). As far as paper goes, I'm a pack rat. I have owners manuals for stuff I threw out decades ago. In my shed, there are parts. What they go on or do, I haven't the faintest idea; but I ain't getting rid of them. My place isn't cluttered like the pack rats on TV. You said, "hardly ever use". No, I can't throw out stuff I might use in the next ten years.
 
Of course.
Too good to throw away and not good enough to keep. How do you decide.

A friend of mine puts things like that in a box and labels it with the date.

If it's not opened in one year he doesn't look in the box and throws it out.

Another friend tells me. "Why are you keeping that? Someone could use it." Donate it to the Diabetes Association or the Salvation Army.

That's the one I go by.
 

fuzzybuddy said:
I still have an unused stereo amplifier that I bought when I was in the Navy.(I'm almost 71). As far as paper goes, I'm a pack rat. I have owners manuals for stuff I through out decades ago. In my shed, there are parts. What they go on or do, I haven't the faintest idea; but I ain't getting rid of them. My place isn't cluttered like the pack rats on TV. You said, "hardly ever use". No, I can't through out stuff I might use in the next ten years.
Click to expand...

If you move, which is what happened to me, you can't take everything with you. And stuff is showing up I had no idea I was taking with me.

If you move into an apartment from a home you have to downsize. There's no alternative. There simply isn't enough storage and you don't want to buy storage for stuff you will never use again. It's a tough call. But I made sure I hung onto my tools. There's no way I could live without them.
 
I've got a garage and workshop full of tools, parts, mowers, tractor,...you name it. Most of it I use fairly often, but I frequently find stuff I have no more need for, and if its in good shape, I sell it on EBAY...to make room/get money for more stuff I can use. Recently, one of the Son-in-Laws spotted a nearly new Delta Jointer I had sitting idle for years, and since he is remodeling their house, he shot me a good offer, and it is now his. If/when I get to the point where I can no longer handle this place, the family will get first crack it my "stuff", then I'll have a big auction to get rid of most of the rest of it. I dread the day I might have to move into some cramped apartment.
 
At least one truck load, maybe two!!!

Mostly dishes, crystal, books, etc...

I continue to work at getting rid of things, at least now it is going out faster than it is coming in, LOL!!!
 
My husband has a huge collection of CDs and DVDs. The CDs we rarely listen to, if at all, because we have so much music on flash drives. But he will not part with his music disks. For me, it is my books
 
I keep too much stuff, but I might not qualify for one of those TV shows about hoarders. I can imagine the representative of the show looking through my place, and saying "Bob, your place almost qualifies for the show, but we'd like to enrich the experience for the viewers. How would you feel if we first present you with 13 cats ?"
 
Bajabob said:
I keep too much stuff, but I might not qualify for one of those TV shows about hoarders. I can imagine the representative of the show looking through my place, and saying "Bob, your place almost qualifies for the show, but we'd like to enrich the experience for the viewers. How would you feel if we first present you with 13 cats ?"
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHAH!!!! Yeah, but at least three of them have to be dead and you've been wondering where they are....
 
I got rid of a lot of stuff when I moved from a house to a condo. It was hard to do and very emotional for me. That was 10 years ago. Now, when I know I haven't used something for a year, I donate it to a thrift store. This does not include keepsakes, of course.

My brother has helped people clean out homes of relatives who died after living in the same home for 45 years or longer. He tells stories of the (sometimes disgusting) things he has thrown in the trash.

I wouldn't want to do that to my kids.
 
I am not a hoarder in fact the exact opposite.

I like a nice home but do not want two of everything. If I buy something new the old one goes to a charity or fete.

My ex husband used to keep everything. Once I got my own place heaven. No more junk :rolleyes:
 
No.
When in doubt, throw it out. (or recycle, donate)
I'm not sure I even know what a "keepsake" is. The memories are in my head, not in objects.
Photographs are quite enough.

I have, a very few times gotten rid of something that the need for came up much later. My regret lasted about 30 seconds.
 
The question posed was I believe hardly ever used.. so yes I do. I have baking equipment, especially cake tins that I may use one year in three but I could not let them go as they are specialty tins.

Ditto with my craft stuff. Among many other things I have a kiln, I may only use it once a year but I could not be without it.

Things I no longer use goes without tears.

However everything has a neat place, I can go to any time at any time and know it is exactly where it is supposed to be. Everything is in categorized identical plastic containers, stacked.

I am extremely tidy with my stash of stuff so I don't think I qualify as a hoarder
 
I've been keeping a bag going to take to the charity shop. If I have one sitting there open in the spare room, I am more likely to toss that shirt that doesn't fit right anymore in the bag than I would be if I had to go find a bag to start. I've also been getting rid of the mindset that "I might need that someday." I'm actually doing very well at it.
 
When I moved into a smaller flat,I had to get rid of lot's of things! To be honest,it gave me hurtful feelings and made me sad,because of nice memories.
 
Before we moved the last 2 times I would ask "is this worth what it costs to move 2000 miles?" We garage saled a lot and sold some on Craig'slist. We still have too much "stuff". We have a "donate" box in the spare bedroom that gets cleared out every once in a while.
 
When Ebay was in full swing I got rid of a lot of items I had just sitting around. When that got to costly to do I went through the house and had garage sales, then donated many items.. I still have quite a bit, but it all has sentimental value. If ever I downsize I'm sure I will have a problem parting with these heirlooms. Sometimes I see things that I would love to have but always think twice about it. I have a particular problem with holiday items. Seems like each year they come out with the most beautiful things. I just saw a very pretty set of dishes with old fashioned looking rabbits on them for Easter. Affordable also. Then I thought,"you are 71 years old,what in the world do you want a set of rabbit dishes for." For all I know by next year I may not know the difference between a porcupine and a rabbit besides the fact that my daughter will probably take over most of the holidays.
 
We usually have a big garage sale once a year. It's a lot of work to do it well but it's also a social occasion so we have fun visiting with all sorts of people. We get rid of about a third of our junk, make enough to pay for a nice dinner out, and donate the rest to the Salvation Army, the Legion, or the Lions. We are also avid yard sale aficionados so we start collecting more junk right away. It's a hobby.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top