
Aging Parents with Lots of Stuff, and Children Who Don’t Want It - jseliger
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/your-money/aging-parents-with-lots-of-stuff-and-children-who-dont-want-it.html
======
technofiend
It's definitely a generational thing and younger folks have never seen a
repair and retain society or scarcity that drives that hoarding attitude. And
unless they collect or inherit vintage equipment (survivor bias aside) they
haven't purchased anything designed to last many years much less decades.

Before anyone accuses me of slagging on Millennials I don't mean it that way.
I mean since we have a manufacturing base that is in my opinion far more
aggressive about planned obsolescence than 50+ years ago and several
generations used to cheap, low quality goods manufactured overseas why would
they want or need anything else? We value the novel and inexpensive over the
durable.

~~~
nodamage
In the context of this article I'm not sure if it has so much to do with
repair and retain as opposed to simply not wanting to own a bunch of stuff
that will take up space and never get used. Fine china, silverware, crystal,
etc.

~~~
t0mbstone
I've always been annoyed by "fine China". If something is so fragile that it
can't be used, then it is worthless to me.

On the flip side, it's kind of interesting that products made in china are now
synonymous with "cheap crap", while at one time we held finely made, fragile
cups from China on display in our homes.

~~~
kaybe
Fine china is fun. There is an endless and very cheap supply of these things
on the fleamarket, so one can use them with abandon. If they break, just get
more.

~~~
danieltillett
This is my opinion too. You can eat off great china for next to nothing.

Low-end auction houses are also great places to pick up whole sets on the
cheap. At the very worst these are a lot more interesting than plain white
junk.

------
Powerofmene
It is true that culling the volume of things owned by parents can be a
nightmare. I had to do this for my grandmother years ago and am starting to
help parents with the same. It is amazing to me the volume of things they have
held onto all these years for no discernible reason.

Years ago I committed to reducing the clutter in my life. It was such a
pivotal moment. It was no longer necessary to move things from here to there
in order to put up Christmas decorations, etc. I do think that overall we see
value in things that truly have no monetary value all while keeping this item
of "value" in the attic or in a box without seeing the light of day for
decades. Things take a great deal of time and energy and for me personally,
there seemed to be a connection between a disorganized living space with a
disorganized mind/life. I cleaned all of that up and found I had better
health, had time for the things I enjoy most in life, and was far happier than
I would have imagined by having "less."

~~~
fspacef
Came to a similar epiphany when I had to move out on short notice. Since then
I follow what I call the "1 suit case philosophy" \- If I can't fit all my
stuff into one standard size suit case and fly, then I have too much stuff.

~~~
imron
That will last until you are married and have children.

~~~
hrktb
You move to a 2 suitcase per person philosophy, but I think it’s still a
valuable approach.

Even if you keep around some stuff that are not vital but ‘nice to have’,
maintaining a restricted set of things that are enough to live your life if
the whole family had to move without notice helps for peace of mind.

~~~
olau
What if your wife does not agree with your philosophy? What if your children
don't?

Of course, YMMV, but in my experience life is generally less simple once you
share it with other people.

~~~
hueving
If you truly embrace that philosophy you will not be able to marry someone who
does not also follow it. It's like a religion and your SO's things will be a
daily affront to it.

------
EliRivers
I don't know how it is in the US, but for me in the UK part of this is space
in the house.

I make more money than my parents ever did, and I didn't move into a
ridiculously overpriced city, but there's no way I'll ever own a house as
large as they did.

I remember growing up in a variety of houses that had, get this, a dining room
that _wasn 't_ just a table in the kitchen, a living room, _and another room_
that was just kept neat and tidy for visitors. A whole room in the house on
the ground floor, used only a couple of times a month. It was a big room too.
Enough space for a half-dozen people to sit down. The amount of space my
parents had in their houses is just amazing in retrospect. Of course, in a
number of countries that's still pretty standard. Like having a place to put a
washing machine and associated; us suckers in the UK think it's normal to put
that lot in the kitchen, jammed in with the tiny cupboards. I mean, my parents
had a dryer AND a chest freezer just kept out in another room. Well, my future
sure looks a lot more depressing now that I've thought about this :)

~~~
aaron695
The house I live in now was half the size and had a family with 5 kids living
in it originally (Old school neighbours informed me)

I share it only with my wife and now it's in a big city with facilities (Back
then they were rural) and it's the smallest house of all my friends.

