Who dies with the most toys, wins!

[PhrugalPhan]

I have that hoarding gene , but am trying to reform by selling things online. "Keep the best and sell (give away, throw out, etc...) the rest" is my new motto. In the last 4 months I have sold over $1,000, with a profit of maybe $700 (most sales were for $20 or less). Yeah, like the OP, I get stuff very cheap (pennies on the dollar), so its actually been profitable, though time consuming.

 

[imoldernu]

I thought this thread would die

Remember... confession... good for the soul!

First- digital cameras... Bought one in the 1990's which was stolen... After that, paid $95 for an Aldi's Traveler, and $130 for a video... around 2000... Now, I buy old digital cameras at "The Closet", and the most I have paid is $2... including a binocular/digital camera which was $1.50... (I keep recoreds for when DW accuse me of buying too many toys).
I DID pay $4 for a Canon A1 35mm with three photo lenses, meters, flash, film, and a great camera bag. Have no idea what to do with it.

I missed a lot of "stuff" in my list... (remember that this is all spread out over 3 "homes")...
Music:
1 concert guitar
1 acoustic guitar,
1 student 3/4 guitar that I bought last week at Aldi's for $10 (big spender)
2 baritone ukes
1 uke from the early 1900's
3 keyboards
2 Recorders
2 harmonicas
1 Tin whistle
1 ocarina
1 nose whistle
1 electronic drum set... no software

Another confession... except for automobiles, have never sold anything to anyone in the past 25 years. When I finally lose interest, it all goes to Goodwill-type stores, is given away to friends or goes to the trash. "Free" at curbside does wonders for decluttering.

About dying...
Reminded me to check my life expectancy on the SS calcualtor. 9.8 years.
I need this "stuff".

 

[Ronstar]

I have a lot of toys and luckily cannot think of anything else I want at this time. It's become a challenge to find places to store them and find time to play with them. I don't have space or time for any more.


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[6miths]

I like the curbside approach as well. Yesterday all of the xBox guitars, drums and dance pad went out and were gone in 30 minutes. On the garage front, DW claims that one of my great master strokes was putting a mezzanine in our garage which for some reason has a 16 foot ceiling. Et voila, another place to store stuff.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

In a perverse way, I'm looking forward to downsizing in retirement. A lot of my toys need a little work. I look forward to fixing them, playing with them, and then selling them off one by one...

 

[aja8888]

I missed a lot of "stuff" in my list... (remember that this is all spread out over 3 "homes")...

Another confession... except for automobiles, have never sold anything to anyone in the past 25 years. When I finally lose interest, it all goes to Goodwill-type stores, is given away to friends or goes to the trash. "Free" at curbside does wonders for decluttering.

If you happen to run across a 1963 - 1967 Corvette in your inventory, I'll be glad to take it off your hands.

 

[travelover]

..........I need this "stuff".

I've been on a tear, selling "stuff' on eBay and it feels very liberating to have it gone. Having extra fun money is nice, too.

 

[GrayHare]

10 computers, well, OK, it's more like 20

 

[Mulligan]

Coming soon: You featured in show American Pickers.

I love that show! But in my life I am completely the opposite. Every time I buy something of any amount or size I am looking to throw away the equivalent. I am ready for the free spring bulk trash pickup, as I have me a pile waiting to be dumped.


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[ggbutcher]

...computers; Friend and I had the idea a ways back to refurbish computers for schools and folks who couldn't afford a new one. After 15 years, I've just now gotten rid of the last of the detritus, and we never managed to assemble one working device.

Now, on to the retired laptops; 7 at last count.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have been slowly reorganizing my "stuff", inside the garage as well as the home. Good thing that electronic toys do not interest me much anymore. I have plenty as is.

As a DIY'er, I have tools and knick-knacks related to home and car maintenance. Hard to get rid of some stuff, but I am slowly learning to let them "go".

 

[Walt34]

I live in a neighborhood where many homes have 3 plus place garages. As I walk the neighborhood daily with my dog, I get to [-]snoop[/-] observe how many of those garages are stuffed with junk, leaving the cars out in the Michigan winters to collect snow and ice. I'd say that at least half have a least one car space full of junk.

DW and I have noticed that too in hour neighborhood. Every house has at least a one car garage, most have two, a few have three. We are one of the few who keep our vehicles in the garage. Within five years I noticed how much better they look when kept under cover.

