Your stuff!

If something happened to you...what would happen to your stuff?  For some strange  reason...I was thinking about this last night.  I told DH that I wanted to go through every drawer, cupboard and closet and get rid of anything that we do not use, want or need.  He said..."Go for it!"  Easier said than done and I truthfully I am not a pack rat but the thought of someone pawing through my stuff just drives me up a wall! LOL

I have some gorgeous things that I doubt my kids would want ...as they all have their own wonderful things!  Sometimes I think we would be better off with less "stuff,"  Maybe we should have a big sale and sell lots of our "Stuff," Just have what we need and let that money draw interest.     

Is this normal to think about this? LOL  

Guess I'm just thinking out loud today!

Molly

I think as time goes on it becomes normal to think about that sort of thing.  I think we tend to think about it more after having to deal with someone elses "stuff".  My Grandfather tried hard to sort through stuff, my grandmother was a terrible pack rat.  I was grateful that he had.

Hey Molly,

   Your not alone.  I have thought about this alot.  I have some beautiful things. Crystal, Antique glass ware, and then my Silver and China.  DD could care less.  My Sterling and China are for 12 and worth alot,  sad but I don't even use it.  Maybe Jellybean might like it someday.

   We also have some very nice pieces of Art by Tarkay and Rosamond,  my son hopefully will want that.  As for all the Depression glassware I have,  don't know where that will end up.  DD is not into anything OLD !   I also have some really $$$ Jewelry and DD is not into that also.  I might go ahead and sell some of this.  It's just sitting in my Safety Deposit Box.  Some of it came from my mom.  I just don't wear it anymore. 

   If and when we ever move out of this out and downsize,  I think I will then try to unload everything they won't want and I'am tired of dusting and looking at.   After 42 years we have alot of stuff like you but I have to say most of it is not junk and wish now that we shouldn't have occumulated all of it. 

                  Cassiebabe

sstetzel:

I think as time goes on it becomes normal to think about that sort of thing.  I think we tend to think about it more after having to deal with someone elses "stuff".  My Grandfather tried hard to sort through stuff, my grandmother was a terrible pack rat.  I was grateful that he had.

I think you hit the nail on the head. When we are forced to deal with someone else's stuff, it really puts things into perspective.  

We wrote our wills last summer, so we've had reason to think about this stuff.

I've been doing the FlyLady thing and decluttered bit by bit. Still a long way to go, but not as bad as it used to be. We were doing pretty well until my father-in-law decided to up and move to England, so he had to divest himself of most of his worldly possessions, a third of which made it into our house, so we got stuck with a cluttered house again! (Better to take care of it now than when he dies, I guess!)

So, we're working our way back down through the stuff. I sent out five bags of stuff to the charity truck yesterday. The piano that I haven't played in a while leaves us next week to find a home with a friend who desperately wants a piano, but never could afford one. This will be a nice blessing for her and for us!

I've been sending my better clothes to a career clothes closet at a local church. They tell me that my stuff flies off the racks fast, so I know that these things are also blessing others.

The more unused things I give away, the better I feel.

I think it is perfectly normal.  I think the same thing especially since both of my parents are gone and having gone through their home which was large with a full basement and a large attic and a 4 car garage  which my dad built in the back of their property.  It took my two siblings and I forever to do it.  It was just horrid.  You can't imagine what they kept.  Literally everything.  It wasn't all bad as we had some good laughs and cries as we went through things.  So many memories.  I just don't want my girls to have to go through it.  We really downsized when we moved up here to the lake so we are not in bad shape.

Yes! I had to go through all of MIL's things and It's not fun and that is actually when I began thinking about all of this!

Cassie...like you.  I don't have junk either!  We did down size and I have 32 boxes in the basement that have never been unpacked...plus 4 more boxes of MIL's pretty things are sitting in my front hall closet.  What a shame and what a dilemma.

Molly

I've thought about it more the last few yrs since my mother died.  Our son helped me pack up and sort through things.

Now I look around at our junk -- oh boy . . . . . .  Our home, DH's work shop and the garage -- yikes.  Our kids are gonna have a lot to do unless we build a new home and really sort through the stuff.

