Reminder: Please Don't Collect Bunches of Stuff.

A friend who was best man at my wedding past away a two weeks ago; last night I was at his house helping his wife come up with a plan to take care of all the stuff.  He was only 62 (side note if you have diabetes, for God's sake take care of yourself) and his wife now as months worth of work to clear everything out. 

It's the usual things; multiple chop saws, triplicates of cordless tools, duplicate tools in brand new boxes, two full sets of tools in rolling chests, and a couple of dirt bike projects. The two full sets of tools are particularly redundant; he was a mobile mechanic and there was another full set in his van. He also collected firearms and stocked ammo.

Even at garage sale prices the duplicate stuff probably adds up to 30-40K, that money would come in really handy for his wife right now. Thankfully the house is paid off but it needs the roof redone and again that money would have come in handy.

The only plus side is he'd carefully cataloged the firearms so she knows what's there and the value of them.

I'm not trying to be a total wet blanket but as a group we tend to be semi hoarders and this is a stark reminder that we really don't need all that stuff. Eventually it creates a burden for loved ones. 

Yep, there was a thread on here a couple months ago about the practical value of having multiple sets of tools that never get used "just in case" and I stand by what I said there.

My brother in law's mother recently passed away and left behind a house full of stuff. Dad was a "six sets of everything" kind of guy. Most of the tools ended up going to scrap because there was just way, way too much to go through and he couldn't find anyone to just take all of it. If there were only a couple of well organized sets it would have been a different story.

There's definitely irony in the fact that all the extra stuff was held onto because of the classic "might need that someday" when the end result was that all of it got tossed and there was no use of anything because there was just too much!

It's just stuff, keep what you really need and be rid of the rest, lest it become something your loved ones have to deal with in the future.

The guy next door to me was divorced with no kids and the ex-wife wanted nothing to do with a house he owed too much money on. When he died the house flipper who bought it hired a couple of laborers to fill a dumpster with everything he owned. He made more than enough flipping the house to pay the laborers, the dumpster rental and the dump. It didn't seem to be that much of a problem.

I'm watching my neighbor go through this. Her husband, a former mechanic, died a couple of years after having a severe stroke. The house, garage, and SIX storage units are full of stuff from floor-to-ceiling. Parts, tools, etc. you name it. Nothing is organized or cataloged. No idea what anything is, what it might be worth, or how to sell it. She's now stuck paying good money to literally throw the stuff away. Dumpster loads of stuff.

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

I mean, yeah, if you die alone and nobody cares about you there's not really any loved ones to burden with all your stuff, but I don't think that's what Tom was getting at...

This is a common subject on the machinist's forums. Those guys buy literal TONS of machinery, tools, materials and then leave their widows and children to dispose of it all. Most of the time it gets auctioned off for pennies on the dollar or even worse they have to pay someone to haul it off.

pointofdeparture said:

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

I mean, yeah, if you die alone and nobody cares about you there's not really any loved ones to burden with all your stuff, but I don't think that's what Tom was getting at...

What I'm getting at is that one man's stuff is another person's dumpster fodder. The bank got his car and his house. They didn't want any of the rest of it.

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

That much is definitely true!

Mrs. Snowdoggie is a born saleswoman. She used to work for one of the largest ad agencies in the country. After my cars go to the auction she will probably be on here selling my crap to you guys for more than it is worth. Then she will be off to vacation in Europe from all the money she made.

The dogs like her better anyway so that won't be a problem.

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

I've got another friend who is a full blown hoarder; he inherited his mother's house years ago and it's now full of stuff. He lives with his girlfriend in another house and thankfully she keeps him in check at that house. All of the stuff at his mom's will likely be dumpster food someday.

It's really cliche but the statement "you don't own stuff, stuff owns you" has to be repeated for veracity.

I see this stuff on FB marketplace all the time. Funny thing is that it is always advertised for top dollar. 

I don't hoard, but have a lot of tools and stuff in a shop that the wife has no interest in. She will call a friend and tell them to clean the shop out of tools and vehicles and keep what they want or sell it and make some $$$. 

To anyone who just needs a hoard gone, the scrap metal guys around here will be on site within minutes of posting an on-line add. 

My FIL has joked with us about the mess he's going to leave us when he passes. And he's not wrong, I've been a part of several of these kinds of things, and it can be a major PITA. 

Sounds like it's time for an estate sale.