Did your parents live in a city the size you currently live in, the same
distance out from the entertainment district? Same hospital access, same
standard of schooling etc?

I have no idea of your case but people often forget how little their
parents/grandparents really had compared to what we've come to expect.

~~~
EliRivers
Looked up the last one I could remember the address of; looks like it would go
for about 15 to 20 times the median UK full-time salary today. Between them,
when they bought it, they probably made about three times the median UK full-
time salary of the day (so about 50% more than average - well off but not
rich). It's not anywhere special; it's just in a town.

Space was cheap when my parents were buying; I don't think there's any doubt
abut that.

------
andrewstuart
I just don't want any more stuff.

I came to a realisation that much of what our society is about is focused on
getting people to buy more stuff.

I don't want it. Minimise the stuff.

edit: I'm still surrounded by piles of it. Getting rid of stuff is hard.
There's a sense of "value" attached to stuff even if you'd never miss it if
you never saw it again.

~~~
peterlk
I once made a comment like this to my father. His response was: "that feeling
is a luxury of having grown up with a plentitude of stuff". And I think he's
got a point. It's really easy to get rid of stuff if you know that you can
replace it (or at least replace its function). If you travel to places where
"stuff" is not plentiful, people cherish their belongings (stuff) more

~~~
icelancer
100% the truth. My family had below-average income and all I sought to do was
augment my life with stuff through my early 20's. As I've grown older I
totally understand that it didn't make me happy (quite the opposite), but that
realization doesn't set in until you've had the stuff in the first place. I
saw much the same pattern with other poor kids I grew up with who went on to
make good money.

~~~
wutbrodo
This is overgeneralizing par excellence. For a counterexample, I grew up with
not very much money and now make good money, and I'm far _less_ into getting
and having stuff than all of my born-rich friends. My slight tendency to hoard
is more than balanced out by the fact that I don't feel nearly the need to or
comfort with acquiring unnecessary things that all my friends do.

~~~
ljf
Put of interest, what do you hoard? I'm similar - I don't spend much money,
but I do (at times) find myself surrounded by crap or tools or the detritus of
'hobbies' that I tired of. Had another clear out lately and feeling great for
it, though likely need another round or two...

------
fencepost
I don't really see this mentioned by anyone, but mobility is also a big
factor. There are a lot of people who no longer live anywhere near where they
grew up or where their parents or extended family live now. Great solid
furniture (or anything 2+ states away from your home) is expensive to move. My
parents may have a great desk that I'd love to have someday - but probably not
if it means I have to arrange to ship it from Arizona to Chicago and wonder if
it's still going to be so great after the stresses of moving. I still have
some of the things they left behind when they moved like the head and foot
boards for my childhood bed - taking up space in the garage, maybe to be
useful if having kids had been part of my lot in life. As it is, they'll end
up in the trash when I get around to cleaning the garage or move.

A lot of the place in the world for family heirlooms went the way of the
family homestead.

~~~
takingflac
Always check to see if a place near you will accept furniture items as a
donation. (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.) If nothing else you get a tax
credit for the donation.

------
combatentropy
I was a minimalist before it was cool. But I'm also wabi sabi. I would rather
have something used. Not only do you get more for your money, but the history
gives it character. That being said, it has to be well made and my style.

