Members mystofpric Posted October 12, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 SO today I sat down and went through a bunch of my stuff to cleanse and condense. I went from 6 rubbermade containers to 1!!! PLus i emptied 1/2 of my filing cabinet! ALong the way though I found a bunch of stuff I had been holding on to for no good reason. I found I had saved 7 cell phones (each of them had phone numbers that I didn't want to lose so I saved the phone.) I found I had saved cards from 6 years ago! NOt just birthday and x-mas cards but flower cards, notes from teachers, things like that! Keychains, happy meal toys, pens notebooks, note cards etc etc etc. Oh man! I had so much crap!So here's what it made me think of: what do you save? What things hold memories for you? Are you a pack rat or a minimalist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synirr Posted October 12, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 I used to save almost everything, but now most of what I save is media, easily stored on a harddrive where it's not taking up physical space I catalogue almost everything in pictures these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members angelkisses98 Posted October 12, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 if it was up to my hubby, EVERYTHING would be saved, and i mean everything. i usually have to go through things ever 6mths and toss everything he insisted on saving, because it was never once used. i save anything to do with crafts. and wrapping paper and ribbon. i save almost every scrap of wrapping paper...you never know when your gonna have something small to wrap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sun_flower969 Posted October 12, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 You know what I have. Every single card, letter, note anything that my husband has given me since we started dating in 1992. FIRE HAZARD! It is funny to go back and read them. We were very religious at the time and in almost all of the early ones they have a lot of scripture references etc. It's funny to reminisce. We seem like little kids! We were 18 and 22! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zakdad Posted October 12, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 I am guilty of saving way to much stuff!! My wife is about the same. I think I could use something in the future and then it sits there forever! I am getting better about this, but I am still guilty of saving too much shit! We need to go through so much stuff and clean out as you have, Suzy! Hell, we could have a badass yard sale and probably make some decent money! Probably will not happen anytime soon, but we do need to clean house, so to speak. Peace,Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 When I was in my 20's, and prior, I would save everything that I thought would be like a souvenier of the past. I cleaned out a lot of that, thru time, whether it was due to it breaking, or just got tired of having it. I keep Christmas cards for a year (in with the holiday stuff), then dump them. I do keep letters and cards. I kept a lot, then threw a bunch away about 10 yrs ago, which I kick myself for. Now, I keep that. I keep lots of photos (saved to disc), and I do keep a lot of DD's art & school work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mystofpric Posted October 12, 2008 Author Members Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 I am guilty of saving way to much stuff!! My wife is about the same. I think I could use something in the future and then it sits there forever! I am getting better about this, but I am still guilty of saving too much shit! We need to go through so much stuff and clean out as you have, Suzy! Hell, we could have a badass yard sale and probably make some decent money! Probably will not happen anytime soon, but we do need to clean house, so to speak. Peace,MarkOh please dont think this is a regular thing for me! I've dragged this stuff around through 3 states and several moves in between. I'm seriously talking crap, key chains backpacks, old purses, broken dishes, things like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members littlemissnonamegirl Posted October 12, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 A tradition formed at the end of junior high through the end of high school, where a few close friends in our circle would create the most unique and purty cards for each other. We'd spend hours in the back of homeroom/math class or w/e coloring and using sparkles and w/e else we could find to make them. I still have every single, crazy, one sitting in my drawer. It's fun to pull them out every once and awhile to see what I used to do. I'll never forget one friend, took a dunkin donuts napkin and created the most ellaborate card I've ever seen. I smile and think, wow how crazy is that? Otherwise, I save photos [lots] and little notes and here or there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eminatic Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 i save everything...and i mean EVERYTHING. D:candy wrappers, old receipts, expired gift cards, random pieces of paper, labels peeled off of containers, allll kinds of paperwork from school that i dont need, broken pens, empty spools of thread, tons of empty plastic shopping bags etc...i feel like..something bad will happen if i throw them away =\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kmiller1631 Posted October 13, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Oh, my god!I was a military wife for a long time so I got used to going through a lot of stuff, throwing out a lot, and condensing a lot. You really learn what to throw out and what to keep when you are having to move every 3 to 4 years!Who wants to unpack and arrange all that crap all over again? not I!The movers pack it up , but, the little stuff still fills up a lot of useless space.So much easier to make a POS when you have less crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FOS Posted October 13, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 I am a total packrat. I miss the days when I used to be able to fit every material possession I had [plus all the other assorted and sundry crap I kept], you know, my whole life, would fit in a 14-foot