How do we acquire so much crap?

pingflood · 03-29-2009, 01:48 PM

For heaven's sake, it's downright ridiculous. We're clearing out the house since we're moving (sort of a two step thing, with us ending up overseas), and it's amazing how much "stuff" manages to find its way to our home. Spent the past few weeks selling, donating, freecycling everything in sight, and still a pile left to go.

Those of you who haven't bought a house yet, when you do, just say NO to buying things. I REALLY didn't need three sets of speakers, three separate video game systems, or 20 SLRs...

daacon · 03-29-2009, 02:04 PM

haha wait until you move again and again !! This is our third house. The rule of thumb is if a box has not been unpacked in 6 months it is not longer required and should be donated , thrown out.

We of course have never followed this rule and have boxes stored away that may have been sealed since the first move !!

Luckliy my wife is pretty good at letting things go - me I am a huge packrat and would never thorw anything away

- For example it was only a few years ago my wife convinced to let go of my Assembler book (computer language) that I have not used since 1985 haha.

séamuis · 03-29-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

20 SLRs...

yes you did.

geauxpez · 03-29-2009, 07:11 PM

Dude -- you know that camera you always wanted? I just happened to have one REAL cheap...

KIDDING!!!

So, where are you heading overseas?

pingflood · 03-29-2009, 07:12 PM

Sweden, the homeland.

Chocolar · 03-29-2009, 07:38 PM

After reading your post, I did a rough count of all my fishing rods..., uh oh

graphicgr8s · 03-29-2009, 08:16 PM

Originally posted by Chocolar

After reading your post, I did a rough count of all my fishing rods..., uh oh

That's why I don't count my fishing rods. My tackle boxes I do. There's 7. 6 for artificials 1 live bait.

If I counted the poles I might count all the blanks I haven't made into rods yet.

Das Boot · 03-29-2009, 08:31 PM

You're preaching to the choir. I just took a week off to clean up the house and make room for the baby to come. Towards the end of the week, I was getting real pissed as I heard my wife's voice echoing in my head - "We don't have anything." This as I constantly tripped over junk. It's going to take three more weeks to get to what I consider uncluttered. Good luck overseas!

timbo13 · 03-30-2009, 03:52 AM

when we moved out of our last house, I took stuff we were throwing away to the dump,
where you payed by weight. The total? over 3 tons

CalendarGuy · 03-30-2009, 05:58 AM

I'm with ya...just filled two 10 yard roll-offs (dumpsters) during a basement remodel. The carpet and padding took up about half of one roll-off. The rest was just junk. The old computers went to the recycling center and the rest just had to go.

It definitely opened my eyes to what really needs to be purchased in the future and having a better plan on what to do with things when they're no longer useful to us. While it's not feasible to recycle everything, every avenue should be explored before it gets shipped off to the landfill.

My wife was leaving the house the other morning and said, "I'm going to stop by Wal-Mart and buy one of those...." My head about exploded...It's starting all over!

**ChrisPlatt** · 03-30-2009, 08:07 AM

I can't believe some of the crap I save.
Possessions really do weigh you down.
I admire people who live simply...

Chris

Wildnsyko · 03-30-2009, 09:19 AM

I can understand totally. When my husband was in the Navy, we moved every 3 years. Every 3 years we had a major cleaning out, yard sale, freecycle, Goodwill donation, etc. Here we are again with a house full of junk and my husband wants to finder a bigger place.... you know, so we can clean out and collect more junk....

Rustyoldbug · 03-30-2009, 10:28 AM

Last time we moved (Seattle to San Diego) I went a bit crazy with the downsizing. We shipped a few boxes of small personal things that meant something ahead of time. Sold, gave away, threw away, or burned almost everything else in the house. When it came time to move we put the cat, a bag of clothes for each of us, and my old Martin guitar in the old VW Bug and hit the highways. Took our time visiting old friends along the way and cruising the coast.

It felt so good. In a month's time we went from a 3 bedroom house and garage full of material junk down to what would fit in the bug and a few boxes. It was like all this weight off our shoulders. I didn't want to stop driving when we got here...

Granted we have had to buy a lot of new basic houseware type of things as we need them - but we are a lot more cautious about "stocking up" on material goods now. I finally understand the whole retire and drive around in an RV thing now.

maleek · 03-30-2009, 11:01 AM

To give away, or trow away stuff you don't need is such a wonderful thing to do. I feel cleansed afterwards, as if I am freer then before.

khardur · 03-30-2009, 01:44 PM

Originally posted by daacon

The rule of thumb is if a box has not been unpacked in 6 months it is not longer required and should be donated , thrown out.

Dave - I like that rule! Just last fall I finally went through our back porch, which was our "dumping" spot for all the boxes of stuff from our apartment we didn't know what to do with...

Only problem is, we moved into this house in 2002. 6 years those boxes stayed, and when I started rummaging through them, my wife starts with "oh, save those clothes and put them in our closet. Save those. Save that. *argh* and I thought *I* was the packrat!

Thankfully I whittled it down to two small grocery bags of clothes to save for her. (she didn't notice I gave away all the other stuff that she wanted to "save")

03-29-2009, 01:48 PM	#1
pingflood Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Borås, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,169	How do we acquire so much crap? For heaven's sake, it's downright ridiculous. We're clearing out the house since we're moving (sort of a two step thing, with us ending up overseas), and it's amazing how much "stuff" manages to find its way to our home. Spent the past few weeks selling, donating, freecycling everything in sight, and still a pile left to go. Those of you who haven't bought a house yet, when you do, just say NO to buying things. I REALLY didn't need three sets of speakers, three separate video game systems, or 20 SLRs...

