Twenty years worth of photos are currently in piles all over my living room, I’m having a hard time remembering what year some of them were taken. As I get a year sorted out I weed through them pretty ruthlessly and then my husband is scanning them. I’m tossing the culled ones so I’ll probably keep the thinned out box, but with some type of dividers keeping years separated. Right now I have one large gift bag full ready to toss.
Oh, and I hauled a large contractor sized paper bag of weeds, leaves and branches from the backyard!
My husband and I just cleaned out our coat closet. He just went off with a big bag of jackets to donate to a collection bin.
Waffle blocks - my kids (and Sunday School students) loved those! Not sure if they are made anymore… I had a hard time shopping for them for our younger nieces and nephews.
DH started digitizing photos last year, but he didn’t edit any of them and quit. The photos are now back in the boxes we put them in when we moved 2 years ago.
I retired 2 years ago. My post-retirement job has been decluttering and organizing what’s left. The hardest thing I’ve tackled was the photos. It took a solid 3 weeks to go through an estimated 25,000 pictures. I’m pretty sure that’s accurate, because I was left with 8 shoebox-sized boxes that hold 1,000 each, and I threw away many more than I kept. Who thought the free extra print was a good idea? Most of our originals weren’t worth duplicating, and there were so many poorly lit photos where everyone’s eyes were closed.
So, @dragonmom, @shellfell, and @VeryHappy - I feel your pain. I can say it’s a great feeling to be done with it. My husband says he’ll digitize the remaining 8K pictures, and I say I’ll believe it when I see it. Eight photo boxes take up a lot less space than 25K randomly stored pictures, at least.
We always got the duplicate prints of our kids to send photos to the grandparents. Of course, I got back the duplicates we sent to my mother when we moved her from her apt to a nursing home. I’m pretty sure we got rid of those when we were downsizing.
I’ve got tons of photos in boxes. And they are incredibly hard to discard. I’ve tried several times but get lost in memories instead.
My grandfather was a professional photographer also and I have another seeming million of those (not going anywhere). Too much history.
And my dad took slides (he also has a great eye) and I converted those to print and albums for him.
Fortunately I have a safe spot for personal pix that is theirs alone. Thank goodness I had the habit of sorting and discarding as I went over the past 30 years. Only the best were kept (but I have a lot of keepers that maybe should go! I can pretty much find what I want though so I’m satisfied.)
The best thing my DH ever did (one of many bests) was digitize all our photos and then all my Mom’s photos. He did both sides of Mom’s which, for Grandma had actual names and dates! But it is now up to me to name the photos from img996 and img 997 to be together and whoever. I can’t find much but at least they are captured.
And I am celebrating today. Got rid of (Freecycled) the kids crayon bin plastic drawer things (yes my kids are 30 28 now). Got rid of son’s dorm microwave. Am trying to get rid of futon that DD was NEVER supposed to let come back! Oh and I ALSO sent the crayons (still in the drawer after all these years) to my niece’s small children.
I am almost happier over the crayons than the microwave…
Wish I could get rid of 25 coats…
With actual photo prints it’s easy to sort. Lay them out on the floor in a sort of grid (Do NOT just try to flip through them sitting at your dining table). So if they’re in chronological order of any sort (IMO the easiest) you might end up with “kid 6 th birthday” or “graduation” ," big life event" , “vacation” on your floor. Take up the space you need for that event. STAND up for a bird’s eye view and survey them so you see the group as a whole… This way you see immediately that you’ve got duplicates or perhaps 10 of the same people in the same pose (plus all the duplicates) but only maybe one is really good. Gather the discards and keep whittling.
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My children’s toys are SOOO hard to cull. Once upon a time, long long ago, my mom asked if I wanted to keep my barbie dolls (original vintage, all in their original boxes, all in pristine condition). They had been loved, but also lovingly cared for. I was in graduate school. Why would I want those? Of course, I said she could pass them on to the neighbor’s child. 20 years later, with a young daughter of my own, I desperately wished I still had them to share with my daughter – not to mention they were worth a fortune at the time. Yes they probably got another 10 years of love.