We are still slowly working on getting rid of excess stuff but it is getting harder the more we take out or throw out. I still need to make a run to the electronics recycling spot but that's down near the VA line so I've been putting it off. And like W2R when I think of buying anything new I think of "Where will I put it?" and "Am I going to want to move this?". It does help put the brakes on spending.

 

[check6]

Toys before getting married. All gone now. :-(

 

[Elbata]

Here's a study by UCLA that will show you how bad it is:

 

[M Paquette]

The link is to a Youtube video from UCLA, "A Cluttered Life: Middle Class Abundance", an ethno-archaeological study of 32 households.

... more possessions per household than any other civilization in global history...

Yow!

 

[gcgang]

I couldn't make it past chapter 2. What are the entho archeological conclusions they reach? That we gotta bunch of stuff?


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[harley]

The link is to a Youtube video from UCLA, "A Cluttered Life: Middle Class Abundance", an ethno-archaeological study of 32 households.

... more possessions per household than any other civilization in global history...

Well, duh! We're the first civilization with minivans and SUVs. Of course we have more stuff. It would have been too hard to haul your stuff around in a horse drawn wagon.

 

[xyz]

In 1994 I got lived in a room with a folding cot / folding table and chair... I had no phone and no TV ... it was the happiest time of my life.

 

[ERD50]

Well, duh! We're the first civilization with minivans and SUVs. Of course we have more stuff. It would have been too hard to haul your stuff around in a horse drawn wagon.

And thumb drives and mice and phones and tablets and netbooks and GPSs and portable music players (OK, they had banjos), printers, staplers, scotch tape dispensers, toy helicopters, timers, calculators, (and that's just what's in sight of me) ...

Yep, we have more stuff. I couldn't stick around for the conclusion either - is it a bad thing?

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

In 1994 I got lived in a room with a folding cot / folding table and chair... I had no phone and no TV ... it was the happiest time of my life.

Why are you posting then? Wouldn't you be happier w/o a computer?

-ERD50

 

[Clone]

Embarassing confession of a closet hoarder, with too many interests, who can't pass up free or low priced "stuff".
...

Everything works, and will go to kids or charities or waste management in the next few years. In the meantime...things to do in my spare time. Toys, Toys, Toys...

The confessional is open.

I will bring a pickup and trailer and help you haul what the stuff to wherever you want it dropped off. We can put the tools on the last load. (I can drop that off myself!)

I can also contribute a couple of vintage 1980 computers (with 300 baud and 1200 baud modems)

A while back, there was a thread where people counted the number of wheels that they had. They had to be pneumatic tires, so car and bike tires and trailer tires would count, and even those of larger hand trucks. I remember that I did not do too badly.

92 not counting spares.

I'm sure I am missing a few some place.

One thing for certain. It is easier to purge other folks stuff than it is to deal with our own.

 

[NW-Bound]

OK, I've found that thread from last year: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/tires-71170.html.

You've got the highest number so far at 92. Oh, we also counted wheelbarrow tires - must be pneumatic, not solid wheels - and also spare tires on vehicles.

 

[Sunset]

DW and I have noticed that too in hour neighborhood. Every house has at least a one car garage, most have two, a few have three. We are one of the few who keep our vehicles in the garage. Within five years I noticed how much better they look when kept under cover.....

+1
You are so right about that !

I had just come to that conclusion a week ago, brought on by how hard it is to get both vehicles into the "stuffed" garage. But looking at our other car which is 17 yrs old an rust free (other than couple of pencil end size spots).
Being out of the sun & rain sure extends the vehicle by a few years.

 

[HFWR]

In 1994 I got lived in a room with a folding cot / folding table and chair... I had no phone and no TV ... it was the happiest time of my life.

Spent my share of time with no phone or tv, but always had a stereo of some sort!


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[bingybear]

Here's a study by UCLA that will show you how bad it is:

I've seen a number of garages like this in my neighborhood. Luckily not mine. We have been working on reducing. Much of this is due to the American Media System... you have to buy everything. They drive the desire... even if you buy it later, I think the media and keeping up with the Jones' happens. But some cases may just may be the hoarding gene.

we moved to Europe for two years back in the 90's and put everything in storage...and bought cheap flat pack furniture over there. We learned how much we did not miss most of that stuff. We've kept old dishes and other things for when the kids moved out. They took a little of that.. the rest is still there. It will be going in the next few months (ER 1 week).

Some people buy bigger houses to store their plunder, some use self store facilities.... and as one noted here.... just buy more houses.

I think I'll use what I have... not just store it. If I'm using it.. does not matter the amount of stuff