Spring purge

Retired Educator

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Do my garage every year but don't seem to be making much progress. At least it's not getting any deeper. 2 years ago redid the kid's room. Now 40+ year old kids been gone for 20 some years. Still was the same as the day they left for college. Boxed all their stuff up and hauled to their houses. Let them decide what to keep. Now actually have a guest room. This winter I redid my basement workroom, new floor tile (formerly just concrete ) paint and threw out what I didn't realize I even had and now I can find everything. Gives me something to do when I've been staying home way more than usual. One room left to do, the laundry.
 


riverview

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what kind of stuff do you guys accumulate that you throw away? sounds to me like you need more buildings to store tuff
 

LBrandt

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Confucius Say "Storage shed never big enough for all your shit". Bigger the shed, more the shit for someone else to sort out.
 

Duckslayer100

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I grew up not wanting to throw ANYTHING. It's a weird thing. I remember as a kid having drawers full of scraps of paper, tiny nubs of pencils, broken crayons, knickknacks, magazine clippings, etc. Bunch of stuff that should have been tossed, but I always figured, "there's still life left, I'll use it eventually."

The problem with that mentality is it stayed with me through much of my life. I kept dang near everything. Take toys, for instance. I remember thinking, "someday I'm going to be glad I kept this toy because my kid will play with it."

I guess that stemmed from my own experience playing with the few, cool old toys my dad managed to save from his childhood.

What I never considered was that I'd get my dad's toys, PLUS the toys I saved of my own, PLUS my kids would get their own toys. Know what that equals?? A FREAKING SHIT PILE OF TOYS, most of which never are played with.

Everything hit me in the past year. Grandma moved to a nursing home two years ago. Grandpa died. My folks bought their place. We had to go through all their stuff. Now my folks just moved there with all their own stuff. Even after throwing, selling, donating, sorting, etc. they don't have enough room. They have two storage sheds rented, plus a pole barn FULL of the amalgamation of whatever is left of grandma and grandpa's stuff, along with everything they moved up from the cities.

It really makes you stop and think. We aren't doing the next generation any favors by keeping/hording things. You're only deferring the agonizing task of deciding what to keep/throw/donate to the next person. I don't want to do that to my kids or grandkids. I'd like to whittle my personal belongings down to a very manageable level, so if we ever do move again or I pass away suddenly, they're not burdened by going through all the things I didn't have the courage or motivation to get rid of when I had the chance.
 

Mort

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Interesting reads on this subject, we all have to admit, we are pack rats to some point in our lives as we go through life, just how it is I guess, but like you said Duck.....a guy should try and keep it manageable, its a chore but a guy needs to be on top of it. My folks house is going to be a fun one, when they pass, not looking forward to it.
 


Duckslayer100

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Interesting reads on this subject, we all have to admit, we are pack rats to some point in our lives as we go through life, just how it is I guess, but like you said Duck.....a guy should try and keep it manageable, its a chore but a guy needs to be on top of it. My folks house is going to be a fun one, when they pass, not looking forward to it.

Part of it is generational, too. Both sets of my grandparents were somewhat horders, thought not in the trashy sense. Both grandpas had, I kid you not, dozens of metal coffee cans FULL of screws, bolts, nuts, washers, etc. Most rusted or greasy or beyond usefulness. Both saved old electric motors, just in case. One had saved every single set of curtain rods (and in some case, the curtains) they'd ever purchased since the house was built in the 1970s. I wish we would have laid them out in chronological order -- would have been a timeline of window trimming fashion!

I'll admit that some of that was an adventure. Digging through old drawers, not knowing what you might find. But after the umpteenth box of old receipts and newspaper clippings, it just got kind of sad.
 

Rowdie

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My brother's ex mother in law died and had a house full of shit. Yeah if a guy had time some may have a little value, but it's not worth the time. Her son gave his one sister a little time to go through it. She didnt, and it was ALLLL gone. He tossed it like a contractor lol. He pissed everyone off, but now, no one gives a shit. My brother is a bad pack rat, and my sister is worse. At least she lives in the country.
 

Twitch

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We grew out of our first home and made the jump to a bigger home last year. Needed more space and a bigger garage. That is a dual edged sword. It forced us to get rid of some of our junk to simplify the moving process but required a new set of junk to take care of the bigger home and surrounding acreage. Long story longer we now are going to be building a shop to house our new junk. That is if lumber ever comes back to earth.
 

PrairieGhost

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A couple of years after my fathers heart attack we sold the farm and moved to town. We cleaned way to much. As we sat down for dinner I heard all this popping outside. My mother had thrown boxes, big boxed of old ammo in the burning pit. So much crap was flykng around I didnt dare get close enough to rescue any. There was a couple hundred rounds of 30-06 armor piercing, but that wasnt as bad as all og grandpas old black powder 22lr, all the black powder 45/70, 44/40, old pin fire, some of what we thought was 56 caliber Spencer rimfire, and boxes that weighed 20 or more pounds of unidentified. It wasnt that big a deal back then, but now 60 years later I wish I had it.
 

