Having STUFF...anybody identify with me here?

[JDgreen227]

The last month or so I have been trying to get my huge yard and garden prepared for winter, sort out my shop buildings, store the outdoor furniture, prepare all my vehicles and my numerous adult toys for the upcoming winter season, etc. Yesterday I had my long list of things to do down to the last dozen items, and I got to thinking how 40 years ago, just out of high school and working at my first "real" full time job....

I was earning $3.11 an hour, living in a tiny, run down apartment, had a 4 year old car and a box full of tools, and sometimes I felt bad because I didn't have any real big boy toys, or the privacy and security of my own home. I dreamed of the day I would have several vehicles, a huge house and outbuildings in the country, and a lot of toys to play with.

Well, today I have pretty much everything I dreamed of owning 40 years ago, and the ironic thing is, sometimes I wish I didn't have so much stuff to care for and keep organized, and all the responsibilities that come with having to care for it all. :laughing:

As the saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for, you might get it...." :laughing:

 

[joemd11]

JD, truer words have never been spoken. I have been doing my fall clean-up and storage and thought how did I accumulate all this stuff. I am going to adopt the rule that if I haven't used something in a year, it is going to get sold, junked, or trashed. I have become a true pack rat.

 

[foggy1111]

I think you need to be over 40 to understand this.....but one thing that has occurred to me over time: Sometimes having less.....is more.

 

[sellercreek]

Yes! Yes! I have duplicates of a lot of things as well. Would love to simplify and may live long enough to do so.

 

[blueriver]

I am well over 40 ... spent the last couple days putting equipment up for the winter. Decisions of what goes where and what can stay outside ... both barns will be full and a row or 2 outside and get this .... a list of some things I still want.

Life is good ...

 

[RoyJackson]

I think you need to be over 40 to understand this.....but one thing that has occurred to me over time: Sometimes having less.....is more.

Ain't that the truth!!!!

My wife and are both packrats...takes some discipline to clear up some of the stuff we've accumulated...and always the comment "What the He** did I get that for?" pops up!

 

[charlz]

I hear ya! On the other hand if I lived in a subdivision what the $%^^ would I do with all the free time??? :laughing:

 

[foggy1111]

I must be getting old because I keep telling my "kids" stuff like:

Life is a process of accumulating stuff.....then learning how to give it up.

There is a cost of possession with everything. Building a storage warehouse and providing insurance and maintenance all takes time and money.

Having too much of anything may be a problem....but having "enough" is a good thing.

I've been busy trying to simplify my life during the past few years. Hopefully some of that effort turns out to make life easier as we get older.

Somehow....I don't think the work will ever go away.....just seems to come from a new direction: Like taking care of elderly family needs and learning to work with Social Secrutiy and medicare. :laughing:

I guess it all beats the alternatives?

 

[JDgreen227]

When I first moved to my place back in late 1989, I moved from an 800 square foot house with no basement or garage, and I seemed to have plenty of room, the second bedroom was my workshop !!

Well, now I have a 2350 square foot house with a full basment, a 3 car garage, a two story barn that holds 4X the stuff my old house did, plus I have an even BIGGER barn that is full of stuff too...

Back when I moved and told my dad I was happy to have room for stuff at last, and he told me, quote:

"The problem with having things is, you first work to own them, and after a while, you spend so much time caring for those things, they actually own you instead".

The old man was right about that, but I didn't listen to him at the time...

What worries me now is that my aging in-laws are talking about selling their home and moving to a retirement community, and of course they will want to get rid of a lot of their stuff in the process...and my wife is a SERIOUS pack rat...

 

[JDgreen227]

Ain't that the truth!!!!

My wife and are both packrats...takes some discipline to clear up some of the stuff we've accumulated...and always the comment "What the He** did I get that for?" pops up!

Roy, I am a pack rat, but an ORGANIZED pack rat...but my spouse is a DISORGANIZED pack rat....

 

[Combustix]

back in the early 90's I ended up storing all my post divorce belongings in my dad's attick. After remarring and getting a place I got the you better come get this crap out of my attick, which I did, a year latter he calls me and says he's selling and needs a place to store stuff, well its payback time i suppose. I moved all his stuff up to my garage and attick, this was early 02 or 03. His stuff has been there ever since:confused2: I have the room so It's no big deal as long as it gives him piece of mind it;s safe.

