Do you have too much stuff? Might you be a borderline hoarder?
I don’t mean to sound critical of others. My wife and I have too much stuff. We agree on that but seem incapable of ridding ourselves of the burden.
Where did all this stuff come from and why do we keep it?
1) Gifts – Any items given us by our parents or grandparents cannot be disposed of even if they gave that item to us because they never liked or used it. These remnants are considered sacred. “My grandmother gave that wooden salad bowl to my mother and she gave it to me.” (Said salad bowl is split in two and cannot be successfully put back together.)
2) Tools – There are two tool boxes full of worn out tools and additional tools on the shelves in the garage. (The only tool I use, or really ever used, is a hammer. I have three of those.)
3) Memorabilia – Our “kids” are in their forties and have large homes of their own. Yet, they refuse to take their personal items to their own homes. Our dear daughter insists that we must keep her massive childhood doll collection. She has a daughter (our granddaughter) who is rapidly growing out of her doll-playing years. (Now what?)
4) Spare Everything – We have stacks of large window screens that we do not use. We have screens for every one of the thirty-six windows in our passive solar living room. We also have air conditioning. Would we ever open all the windows? No! (Why keep all those screens?)
I could go on but you get the point. I don’t think this is going to end well.
Years ago we had the unhappy task of clearing out the homes of our parents. As we moved from room to room, we kept questioning why our folks “kept all this stuff?” I think we have an answer to that question now. One day, our kids will ask each other that same question when they clear out our home.
Bill Ramsey's Blog 
Boy does this sound familiar! As for children’s stuff, we loaded boxes and delivered said stuff to our son and INSISTED he take possession. But every day I ask my wife, “What are we going to do with all of this junk before we check out?” …. still waiting for an answer.
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Junk it is if it is not in regular use. My sense is that if the items can be put to good use there are others who could use it. Take the stuff to a resale shop. We do that often but our stuff pile never seems to diminish as new and useless stuff comes in through self-purchase and gifts. Thanks for sharing. It is good to know we are not alone in fighting this losing battle.
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When my wife’s mother passed away nearly twenty yeats ago, we were faced with the task of cleaning out her treasure trove of “collectables” that filled her basement. I am happy to report that 95% of those items reside somewhere in the vicinity of Jimmy Hoffa’s remains. 🙂
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Collectables are good at collecting dust. Little to know resale value in nearly all of them. One person’s collectable is another becomes another person’s burden.
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