My FIL keeps telling us it will all be our problem one day.  I don't appreciate that, and I'm working now at 41 to get rid of as much stuff as possible that I'll never realistically use.  

Definitely an interesting thing to think about. I'm not that old, but I actively and vigorously participate in risky 2 wheeled sports and am single with no family or anything nearby. Even if I get hurt and had to move somewhere for a while to recover, all the stuff would be a real pain. Much of it I have not touched in a long time anyway and is for "someday" projects, or I kept it just because it was rare, unique, or unusual.

The result: about $6k in sales on ebay this year already, of stuff I have had hanging around forever. It was hard at first, but I've come to enjoy seeing that stuff leave my house, and the income has helped me understand that if I ever need the stuff back, then I can just go buy it when I need it.

I started about a year ago doing the downsizing. 

Basically I got rid of anything that could be considered redundant and honestly evaluated what I need at this point in my life. For example I sold my 250 amp Miller welder. I have zero need for it and it was taking up space. My 175 amp Hobart will weld anything I ever care to mess with. And selling the Miller freed up a decent wad of cash. 

I even pared my cars down to two, my Element and my C1500. 

I've got a contract on my second house. I was planning on renting it out but decided just to sell it instead.

All my wife will have to do is run a quick garage sale to get rid of my remaining E36 M3, cash the life insurance check, buy herself a set of boobs and get a new boyfriend. She will have it made. I've got my retirement set up so she will draw a monthly check as long as she lives. 

I have this problem with books and also tools.   Books more than tools

    I  have over 15 feet of bookcases all filled up.   I recently realized the burden this will be on my children and am starting to cull the collection.   

Too late, I like to call it Dad's Curse. My mother in law was a hoarder and passed away 4 year ago and my garage is still stuffed to the rafters with stuff we couldn't give or throw away.

Once after my kids gave me grief about saving stuff (given to me free), I finally said, "I've had this thing for over 20 years and I don't think I will ever get around to ever using it". And I threw it away. Not more than a few months later, I needed it and had to go buy it. I don't even remember what it was, but I do remember saying that I will never get rid of anything useful ever again. 

VolvoHeretic said:

I do remember saying that I will never get rid of anything useful ever again. 

I use to have this same thought but then realized that in 10-15 years of keeping a pile of stuff I actually used two things in said pile. Couple that with cleaning out the in-laws stuff and I got moving on moving stuff on.

You've inspired me. I'm going to finally make a garage sale thread I've been meaning to make for a while. 

Also related: shred your old papers.

Last weekend we dropped off 40+ pounds to be shredded. It cleared up my file cabinet plus one of my big desk drawers. I just don't think I'll need a statement from 1998 or 2004 or whenever. 

We also took a load of old clothes and an old suitcase to our humane society's thrift store. 

For old books, how about a local Little Free Library? 

Still more to rehome, but one bite at a time. 

I agree with the advice. About 4 years ago my wife had to clean out my FIL's place, he is still alive but couldn't physically or emotionally do it himself. It took her 5 months with 2 kids in tow and I would come home everyday and cart stuff off. It was a terrible experience and I swore I wouldn't do that to my kids. Now I look around at what I have and I could do that to my kids... I took some good steps last year to get rid of stuff and I am taking some more this year. Wifey and I were talking the other day about simplifying life and I looked in my garage and I said this project is a time suck for no joy, this isn't needed, that isn't needed. I cleaned up (a little physical and a little mental) and it was very freeing. 

If the boy shows any interest in wrenching, carpentry, or just repairing things, its all his. The tools, the bikes, the sportscar, all of it. I hope he does.

I agree with the sentiment of this thread. I've seen the junk my family saves because maybe one day we will use it... The truth is we buy more before looking to see what we already have. 
 

I really need to sell some stuff that I don't use anymore, thanks for the reminder. 
 

edit: it's like my grandfathers coin collecting, only he appreciates the process. Now all his grandchildren have boxes of coins we can't even lift because he has made sets of coins for all his grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

Tom1200 said:

He also collected firearms and stocked ammo.

In fairness that turned out to be the right move. Assuming it's not wildly outdated you can probably make 50% or more profit on it.

Related, most houses in my neighborhood have two car garages attached. As I'm walking around the block it always amazes me just how many of them are full...yet zero of the contents are a vehicle. Also how many people just leave their garage doors open all day, but that's a different problem. Maybe they're hoping someone comes by and steals some of their collection of junk.