Too much 'stuff'

[Victor3]

 Some years ago, after decades of accumulation of whatever I could latch onto that suited my fancy (store-bought items on down to dumpster diving for chunks of metal, etc.) I found that I had a lot of stuff I'll probably never get any use out of.

 On top of that, my Wife is like me. We've both got piles of things with 'sentimental' and other perceived value spanning three generations of pack rats. The bulk of the stuff has some monetary value, but it's taking up ~1000 sq.ft. of garage/house floor space along with a lot of outdoor real estate we could use to better advantage.

 We've made progress on getting rid of some items via ebay, yard sales, giving it away and by tossing them. But..... How do you get rid of those items that are "too good to throw away but not good enough to keep." 

[Bigeasy]

Set 3 or 4 items a day by the road with a $5 price tag on them, and a coffee can for the money.  People will take them if they think there is a value, may even leave the $5.  If you put "free", people will think its just junk, and it will sit there.

Larry

[Hairtrigger]

Garage Sale!!

[GH1]

Buy a bigger house!
GH1

[Hairtrigger]

I live in an old farmhouse with no attached garage. I would love to have one. It amazes me thepeople that have them but they are stuffed with junk leaving no room for the vehicles

[williamlayton]

WOW! I do understand.
Hummmm. Do you have the room and the means to build a barn/storage room?
There is always the old to hay with it and just do it.
Does sound like you had fun gettin this stuff.
Blessings

[DDZ]

There are many garages I have seen stuffed with stuff to the point of not having room for the car. Accumulating stuff has become the American way. People have so much stuff they have no room for it. You get something that you will never use again in your lifetime, and you think, I might need that some day, and you pack it away with your other stuff.
I have been down the same road. Since my wife has been disabled, I have slowly been getting rid of stuff. She was not a big stuff collector, but she never wanted to get rid of anything that had value. Part of it was my fault also, because I have stuff I'll never use again, or need. I have been giving it away, and donating it to church rummage sales. I'm just happy that I'm getting rid of stuff other people have a need for.   

[bulletstuffer]

We did our one and only garage sale a few years ago that will remain our one and only gargage sale!  Had several hundred people through in two days.  Price everything otherwise they just look!  Wiped out about seventy percent of the stuff.   Lots of work, needed many people to work it to watch for theft    People tried to get in early while we were setting up and I said there was a ten dollar early entry fee that kept people out until we were finished setting up   Cancelled third day of sale and donated the remains   On the bright side, we met some nice people that are now still friends with

Bulletstuffer

[Savage_99]

Good topic Victor and some common sense replies as well.

We too have a lot of stuff being seniors.  Some of it is sentimental such as my late dad's tools etc.  

I say to clean up some of it as you want to when you want to and to the heck with the rest of it.  Let someone else worry about it!

I heard something on the radio this winter and it got me to start 'spring cleaning' early.   I cleaned up some paperwork, a work bench easy like.  A little at a time and I am pleased and "The heck with the rest of it".

[rockbilly]

After 24 years in the military you can imagine the collection of “precious things” we have accumulated over the years.  Of course there is my gun collection, but the wife does most of the collecting.  She collected Hummbles in Germany, Llardo in Spain, paintings from all over and has a collection of cups and saucers that must be near 300, and then there are the souvenirs from all the places we visited. .  I am also a “Rockhound” and have a wide collection of specimens from all over the world; I make jewelry so a lot of the rocks have been converted to pieces of jewelry for the wife and daughters. When you throw in all the reloading equipment, tools and the wife’s collection of cook books we are stuffed.

Yes, it doesn’t take long to accumulate much more than you need or will ever use.  We still have unpacked boxes in the attic that were shipped home when we returned from Spain in 1976.  In my opinion, if it hasn't been used in six months, then it should go, but then there goes most of my guns.

I have tries to convince the wife that we are beyond the collecting stage and are now considered hoarders, she won’t listen. She has started giving things to the kids and grandkids when they come over so it is coming down, but not fast enough.

[southernutah]

I gave all the good stuff to my kids and the rest went to a consignment shop. Didn't get andy more than a yard sale price but I didn't have to deal with the public.