 

[Mousefield]

I have the same "problem" waaay to much stuff. Hard to let go of some but have taken a few loads to the dump and sold off or gave away some. Still have lots left. As we are thinking of moving within a few years to a smaller place we are trying to Decrapitate now rather than try and do it when we sell. Plus a place looks a lot nicer without a whole pile of stuff, most if not all you are not going to take with you. Well guess I better get out there and get rid of some more. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

 

[grsthegreat]

man, sounds just like me. Before i was married all my stuff could fit into my Ford Bronco. How i miss those days. Today it would take 2 moving vans and several 40' flatbeds to move all my cra$. Im really not sure why we keep accumulating stuff. I am one of those rare people that will give/throw out something that has no real value and not just store it for some future use, but still the stuff accumulates. I have 4 large peices of woodworking equipment (Lathes or what not) and I dont do woodwork. The wife inherited it from her grandfather and ive been storing them for 6 years. Ill never use them, but cant give them away..."They were my grandfathers".

 

[MikeInEburg]

I'm right with you guys - but what to DO with it? Just when I began to get a beachhead in my garage, my FIL downsized, so I acquired many of his tools. For example, I now have three garden rakes and three leaf rakes, a couple sections of new gutter, some nice oak trim, etc. Stuff that I'll simply never use.

We live in an area that is not conducive to yard sales. And most of the stuff isn't worth it to move on Craigslist List. Some stuff we've put at the end of the drive with a 'free' sign. I'll say that things dissipate quickly via that method.

We have an small voice, data & video interconnect company, so I also have a variety of older PBX, CATV and datacom parts. Most not worth the flea-bay effort, but when you need it, it's great to have one on hand.

In the end, I have no solutions. Just empathy and solidarity.
Mike

 

[brin]

I know what all you folks mean...I too have accumulated more than I had counted on having to maintain...

Have you ever watched the cable show..." Hoarders " geez, ya sure don't want to be like those folks on there...I don't know how they stay alive in some of that filth and garbage..I mean, saving and being a pack rat is one thing but when it means your house is not livable that is another..

 

[JDgreen227]

I have the same "problem" waaay to much stuff. Hard to let go of some but have taken a few loads to the dump and sold off or gave away some. Still have lots left. As we are thinking of moving within a few years to a smaller place we are trying to Decrapitate now rather than try and do it when we sell. Plus a place looks a lot nicer without a whole pile of stuff, most if not all you are not going to take with you. Well guess I better get out there and get rid of some more. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

"DECRAPITATE...." :laughing: :laughing: have to remember that one !!!

 

[Professor Marvel]

I agree with you. After accumulating more stuff than I use or want to take care of a thought has recently come to me. Just because I CAN afford something does not mean I should get it. I am glad I am not the only one with these issues. BUT - I still can not bring myself to get rid of anything. I just hope I stop getting stuff. I am sure my wife also hope the same.

 

[cttractor]

I am well over 40 ... spent the last couple days putting equipment up for the winter. Decisions of what goes where and what can stay outside ... both barns will be full and a row or 2 outside and get this .... a list of some things I still want.

I'm well over 50 and at the point where the "stuff" is now wearing me down. I've started the "shedding" process and it's become obvious this will take some time.

The hardest thing for me to do is getting rid of stuff that is truly worth something. If it's junk, I can easily throw it out. But if it's in good working condition, I want to find a deserving soul to give it to them. I've tried the selling route, but it's usually so much work and hassle that it's warranted only if we're talking hundreds of dollars or more. Many items worth just a few bucks are more of a pain than anything else.

 

[Pixguy]

I'm well over 50 and at the point where the "stuff" is now wearing me down. I've started the "shedding" process and it's become obvious this will take some time.

The hardest thing for me to do is getting rid of stuff that is truly worth something. If it's junk, I can easily throw it out. But if it's in good working condition, I want to find a deserving soul to give it to them. I've tried the selling route, but it's usually so much work and hassle that it's warranted only if we're talking hundreds of dollars or more. Many items worth just a few bucks are more of a pain than anything else.

I'm finding Craigslist to be the way to go. You have to deal with no-shows, but first come first get it!!

We recently moved to where we had a summer place and now we have 2 of everything!
Our kids don't want our slightly used stuff, cuz they want new themselves!
Why is it that the young kids have to have newest and greatest? I didn't raise them that way.

 

[JDgreen227]

Sad thing about today's kids wanting new stuff is, in many cases the OLDER STUFF was made better than today's cheaply made crap that you use for a few months and then throw it away because it costs less to replace it than it does to have it fixed.