Ken, your local Habitat ReStore can take many of the items that don’t sell, and eventually your stuff too. The funds they generate go to affordable home building. A win-win. And be brutal about getting your old stuff out of your house. If you don’t, you’ll place that burden on others. ✌️
I did the big "downsize move" last summer from my much larger house and am just closing down my consulting office as I can work just as easily from home and save a nice chunk of money annually. I will say it's never easy, especially when you start finding old family photos, or other items that have nostalgic connections to a time or place in life with wonderful memories attached. Last year at the old house I did a garage sale and got rid of a lot of stuff. This year I did a few larger, direct private sales. Yet, I did have to rent a small storage space (which I promised myself is one year only) because I have too much to put in the new, much smaller house. It feels good but one of the things that really hits home is that we spend far too much money on physical possessions, many rarely used and probably were a total waste of money. There are so many reasons why we consume so much unnecessary "stuff" but that's the way we are wired in this country with a spectacular consumer based capitalistic society. Fun reading this article because I'm living through it right now!
I cherish seconds, the feeling of accomplishment with a few dollars that made my house a home. When friends make a comment they love certain pieces and I say #yard sale ! I hope the person before me looks down and smiles because they loved it as much as I do now. Its not lost, it just found a new home✍🏻❤ Find peace and know others find joy in simple #treasures like a yard sale.✌
Thinking of stuff as finding a new home helps, I know. I go to garage sales always looking for good, old kitchen things. Pots, small appliances, gadgets…and I think of all the family meals they were a part of, and how I’m allowing them to continue fulfilling their destiny. So when I sell or donate something still useful but no longer needed, I like to think of it as going to a new home, not just being dumped. What I have a hard time with is the sentimental stuff. When we cleaned out my parent’s house I sat helplessly sorting through ratty old towels and blankets, remembering them from when they were new in my childhood, unable to decide what to do with them…It took my practical daughter to get me to see reason. She said, “If you were going to the thrift shop to look for towels, would you buy these?”
“No.”
“Well then, no one else wants them either. They have outlived their usefulness except as rags, and no one’s buying rags.”
Every family needs at least that one person to be the bulwark against folly, otherwise you drown in a sea of possessions.
My horrors with Stefanik continue but I was intrigued with your garage sale comments. I'm curious if you really managed to dispose of almost everything....or....what happened to the leftovers? WE have a gigantic supply of goods that I'm afraid would take several garage sales to remove. I'm wondering if it comes down to just putting it all out there...FREE....over time. Would that work? It seems so sad but you are so right....we all have toooo much STUFF.
Comedian George Carlin told it best ....about all the stuff in our lives:
“ A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you’re taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody’s got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn’t want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you’re saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That’s what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get…more stuff!”
When my mother died I had to clean out the house. Because of sentimentality or whatever reason I stored the stuff at $70 a month for 2 and a half years. $2000. I happened to hear Suze Orman advising someone to not do what I was doing. So, I did have a yard sale. What didn’t sell went to the dump. That was back in the good old days of 2003 when you could go to the dump and just dump stuff. I’ve kept the wallets of both my parents.
I’m fairly minimalist. Mostly books and music. Vinyl and CDs, no 8 tracks or cassettes. Already dumped the cassettes. I try not to own too much that can’t be easily disposed and to leave instructions to help with its disposition. Still could downsize some more.
As for the tourist from Albany: The silver lining is that she’s helping to ensure that she’s in the minority come 2025. There are 18 of her colleagues in Biden districts. They’re all going to have to make a decision to support the nonsense impeachment of Biden and equally, at least, nonsensical idea of “expunging” 😂 Defendant Trump’s impeachments. If they don’t go along he trashes them on Bleat Social and calls for primary opponents. If they do go along, they look like nuts and are tied to him as more and more evidence of his corruption comes out. Real evidence and corruption, not whatever it is President Biden is supposedly guilty of because of his sketchy kid.
I saw this at Punchbowl via Charlie Sykes as soon as I left here. For the record, he really wants the expungement, too. Good luck to those 6 NY Republicans in Biden districts. If I was one of them, maybe not Santos, I wouldn’t want to be caught in picture with Elise or Trump.
Trump — fresh off a revised federal criminal indictment with more charges possible in Washington and Georgia — said this during his Saturday night rally in Erie, Pa.:
“Any Republican that doesn’t act on Democrat fraud should be immediately primaried and get out…
“If they’re not willing to do it, we’ve got a lot of good, tough Republicans around. People are going to run against ‘em, and people are going to win. And they’re going to get my endorsement every single time. They’re going to win cuz we win almost every race when we endorse.”
Your musings about our "stuff" and how they represent our cherished memories and perhaps, our special comforts, are spot on. Thanks for reminding us that these things are temporary in the grand scheme of things, and that life and time, marches on.
Re Stefanik: There’s a tiny crack in the facade, an opening for a later backtrack; she now supports ‘an investigation.” Let’s see where the wind blows, shall we Elise?
Ken, your local Habitat ReStore can take many of the items that don’t sell, and eventually your stuff too. The funds they generate go to affordable home building. A win-win. And be brutal about getting your old stuff out of your house. If you don’t, you’ll place that burden on others. ✌️
Where is there a local outlet ?
https://glensfallshabitat.org/restore/
Thanks for the tip.
Than you Ken
One of your top “front page” reflections.
Art Gottlieb.
I now live in the Villages, Florida.
Sent your thoughts to my entire neighborhood.
Thanks Art.
“Garage sale” so resonates with me. Brilliant observation. Thank you.
