Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My neighbor has a brand new Lexus that he keeps in the driveway all the time. It’s a $75,000.00 car that he can’t fit into his two car garage because he has the entire garage filled floor to ceiling with junk. Boxes and boxes of junk that has been there for years. It never moves. The new car sits outside rain or shine.
This reminds me of a friend of ours. He and his wife had an SUV and a little yellow fiat. He has a 2 car garage. For some reason he went out and bought another little convertible, so his wife's SUV went into the driveway, and the little cars got the garage. Then he bought a Corvette, and had the nerve to ask us if we could store one of his little sports cars in our garage! I asked him which one of our cars did he think we should put outside to accommodate his car. He stroked his chin and actually seemed to be pondering that! I told him his lack of planning didn't constitute our emergency. Seriously, I don't get why a man in his mid-70's is acquiring more stuff than he can store in his own house.
This reminds me of a friend of ours. He and his wife had an SUV and a little yellow fiat. He has a 2 car garage. For some reason he went out and bought another little convertible, so his wife's SUV went into the driveway, and the little cars got the garage. Then he bought a Corvette, and had the nerve to ask us if we could store one of his little sports cars in our garage! I asked him which one of our cars did he think we should put outside to accommodate his car. He stroked his chin and actually seemed to be pondering that! I told him his lack of planning didn't constitute our emergency. Seriously, I don't get why a man in his mid-70's is acquiring more stuff than he can store in his own house.
Good Grief-- People!!!! Nothing else to do with their money. I could think of a lot of places to put it besides in more cars. Jay Leno comes to mind.
I have downsized myself and have assisted as my mom did so. Mom did really well...until. She made the move but still had tons of boxes located on the balcony of her new condo. My sisters and I had to come in and do an "intervention". She sat and we asked her about each thing, unless it was obvious to us that it was trash. And she still complained about how callous we had been. Now, though, some 10 years later, I have never heard her complain that she is/was missing something that got discarded during the "intervention". I have also downsized in a move myself and DH fought me tooth and nail and we ended up keeping way too much. I ended up doing it again 6 months after our move. Unfortunately, this is the gift that keeps on giving!! My .02 is do as much as you can in small periods of time (one hour) or in small units, one drawer or one medium box. Then reward yourself in a way that doesn't involve buying more stuff ( an hour with a good book, a perfect croissant, or other items that say "treat" to you).
You can't take it with you. Better to acknowledge this soon rather than later.
And nobody wants it when you're gone either.
We could throw half the stuff out but we keep it for sentimental reasons like my daughters first tricycle. It's old, it's beat up, I don't have the heart to pitch it but I know once we pass it will end up at the landfill.
Didn't read this entire thread, but if one lives in an expensive area (say, San Francisco), it is incomparably cheaper to have a small condo + "stuff" in storage, than a large place that can accommodate all the "stuff". Even if things are worthless in terms of market value, they still tend to mean something to the owner, so I don't see why one would have to get rid of their meaningful worthless things while one is still alive. I have tons of books, and do not intend to get rid of them at all (the overflow will go into storage when I downsize) - that would be like putting down a pet. Storage is relatively inexpensive (about $200 per month for a 5×5×8 ft storage unit that can house about 3,000 books), so why get rid of something I love just because it has no resale value?
We could throw half the stuff out but we keep it for sentimental reasons like my daughters first tricycle. It's old, it's beat up, I don't have the heart to pitch it but I know once we pass it will end up at the landfill.
I have a little barrel rocker my aunt gave me when my daughter was born 53 yrs ago..it's in the corner of my living room with a couple little baby dolls my grandgirl played with when she was at my house. Can't throw them out...who knows maybe "they" will take them when I'm gone or maybe they'll go in the big trash bin.
Last edited by jaminhealth; 12-05-2017 at 03:59 PM..
Didn't read this entire thread, but if one lives in an expensive area (say, San Francisco), it is incomparably cheaper to have a small condo + "stuff" in storage, than a large place that can accommodate all the "stuff". Even if things are worthless in terms of market value, they still tend to mean something to the owner, so I don't see why one would have to get rid of their meaningful worthless things while one is still alive. I have tons of books, and do not intend to get rid of them at all (the overflow will go into storage when I downsize) - that would be like putting down a pet. Storage is relatively inexpensive (about $200 per month for a 5×5×8 ft storage unit that can house about 3,000 books), so why get rid of something I love just because it has no resale value?
If books are in a storage unit, it's unlikely you are spending much time reading them, so why spend almost $2500 per year to store them? A decade from now and you can't think of any better use for that $25,000?
Plus *someone* is going to have to go through your things eventually. I'd rather do it myself rather than make it be a burden for my son after I die.
And the reality is that most of us have way too much stuff. Sentimental value or not, we mostly have more than we need. Personally, I'd rather go through and keep things that are really truly meaningful to me and jettison the rest and a lot of what I have may have been kept out of habit or may have felt more valuable to me a decade or two ago, but no longer is, so going through a downsizing process helps me find the things that I value *today* not 20 years ago. Doing this as an ongoing process means that I can continue to donate, sell, gift or discard things that have lost their useful or sentimental value for me.
Good Grief-- People!!!! Nothing else to do with their money. I could think of a lot of places to put it besides in more cars. Jay Leno comes to mind.
Really, it is no ones business how someone else spends there money. Why would someone even have an opinion on that?
I've sold of stuff before moves before or general garage sales, I made anywhere from $500 to 1K each time. And it's not like it was super nice stuff or anything.
__________________ ____________________________________________
My posts as a Mod will always be in red.
Be sure to review Terms of Service: TOS
And check this out: FAQ
Moderator: Relationships Forum / Hawaii Forum / Dogs / Pets / Current Events
Really, it is no ones business how someone else spends there money. Why would someone even have an opinion on that?
I've sold of stuff before moves before or general garage sales, I made anywhere from $500 to 1K each time. And it's not like it was super nice stuff or anything.
We all have opinions, don't we....do you have opinions?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