So I probably don't want my parents' curtains, but I will see about their
table, dresser, old household tools like scissors, etc. A recent visit to a
restaurant decorated in a style called rustic chic has me rethinking even my
narrow style requirements. I used to be zen minimalist. Like my silverware has
no engraving, it's flat and plain. But the restaurant had these old plates,
forks, and knives. None of them matched but there was an overall similar
style, and they were probably expensive when they were new. So I might
consider my parents' old china or crystal, but instead of locking it away I
would try to use it every day.

And books and photographs can be shelved or wall-mounted, taking up negligible
volume --- up to a point, but still I would have hard time parting with even a
single old photo.

~~~
vasco
I find it funny that someone who calls themselves a minimalist would keep
physical books.

~~~
systemtest
Minimalism isn't about having the least amount of stuff possible. It is about
only having stuff that you need or deeply care about. Books can be one of
those things. So is art. Or specialist tools.

~~~
ksk
>It is about only having stuff that you need or deeply care about.

Couldn't anyone be a minimalist by that logic? I suppose a vague term like
that can quickly become meaningless.

------
Waterluvian
I moved to a house this month. First time in a house since I was at my
family's home. I had a twilight zone moment last week when I realised that
literally nobody else on my street uses their garage to store their car. Every
garage is just full of stuff. How do you accumulate that much stuff that you
need what's essentially a storage locker at your home?

When I was younger I had a moment where I was sick of my computer cable
hoarding. Every device gives you cables and you never know which one of your
ball of 200 you're going to need. I eventually concluded that re-buying things
is cheaper than the cost to my happiness by having to store these things
forever, not knowing which you'll actually need.

~~~
thenomad
OK, this is a very specific point to comment on, but - I'd disagree with you
about the computer cables.

I occasionally get annoyed by my Big Box Of Cables: I used to work in digital
filmmaking, so I've really got a LOT of cables in there. And it's a pain to
have to wrap 'em, store 'em, and periodically cull 'em (I think I can safely
chuck out the SVideo cables now...).

But whenever I need a cable whilst working, I can check that box, and after a
bit of digging, it's usually in there. 5 minutes lost max.

If I don't have a cable in that box, I either have to go out to buy one -
total time loss between 25 min and 2 hours depending on whether I need to
journey to Maplin or can just get it locally - or buy from Amazon, which could
be a day lost if the task I need the cable for is on the critical path for
whatever I'm doing.

Local storage is sometimes more efficient.

(Having said that, I did make one change a while back. Unless I'm really,
really sure I will need more, I only ever keep 2 of a specific cable type. At
one point the spare cat-5 was threatening to take over the house.)

~~~
to3m
The key is to wrap them up somehow (I put mine in freezer bags) so they don't
get tangled while in storage. The parent post's comment about a ball of cables
suggests they don't do this. That can make storing lots of cables feel like a
much worse idea than it actually is.

If you have them in freezer bags or whatever, on the other hand, you can just
chuck them all in a box or bag, put it somewhere you can't see it, and you're
done. When you need a cable or adapter or widget that you're certain you've
got, rummage through your collection until you find it.

You're also less likely to lose any little caps or adapters that these things
sometimes come with.

~~~
thenomad
That's a really clever idea, and I am absolutely going to do that from now on.

(I just wrap 'em neatly currently. The film industry is good at techniques for
cable control. But I've not heard the "freezer bag" idea before! )

~~~
to3m
Go forth and spread the word!

------
jseliger
Also germane:
[http://paulgraham.com/stuff.html](http://paulgraham.com/stuff.html) . Try
doing "The Possessions Exercise:" [https://jakeseliger.com/2010/02/13/the-
possessions-exercise-...](https://jakeseliger.com/2010/02/13/the-possessions-
exercise-according-to-geoffrey-miller/) and you may find interesting results.

~~~
jdavis703
I don't understand why he holds on to books? I have a couple of books that I
hold on for frequent references, but the rest I just donate when I'm done. I'm
sure my house makes it look like I don't care about books, but I would rather
my shelves are a TODO list of things to read, not a dust gathering collection
of things I've read in the past.