I have the same problem now with other treasures like our 1920’s dining table that has been through 3 generations. It is not my children’s “style”, and they live too far away. It wasn’t my style either when I was in my 20’s, but since we couldn’t afford anything else, we kept it. Now it means the world to me, knowing the family has enjoyed it for generations.
I’m assuming there are items my children would not value now, as much as they might in another 10 years if/when their own families grow.
We really don’t hoard. Our home is relatively sparse, and fortunately (or unfortunately), we have a basement to store some items. But boy does that make it tough to fill a bag a week.
I have 2 cases of barbie dolls and clothes that my mother kept. None of the grandchildren (3 boys, a girl and a “tomboy”) played with them. BUT my seamstress grandmother made most of the clothes… so it is hard to give away (at least while we still have space for it). After my grandmother finished sewing those sweet barbie doll clothes, she said she’d never do that again - she said it is much easier to sew full sized clothes.
Toys are very difficult. Much easier this round, though, since both now have houses. You just can never be sure what they hold dear–a month ago S1 asked if I had his GloWorm in storage. Tonight S2 looked through his large Beanie Baby collection and wanted me to root out specific ones.
Spent last week going through everything left in storage from our fast, winter move two years ago. The auction man is coming next week 
Toys are really hard because of all the memories and sometimes mom has more memories than the offspring! And what’s the next collectible (if that’s of interest to you)?
I kept all the Pokemon cards my kids collected. That turned into a pretty good treasure trove. Many were sold. The main thing was they didn’t take any space. They’ve been culled so now the rest can go.
I saved some particular stuffed animals. I had a big bag and empty it out periodically to cull the collection we had. No “treasures” but too many memories. I’ve probably a quarter of the bag left. It’ll be empty shortly.
I’ve got way too many Lego sets. But I stuck them in a bin and all is good. Way too classic and not that much room.
Barbie–I have a vintage one (60’s) that my mom saved FOREVER (she was good at throwing stuff out too). I honestly thought it was long gone but one Christmas I got it back (plus another vintage toy) as presents! I LOVED it! Again, none of them were space consuming. They were really the “new toy” at the time and I know my mom must’ve been excited to give it to me.
Too bad the “Chatty Cathy” went by the wayside.
But this thread is for tossing stuff and not keeping it…
I now have one row of plastic containers on a wall of garage. Of course, piled 2-3 deep.
Among the 2 childhood boxes include one with unopened Star War figures, some trolls, and 2 wooden toys. It’s just half full. The other had clothes. I kept the red corduroy jacket my sister sewed, with adorable lining and buttons. Also kept my mom’s knitted sweaters. Again, box half full. Not boxed is a high chair and my chalk board. Report cards and projects need to be trimmed more before adding them to boxes.
During the week, I realized I have 7 years of patient files, alphabetically organized. I went thru every one, noting closing date, and reorganized by year. Being just a tad compulsive, any one who has returned at least once was put in separate file.
My mom’s silverware was the nicest pattern I’ve ever seen. My sister gave that to my cousin, who hosted family meals (until this year). Cousin and her daughter clean them before each formal meal.
Last week I put out one couch from my living room, as I now have the leather couches from my office there. Last night, I dragged the second one outside. I hope someone takes it, but if not, it will picked up by the garbage truck. I’m past the point of feeling sentimental that a Bloomingdales’ couch is trash.
Sorry for long post. This project got serious in August, with the addition of office files and furniture. Next is some paperwork, then books, and lastly, pictures and home videos.
I cleaned out several folders of paperwork last night. Why did I save 5 copies of my daughter’s ACT score or HS transcript - I think one is enough?
@kiddie – probably one too many…
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She is 26. I believe I still have a copy of my HS transcript and SAT score. So, I am happy to keep one copy of hers around also.
I now found the folder with every single report card my daughter got in HS and threw them all away. Still kept the one transcript though.
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@Hoggirl we got more money for mom’s sterling silver 12 settings from the coin dealer than we were offered for the melt value. 60% more.