truck. Some things just aren't so simple anymore. But anyway...yeah, I have a lot of those things, still- mostly a BUNCH of old notebooks full of things I've written, or things that other people wrote to me...a few old photos, but not many.I agree, it is funny to go back and read things that you wrote to someone ten or fifteen years ago...remembering the way that everything was then. Doesn't make me feel old now, but just...ahhh, pensive, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zakdad Posted October 13, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Oh please dont think this is a regular thing for me! I've dragged this stuff around through 3 states and several moves in between. I'm seriously talking crap, key chains backpacks, old purses, broken dishes, things like that.Suzy, I didn't mean that I thought it was a regular thing for you. I just know we keep way too much crap and we need to do like you and clean out a BUNCH of stuff!!! By the way, sorry I missed your birthday and hope it turned out better than you thought! You seem like such a nice person and deserve to be treated better for your big day. They do less and less important as we get older, but no reason for everyone to ignore it all together! Keep your chin up, girl! I wish for many, many more for you and all of them great!!Peace,Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sun_flower969 Posted October 13, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 OH! know what else I kept... My baby's hair in a ziplock baggie after I cut it Daniela's hat that she wore in the hospital after she was born. My Raggedy Ann doll from when I was little (she is old and her face is brown, half her hair is missing but I will keep her forever!) My wedding gown... but I may sell it. My mothers engagement ring. A pair of earrings and a jewelry box that were my grandmothers. An outfit from the sixties that she wore also. I am wicked sentimental! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pappyld04 Posted October 13, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 I think packrat is an understatement for me. Of course I've cleaned out my rent houses several times and held the stuff just in case they showed up for it but I've got to have a yard sale soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cmwise1 Posted October 13, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 I have kept stuff from my older girls baby years and some homework, report cards, crafts they made for me, cards etc. I save some of Natalie's work as well. Old pics from when i grew up and love letters from my first love.Other than that, regular purging..a cluttered home is a cluttered mind..(yeah, right!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mystofpric Posted October 13, 2008 Author Members Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Suzy, I didn't mean that I thought it was a regular thing for you. I just know we keep way too much crap and we need to do like you and clean out a BUNCH of stuff!!! By the way, sorry I missed your birthday and hope it turned out better than you thought! You seem like such a nice person and deserve to be treated better for your big day. They do less and less important as we get older, but no reason for everyone to ignore it all together! Keep your chin up, girl! I wish for many, many more for you and all of them great!!Peace,MarkYou didn't miss it! And trust me if I could save every post and PM from today I would, I heart y'all! Thanks Mark, I'm not actually being completely ignored, you guys are awesome. It's just teh local bit. I'm not a big holiday person, for myself any way, but I do enjoy celebrating my birthday and keeping memories from that. The rest I'll celebrate cause it will make other people happy and I love giving gifts.I was thinking about what would happen if I actually moved out of here and had to lug all that stuff, it'd take for ever! So i pitched it! And ya know what? I feel great! Before I moved back up here I did teh same with my clothes and that was A HUGE weight off my back, literally! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vanilla_bean Posted October 13, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 I never used to keep anything. Now that I have kids, I do keep some of their school things, pictures, etc. BUT, I've married Hector The Collector! I had to work on him for ages to get rid of those red plaid bell bottoms from his 8th grade grad! He doesn't keep nearly as much as he used to, but it's hard for him to part with things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Review Team sass Posted October 13, 2008 Review Team Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 I used to hang on to stuff, but once I started getting rid of things more, it felt kind of liberating.I still have some stuff - yearbooks from high school and college, special birthday cards, some special Christmas cards, some of my parents' old things .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LilyElle Posted October 14, 2008 Members Report Share Posted October 14, 2008 I'm a total pack rat. Anything that I might ever possibly need again gets saved. And once in a while, I actually need something I've saved, so it's like I've justified all the rest. My school stuff stays relatively decluttered, because I have to move in and out of the dorm every year, but home? Yikes. Every summer since I started college I've done big sort-and-pitch sessions, and there's still more to go... I keep all of my old school stuff, boxes and boxes of notes, any paperwork that passes through my hands, packaging from purchases in case I have to return them... I save a lot of sentimental stuff, then when it resurfaces I have no idea what it is, or why I kept it. I've thrown away so many "mementos" over the years. Some things will never go, though. Things from my great grandmothers... the roses my boyfriend had shipped from his grandmother's garden in Ecuador for our anniversary (nicely dried and sitting beside my computer where I always see them), that scrap of paper he scribbled his number on for me when we first started dating... the list goes on and on and on...Can I join the yard sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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