------
bane
When my great-grandparents died I was part of the family that went through and
made the decisions on what to keep and distribute in the family and what to
ditch. When we couldn't find any takers for some clearly dear items (to my
great-grandparents), into the trash or donation box they went. There simply
wasn't time or interest to sort through two lifetime's worth of sentimental
mementos that really only meant something to them.

Of both of them, the things anybody really kept fell into two camps:
practical, furniture, bedding, that sort of thing and small tokens of general
family interest like my great-grandfather's WW2 dog tags, or photos of distant
relatives for the genealogy enthusiasts. There was some grumbling over having
to take some of the furniture.

In a few years, I'll be dealing with this same situation again with my
grandmother, my father and then my mother (if they go in that expected order).
I'm trying to convince them to have a plan for what to do with all their
collected stuff, because I don't really want any of it outside of again, a few
general family items -- I definitely do not want their furniture.

------
WalterBright
It's amazing how little the household stuff is actually worth. Maybe a few
cents on the dollar.

~~~
Scoundreller
This is what I recommend to people moving into a new place: Check your local
classifieds toward the end of the month when leases expire.

Tons of stuff for cheap since everyone is trying to get rid of things, but
nobody is buying.

My best deal was when I got them to help me carry over a coffee table, mini-
dining table and 5 chairs. Of course I paid full price.

P.S. if you mail a lot of things, you can usually buy old stamps on Ebay for
~65 cents on the dollar from collectors whose stamps aren't valuable.

------
alricb
If you go to Montreal, you'll see the solution adopted by rural people when
they moved to the city in the first half of the 20th century: backyard sheds.
I don't know about the US, but here in rural Quebec, people in my parents'
generation tend to accumulate stuff in part, I think, because my grandparent's
generation lived in relative poverty, and poor people tended to hang on to
stuff just in case it could be useful at some point; for instance, when you
got a new car, you'd keep the old one behind the shed so you could strip it
for parts.

------
gedy
I hear this pride in having few 'things' from some folks - but it seems like
it frequently comes from people who aren't creative, enjoy making things, or
have non-computer related hobbies.

~~~
jiggliemon
Good point. Reading this thread I was wondering what of my crap is pass down
able.

Tools (lots of them), art, and furniture (we buy mid-century designer).

Everything else is trash. Why do we keep trash? Why do we buy trash?

~~~
dagw
_Why do we buy trash?_

Because the sad simple truth is that buying trash, using it until it breaks
and then buying a new one often makes more financial sense than trying to buy
quality.

~~~
ljf
And not only that - buying trash today when you know that you'll be moving
soon and possibly have a better income next time you buy. We are putting off
major purchases because we can - because there is that option, and the user
value of of 'trash' is 80% of that of the version that costs 10 times as much.

~~~
dagw
Also, at least in the home electronics space, there is a good chance that the
'trash' in 3 years time will be better than the quality product today (in
short term functionality if not in longevity).

12 years ago I bought the best quality TV I could afford. And while it still
works perfectly, it's objectively worse in just about every way then a current
TV costing 20% of what I paid for it. However since it was so expensive and
still works I cannot really bring myself to replace it.

------
erichurkman
We're going through this right now with my grand parents. They lived a life in
the country, for decades in the home they built (or started building but never
actually finished), buying and selling antiques and other... stuff. It's hard.
They want to downsize to a small apartment, but telling my grandfather that it
means we have to sell his dozen tractors, in various states of disrepair or
disassembly, because none of their children or grandchildren want them, breaks
his heart.

------
bobbles
1\. Huge majority of stuff I used to have in 'volume' is now digital - Books,
DVDs, CDs, records of certification, documents in general.

2\. Technology stuff I had is far smaller (think transition from CRT to LCD
screens).

3\. I cant afford anywhere NEAR the size property that my parents would have
so the number of actual furniture items I can own is already significantly
reduced, and this in turn includes available storage space.

------
anovikov
In part that could be because new generation can't hope to make money by
owning their homes - rapid appreciation of homes was one-off thing and it hit
their limit - homes aren't affordable for too many people now so they just
can't appreciate more.

So, they don't want to own big homes, or at all. Smaller homes (probably
condos) means less stuff.

