Ok, I'm 83 and been acquiring for decades. Now since probably in my 60's I've been getting rid of STUFF and still have plenty in my 700 sq ft apt.....The other day I have a cleaning woman I had, 2 bags of clothes and a purse and she was happy to take it for their big family. Just talking to a friend and she's cleaning out her 98 yr mom's life of Stuff and Money issues, all from CA to where her mom lived in FL. My friend is having a hell of a time as she struggles with joint issues and has a hard time walking. So she is doing it all long distance and we help from a couple people in FL. My sister and I struggled to get our parent's house cleaned out and sold and our parents didn't have a lot of money left, so that was no big deal. We 3 children got what was left when their house sold.... My sis struggled with MS and me with OA and Fibromyalgia...but we did it. I don't want to leave a heavy burden for my daughter and her kids so I'm clearing out and getting rid of all I can when I can. So t he attachments we own, own us in the end.
@Joy Martin .. thank you for posting. i have made same comment on various threads before.The biggest legacy to leave your children - is very little of your mess left behind. We do not need much stuff in our older years. I am basic minimalist, and feel less is best for everyone. We no longer own stereos, vcrs dvds, entertainment center..all that crap- gone. Getting rid of my things are easy, for my hubby not so much. He has a garage full of tools he needs to rid himself from. When his 92 year old dad died 4 years ago... took two years to clean out the home of 60 plus years of stuff. You will feel lighter all over when you rid your self of unneeded items.
If people ONLY got this... Less is Best....and for sure as we have gotten up there....Even in younger years if you want to think about that....We Americans have so so MUCH....too much. It's been the American way and it's commercialism and capitalism at it's utmost....So much money out there....
I was much happier when I was house-poor in my 600 ft² home. When I got over that house-poor hump, the clutter started. Minimalist is best. My problem is that I'm a dabbler. I'm always trying new stuff. I go way off the deep end when I try new activities & hobbies, and then after I've invested in tools & supplies, I don't want to get rid of them in case I want to pick up that activity again.
This reminds me of a meeting I attended for our electricity cooperative. A number of electric companies sent workers to Bolivia to run electricity to a small village, and a few of our guys went, too. We watched a video of the work they did and of the joyful folks who lived there. One of the guys spoke of his experience, and of the happiness those people found in daily life...whether or not they had electricity. He talked of coming home and trying to get his own kids to understand, but you could see the sorrow in his eyes that his own children have been spoiled to the point of finding satisfaction in nothing. It's a drug, where more and more is required to chase the initial high, and it's never enough. After a while it is totally ineffective. And then you crash.
We use to have a lot of photo albums, and still have a few. But, I scanned all of the pictures from a number of albums, put those pictures on USB's and gave all of the pictures scanned to my wife's sister. We are still getting rid of some things. My wife has told me, "whatever you don't think we need, go ahead and get rid of, but please don't tell me." I have done that, because I really do know what is needed and what's not. Before meeting her, she was a real keeper of things. Not so much a "packrat", but mainly just a "keeper", then I came along. She had a whole lot more stuff than I ever had.
Disclaimer - my way of doing things works for me- I am neither right or wrong . Whatever works for you, is best for you.
I only have experience from the daughter's perspective. I have a tendency to hang on to sentimental things much more than my parents ever did. A few years before he died my father had a garage sale to try and get rid of his tools. Thankfully it didn't go too well. At the same time my mother began gradually throwing away stuff in the house. She didn't want me to have to deal with it. They had already disposed of some things I wanted, by the time I found out they were doing this. I asked them to please stop and don't worry about it. I could handle it. So maybe it's a good idea to ask your kids what they want you to do, and tell them to be honest about it. It was a whole different story with my mother and her siblings, when their mother died. Lots of hard feelings about who got what. My mother and her brother wanted no part of it, never took a single thing, and never tried to get in touch with the other 2 siblings again. And I really mean never. I don't have any brothers and sisters, so no one to fight with over my parents' stuff, or who has to get rid of things. I have no idea how anyone else in my family, like my cousins, handled this. Don't want to know. My cat rather enjoys clutter. So I only de-clutter when it gets on my nerves. lol
When I bought this place I took what little I actually needed and let the clean-out guy take the rest. He was surprised how much of it was good so he took some of it for himself and I imagine sold the rest. Minimalism is especially good in your living space since there is less to clean around and under.
I have decided the amount of junk I have is determined by the amount of space I have. For the past year I have given away or thrown away something either from my clothes closet, my desk drawers, or my garage about every three months. My closet is about half full where as before it was stuffed. My desk is pretty much cleaned out, and my garage is almost spotless compared to how it has looked in the past. My problem has always been keeping it that way.
There have been several posts on similar topics in the past. My response hasn't changed; I don't hoard stuff but I enjoy the things I have. As long as I am actively enjoying my possessions I have no intention of getting rid of anything or downsizing. Why should I? This is a big house and there's plenty of room, besides the fact that it is my home and I want to enjoy my things. When I die, the kids can pour gasoline on it and watch it burn; I really couldn't care less what they do with any of it. Once they have sifted through my jewelry and other stuff, they can call one of those estate sales people to get rid of the rest (or a dumpster for that matter.) There's no "right way" when it comes to this stuff. Just do what you want and what you are comfortable with.
Yep, no need to change, some people need and want more stuff and some of us like and want less as we age especially. All the Stuff I bought over my life, omg...I try to be a minimalist but the stuff I still have, and I've gotten rid of a lot, still is around this small apt.
I love stuff. Always have. I made it a business for a long while. Shopped garage sales, auctions, estate sales and then started selling things at a profit. I went to the Missouri Auction school but found there was a 25% tax on auctions in my city which is why they only had them at the county fairgrounds which you had to rent, transport everything to.... So I organized and held estate sales, rummage sales....priced everything slightly more than an auction would have gotten. A few times I took a carload to a huge flea market and sold everything. One day my husband told me to stop it! He was tired of coming home to find that the kitchen table and chairs were missing. So I bought things that I loved and just kept them. That is when we bought a bigger house. The bottom sort of dropped out of 'antiques' and old collectibles during Obama. It hasn't quite made it back yet. Kids don't want old things and everyone is downsizing. I have been getting rid of things slowly but hubby grumps if he finds out. I had some kids help me bring some stuff out of the basement. An old tube tv is now sitting in the garage. Does it work? hubby asked like he always does when I get ready to get rid of it. Yes, but no one wants or uses them anymore, I always say. We have to take it to recycling. It is still sitting in the garage. It was one of the first things we bought together 40ish years ago. Maybe he is just being romantic. I am sure we would both be fine with getting rid of each OTHER"S things, though.
Oh Mary, I don't know that I "loved" stuff, I don't have strong Love for anything...Just thinking about this and after this long life I can only say: Less is Best, Get Rid of the Rest"......Even my daughter and her kids don't want my stuff, they have so much of their own already. Thinking over my life I got to the point where I had so many T shirts that I made a big purge some yrs ago, I was buying T Shirts at Goodwill like they were going out of style.... Love love love George Carlin: On Stuff: Mary: You made a business out of the stuff, and that was a good thing, many junk dealers are very wealthy, it's a big business. just like scrap dealers. My sister may she rest in peace, loved to buy and buy and buy and each time they moved they had gigantic yard sells and would make $1000's on her buys.