Getting rid of unused junk. Whats your criteria?
 

Ok, my problem is I cant part with anything. I always feel that one day, somehow I will find a use for it again. Last night sitting in my garage looking around at all the stuff I have on shelves, laying around taking up space. I said I really need to toss everything. Well, only thing I had the guts to toss out was about 15 yrs worth of Hot VW and VW Trends magazines. Wheeled the recycling bin in and dumped them.

How long do you keep stuff for, and is there anything that you know you will never use but just cant seem to part with it?

"Well, only thing I had the guts to toss out was about 15 yrs worth of Hot VW and VW Trends magazines."



hey! i could have used them.

what you have is called disposophobia, ask me why i know that?

Still have things boxed up when we moved into this house 15 years ago, if I open the box to see what it is then I will keep it. If I just toss the box in the trash I will never know, BTW I had to look! so now you know the answer.

yeah PACKRAT-ITIS INFESTS MY LIFE BIG TIME! play hell getting rid of stuff. but i pretty much pull the plug on stuff when it has sat for 15-20 years. ive been in the same house 28 yrs.

actually it gets pretty easy with the invention of BEER!

inhale a 12 pak on a nice 115plus day, enter 120 degree plus building, crank stereo on, and start saying SCREW-IT to anything i havent used or touched. i do try and give it away most times before it hits the dumpster. but that usually doesnt work and i go into a major depwessive episode and then i have to drink more beer and preety soon a SPACE EMERGES WHERE I ONCE HAD A TON OF CRAP!


"oh WOW..........THERES A WALL THERE!"

I try to sell it for a few bucks on CL, if that doesn't work it's listed for free, then the dumpster.

I still have boxes of Hot VW's and VW Trends from 89 to 2002 sitting in boxes out of sight above the garage....

I have heard that you should box it up and write the date on it. If you haven't had a need to open the box in a year, toss it (WITHOUT OPENING IT!)

Shyte I haven't opened the boxes I moved here with 6 years ago...they are full of spoons and other assorted items like art(David Roberts RA and Sir John Lavery) , art glass (Venini and Barovier Toso) , Art Pottery (Moorcroft) ,Ansley and Wedgewood China, Sterling Silver (Porter Blanchard) , Waterford glass ware, Books (1st edition of Thomas Jefferson's Works published in 1826). By your criteria I guess I'll just heave them out this coming trash day...

I've been thinking about finishing my basement. Last night while playing with design ideas on paper I realized if I go ahead there will be no room for my stuff. Needless to say, I'm struggling with packratitis myself.

Not the damn magazines!!!

I had a boatload of mags that I had collected, Hot Rod, Sports Car Illustrated, On Track, on and on - probably 6 or 8 copy paper boxes full. Decided to get rid of them, carefully sorted through and got the ones I wanted to keep (ended up with about 1/2 a box), put the rest of Craigs (Free!) and they were gone within the hour. Gearheads are everywhere and we love free stuff.
Not Excellence, though, I keep that.
I throw Pano in the trash the day it arrives.

Problem is, I like stuff, too, I spend lots of time massaging the space where my stuff is, so my stuff looks like it's worth having.

Best way to get rid of stuff is to move house once in a while.

Also there's a great book called "Simplify Your Life"....

You think you have it bad? Somehow I think I have to have multiple pairs of sawhorses. How 'bout 5 air compressors or 8 spray guns? Throw in a box of electrical wire, all colors and gauges. Not done? Another box of auto elec wire. Then, there's the box of rubber and plastic hoses, metric included. Getting bizarre? Well, there's the box simply labeled "brackets." In there you will find anything made of metal that has a shape. Never know when you might need a bookshelf speaker wall mount bracket. ;)

This post could be 10 paragraphs long.

BWTM, the wife has more than I do including twenty 12 or so cu ft crates of Xmas decorations. The house has 4 cloths closets. I have one.

I ask myself two questions:

"Have I used this in the last year?"

"Am I likely to use this in the next year?"

If the answer is "no", it's gone.

If I come across an item I thought I would use in the next year during the last review (a year ago), and I didn't use it, it's gone.

Yep, same. Two years.

If I have moved something more than once in the last month to get to something I really need (and know where it is) the moved item is gone too.

Same problem here. I have multiples of alot of stuff. Especially power tools. I have 7 corded drills. 3 routers etc, etc... I have this spool of Dorman 3/8 copper tubing on the shelf, that I have never touched in 20yrs since I got it. But ya never know I might need it one day! I have crates of car magazines Hot Rod, Car Craft from the 70's to present.

When in doubt, throw it out.

Thanks for the great solution to the shaped metal that I have laying about unorganized. I say this with genuine sincerety.:)

And somewhere in one of those piles of unorganized shaped metal, I have two sets of speaker brackets, for a total of six brackets. I also have multiple sets of unused speakers. Polk/Altec/Cambridge/others

Don't get me started about the various cables and connectors for computers, and the very similarly sized pile of audio/video. A/V components up the ying. (My original Yamaha CA800 Amp and matching tuner; the Kenwood tuner I used before I got the Yamaha_ can't bring myself to practically give this stuff away) The Pioneer Elite receiver that is not as good as the new Pioneer Elite Receiver.
Then we have the bike parts. The porsche "spares" (i.e.takeoffs).
Bicycles.
Books.
The 50 or so EMPTY boxes for my 1/18 German Car (all silver) collection.

