Throwing Things Away

[annr]

I'm wondering what people keep or discard and when/why. I want to get rid of stuff and not regret it!

The list can include anything, but at the moment I'm cleaning out my office and wondering about things like:

periodicals
school work
diplomas
School books
journal articles
Memorabilia
photos
cards
Professional books

Note: knives are not on this list, nor is sharpening equipment.

 

[fishface5]

My thought is, if there was a fire and it was all lost, what would I truly miss? Then keep that, and sell/ give / recycle/ throw away the rest

 

[u.hansen]

When I worked commercial construction and moved every couple of years, if I didn't unpack it from the last time I moved I threw (recycled) it away. Dead weight.

 

[annr]

My thought is, if there was a fire and it was all lost, what would I truly miss? Then keep that, and sell/ give / recycle/ throw away the rest

I apply this test too and also ask myself what would I truly need or what can not be replaced or reconstituted. That comes down to a reasonably short list--though some things I use are no longer made.

Then I get into the area of things like diplomas: why have them at all if I'm going to discard them? (Should have never accepted them or thrown them away ages ago.) I want to throw mine away and am getting resistance from my better half.

Many of these things are not something that I would sell, donate or give away--so curbside recycle. Also, the world is very different now. So many things are available digitally that I was required to purchase at the time. The other day I found my notes on thermodynamics. I tossed it in the recycle.

 

[annr]

When I worked commercial construction and moved every couple of years, if I didn't unpack it from the last time I moved I threw (recycled) it away. Dead weight.

This is another good litmus test. I'm also asking myself what would I get rid of if I'm moving. I haven't moved in over 30 years so it's easy to hang onto too much stuff--even though I'm not a shopper things accumulate. People give you things, etc.

Then I go through something and find a really cool letter from someone important to me, and I start to rethink. Maybe I should just scan some of these things and part with the paper...

 

[Crag the Brewer]

I don't see Emotional baggage on the list to toss.... Some days (today) I feel like I got too much..... anybody want some? Haha I got extras

 

[annr]

I don't see Emotional baggage on the list to toss.... Some days (today) I feel like I got too much..... anybody want some? Haha I got extras

Good point! And I’ll pass on the generous offer. I’ve got my hand full moving back into my office!!

 

[Maximumbob54]

My entire family could be a season of Hoarders. I tell myself I'm not a part of the problem but the last two times I've moved I've put so much stuff to the curb it looked like I lived in a junk heap. Which I guess I did. And no matter how much I clear out my garage I still can't pull my truck in to part. So it's not really "cleared out"...

 

[l1ranger]

lots of good "rules of thumb" out there, but in the end sometimes it can be tough.

based on your initial list.
periodicals - I keep some of these as reference, but these are very specific and limited.
school work - gone, pretty much all of it. I might have a paper or two, or some art I did as a child that my parents held onto and then handed off, but all very limited.
diplomas - only have two to concern myself with - high school is sitting in a box somewhere. My diploma for my BS is framed on my office wall.
School books - related to my field of work, some of these I keep as a reference.
journal articles - none - I havent written any and if I need to reference one I can find it on the web

photos - have plenty of these. they take up minimal room and get looked at from time to time. plenty get framed on the wall and hung all around the house, thats not my department. many others get put into albums of some sort. but mostly over the last 15 years or so, they are all digital and get printed that the time or just saved somewhere.

cards - what kind of cards? christmas, birthday and get well soon cards, most of those are tossed within a week. Christmas cards we hang on to through the holidays and then toss. collectible cards like sports cards where passed on to younger family members years ago
Professional books - if needed for reference, kept in office. otherwise donated or given away.

Memorabilia - this is all over the place and how its treated is the same.

I'm not fond of clutter, (my house and garage says otherwise) but I also don't like getting rid of something I might need in the future. don't like buying somethign twice either. It makes my wife a little crazy on some things, but when I have what is needed to fix or do something, I get a little reprieve.

 

[weo]

I had to make similar decisions in 2019 after I was diagnosed with a seizure disorder and had to sell my place on 10 acres and move to a city with public transportation... Regarding photos, cards, magazines etc, if I hadn't looked at them in the past year or two, they didn't come with me.

 

[annr]

Thanks, everyone! Lots of good feedback on the question. To put it in context, I took this panoramic photo last year (before pic) to remember where everything goes. Not shown: rolling cart with drawers for knives, sharpening stuff, and misc. Also, there is a "full" closet behind me.

Last fall I had to remove all contents (except file cabinets and furniture) so construction crew could work in room and closet. At that time, like M Maximumbob54 I eliminated as many things as I could, and now that I'm returning to the room, I don't think I went far enough--or this is another opportunity to trim down.