~~~
CaveTech
Homes are definitely still appreciating - probably more so in the last decade
than any time before. The problem is that they've increased to a point where
most can no longer afford to enter the market. Someone, somewhere _is_
capturing that wealth, though.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
If people can't afford them then there must be an upper limit.

------
rcthompson
I think another aspect of this might be that our prized possessions are
increasingly digital and take up approximately zero volume in real space. If
my apartment burned down right now, the only thing I'd consider truly
irreplaceable is the data on my hard drives.

Well, and my dad's old circular slide rule from his college days.

~~~
cortesoft
No offsite backups?

~~~
rcthompson
I don't have the upload bandwidth for offsite backups. But I do have my
computer syncing to an external disk every 15 minutes, which I can grab and
leave with at any time.

~~~
cortesoft
You should rotate that disk every week or so, and keep the rotated one
somewhere else.

------
jnwatson
Reminds me a recent story: a friend's girlfriend, in her 50's, recently took
off a month off to help move her widowed mother, in her 70's, down to a new
retirement place in Florida. She took all her stuff from a 3000 sq ft house.

My two observations:

1\. The economic price for someone to take a month off to move and rearrange a
sizeable household is nontrivial.

2\. That someone would desire to spent the rest of their days in a big house
full of stuff is foreign to me. _This_ is the generational divide.

The formation of a estate filled with physical possessions is a prime driver
for a lot of older folks. The younger set isn't so interested in that.

My ideal retirement: a bed, a desk, and a laptop in a small flat on the left
bank in Paris.

This is going to have a big impact on several industries. In the future, fine
furniture and china manufacturers are going to look like furriers today.

------
expertentipp
Yeah, one doesn't need "stuff". Then try replacing the light bulb, connecting
washing machine, assembling your bed, or preparing the meal without "stuff".
Softening the ground for a new rent-to-own startup? Poverty industry FTW.

~~~
airza
This post is really bad but I like the idea of needing a special tool I
inherited from my parents to change a light bulb

~~~
expertentipp
Ladder might be useful.

~~~
craigds
Stand on a chair? Unless you have wicked high ceilings I guess

------
chrissnell
My wife's parents got stuck cleaning out my wife's grandparents house when
they moved to assisted living. It was enough of an eye-opener that they did a
huge purging when they got back home and ended up moving into a sparsely-
furnished garden home. Even after slimming down, they continue to divest
themselves of things. We are very grateful to know that we won't have a
nightmare on our hands when it is time for us to help them move.

My family is another story. My dad is a collector of all sorts of things:
vintage toys, LGB trains, 1930s radios, fine guitars... He has a 40' long
storage unit just full of stuff. I dread the day we have to deal with it all.

~~~
KGIII
I have so much stuff. It's not hoarding, really. I get rid of junk. I just
have several houses and a few storage units. I've scads of music gear, tools,
vehicles, etc.

My kids jokingly lament the need to go through it after I die. Meh... At least
it is organized. I kinda like the idea of leaving them a giant task. Much of
it is nominally valuable. They will be busy for quite a while. This makes me
smile. Knowing them, they will enjoy it as well.

~~~
Blackthorn
It's really interesting to watch that TV show, American Pickers, because you
can see in different episodes all sides of this equation. Some people are just
straight up hoarders. Some people have very meticulously cataloged
collections, they're just _big_. And sometimes you have people who have been
left one of the above by their parents, and invariably just want to get rid of
it and find it extremely emotionally trying.

