Decluttering...

[Rip76 4924]

So more than a year ago I moved from the Friendswood area to the Woodlands to be closer to my son.  

While I knew this already, the move got me thinking about decluttering and getting down to the basic things I really need.  Maybe not just what I really need, but to get rid of a few things that I absolutely don't need, and bring in a little cash and get rid of this sort of overwhelming feeling I have.

*I'm not getting rid of my vinyl collection*

I just wanted to bounce a few things off you guys and get your thoughts on it, because this is tough for me.  

This is the list.

Some of you from the Hornfans days know that I have an old '72 Vette that even on there, I talked about selling.  Well I still haven't, and oddly this seems like the easiest item to part with, or to start with.  Just before I moved, a really good friend of mine (good mechanic) installed new fuel lines, brakes, gas tank and other stuff to get it running again.  I had it in my garage for some time, and I would start it up every couple of months but didn't really drive it very much.  But I would like to have some garage space back again and get rid of it.

A pre-serial 1982 Hutch "Pro Racer" BMX that I bought off Ebay in about 2001.  When I was a kid I had a black '83 Hutch that my mom saved up to get for me.  (I was real big into racing at the time)  It was stolen 6 months later and I always said I'd have another one.  This would be really hard to part with, but I'm not doing anything with it.

I've got about 40 or so late '70s to mid 80's concert shirts that were given to me by my sister and some I found at thrift stores before they were all the rage again.  (Fleetwood Mac, Rush, ZZ Top, Tom Petty, etc.)  Packed in plastic containers.

A bunch of really clean band belt buckles from the 70's.  (which sell pretty well on Ebay, as do the shirts)

I have a 1/2 stack set up - 1985 Marshall Mark II Lead (50 Watt head) and 4x12 Marshall 1960 Tweed Cabinet.  Which I freaking love but I'll never play gigs with it again.  I have a small combo amp that does just fine.

All the way down to birthday cards (30th and 40th birthday) from my ex wife and her parents that I keep just because of the memories I guess.

 

The thing is,  I feel like I'm keeping these things because they are conversation pieces (not the birthday cards) and they are just part of me, and sort of made me who I am.  I just really don't know what to do.

Sorry for the rant.

[Gil Bang 25907]

As I get older, I've become more and more of a minimalist.  I do a shit-ton of work on the house, so I can't get rid of tools or supplies (yes, honey, I need that bucket of PVC fittings), but I love getting rid of other bullshit. 

I sell houses, and I recently sold a home where the resident (and old woman) was too old to live alone, so she was moving in with a daughter.  Her husband had passed a few years back.  A whole houseful of "treasures", and nobody would pay 50 cents for most of the junk at the estate sale, and the charities wouldn't take all of it.  Hello, landfill!

I remember reading about when Gates, then the Aggy provost or whatever, got the call from W to come be SecDef.  He loaded all of his worldly possessions in his mustang convertible, and made the drive to collie station to D.C..   I liked that about him.  

[MonkeyDoughnut 10226]

At this point everything on the list is just a future burden you are putting on your son. Get rid of it while you are able to so he doesn't have to.

[tomahawk dunk 321]

https://www.thespruce.com/swedish-death-cleaning-4801461

 

I have used a professional organizer 4-5 different times and found it to be of benefit to me. 

[Bevo 13558]

16 hours ago, Rip76 said:

So more than a year ago I moved from the Friendswood area to the Woodlands to be closer to my son.  

While I knew this already, the move got me thinking about decluttering and getting down to the basic things I really need.  Maybe not just what I really need, but to get rid of a few things that I absolutely don't need, and bring in a little cash and get rid of this sort of overwhelming feeling I have.

*I'm not getting rid of my vinyl collection*

I just wanted to bounce a few things off you guys and get your thoughts on it, because this is tough for me.  

This is the list.

