Getting Rid Of (Good) Stuff

[VoyT]

As someone who had to dispose of a couple of relatives' belongings after they passed ... do your heirs (or whoever) a favor and purge.  Cleaning 40 years worth of stuff out of a house is no joke

   Thought I'd also add a couple of places that take used stuff:
   Homeless shelters (especially those that serve families) -- good for clothes, personal care and household items.
    The local Humane Society may be looking for old towels and blankets.  Ours even took unused syringes.  (aunt was a diabetic, so there was plenty of that stuff around)

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

1-800-got-junk.

One of the fastest growing franchises these days, so I hear...

 

[BUM]

As someone who had to dispose of a couple of relatives' belongings after they passed ... do your heirs (or whoever) a favor and purge. Cleaning 40 years worth of stuff out of a house is no joke

Oh. man does that suck or what! I've had to clean out for dead relatives FOUR times over the past ten years and it is terrible. Two of the four were close and the sadness was a constant showstopper. Just when I'd be slinging the crap out with a snowshovel a memento would catch my eye and I'd have to stop, sit down and think, cry whatever before I could get going again.

But the worst of it is when a lousy cousin visits years later and says, "Oh, so you got the lamps."

 

[Sheryl]

Oh. man does that suck or what! I've had to clean out for dead relatives FOUR times over the past ten years and it is terrible. Two of the four were close and the sadness was a constant showstopper. Just when I'd be slinging the crap out with a snowshovel a memento would catch my eye and I'd have to stop, sit down and think, cry whatever before I could get going again.

Thanks for reminding me.  Not.   My mom died over a year ago, and my brother and I still have to face a trip to Ohio and a house full of "stuff."  She was trying to pare down her junk, but there is still a house full of "valuable" antiques and momentos.   All the things her mother had saved for a lifetime, and mom saved for a lifetime, and now I will be the evil ungrateful daughter and sell most of it, because I have nowhere to put it.  Sigh.

 

[BUM]

A thankless job Sheryl. I'm glad your brother is there to help. The only advice I can offer is.. don't become immobilized. Take a break when needed and just do it.

 

[Texas Proud]

Thanks for reminding me.  Not.   My mom died over a year ago, and my brother and I still have to face a trip to Ohio and a house full of "stuff."  She was trying to pare down her junk, but there is still a house full of "valuable" antiques and momentos.   All the things her mother had saved for a lifetime, and mom saved for a lifetime, and now I will be the evil ungrateful daughter and sell most of it, because I have nowhere to put it.  Sigh.

Hi Sheryl,

I have a suggestion for you... and it is what I am going to do when I have to.. Hold a 'family' auction... it can be based over time etc. but auction off EVERYTHING in the house. If someone wants it more than someone else they will bid up the price. If they are the only one who wants it,then fine. Anything left over you then sell in the open market and you can not be the evil ungrateful daughter...

Just a suggestion.

 

[VoyT]

   Four times Bum?  My condolences, and not just for your losses.   You're right. It just tears that grief box open over and over.  And I hope to God I'll never have to do that again.

now I will be the evil ungrateful daughter and sell most of it, because I have nowhere to put it.  Sigh.

  No, you're not the evil, ungrateful daughter.  Good friend of mine and I had a few chats about this after my mom died.  Our conclusion was that as much as we may love that person, we still have our own lives -- and our own tastes. And we're not obligated to hold on to stuff that we don't like, don't have room or use for.  Keep the stuff that means the most to you. I admit I kept a bit too much, but as time goes on, it gets  easier to be objective.
   
     A thought, maybe you and your brother could call the family in and ask them to take what they want.  Then call an auction house or a company that specializes in estate sales and have them do the sale right there.  Did that with my aunt's belongings -- house, car and furniture, all in one shot.  Unfortunately, you still have to dispose of the personal stuff....

 

[Sheryl]

Hi Sheryl,

I have a suggestion for you... and it is what I am going to do when I have to..  Hold a 'family' auction...  Just a suggestion.

Great idea - It would be a good way to gather up all the relatives for a get together - Hmmm, maybe I should ply them with alcohol before the bidding like they do at the charity fundraising auctions?

 

[Sheryl]

  Keep the stuff that means the most to you. I admit I kept a bit too much, but as time goes on, it gets  easier to be objective.
   
     Then call an auction house or a company that specializes in estate sales and have them do the sale right there.  Did that with my aunt's belongings -- house, car and furniture, all in one shot.  Unfortunately, you still have to dispose of the personal stuff....

Yeah, it's an emotional thing to me too -  holding on to things that have memories attached to them - the furniture and glassware  I used to love at my grandmothers house ...  that's the hard part.   But I've spent years trying not to have a cluttered life so I won't let it take me over...  I ....willl.....be.....strong.....

 

[LEX]

I traveled into Russia last summer for just under two months.  All my DW and I had with us was our respective suitcases, and I have become expert at packing only esssentials. We stayed in hotels when in the major urban areas, and otherwise lived way off the beaten track.   

When I returned to my home, after living on bare essentails as to "owned possesions" I was in a type of culture shock.  I had all this accumulated stuff in my home, and managed to have one of the best adventures I have had with only one drag behind suitcase and very little else with me for almost sixty days.  It puts the concept of what one needs that is  really essential to have a good life into perspective.

 

[vic]

Great idea - It would be a good way to gather up all the relatives for a get together - Hmmm, maybe I should ply them with alcohol before the bidding like they do at the charity fundraising auctions?

When my grandparents passed away, my father being the eldest son had to divide the inheritance between the *12* siblings. All siblings pulled a number out of the hat. The number would determine when it was their turn to pick something from the stuff. They took turns until everything was gone and only Goodwill material was left. It worked out very well. Most of the stuff was not really of monetary value but more of emotional value. That emotional value was also different for every sibling.