I did the big "downsize move" last summer from my much larger house and am just closing down my consulting office as I can work just as easily from home and save a nice chunk of money annually. I will say it's never easy, especially when you start finding old family photos, or other items that have nostalgic connections to a time or place in life with wonderful memories attached. Last year at the old house I did a garage sale and got rid of a lot of stuff. This year I did a few larger, direct private sales. Yet, I did have to rent a small storage space (which I promised myself is one year only) because I have too much to put in the new, much smaller house. It feels good but one of the things that really hits home is that we spend far too much money on physical possessions, many rarely used and probably were a total waste of money. There are so many reasons why we consume so much unnecessary "stuff" but that's the way we are wired in this country with a spectacular consumer based capitalistic society. Fun reading this article because I'm living through it right now!
Also well said.
I cherish seconds, the feeling of accomplishment with a few dollars that made my house a home. When friends make a comment they love certain pieces and I say #yard sale ! I hope the person before me looks down and smiles because they loved it as much as I do now. Its not lost, it just found a new home✍🏻❤ Find peace and know others find joy in simple #treasures like a yard sale.✌
Thinking of stuff as finding a new home helps, I know. I go to garage sales always looking for good, old kitchen things. Pots, small appliances, gadgets…and I think of all the family meals they were a part of, and how I’m allowing them to continue fulfilling their destiny. So when I sell or donate something still useful but no longer needed, I like to think of it as going to a new home, not just being dumped. What I have a hard time with is the sentimental stuff. When we cleaned out my parent’s house I sat helplessly sorting through ratty old towels and blankets, remembering them from when they were new in my childhood, unable to decide what to do with them…It took my practical daughter to get me to see reason. She said, “If you were going to the thrift shop to look for towels, would you buy these?”
“No.”
“Well then, no one else wants them either. They have outlived their usefulness except as rags, and no one’s buying rags.”
Every family needs at least that one person to be the bulwark against folly, otherwise you drown in a sea of possessions.
Well said.
Lovely thoughts.
Ken, your writing is outstanding!! Your thoughtfulness and attention to detail !!!
Thanks Barb.
I empathize with you doing this sad but necessary thing.
That is so like Stefanik, blindly supporting the MAGA line.
My horrors with Stefanik continue but I was intrigued with your garage sale comments. I'm curious if you really managed to dispose of almost everything....or....what happened to the leftovers? WE have a gigantic supply of goods that I'm afraid would take several garage sales to remove. I'm wondering if it comes down to just putting it all out there...FREE....over time. Would that work? It seems so sad but you are so right....we all have toooo much STUFF.
I agree completely.
We actually had 4 garage sales over the past month. Maybe one more to come.
Comedian George Carlin told it best ....about all the stuff in our lives:
“ A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you’re taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody’s got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn’t want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you’re saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That’s what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get…more stuff!”
When my mother died I had to clean out the house. Because of sentimentality or whatever reason I stored the stuff at $70 a month for 2 and a half years. $2000. I happened to hear Suze Orman advising someone to not do what I was doing. So, I did have a yard sale. What didn’t sell went to the dump. That was back in the good old days of 2003 when you could go to the dump and just dump stuff. I’ve kept the wallets of both my parents.
I’m fairly minimalist. Mostly books and music. Vinyl and CDs, no 8 tracks or cassettes. Already dumped the cassettes. I try not to own too much that can’t be easily disposed and to leave instructions to help with its disposition. Still could downsize some more.
As for the tourist from Albany: The silver lining is that she’s helping to ensure that she’s in the minority come 2025. There are 18 of her colleagues in Biden districts. They’re all going to have to make a decision to support the nonsense impeachment of Biden and equally, at least, nonsensical idea of “expunging” 😂 Defendant Trump’s impeachments. If they don’t go along he trashes them on Bleat Social and calls for primary opponents. If they do go along, they look like nuts and are tied to him as more and more evidence of his corruption comes out. Real evidence and corruption, not whatever it is President Biden is supposedly guilty of because of his sketchy kid.
I saw this at Punchbowl via Charlie Sykes as soon as I left here. For the record, he really wants the expungement, too. Good luck to those 6 NY Republicans in Biden districts. If I was one of them, maybe not Santos, I wouldn’t want to be caught in picture with Elise or Trump.
Trump — fresh off a revised federal criminal indictment with more charges possible in Washington and Georgia — said this during his Saturday night rally in Erie, Pa.:
“Any Republican that doesn’t act on Democrat fraud should be immediately primaried and get out…
“If they’re not willing to do it, we’ve got a lot of good, tough Republicans around. People are going to run against ‘em, and people are going to win. And they’re going to get my endorsement every single time. They’re going to win cuz we win almost every race when we endorse.”
I too have had to go through someone’s belongings after they passed. It’s difficult but must be done as it will be done with my “stuff” eventually.
Dear Mr. Tingley,
Your musings about our "stuff" and how they represent our cherished memories and perhaps, our special comforts, are spot on. Thanks for reminding us that these things are temporary in the grand scheme of things, and that life and time, marches on.
And a testament to the fact that we all have too much "stuff" are the storage units popping up all over. Can't build them fast enough.
Exactly! If you need a storage unit, you have too much stuff.
Just take a picture of everything with your smartphone. Then you’ll still have the memories. Then toss the stuff in the trash.
As always Ken, you have captured the essence of this so well. Thank you.
Re Stefanik: There’s a tiny crack in the facade, an opening for a later backtrack; she now supports ‘an investigation.” Let’s see where the wind blows, shall we Elise?