Take that last one to heart, and think of how it's not just a big task for
your kids, but it's a really emotionally difficult and painful one for them as
well.

~~~
KGIII
Oh, I want it to be a big task for them. It's well organized.

I'm leaving them significant wealth. They might as well do something to earn
it.

------
justboxing
My soon-to-be-80 father is very cognizant of this. We never had much stuff to
begin with. Four of us - mom, dad, sister and I -- live in an 800 sq ft rented
home all our lives in India. Even then, he's been mercilessly shedding all the
little things he has, that he doesn't use anymore, for the past 2 years.

So much so that he even dumped old baby photos of me and photos of my
Grandfather -- served in the British Indian Army during World War II in Burma
-- and many other rare family photos.

I was pretty mad at him for that, but I guess this means I don't have to deal
with "stuff" when he passes, esp. given I live in the US and he lives in
India.

~~~
pm90
That sounds really tragic, about the pictures. Its great he got rid of stuff,
but those pictures would have been priceless from a historical standpoint. I
wonder how many such treasures are in cupboards all over India, their owners
not realizing how important they may be...

~~~
arvinsim
I think we should focus on preserving digital content instead since most
people today are taking pictures with their smartphones and never bother
backing them up, either in the cloud or in physical form.

------
drdeadringer
My father became aware of this and started shipping stuff to myself [and
presumably my sibling] in order to clear out his in-home crap sitting around
when he died.

So far, I've been thankful. I've been going through my own backlog of crap and
it's been great. I have to imagine it's been similar for my father and my
sister.

My father's goal is no have as little bullshit for me and my sibling to sort
through as possible when he dies. To me, this is great. Not that I hate my
father or whatever, but that he wants as small a Death Footprint as possible.
So do I for other reasons.

Such conversations are good to have.

------
cyberferret
When my dad passed away about 8 years ago, my mum had this cathartic episode
where she gave away virtually _everything_ that she and dad owned, which even
surprised us (my sisters and I). She even gave stuff away to strangers who
came around to help her pack stuff to move to a smaller place.

In one way, it was great that we didn't have to sort it all out and deal with
it, but in another, there were some things (like my dad's golf clubs and the
family piano) that I would dearly have liked to hold on to because of the
intense good memories those items represented to me (mum taught me to play
piano on that particular instrument, and I have very cherished memories of
playing golf with my dad when he used that set).

Now I am in the same bind, as I look around at all my stuff, including a
collection of 30+ guitars that I have built up over the years. I've told my
sons (who are both musical by the way) that they will inherit them when I am
gone, but NOT to hold on to them as obsessively as I have. I explained to them
that if it will help them to pay for studies, or buy a car/house etc. that
they need, they should feel no hesitation in selling any and all of it as they
see fit - there is no emotional obligation to them to hang on to 'stuff'
unless they actually feel an emotional connection to do so.

At one stage, I even considered being buried with one of my favourite guitars,
but then I thought 'No', it would do much better service above ground if they
can use or sell it instead.

~~~
paulcole
Why not just sell it all now when you're alive instead of making it a burden
on them after you die? I'm just getting a dumpster over to my dads house and
chucking everything when the time comes.

~~~
cyberferret
Good point - but a lot of these are rare and vintage guitars, and I actually
still enjoy playing most, if not all of them, on a regular basis.

I suppose if the time came when I could not play any more due to age/illness
etc. then I might do that, and give them the chance to choose a couple that
they might want to keep after I am gone (they are both good guitar players in
their own right).

~~~
tunap
Nice sentiment, but liquidating can add compounded stress after the loss of a
loved one. My step-father collected vintage guitars, old school
amps/speakers/mixers and had a fully operational cabinet shop he refused to
deal with when Stage 4 was diagnosed. It was a PIA to blindly price,
identify/fix deficiencies and find buyers after his passing. Several strangers
benefited greatly from our lack of knowledge and time.

