jukngene

Though not on the near horizon, we are attacking the "stuff" we have accumulated in the 18+ years we have lived in this house. We have three separate attics, due to the design of our house, and it is unbelievable what we find there when we seriously go through them. A lot of the crap has not been touched since we first put it there, so why the %$#& did we ever save it? I took over 50 Hess trucks to a local auction, and cleared all of $250, after paying seller's fees. We filled up 3 large 30 gallon trash containers, plus at least that many recycling bins with more stuff. In addition, I have carried 3 loads of donations in our Crosstour to Habitat for Humanity reuse, and several blankets and other pet things to the SPCA. I found a large tote full of unfiled 35mm pictures going back to 1995 that had never been filed in photo albums. Oh my, Bea and I looked so young in our beach pics! Additionally, there are still several boxes of stuff from my parent's that need to be gone through. I find it difficult to let go, but, after all these years, memories are the most important thing, I guess.

We still have the basement to attack, which also contains a bunch of my mom's stuff, plus my junk. Anybody want a ski machine or a mostly unused treadmill?

Anyone else facing this? Any suggestions?

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN???

Edit: In retrospect, it now actually feels good to have purged this stuff:

Lainey

Our house is small and we really don't have much stuff, neither one of us is a collector...Several years ago, I got rid of stuff in the attic. Didn't have much. Old Christmas decorations, baby stuff from the grandkids. The basement has a bit more "stuff" but not a ton.

I tend to get rid of stuff as I go along. Not to say we don't have stuff we don't use..everyone does, right?

Legal Bill

Same here, Gene. I've purged some stuff but we are still cluttered. Some stuff is difficult to get rid of because of memories. Some stuff is just difficult to throw out like old refrigerators, wheels and tires because you can't just throw them out. Like you, we have stuff from our parents. Barbara more than me. We also have stuff in the attic, a lot of childhood items from out kids. They don't want it and it is emotionally difficult for us to throw it out. I'm thinking of renting a small dumpster and hiring a couple of guys to help me fill it.

dlq04

Gene, OMG as someone who continually tries to decide what's important 'going forward' with STUFF. I can not believe your post or your situation. We accumulate so much stuff in our lives that means nothing to those behind us, . . .smile and just say good bye to the momories. They are meaningful to you and yours and no one else; well ok, save some some neat stuff for the genealogy grandson/daughter coming up but other than that its just enjoying the memories. As you know, I have have a garage full of memories that are only important to me. And that's ok.

boltonblue

When we moved here we had to clear out the attic of our previous house.
It was like the clown car. Bag after bag, box after box, it just kept coming.
I was stunned at how much crap came out of the attic.

Fast forward 20 years, although distant, downsizing is on the horizon.
We are now in a house 3 times the size but NO ATTIC.
The basement on the other hand is huge, 82 at it's longest 48 feet at it's widest.
And the garage. I hate to even think about it.
But I don't have any junk, it's all good stuff.

MsPerky

I'm clearing out stuff even though I only have a condo now. Still things to get rid of. For instance, I have several antique clocks that my dad gave me that I have to part with. I have others I'm keeping. Only one is really worth something. But the bigger problem is they are nonworking. I doubt there is any market for a clock that has to be fixed, since it is expensive to do and takes a long time. Not many antique clock repair people around anymore. I also have two boxes full of used picture frames that I'm giving away. I had so many framed photographs over the years but I only display a few these days. The hospice store I give a lot to has no use for them, so I'm advertising on my building link to see if anyone wants them.

S2KRAY

When we moved from our home in Wilmington to the beach we made a clean sweep. A lot of it went to the Catholic Charity Thrift Store for resale. Some was simply dumped and we had a garage sale. Some of the memorabilia went to our kids, family ands friends. That way we can still see it and they appreciated it. We have accumulated stuff over the last 10 years at the beach but nothing compared to the stuff we accumulated for 45 years. So glad we always had basements. We plan to downsize to a smaller home at the beach in the future and may not have a basement. So every time my wife spots some stuff for sale I remind her we cant take it with us if we downsize.

Scooterboy

I have moved twice in the last ten years and I still have way too much stuff. Most of mine relates to tools, scooters and car "stuff". I need to thin down the tools as I have duplicates of everything but it hurts to see what I can get for it. The car stuff I know I will need sometime in the next ten years so why get rid on it. The scooters on the other hand will have to go this summer...well maybe I will keep one.....or two.

MsPerky

You just have to bite the bullet and get rid of stuff. Most of it is not worth anything to anyone else but you. Sad, but true. I've found this out while settling estates for my aunt and parents.

jukngene

In cleaning out the attic, I came across a paper 3D model of our house that I had made before we built it. Bea had trouble visualizing how it would look from the plans, so I made the model to help her visualize it, and she was sold. Here are some pics of the model (in pretty bad shape after 18+ years in the attic!) with the actual house for comparison.

The front:


The right side:


The rear:


Finally, the left side:



As you can see, we made a few changes along the way, most notably adding the deck and 3-season porch.

The question is, do I crush the model or stick it back in the attic?