Some of you from the Hornfans days know that I have an old '72 Vette that even on there, I talked about selling.  Well I still haven't, and oddly this seems like the easiest item to part with, or to start with.  Just before I moved, a really good friend of mine (good mechanic) installed new fuel lines, brakes, gas tank and other stuff to get it running again.  I had it in my garage for some time, and I would start it up every couple of months but didn't really drive it very much.  But I would like to have some garage space back again and get rid of it.

A pre-serial 1982 Hutch "Pro Racer" BMX that I bought off Ebay in about 2001.  When I was a kid I had a black '83 Hutch that my mom saved up to get for me.  (I was real big into racing at the time)  It was stolen 6 months later and I always said I'd have another one.  This would be really hard to part with, but I'm not doing anything with it.

I've got about 40 or so late '70s to mid 80's concert shirts that were given to me by my sister and some I found at thrift stores before they were all the rage again.  (Fleetwood Mac, Rush, ZZ Top, Tom Petty, etc.)  Packed in plastic containers.

A bunch of really clean band belt buckles from the 70's.  (which sell pretty well on Ebay, as do the shirts)

I have a 1/2 stack set up - 1985 Marshall Mark II Lead (50 Watt head) and 4x12 Marshall 1960 Tweed Cabinet.  Which I freaking love but I'll never play gigs with it again.  I have a small combo amp that does just fine.

All the way down to birthday cards (30th and 40th birthday) from my ex wife and her parents that I keep just because of the memories I guess.

 

The thing is,  I feel like I'm keeping these things because they are conversation pieces (not the birthday cards) and they are just part of me, and sort of made me who I am.  I just really don't know what to do.

Sorry for the rant.

 

 

Is it wrong for middle aged guys to wear sorority and fraternity t-shirts from the late 80s? Asking for a friend.

[tomahawk dunk 321]

34 minutes ago, Bevo said:

 

 

Is it wrong for middle aged guys to wear sorority and fraternity t-shirts from the late 80s? Asking for a friend.

 

[YGIFS 19449]

I'd keep the Corvette, the Marshalls, and the concert t-shirts.  Everything else should be sold or donated (or trashed).  

My wife and daughters have every fucking square inch of our storage space/cabinets filled with shit.  The only two rooms in the house not packed to the gills with their crap are the master bedroom and my home office.  I have a 3-car garage with an backside apron.  I built great shelving over the years for everything, all my gear, a workbench, bike rack for all the family bikes, and 2 SUV's comfortably inside.  My wife saves stuff for her little sister for when starts a family, and then we store shit for her other sister to come pick up for her office at her convenience.  I'm just a freight terminal at this point just sending and receiving crap until finally I can barely  fit my most basic tools, everything is just inches away from collapsing down onto the hoods of the vehicles.  We can really only comfortably park 1 vehicle between the 3 bays.  Point of the story is trim down while you still can.  When you have these moments of doubt, start decluttering, your brain is trying to tell you its kinda overwhelmed.  

The way most people get an adrenaline rush from shopping, I literally get the same dopamine hit from donating stuff or putting it out at the curb.  I quietly go around once a month and fill up two large boxes with their shit.  One is clothes they've outgrown that we don't need to save for 7 years when the next baby comes in their family.  Some poor kid needs it today.  And the other box just infant toys, old art supplies, books no longer age appropriate for the little one, etc.  And then my favorite is bulk pickup day once a quarter in my neighborhood.  I drag all kinda broken shit my wife and oldest want to save "to fix up later."  Yeah, the $19.95 "Learn your Numbers" pretend laptop from 8 years ago that speaks like a demon is really worth clinging to, along with training bikes, broken lawn implements, etc.  Invariably, that Sunday...Hispanic dudes with trailers will cruise our 'hood, often with their kids.  And I'll go out there and chat with him about what's broken and what needs what and help him load it up.  Like Christmas Day for me./rant

[freyguy 4258]

The secret is to quietly throw a little bit of it away once it gets past 6 months of being "put away".  They will never know it's gone.