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03-29-2009, 02:04 PM	#2
daacon Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Alberta,Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 20,914	haha wait until you move again and again !! This is our third house. The rule of thumb is if a box has not been unpacked in 6 months it is not longer required and should be donated , thrown out. We of course have never followed this rule and have boxes stored away that may have been sealed since the first move !! Luckliy my wife is pretty good at letting things go - me I am a huge packrat and would never thorw anything away - For example it was only a few years ago my wife convinced to let go of my Assembler book (computer language) that I have not used since 1985 haha.

03-29-2009, 02:05 PM	#3
séamuis Banned Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Savannah, U.S./Baguio City, P.H. Posts: 5,979	Quote: 20 SLRs... yes you did.

03-29-2009, 07:11 PM	#4
geauxpez Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Atlanta Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,196	Dude -- you know that camera you always wanted? I just happened to have one REAL cheap... KIDDING!!! So, where are you heading overseas?

03-29-2009, 07:12 PM	#5
pingflood Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Borås, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,169 Original Poster	Sweden, the homeland.

03-29-2009, 07:38 PM	#6
Chocolar Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: OC, California Posts: 147	After reading your post, I did a rough count of all my fishing rods..., uh oh

03-29-2009, 08:16 PM	#7
graphicgr8s Guest	Originally posted by Chocolar After reading your post, I did a rough count of all my fishing rods..., uh oh That's why I don't count my fishing rods. My tackle boxes I do. There's 7. 6 for artificials 1 live bait. If I counted the poles I might count all the blanks I haven't made into rods yet.

03-29-2009, 08:31 PM	#8
Das Boot Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Sparkle City, South Cackalacky Photos: Gallery Posts: 689	You're preaching to the choir. I just took a week off to clean up the house and make room for the baby to come. Towards the end of the week, I was getting real pissed as I heard my wife's voice echoing in my head - "We don't have anything." This as I constantly tripped over junk. It's going to take three more weeks to get to what I consider uncluttered. Good luck overseas!

03-30-2009, 03:52 AM	#9
timbo13 Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Northboro MA, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,007	when we moved out of our last house, I took stuff we were throwing away to the dump, where you payed by weight. The total? over 3 tons

03-30-2009, 05:58 AM	#10
CalendarGuy Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 46	I'm with ya...just filled two 10 yard roll-offs (dumpsters) during a basement remodel. The carpet and padding took up about half of one roll-off. The rest was just junk. The old computers went to the recycling center and the rest just had to go. It definitely opened my eyes to what really needs to be purchased in the future and having a better plan on what to do with things when they're no longer useful to us. While it's not feasible to recycle everything, every avenue should be explored before it gets shipped off to the landfill. My wife was leaving the house the other morning and said, "I'm going to stop by Wal-Mart and buy one of those...." My head about exploded...It's starting all over!

03-30-2009, 08:07 AM	#11
ChrisPlatt Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Rockaway Beach NYC Posts: 7,390	I can't believe some of the crap I save. Possessions really do weigh you down. I admire people who live simply... Chris

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03-30-2009, 09:19 AM	#12
Wildnsyko Inactive Account Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Southeast MO Photos: Gallery Posts: 366	I can understand totally. When my husband was in the Navy, we moved every 3 years. Every 3 years we had a major cleaning out, yard sale, freecycle, Goodwill donation, etc. Here we are again with a house full of junk and my husband wants to finder a bigger place.... you know, so we can clean out and collect more junk....

03-30-2009, 10:28 AM	#13
Rustyoldbug Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: North San Diego, California Photos: Gallery Posts: 137	Last time we moved (Seattle to San Diego) I went a bit crazy with the downsizing. We shipped a few boxes of small personal things that meant something ahead of time. Sold, gave away, threw away, or burned almost everything else in the house. When it came time to move we put the cat, a bag of clothes for each of us, and my old Martin guitar in the old VW Bug and hit the highways. Took our time visiting old friends along the way and cruising the coast. It felt so good. In a month's time we went from a 3 bedroom house and garage full of material junk down to what would fit in the bug and a few boxes. It was like all this weight off our shoulders. I didn't want to stop driving when we got here... Granted we have had to buy a lot of new basic houseware type of things as we need them - but we are a lot more cautious about "stocking up" on material goods now. I finally understand the whole retire and drive around in an RV thing now.

03-30-2009, 11:01 AM	#14
maleek Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Karlstad, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 222	To give away, or trow away stuff you don't need is such a wonderful thing to do. I feel cleansed afterwards, as if I am freer then before.

03-30-2009, 01:44 PM	#15
khardur Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: NW Massachusetts Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,558	Originally posted by daacon The rule of thumb is if a box has not been unpacked in 6 months it is not longer required and should be donated , thrown out. Dave - I like that rule! Just last fall I finally went through our back porch, which was our "dumping" spot for all the boxes of stuff from our apartment we didn't know what to do with... Only problem is, we moved into this house in 2002. 6 years those boxes stayed, and when I started rummaging through them, my wife starts with "oh, save those clothes and put them in our closet. Save those. Save that. argh and I thought I was the packrat! Thankfully I whittled it down to two small grocery bags of clothes to save for her. (she didn't notice I gave away all the other stuff that she wanted to "save")