Useful stuff that I have no use for

[brslds]

Have a yard sale. Tally up all the clutter and possibly set base prices at 5$ for large parts and equipment, 1$ for very small parts, 1-2$ for your scrap wood, etc (beat lowes/HD prices). Once you tagged every part/piece of this clutter advertise the yard sale on Craiglist too with pics (nothing fancy, but clear images).

Prices are just a guess. The money you could raise could pay for a nice steak dinner for you and the wife to celebrate being clutter free or maybe put it toward funding something you both want.

 

[RF Overlord]

Heh...this thread struck a chord with me, too. Although I don't think I'm a hoarder in the clinical sense, I too have a lot of junk in the basement and stuff in drawers that hasn't been looked at for many years. In my case, it's not that I'm attached to it, or can't bear to throw it out, it's that I simply don't care. I mean, it's my house, it's not hurting anyone, it's not a fire hazard or anything heinous like that, it's just that I'm too lazy to take the time to sort it and get rid of the unneeded stuff.

Before anyone says I'm in denial, I admit there's a lot of clutter, but I'm really and truly just too lazy to deal with it.

Maybe when I retire in 3 years it'll give me something to do...

 

[sciphi]

I'm de-cluttering myself. If it's paper and not needed, it gets recycled. If it's something tangible, it's getting organized for the spring garage sale. Whatever is left is either getting donated or binned.

 

[53' Stude]

I recently got rid of some car parts, stuff on Craigslist and some friends I gave some stuff to since they could use it. Now I have a "stash" that occupies a little over half of our extra bedroom, needless to say the girlfriend is not impressed but says "well, we dont need oil or filters for the vehicles now do we." lol :0)

 

[Tdbo]

I'm somewhat in the same boat.
However for me, it has been a time thing. It is easier to throw in a pile instead of dealing with it at the time.
My suggestion: you may need one box for the scenario you describe.
Keep one, not twenty.
I feel for you. In my situation, I need to tackle my basement.
Since I retire at the end of next month, the basement purge starts May 1.

 

[CourierDriver]

Originally Posted By: RF Overlord
Heh...this thread struck a chord with me, too. Although I don't think I'm a hoarder in the clinical sense, I too have a lot of junk in the basement and stuff in drawers that hasn't been looked at for many years. In my case, it's not that I'm attached to it, or can't bear to throw it out, it's that I simply don't care. I mean, it's my house, it's not hurting anyone, it's not a fire hazard or anything heinous like that, it's just that I'm too lazy to take the time to sort it and get rid of the unneeded stuff.

Before anyone says I'm in denial, I admit there's a lot of clutter, but I'm really and truly just too lazy to deal with it.

Maybe when I retire in 3 years it'll give me something to do...
Been retired for 7 yrs,,,let me tell u,,it don't happen--that clean out part...lol

 

[ecotourist]

I try to find a balance.

When I started off on my own I had no tools, no scrap, nothing. I had to buy everything. Do-it-yourself gets quite expensive when you need to buy a drill, buy wrenches, etc. And that's not good. I remember trying to drill a hole with a nail! My rule is to buy every small tool I need and reasonably expect to use again. I've ended up with a few orphans (lovely oak handled spoons for digging post holes, and a roof rake being good examples).

I keep a bit of wood scrap left over from projects, miscellaneous screws in condiments jars and that sort of thing. I don't usually actively collect stuff unless it's either good as it sits or has good parts that I can remove (like wheels on a lawn mower that were better than mine). I recently picked a perfectly good baby gate from a neighbour's trash and gave it to my daughter a few months later when she was looking for one. I have some wood left over from a fence project that I'm going to use to build a new gate in a few days.

And I keep stuff having a strong sentimental value, things like my father's carpenter's tools (a few still usable), my wife's great grandfather's cobbler's tools, a billiard ball from my grandfather's homestead, the remains of a 60 year old wooden wheelbarrow from our farm that I intend to restore, and that sort of thing.

I've moved every 10 - 15 years for career and now for retirement reasons. The cost of moving things really sharpens the 'should I keep it decision'.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

I have 2 lots, ~2 acres. our lot is about full, I'm looking to sell the other one to raise cash for a down payment on a 7 acre piece of land I've been looking at. That should hold me for 10 years or so...