Do you have something you HAVE to save but in reality, there is no reason to - you just can’t bring yourself to throw it out? I’m not talking about hoarding proportions - just items that for some reason you need to keep.
I started going through boxes and boxes of stuff in our basement. I filled our recycle bin with what I figure was thousands of dollars worth of greeting cards…dating back to the early '80’s! Won’t be saving them anymore! But the one thing I can’t bring myself to get rid of is a giant Rubbermaid tub of Life magazines dating from the '50’s to early 2000’s when they stopped publishing. There’s something about Life (and Look) magazines -especially the '60’s and '70’s - the ads are the greatest. Not sure what it is - probably just reminds be of my childhood.
I’ve kept almost all of my CDs, 500+ of them. They have all been ripped. My brother came by last weekend and saw them and asked me why I keep them all.
I’ve kept some DVDs as well, but not as many. I’ve been trying to get rid of a lot of stuff, including all my old magazines and stuff. I got rid of almost all of my books too, I know a few people just fainted from that, but I never really re-read books and had no place to keep them.
Oh yeah!! BOOKS! I love to read and was saving every book I ever read even though I don’t re-read them either. I finally put them in my rummage sale this spring. Even my Stephen King collection! It was kind of hard to see them go, but I got read of a lot of boxes from my basement and gained a lot of storage space. AND I don’t feel bad anymore.
Next month, I am moving to a new continent. It is my custom to travel light. I must be draconian about keepsakes. There goes my 40-year old Swiss army knife. Oh, well, I haven’t used it in nearly a decade, because I’m afraid to carry it daily any more.
I will have a small box of things I will leave with a friend, just in case I ever return. I will know where they are.
In all seriousness if it’s not going to end up in the keepsake box I’ll certainly take it, as I collect pocket knives. PM me if you want to work out a deal.
As to the OP, the junk I tend to keep around are medicine bottles. I take a few prescription meds daily so get half a dozen or so med bottles a month. I find them occasionally useful when camping; they’re perfect for holding spices or coffee or (the larger ones) emergency items in the bottom of a backpack. My wife is into crafts so she’ll take one occasionally to store little beads or something in.
Trouble is, of course, for every one that I find a second use for, ten end up in the bottom of an old dresser drawer. I’ll probably never use them but just in case… there they are. After years of stashing them away I likely have a hundred of them by now.
I also have books. Thousands of books, on shelves and proudly displayed. Mostly historical non-fiction. But I’m not sure if that qualifies under the parameters presented by the OP. Miles of bookshelves is essentially our decorating scheme, and I do reference them enough that I would find it inconvenient to get rid of them.
Greeting cards. I just can’t bear to throw them away.
It used to be books, but I have been doing pretty well at getting rid of them. Almost all new acquisitions are e-books. Except cookbooks, I have learned that I strongly prefer the printed versions. Actually, chalk me up as a cookbook and cooking magazine hoarder, it is just ridiculous.
I wish I could get my husband to get rid of all the old VHS tapes, but I don’t think that will happen. He does still watch them sometimes.
Just last weekend, I went to an estate sale at the home of the mother of a man at my church. This woman died last fall at the age of 102, and lived in that home until shortly before he and his wife took off for Florida (and she died just days later). She must have saved every greeting card she and the kids got over the years. I could see some collage artist finding the boxes full of them, priced at a dollar or two, and going nuts. I should add that there were probably 20 garbage bags tied up in the garage, which made me wonder what the estate sale people decided not to try and sell.
:eek:
I recently went through my junk dresser (yes, I admit I have one) and tossed most of the things I found in it. I hadn’t looked at them since I put them in there, so why keep it?
I went on a walk about 35 years ago and found a leaf. It was pretty. I saved it. No one gave it to me. It has no sentimental value. It looks about as battered as I feel.
Yet somehow through many years I still have this leaf. And now I just wonder how long I can keep it.
For years, I had candlesticks that my dad gave to me from his mother’s estate. They weren’t special at all - I’m pretty sure they came from a dime store, back in the days where such stores existed. I carried them thru multiple moves because they’d belonged to my grandmother. Then it occurred to me - I’d never seen them in her house, never known her to use them, and if my dad hadn’t told me they were hers, I wouldn’t have known or cared. They weren’t fancy - just plain and utilitarian. And they finally went into the glass recycling bin.
In fact, I’ve got a bunch of assorted glassware in my hutch that just collects dust. We don’t entertain, so I don’t need nice serving pieces. I’m no longer into oil lamps, and while the big-bottomed wine carafes are attractive, it’s been decades since they held wine. I know my daughter doesn’t want any of it because I asked her. Maybe it’s time for a yard sale…
Greeting cards are a problem for me, too. I really don’t want to keep them, but it always feels so rude to throw them away. I always do end up throwing them away anyway, eventually, but sometimes not for years.
Among things I can’t take with me, is an 8-year old postcard from my best friend, who died last month. I can’t make myself throw it away, nor should I. I will tuck it into some books for my neighbor’s grandchild.
Today I took out a dead TV and desktop PC, Right next to a lidded styrofoam box that I no longer “might need someday”. Under a table for five years.