Wags2.0

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I’m pretty glad I don’t have much for sentimental feelings towards items nor the need to save something “just in case”. I did sales for a year where I was in peoples homes on a daily basis and saw that there are really a surprising number of hoarders. Most you wouldn’t have a clue either - beautiful homes, well kept yards, etc... then you walk inside YIKES

- - - Updated - - -

As a general rule if I haven’t used something in a year I toss it, sell it, or donate it
 


SDMF

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We laughed going through grandpa's shop. Coffee cans full of "straightened" nails, nuts & bolts, square-chuck bits for hand-crank drills, etc, etc, etc. That said, if I buy something that comes with a "kit" to put it together and there are extra nuts, bolts, screws, or even the cheapo stamped screw-drivers/allen wrenches I have a heck of a time actually throwing that stuff away. The problem is, every so often the hoarding pays off. In reality, the "payoff" probably isn't worth the hoarding but..........

Anyone need a set of Lowrance Map-Create 6 CD-Rom's from the early 2000's? ;:;rofl
 

Fritz the Cat

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My wife and I were in a Seattle consignment furniture store. Huge three levels. There was African head mounts and tanned hides such as zebra scattered all over the store.

I had to ask if this was some guys trophy room collection? It was. The grandchildren didn't feel all that sentimental.

A very nice Cape Buffalo mount for $1,650. Kudu $500.

All those mounts and throw hides added something to the décor of that used furniture store. We went back the next year and most of the mounts/hides had been purchased.

We almost made it out of that used furniture store but then found two lamps we just had to have.
 

Rowdie

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We laughed going through grandpa's shop. Coffee cans full of "straightened" nails, nuts & bolts, square-chuck bits for hand-crank drills, etc, etc, etc. That said, if I buy something that comes with a "kit" to put it together and there are extra nuts, bolts, screws, or even the cheapo stamped screw-drivers/allen wrenches I have a heck of a time actually throwing that stuff away. The problem is, every so often the hoarding pays off. In reality, the "payoff" probably isn't worth the hoarding but..........

Anyone need a set of Lowrance Map-Create 6 CD-Rom's from the early 2000's? ;:;rofl

My dad took pride in saving and straightening old nails. NAILS!? Now I know he was born in the depression a day was poor as farm kid, but how expensive are nails? And who even uses nails anymore? Doesn't a screw work better in almost any situation?
 

SDMF

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My dad took pride in saving and straightening old nails. NAILS!? Now I know he was born in the depression a day was poor as farm kid, but how expensive are nails? And who even uses nails anymore? Doesn't a screw work better in almost any situation?

In terms of real $$. Nails are probably 100x CHEAPER now than they were up through WWII.
 

Zogman

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We laughed going through grandpa's shop. Coffee cans full of "straightened" nails, nuts & bolts, square-chuck bits for hand-crank drills, etc, etc, etc. That said, if I buy something that comes with a "kit" to put it together and there are extra nuts, bolts, screws, or even the cheapo stamped screw-drivers/allen wrenches I have a heck of a time actually throwing that stuff away. The problem is, every so often the hoarding pays off. In reality, the "payoff" probably isn't worth the hoarding but..........

Anyone need a set of Lowrance Map-Create 6 CD-Rom's from the early 2000's? ;:;rofl

After 38 years in one place purging was very hard to do but I did alot. It does saves a trip to the local Ace harware store at times. SDMF those straightened nails were also money to our grandfathers and fathers
 


Rut2much

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My dad took pride in saving and straightening old nails. NAILS!? Now I know he was born in the depression a day was poor as farm kid, but how expensive are nails? And who even uses nails anymore? Doesn't a screw work better in almost any situation?
Whoever decided it was a good idea to use nails hanging sheetrock deserved a nail in the forehead.
 

SDMF

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SDMF those straightened nails were also money to our grandfathers and fathers

100% agree and I 100% understand why they did it.

I've salvaged countless days of fishing either for myself or for friends/neighbors by having the leftovers from transducer mount kits, a few spare cassette pumps, and a few wire connectors.
 

LBrandt

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The trick with hording stuff is being able to find it when you need it. I have spent countless hours looking for something I knew I had and not finding it, only to have it show up a week later while looking for something else. ;:;banghead;:;banghead;:;rofl;:;rofl LB
 

PrairieGhost

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The trick with hording stuff is being able to find it when you need it. I have spent countless hours looking for something I knew I had and not finding it, only to have it show up a week later while looking for something else. ;:;banghead;:;banghead;:;rofl;:;rofl LB

Thats to familiar. Sometimes I cant find a tool so I run to town and buy another. There is a reason I have six hammers, and as many pliars, wood chisels, saws. At least with half a dozen of each it improves my odds of finding one.
 

Rut2much

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The trick with hording stuff is being able to find it when you need it. I have spent countless hours looking for something I knew I had and not finding it, only to have it show up a week later while looking for something else. ;:;banghead;:;banghead;:;rofl;:;rofl LB

Exactly why the tools I'm always needing/looking for are at the bottom of the box and undershirt is absolutely ALWAYS the opposite side when I go to put it on..#infuriatingtosaytheleast!
 


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