[williamlayton]

My next project list is topped off with more shelves for the Garage.
Blessings

[Hodr]

My wife has more fun finding "stuff" for sale than almost anyone I know.  I checked out every charity around and came up with two that are good locally.  One is a safehouse for battered women and children, the other Habitat for Humanity.  They get most everything which is here and unused for 6 months after my wife finds it.  My self I read a great deal and buy way too many books to hang onto, I have bought some as many as a dozen times.  These go to the VA Hospital with a friend who helps out there.  I also seem to find a lot of sticks to carve into walking canes, scratchers and crosses.  Same friend takes those over also.

blindhari

[teamnelson]

Wow, great ideas! I've found some good homes for stuff on craigslist!

[Heather]

Call History Channel's Pickers...they love stuff like that!  Oh and you could be on T.V.! ;-)

Heather

[highwayman]

i could seen you my girlfiend. she will get rid of alot of the stuff.

[Victor3]

 Thanks. Some good ideers there.

 For me, It often comes down to being ruthless. I have to show no mercy to an item while standing over the bin. It's hard though. Always seems like after tossing something I find a use for it a week later.

 This weekend, a fancy light fixture the wife bought at a yard sale and a broken telescope went into the bin (I kept the tripod though).

 Problem with some of my stuff is it's too heavy for the trash collector or has to be disposed of as hazmat for one reason or another. Used to be I could drag a nuclear reactor to the curb. Now they won't even take electronic items. They call it "e-waste" that has to be taken to a collection center.

[Victor3]

Call History Channel's Pickers...they love stuff like that!  Oh and you could be on T.V.! ;-)

Heather

 Yeah, I'd be on TV alright.... They'd call the authorities and my property would be designated a Superfund site due to toxic levels of rusty car parts. 

[slim rem 7]

 i live in a big house we rent.. we rent such a big house,, because my sweet wife is a collector..
 me id like a nice size out building .. half for tools an piddling ,for me an half for her pretty collected stuff..
 then the ideal house would be big enough for 2 people..mabe one guest room .. kitchen ,dining room combo .
 living room with office in one corner an bedroom for us..it would sure be cheaper an easier to keep clean..
 the way it is now i give up on knowing where most everything we have is ..a long time ago..
 oh yes a nice serviceable bathroom . :)slim
 ps when i suggested this ,she accused me of wanting a bachelor pad..we had a good laugh an of course kept all her collectables,an the big house..of course this was all before she got sick.

[bilmac]

We like garage sales. We do one almost every year and move out stuff we are not using. But then we will go to garage sales and find stuff that we have a current use for for way less than the store price. Garage saleing is a fine art in our part of the world, just got to remember to keep turning the stuff over, get rid of as much or more than you buy.

 I had to clean out my dad's collection of stuff, and it kind of hurt. I got rid of stuff I know he loved, but it would have almost required me to build another building. I want to avoid doing that to my kids as much as possible. 

[Foxxtrot]

Auction

My father (now 83) was in the same situation. He was still on the farm and had a lifetimes worth of stuff (tools, tractors, whole woodshop, pole barn full of cut quarter sawed lumber, greenhouse full of tropical plants, etc...). He had had enough of taking care of this stuff and decided to sell the place. Father made three calls.

First he called the Salvation Army for all of the furniture and old clothing.
Then he called the Auctioneer to have the auction
What didn't sell he called the junk man to pickup the rest.

Everything else he burned and had the place cleaned up and put for sale.

[LAREDOBOB]

My wife always asks.."Why do we leave $50,000 worth of cars in the driveway so we can store $2,000 worth of crap in the garage?"

[Boxhead]

Having moved 5 times (different States and countries) in the past 13 years we have learned to purge at each move. The first move had a major purge via friends and donation, each subsequent move has had less. Last move we had nothing to purge and it felt darn nice. Go find those in need that can use what you have including thrift shops that support the same.

[bearmgc]

I have a garage sale every year. It helps alot. And I reconnect with my nieghbors, talk over coffee.