Hi mollyg! :-)

I do not care what happens to my stuff. LOL! I just keep getting rid of things because there is so little room here to store anything at all. Are you still selling things at the consignment place? I think you were selling jewelry there, but that was a long time ago.

What's new? How is the world treating you?

It's not only normal, it's a kindness to your children to think about it now.  I'd say let your kids know that you're planning to do some "simplifying" and ask if there are items they'd like you to give them.  Then feel free to sell the rest, knowing that you have had your joy from it, and now someone else can enjoy it. 

 My mom has been clearing out her stuff for last several years but there are things which are priceless, like the tablecloth her mother (my grandma) was crocheting but never finished before she died.  And the journals my mom has kept since she was 16 years old.  These are loose-leaf binders packed full of newspaper clippings, poetry, funny stories, inspirational writings - just anythng that caught her fancy.  She is 90 - there is one book per year.  What do you do with that?  There are the letters my dad sent her from the South Pacific when he was in the Marines during WWII.  There are quilts galore, including one Mom started when she was in her teens and finally finished about 10 years ago - it is pieced from scraps left over from dresses and shirts made for her sisters and brothers back in the 1930s.  Then there are dishes and various knick-knacks and photo albums.  

I am very thankful that she has let me know which cousins should get what, which things should go to DS, and the story behind many of these treasures.  The best thing she did was to organize the old family photos and label them so I know who is who!  So yes,, I think taking care of this when you are able to and letting your family know your wishes about the disposal or distribution of your possessions is a wonderful, thoughtful, kind thing to do.  

That is what EBay is for.

Like others on here, I have silver and china for 12. Also have several daughters but they won't want it.  If it was Crate and Barrel stuff they would all want it.  I moved from a large ghouse several years ago and you wouldn't believe what I got rid of. Including things like a divers spear, deep sea diving equipment to furniture.  All found in the attic.  I have a continuous pile of stuff to go to charity. I believe if you haven't seen it or wore it for 2 years get rid of it. And I do.

Over the winter, I went through many of the heirlooms I've acquired.  It took several weeks to pull things out, research them, and catalog them.  I documented what they were, who made them, what part of the world they came from, who owned them, and what they might be worth in 2008.  I attached or inserted a note to every item with all that info.  I also kept copies of the notes & put those in a 3-ring binder. 

I've told DS many times over the years that family items are valuable to us in more ways than one, and that we should be honored to have them in our care.  He can decide, after I'm gone, whether he will keep these things going in the family (I hope he does) or sell them.  If he does sell them, at least he will already have the information/documentation he'd need to ascertain their value.   

The most valuable things are locked safely away now.  I do like them and use them, but I don't want them sitting out all the time for safety reasons.  I have many cupboards full of old things (dishes, etc.) that are sentimental and somewhat valuable, and I can get my hands on those readily to use them.  I also use my own china, crystal, etc., and that stuff is kept front & center.  So if anyone needs to go through my stuff, they will quickly see....."Oh - that was her stuff....that was her mother's stuff....that was her grandmother's..." etc. etc.

For little sentimental things (programs from events, news clippings, letters, cards, etc.), I use those photo/VCR tape storage boxes, one for each year.  I drop things in throughout the year and then at the end of the year, the box is stored away.  DS can look through them someday & decide what to keep.  I didn't want that stuff all over the place, so it's neatly contained by year.  The things in those boxes will give a lot of smiles, laughs, and memories someday.  I wish my mother or grandmother had done the same, even with just one box!

As far as my "everyday" things, I fully expect most of it to be given away or tossed after I'm gone.  My room full of sewing stuff, I've already told DH to sell some & donate some to my friends in my sewing clubs.

I'm seeing DS take more of an interest in family things lately.  He was very inquisitive about the family tree and family history while I was going through the heirlooms.  A few of the things I did send to him -- books, art work, papers, trinkets, and little things he can take on at this stage in his life, with many career moves still to come.  When he "settles," I will pass more things on.  

So I'm not too worried about what will happen after I'm gone.  I'm keeping that in mind as I go through the house.  I feel as if I've planned as well as I can.....and much better than the generations before me did.

If it happens soon, DBF and my mom can fight it out.

If it happens later, my friends' kids can have at it.  I don't have any heirs to speak of.