 

[annr]

lots of good "rules of thumb" out there, but in the end sometimes it can be tough.

based on your initial list.
periodicals - I keep some of these as reference, but these are very specific and limited.
school work - gone, pretty much all of it. I might have a paper or two, or some art I did as a child that my parents held onto and then handed off, but all very limited.
diplomas - only have two to concern myself with - high school is sitting in a box somewhere. My diploma for my BS is framed on my office wall.
School books - related to my field of work, some of these I keep as a reference.
journal articles - none - I havent written any and if I need to reference one I can find it on the web

photos - have plenty of these. they take up minimal room and get looked at from time to time. plenty get framed on the wall and hung all around the house, thats not my department. many others get put into albums of some sort. but mostly over the last 15 years or so, they are all digital and get printed that the time or just saved somewhere.

cards - what kind of cards? christmas, birthday and get well soon cards, most of those are tossed within a week. Christmas cards we hang on to through the holidays and then toss. collectible cards like sports cards where passed on to younger family members years ago
Professional books - if needed for reference, kept in office. otherwise donated or given away.

Memorabilia - this is all over the place and how its treated is the same.

I'm not fond of clutter, (my house and garage says otherwise) but I also don't like getting rid of something I might need in the future. don't like buying somethign twice either. It makes my wife a little crazy on some things, but when I have what is needed to fix or do something, I get a little reprieve.

Thanks. This is most on point and helpful since those are exactly the items I'm considering parting with or rearranging.

The idea of shedding all non-vital belongings is appealing and eliminating things I haven't used recently would be easier than sorting through and trimming down. I'm in a field where sometimes you have to find that "old thing" or out-of-print book to solve a problem. On the other hand, I found the BABY CARDS--sent to my parents at my birth! Scouting badges...old year books and childhood art projects like you mentioned.

I know this is personal, but I appreciate getting others' input while I think this through. Like you said, I don't want to be buying this stuff twice! and some of it can't be re-purchased.

Bottom line: ultimately, none of it will matter....trying to find that happy medium.

 

[Maximumbob54]

eliminated as many things as I could, and now that I'm returning to the room, I don't think I went far enough

Assuming that's your "after" but if that's your "before" then your before looks better than my after...

 

[glennbad]

I struggle with the minimalist approach and de-cluttering also. After 36 years of marriage, we have accumulated a lot of "things". In the last few handful of years, we make an effort to go into the basement once a year and throw things away. We have all the typical things like our son's childhood toys, clothes, school papers, etc. We also have things from when my in-laws passed away and we "inherited" some more stuff. I also have a shop, and have held onto spare hardware, brackets, widgets, etc. I'll not get into my accumulated knives or knife parts, LOL.

That being said, it is therapeutic to throw some of things away. Our son and his future wife(once he finds her) are never going to use his changing table that he had as a baby, so there are legit things to get rid of. As a general rule, we make an effort to keep the clutter out of the living part of the house, and re-visit our storage in the basement every year to see what we don't need to hang onto anymore. We try to do complementary de-cluttering...when i throw something out, she finds something of hers to throw out also. That way one person is not making all the sacrifices.

As to paper things like schoolwork and articles..is it possible to scan these things? Then you can still have the info available, just not in paper form taking up space...

 

[Murphy Slaw]

This thread is not for hoarders...

 

[annr]

I struggle with the minimalist approach and de-cluttering also. After 36 years of marriage, we have accumulated a lot of "things". In the last few handful of years, we make an effort to go into the basement once a year and throw things away. We have all the typical things like our son's childhood toys, clothes, school papers, etc. We also have things from when my in-laws passed away and we "inherited" some more stuff. I also have a shop, and have held onto spare hardware, brackets, widgets, etc. I'll not get into my accumulated knives or knife parts, LOL.

That being said, it is therapeutic to throw some of things away. Our son and his future wife(once he finds her) are never going to use his changing table that he had as a baby, so there are legit things to get rid of. As a general rule, we make an effort to keep the clutter out of the living part of the house, and re-visit our storage in the basement every year to see what we don't need to hang onto anymore. We try to do complementary de-cluttering...when i throw something out, she finds something of hers to throw out also. That way one person is not making all the sacrifices.

As to paper things like schoolwork and articles..is it possible to scan these things? Then you can still have the info available, just not in paper form taking up space...

You nailed the problem. It’s so much easier to acquire things than discard. And it’s not always “our fault.” Well meaning people have sent me things over the years that I will NEVER use but don’t have the heart to dispose of. Example: my parents sent me my grandmother’s silver flatware. It weighs a ton, so it was difficult to find a place to keep it, and I have NO idea what I will do with it. Haven’t used it once.

I like your scanning idea—just requires more work than recycle…maybe I’ll learn my lesson? Doubtful.

