My parents kept all of their old computers and equipment - except for one, that now I wish they had kept. Their Apple 2+ from the early 80s. My mom donated it to her old high school. She (math/computer science teacher) made a little computer museum. The school has since been demolished. I wonder where it went. I always tell my kids about it. Not only didn’t the keyboard not have the function keys, it didn’t have arrows.
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Will I be a bad parent if I get rid of two 5 foot plus tae kwon do trophies? I asked kids and they don’t care. Youngest is 29 and owns his own home, and the other doesn’t talk to me. They got these a decade and a half or more ago.
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Toss them! My kids each got one or two rubbermaid totes of “save forever” things when they graduated from hs and we moved (plus whatever they took to college with them) and even those totes have been picked through and they don’t want most of the stuff. They have their baby books, some things like a Dorothy dress and the Brownie and Junior GS vests with badges, some other things but really, they don’t want them because they don’t have room for them. Well, my minimalist kid has a whole basement to store things but she doesn’t want them.
I gave them important papers like birth certificates in a fire proof box 2 years ago. I’m sure those are on a shelf and won’t be opened until some emergency happens.
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They can go! I recently tossed my husband’s trophies dating back to little league. Looked for places to recycle them but didn’t find anything. Maybe Tae Kwon Do studios in your area could reuse them?
H didn’t want to let go of his trophies. They were collecting dust in a closet. I took pictures of each and shared them in a digital photo album. He got over it.
We do have a bunch of trophies, ribbons and plaques in both launched kids rooms (that haven’t been repurposed … yet). Will ask them what they want and what can go.
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Toss the trophies! 
take some photos and dispose of the actual things.
We got rid of most trophies except a couple of very small but memorable ones. One is an art award that was quite a BFD and the other is a handmade one by a Native American carver.
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I have adopted this rule for clothing. A new piece in, an old one out (doesn’t apply to most dressy clothes). I’m trying to apply it to many items.
I’ve been quite successful.
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I tossed my daughter’s trophies and medals, my husband’s 1960s little league trophies, and my math trophy from HS. Don’t mis them at all.
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DH is keeping his “World’s Best Dad” trophy. DS and I never earned any. 
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I keep hoping some creative scout will have a project repurposing sports trophies.
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I’m very happy my kids never ‘won’ (everyone gets one) life size trophies for ‘Mutton Busting’ at the Nat’l Western Stock Show. They are only the size of a 5 year old, but still, who wants a 4’ tall trophy for hanging on for dear life on the back of a sheep? One got a small trophy for Stick Horse racing, the other got a ribbon; there were many tears shed that night.
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Interesting…
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A friend was just bragging at how her son furnished his entire apartment with used furniture from facebook marketplaces, on line sales, etc. However, he bought high end recent stuff (like West Elm, Pottery Barn etc.), not old grandma stuff.
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We have shopped estate sales most of our married life (I mean sometimes we also buy new) and our kids now don’t hesitate to buy certain pieces second hand. Second hand might be 3 years old or 30 or 100!
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On the Bragging thread, I bragged about helping a friend move. She’s packing everything to put into storage with the plan of living in Mexico for 12-18 months, then moving from Colorado to Michigan.
OMG she has stuff, stuff and more stuff.
I’m here to encourage everyone to keep going with the Bag a Week club. NO ONE needs that much stuff. Craft stuff, photography stuff, gardening stuff, camping stuff. Stuff, stuff, stuff. She kept saying “I’m going to sell this on ebay.” Well, DO IT.
Please keep sorting and tossing. Stop buying! Think of the children. YOUR children. They don’t need or want 10 frying pans. She kept saying “M wants this or E wants that.” Then tell them to come get it (and move it to their houses).
(Not to mention the cost of packing and storing all this stuff.)
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Good reminders.
I once helped a couple pack up for move to a temporary rental, while they shopped to find a ranch in town. Was glad to see that they parted with a lot of things, though they kept a lot too. My extra favor was borrowing a family bowl / wax fruit set they liked (it was going to be hard to pack and store). Kept it on display at my house until they moved to their next place a year later.
Whoops, wrong thread
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I thinned out my cookware drawer today making sure to keep only induction cookware. While all pots and pans turned out to be induction friendly, I found a few random lids from pots I no longer have. Off in the trash they went.
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I’m back on Buy Nothing. So far this week I have offered to gift a bunch of extra office supplies, an iron and a stockpot ( I have 2 each of the latter). I’ll probably put more stuff up for gifting.
I have been putting books I don’t need in local little free libraries ( my community has tons of them). Walked around to some nearby ones and dropped 2 or 3 books in each. I put the rest of the books in bags in my car so if I see another LFL I can make a stop and drop off.
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I love this idea! I see so many little free libraries that could use a restock.
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I find great joy restocking local little free libraries. First I think through whether the book would be enjoyed by one of my friends, and if not I usually donate somewhere to avoid growing book clutter.
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