Tools for the cars
For building and construction
For Landscaping
Washing and detailing stuff
Drafting tools that are far too nice to just get rid of.
Moving Pads
Scrap Wood

The Harbor Freight tools (I should get a tool box just for these)

Yes, I am a packrat, and I need help:(

If you have it, you won't be without it.

I've got one of those too, but it's just not big enough;).

I was stupid an tossed the old Bosche fuel pump and starter(dumb,dumb,dumb). Never again.

amatuers! it would take a skidloader and dumptruck days just to clean out one shed. I have everything from airplane parts to vw parts and welding machines. probably something in the xyz categories also. then we could start on the back to finish out the week. next week we could clean out the house and yard. I got stuff!

Correction needed- you got "vintage investments".

I ask myself: Have I had this for a year?
If yes: Do I foresee a use for it in the coming year?
If no: toss it.
If yes: ask the same questions next year.

Works for me...kinda...sometimes...well, I TRY dammit!

Edit: Oops! Just saw Legion's post.

If you have not used it in 5 years, and its not a family heirloom or really expensive and you cannot live without it, its time for it to find a new home.

I too have a weakness for tools. Construction and woodworking tools. Gotta to have a set around the house, the shop and the job. Then there's the ones I use on the job and then there's everyone else's. They just go from job to job and pack up more crap. Don't get me started with the cordless drills. finally I decided to not keep pipe, wires, and lumber by the end of the job. Everything goes into the trash because we know we have whatever it is that we are looking for, but can never find it. We spend more time looking fot it then actually doing work. Now I just keep the box of gun nail or a spool or two of wires. Clean out all the unuse crap in the house and garage too. Couldn't be happier. Now if I can just get rid of my wife's Christmas crap I will be a hapy man.

I probably have more accumulated stuff than most guys here (somehow I am guessing Johnco has more). I still have my beat-up '83 Nighthawk 650 from college in the 80's.... my '77 worthless 924 (still runs perfect but just sits).... my old BMX bike from highschool, tractors/parts, cars/parts, motorcycles/parts, computers, airplanes/parts, Jetskis, snowmobiles, scooters/parts, minibikes, 2 milling machines, several welders, tools, metal, wood, at least 8 paint guns, 3 table saws, airplane/motocross/car magazines-parts catalogs, 5 sets of heavy duty sawhorses. I could go on and on. I am addicted to restoring/fixing stuff. I jump back and forth between hobbies quite often and nothing ever seems too broken to fix someday. I must say, I get great pleasure when I find a use for that old piece of steel tubing I saved for "later use". My shop/hangar is 50 x 100 and is pretty full. I am contemplating adding a couple 25 x 50 lean-to structures onto it.

I do get stressed over it occassionaly and just this week I detailed my old 924 and my 951 thinking I should sell them, but now am second guessing that decision as they almost seem like members of the family after all the time I have invested over the years maintaining them. I am coming to the conclusion that my all things mechanical are my enjoyment in life and I just need to accept it and start searching craigslist for my next project/hobby. ;):D

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Tim, I see lots of open areas you can actually work in. not enough stuff just yet.

Tim: The thread is about "Getting rid of unused junk. Whats your criteria?"

That stuff taint junk!!

Bingo. The one exception is tools. I just hide them in boxes so they don't bug me, I'm way too OCD for clutter.

I just don't have any pics showing the extent of the clutter along the walls, up in the attic and under the workbenchs. ;) I can assure you that I have tons of stuff many here would consider junk. ;):D

Vinny, just buy a shed or two and keep on adding to your collection... You know it is what will keep you happy... Why fight it? :D

Hancock

I want to see more of those Pitts - whats with the little feller?

Full Pitts story here http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/305746-sold-family-heirloom-last-weekend.html?highlight=pitts

I built the little pedal Pitts from plans when my girls were little.

now this is junk! building is 30'+ by 60'+ what doesn't show are the 2 rooms in back and areas I couldn't get in the photo. dive tank compressor, antique sugar mill scales, pumps, drafting table, shipyard, wood working and mechanic tools, etc etc. anything and everything. not going to show the even more stuff out back, my other shed, 3 16 ft trailer loads, etc etc. lot of good useful stuff buried in there somewhere under the useless junk. I'm the guy everyone comes to when they need something they can't find. chances are I have it... somewhere in all that junk. actually, every now and then I haul a 16ft trailer or two off, but it fills back up somehow. it's a genetic disorder passed down from my father's side of the family.
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John - is that a 37 chevy in the background?

yep. 64 tbird in front. 57 Buick, 61 Ranchero, 60 El Camino, 60 Belair, 88 944, 74 VW Thing and several dune buggies outside. plenty more cars at home

You buy the cars I see in ads and think "I should go take a look at that" Every one of the ones listed is something I have pictured in my driveway.

Thanks, but the real truth of it is I get them sooo cheap, it's hard to turn them down

Tim and John got me beat by a long run!! Tim Im up to a 3 car garage now, and i have that full. I can always add another bay on the side.;)
John, thats what a garge should look like! I hate those "operating room" garages. Yours looks like you actually work in it.:D

I wish I had room to work inside! I've developed over the years this useless junk classification system.
1. just put it over there and I'll haul it off later
2. I could build/repair something with this one day
3. Someone I know might need/want this one day
4. I know if I throw this away, I'll need it tomorrow
5. it still works/I can fix this/no use for it but too good to throw away

and by useless I meant the classification system because everything gets put in the shed away.