We completely cleared our basement last summer and stuff seems to spontaneously grow back…a few boxes here, a few boxes there…

Adding to the idea that both you and your wife downsize proportionally: we were friends with a couple who lived in a small condo. Their rule was every time they added something to the apartment, something had to go. Their place always looked decluttered. This included swapping items between inside condo and basement.

Work in progress…

 

[annr]

Assuming that's your "after" but if that's your "before" then your before looks better than my after...

It’s my “before,” and sadly the “after” looks the same, even though I discarded tons of stuff!!!

Since I don’t have a garage, I can’t have your problem. But my brother!!!!!!

He is now up to 4 houses! He can’t park in his garage either. There is a shaggy dog story about his buying an expensive grill (cook outside). Each time a grill was delivered it was defective, so after accumulating 3–4 (massive) grills he reassembled them into one working unit.

The grill company never picked up the defective grills, and now he has grills (and everything under the sun) in his garages except his cars!

My parents said you can’t even walk a straight line through his house!

 

[Shann]

I am not always good at taking my own advice, but I tell people, "Get a dumpster, it'll set you free!"

Periodicals. If there is an article about something very specific I will keep it. Like an article about a gun I want or a recipe I want to try. Basically have pared down 100s of magazines to a dozen or so. Otherwise, I toss.

School books, etc. I'm old. None of them are relevant and almost all research and work is based on the computer. I do keep a couple rule books on my desk because its faster than looking it up on the computer. A lot of libraries now have recycle programs.

Photos. Anything new is digital. A couple years ago we went through boxes of pictures. half were people we didn't even remember who they were or why we had the pictures. I have a lot of framed pictures of my dogs that I have on the wall, but I've tossed a lot of the other stuff. I also gave my sisters some of the pictures of their families.

Memorabilia: not much. If I can sell something I'll do it. If I think it is somewhat valuable I might keep it as long as it doesn't take up a lot of room.



We put a lot of stuff out beside the road for free and almost always gets picked up by somebody.

 

[Maximumbob54]

It’s my “before,” and sadly the “after” looks the same, even though I discarded tons of stuff!!!

Since I don’t have a garage, I can’t have your problem. But my brother!!!!!!

He is now up to 4 houses! He can’t park in his garage either. There is a shaggy dog story about his buying an expensive grill (cook outside). Each time a grill was delivered it was defective, so after accumulating 3–4 (massive) grills he reassembled them into one working unit.

The grill company never picked up the defective grills, and now he has grills (and everything under the sun) in his garages except his cars!

My parents said you can’t even walk a straight line through his house!

I've devolved from a rip the bandaid off at once to I try weekly on trash pick up day to force myself to toss something else out. Even if it's just something small. Extra oil filters for an ex's car? Can't find anyone that wanted them so they were the latest thing last week. Each week I try again.

 

[annr]

I am not always good at taking my own advice, but I tell people, "Get a dumpster, it'll set you free!"

Periodicals. If there is an article about something very specific I will keep it. Like an article about a gun I want or a recipe I want to try. Basically have pared down 100s of magazines to a dozen or so. Otherwise, I toss.

School books, etc. I'm old. None of them are relevant and almost all research and work is based on the computer. I do keep a couple rule books on my desk because its faster than looking it up on the computer. A lot of libraries now have recycle programs.

Photos. Anything new is digital. A couple years ago we went through boxes of pictures. half were people we didn't even remember who they were or why we had the pictures. I have a lot of framed pictures of my dogs that I have on the wall, but I've tossed a lot of the other stuff. I also gave my sisters some of the pictures of their families.

Memorabilia: not much. If I can sell something I'll do it. If I think it is somewhat valuable I might keep it as long as it doesn't take up a lot of room.



We put a lot of stuff out beside the road for free and almost always gets picked up by somebody.

When I dream of the dumpster, I realize the most difficult part is the sorting through my items (keep vs toss)--unless I just want to get to bare bones.

That's where I am with the periodicals, too. And I may just scan those few pages of interest. I spoke with a retired MD. When I visited he always had periodicals piled to the ceiling. At the time, his habit was to tear out all the pages he would NOT read and save the rest. Now he says he has thrown everything away. Even if a paper interests him--and he still loves Medicine--he probably wouldn't read it. Puts things in perspective.

I'm near what people consider retirement age, but not sooo old. Most of my books are all reproductions of 17th-21st C work, many oversized or originals, so not going to be found on the computer for free in a usable form. Should probably hang on to these for now.

Thanks for the input. It all helps me get my thoughts in order and see what I need to prioritize.

The other realization is that I'm trying to use the same room for so many things, and if I had proper storage, I could file things. But in this case, downsizing will have to do.