[willrun4chocolate]

<p>Albums from the 80's, one even from the 70's...I have no turntable, I can probably i-tunes them all.  What do you do with them?  I  am still thinking about culling some of them and keeping some.  Heck if I've kept Shaun Cassidy for that long, what's a few more years?</p>
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<p>Junior High and High School year books from a time in your life that you hated and pretty much just existed through.  I think it would actually feel good to chuck them.</p>
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<p>I really want to be "unpacked" I don't want lots of boxes of things as I have 40 boxes of teaching resources that must stay in boxes, and I have 943 square feet to put stuff so I intend to unpack, but really where does one display 100 record albums from the 80's?</p>
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<p>ACKKKKKKK.  I invited people over to watch Grey Cup Sunday with the intention of being sort of unpacked, and it just is causing me to make more decisions.</p>
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<p>It's so much easier to just through it all back in a box and through it in the closet.</p>
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[radial]

<p>A pipe in my house blew out a few months ago causing the whole basement to fill up with a foot of water before anyone noticed.  I had a whole lifetime of stuff down there, most of it below the one foot level.  Most everything was ruined.  Part of me mourns the loss of my artifacts.  But another part rejoices.  We get too bound up with material things.  It takes a disaster sometimes to get back in balance. </p>

 

[willrun4chocolate]

<p>In the end, it's stuff, I'll take the important people in my life and the memories in my mind over the stuff anyday.</p>

 

[wherestheportojohn]

Dawn,<br><br>
Get out three boxes~~~~~><br><br>
Keep<br>
Donate<br>
Toss<br><br>
Fill the boxes. No take-backs <img alt="biggrin.gif" class="bbcode_smiley" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif"><br><br><br>
My husband is a packrat. I'm a get-rid-of-it . We discuss, we do the boxes thing...it helps!<br><br>
Btw:<br>
Husband's aunt is a full blown hoarder (not quite tv show caliber, but close) whose illness is topic of discussion all the time. Scary sad.<br>

 

[airehead]

<p>Recommendations from a serial mover, or: mistakes repeated over and over during 15 moves in the last 20 years.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Get rubbermaid bins.  Label them--if possible, by year.  Recently I learned to label boxes of files by duty station.  Put your crap in them.  Will protect from a lot of environmental stuff.  I don't buy the clear ones because I don't like looking at the crap inside.</p>
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<p>Records you could actually sell.  Some people are really into that.</p>
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<p>Keep things which bring you joy or define who you are.</p>
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<p>If an item isn't being used and isn't cherished, give it away or sell it so it can be used.  I just made $200 in amazon cash selling textbooks and some electronic stuff that was just sitting around.</p>
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<p>Shred, shred, shred.  </p>
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<p>On a personal note, since I have been culling possessions lately I went through high school and junior high stuff lately.  Those were very painful, horrible times for me.  I threw away a lot of crap that just made me cringe.  I threw away stuff from old "boyfriends".  I am not a sentimental person nor am I becoming more sentimental.  I like to be free of pointless belongings holding me down.  The only reason I keep pictures with names is I'm terrified of alzheimer's.  </p>
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<p>If you have old tees that can't be worn, make them into rags.  Old blankets, sweaters, and towels will be accepted at local rescues and shelters.</p>
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<p>Shoes and purses can be re-dyed and kept or given away.  (I just re-dyed an old, much loved fabric and leather coach bag and gave it new life.)</p>
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<p>And, most of all, be patient with yourself.  Moving isn't just a physical chore which exhausts, it is also very emotional and mental.  If you want to hold onto something even though there is no rational reason to do so, do it.  Sometimes keeping things makes us feel more grounded when moving.</p>
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<p>Oh, and ditto to everything Wherestheportojohn said.  I am terrified of being a hoarder.</p>

 

[Tech Tee]

On the other side...I have artifacts and keepsakes from great-great-grandparents, all the way to my parents. And I have lots of other stuff that is important to me that I save.<br><br>
My kids LOVE to look through the old stuff. One of them has lots of them displayed on shelves in her room.<br><br>
Sure, throw our your grandparent's taxes from 1962. But, keep your great-grandfather's cornet from when he was in "The Coal Miners Band" of Nesquehoning, PA.<br><br>
You just have to know what to throw out, and what to keep.<br><br>
ETA: I'm constantly hearing from DW and other members of her family, "Gee, that is so cool, I wish we had stuff like this." Well, guess why you don't. Because you throw everything away, that's why.

 

[sierra]

<p>After recently doing a cross country move, and maybe heading towards another one, I have decided I hate it. </p>
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<p>Airhead, some great suggestions and many of your ideas I already use. I have stacks of rubbermaid bins filled with stuff.  I was looking for some new picture frames the other day and had to go through them to find the frames. Of course, they were in the one at the bottom of a stack! </p>
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<p>I also have a ton of stuff that is old family stuff that I cherish and will never give up. Problem is... much of it is large! (paintings done by my great grandmother etc) I could about fill a trailer  with old family stuff.  Since I only have one child.. he is gonna get it all. I can only hope he has room for it all!  For me, often times the memories are so intertwined with some of the stuff I have a hard time keeping them separate. Which makes it that much harder to toss stuff. </p>
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<p>Radial, I had the same thing happen about 30 years ago. Lost lots of stuff in that flood. Most of it I dont miss... .but there were a few things that I still miss having. </p>
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<p>WTPJ,  I have used that system, it worked well. But I always overfill the keep boxes and underfill lthe toss boxes! LOL</p>
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<p>Good luck willrun! </p>

 

[willrun4chocolate]

<p>Thanks guys.  I did a lot of junking/selling before the actual move happened.  I do have all of my teaching resources in beautifully organized clear totes (so I can easily see if it has what I need) that are labelled.</p>
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<p>It's the stuff that sort of has meaning that I am struggling with.  I am definitely at the end of it though, there are probably only about 4 more boxes that I have to sort through and really decide if it has meaning/value to me.  The good news is that it is all in the spare room now so I can always close the door for a bit and take a breather.  Not long enough though that I could submit a tape to Hoarders though.<span id="user_yui_3_4_1_21_1322365085219_10"><img alt="biggrin.gif" id="user_yui_3_4_1_7_1322365085219_156" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="width:16px;height:16px;"></span></p>
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