Vicky

 

[Sheryl]

When my grandparents passed away, my father being the eldest son had to divide the inheritance between the *12* siblings.
Vicky

Ack. Thank goodness it's just my brother and I who have acgtually inherited. But some aunts, cousins, friends, etc. who will want some keepsakes, I think.

 

[BUM]

Sheryl,

Regarding keepsakes- My mother's advice is to return meaningful gifts to the giver. For example, my sister bought grandma a ring. When gram died sis got the ring back and she treasures it today.

 

[TromboneAl]

Here's another "thanks" for mentioning Freecycle.org. I just got someone to offer to come pick up a big hunk of cement that I've been trying to get rid of for years. It's one of those car stop things that you find in parking lots.

 

[Sheryl]

Sheryl,

Regarding keepsakes-  My mother's advice is to return meaningful gifts to the giver. For example, my sister bought grandma a ring. When gram died sis got the ring back and she treasures it today.

That makes sense to me. Unfortunately they are mostly things that my grandmother collected. I have one greedy uncle who would take everything if we let him, and I'd rather get a few hundred bucks from a yard sale than see him haul it all off and sell it himself.

 

[Sheryl]

Here's another "thanks" for mentioning Freecycle.org. 

I love Freecycle! I got rid of a rusty old falling apart Webber grill this weekend. I thought I was going to have to pay to get the trash collectors to take it!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I looked at freecycle for a minute, can someone thats used it explain it? Is it all just folks that give everything away for free (or with an exchange of goods or services)...no donation type/charitable type stuff?

I certainly have a heap o' stuff that would be worth something to somebody, but not worth the trouble to ebay, and I'd hate to throw it out.

Seems to me like something like freecycle would just get raided from someone with a junk shop or a standing yard sale who would just grab everything and sell it. I'd like it a lot better if it was more in the line of giving something to someone who really needs it and cant afford it. One of the first posts I saw on the group in my local area had to do with people being out of control and wanting to ban certain users...

 

[TromboneAl]

Once I put an old grill by the street with a "FREE" sign.

This young couple comes along and stops. They take something out of the trunk to fit the grill in, and when they leave I see that they forgot to put whatever it was back in the trunk.

I go down to take a look, and it's some fancy industrial electrical saw, probably worth $500 or more. They came back for it at midnight -- woke us all up.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Hmm...I know someone who was moving and left their dresser in the driveway, only to have someone take it while they were in the house and leaving an old grill in its place...

Al, I have this funny feeling that if we should meet, that the universe as we know it would explode.

 

[Sheryl]

I looked at freecycle for a minute, can someone thats used it explain it?  Is it all just folks that give everything away for free (or with an exchange of goods or services)...no donation type/charitable type stuff?

That's the gist of it.  I don't know how they keep the junk store people away, or maybe they don't care.  The one for my area seems to be filled with earnest do-gooders.    Partly it's matching up someone who really wants something with someone who has it, and it's usually stuff that's not worth too much otherwise.   I have given away old ski boots, an old aluminum frame backpack, a 13 year old non-cable-ready tv, all the spare apples that my tree produced last summer, a pile of three-ring binders with product names all over them, old computer equipment, and the aforementioned grill. 

It makes me feel good not to fill up the landfill with this junk.   I just have to stop myself from claiming anything new!

 

[Nords]

I looked at freecycle for a minute, can someone thats used it explain it?  Is it all just folks that give everything away for free (or with an exchange of goods or services)...no donation type/charitable type stuff?

Yup. It's totally free. No money changes hands (no bartering either). You make an offer, the moderator screens & posts it, a half-dozen people want to come to your place to pick it up, and the first two never get back to you for some unexplained reason. The third person comes & gets it an hour after you tell them they're up.

I've gotten rid of construction materials, an old kitchen sink, a solid wood door, and tons of mango wood this way.

You can't tell who you're dealing with until they show up. I'm sure that some people are eBaying old magazines & records, or fixing up the broken-down cars to sell them for a few hundred, or even carting your stuff to Goodwill for a tax deduction. The key here is that you got rid of something and it cost you NOTHING except a few e-mails/phone calls. Sometimes the dump fees would cost $35 or more.

Now if you're getting rid of photovoltaic cells, I'll pay $2/watt plus shipping.

 

[TromboneAl]

I'm using it to get rid of stuff that I couldn't unload otherwise. This big heavy cement car stopper is something I thought I'd have to live with for the rest of my life until I found freecycle.

Next I'm going to use it for an old lava lamp.

Al, I have this funny feeling that if we should meet, that the universe as we know it would explode.

Or at least the people around us.

 

[KB]

Freecycle is a yahoo group, at least the Sacramento area one is.

You post an item you want to give away and put the item and your zip code in the title of the email (no selling or trying to trade - use Craig's list for that) and as Nords said, once the Moderator aproves the post and releases it to you will get emails from people who want your item. You can either have them call you and then give your address, or do it through email. Either way, you give an address. I've probably had 10 transactions successfully.

Some times people flake on you, so you need to keep all the emails from people who want your item. Some will give you their phone number which really works well. I've found that emailing back and forth can delay the transaction. When you have given away your item, you post again telling the others it is gone. I had about 50 responses for a treadmill recently.

It's a great way to get rid of your stuff.

 

[BUM]

Freecycle can be somewhat anonymous too, if you want. After scheduling pickup you can tell the person that the goods will be at the curb, on the porch, etc.

 

[BUM]

WOO HOO I'm Freecycling my home- office desk of 12 years tomorrow. Good riddance! So long HON. Hello LaZyBoy!