------
Reason077
I don't think I'd want to keep much of my parents stuff either. But my sister
and I were thinking back to all the cool shit that was in my _grandparents_
place back in the 80s and 90s... they had all kinds of cool furniture, art,
tools, and objects. The sort of stuff that hipsters now pay a fortune for.

So maybe the answer is to put everything in long-term storage, then skip a
generation and wait till it becomes cool again :)

------
dano
A suggestion for the current and next generation. Collect experiences rather
than things.

[http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/want-happiness-buy-
experienc...](http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/want-happiness-buy-experiences-
not-more-stuff)

Some quick tips:

\- Pictures with people are much more fun to look at later in life than
landscapes, unless you're an amazing landscape photographer of course!

\- Get off the tourist bus when visiting foreign countries. Walk the city. Pop
your head into a local shop. Try that weird doughy thing, it might be tasty.
Be almost late for your train - very exciting.

\- Climb the stairs of the Eiffel Tower (ugh, it's tough, but I remember it)
then have wine and cheese in the park on the lawn to cap it off.

Relating to too many things, I have 5 large moving boxes of photo albums from
my parents along and a few trinkets here and there. Fortunately me and my
siblings had no arguments in the distribution or tossing of just about
everything. The photo albums are being scanned slowly but surely.

------
Havoc
Dreading this. Parent live in a massive house. Meanwhile I've lived the last
half year out of a suitcase (biz travel).

Think I need to drop some subtle hints...

~~~
EliRivers
You'll have to cut a deal; I'll take on all your stuff, no charge, but you've
got to throw in the current storage facility with it.

~~~
Havoc
haha no. I'm on the other side of the world.

Plus they're cool parents...they wouldn't want to burden me. I'm just
conscious of the fact that they plan to move from a very big house to a not
big house. Meanwhile there are boxes that haven't been unpacked from the 2001
move. They're not hoarders...they just have too much crap.

------
RandVal30142
Woo what a subject.

Where I grew up we had space to grow out. This means our two stall garage
became a place for storage, pack ratting. Some of it good but a lot of it..
Eh?

I have to admit this meant that there was never a shortage of tools but this
also meant that during my father's passing I had to decompress and sort all of
it. Some of it is packratted in my own three stall garage now.

Having a trait to collect myself it is hard to tell when you are going
overboard.

Some things like early Nintendo games paid handsomely to keep about. Others
like well worn copies of B rate VHS movies? Not so much. The advancement in
movie quality made from very high grade studio masters was easy to see if you
had technical knowledge in that area but the growth in perceived value for
other things is hard to gauge. Growing up with the room to store what you like
meant a lot of oddball stuff got packed away.

I'm trying to be more selective with what I pack than my father before me..
But hell, some things I'm going to keep just cause I like them.

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pmiller2
Most of my "stuff" is clothes (which I actually wear), books, and hobby-
related equipment. There is nothing in the garage but my washer and dryer,
and, occasionally, my car. I have no desire to clutter up my apartment with
more, though I am thinking of putting a workshop in my garage and just parking
in my driveway.

~~~
killjoywashere
and... how old are you?

~~~
gt_
This wasn't my comment but it may as well have been. This describes my
material posessions exactly, except for no garage. I'm 32 and live in a one
room warehouse art studio with a shared bathroom. I can't find reason to get a
legal home because this works perfect.

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matt_s
I wonder how much of this was brought on by the Cold War and constant
headlines of one-ups-manship by nation-states and maybe that sub-consciously
fed into US culture.

The only reference points and influences people had were socializing with
others and 3 TV channels. No internet, facebook, instagram or twitter.

In todays culture you can find nearly any group you want to associate with
online. You won't feel like an outcast and if you live in a populated enough
area you can probably find like-minded people. I think with this available, if
you see your neighbors have new fine china (new fancy car, or whatever) and
that isn't your thing, you pretty much don't care.

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gt_
My grandparents entered the antique business in their retirement. They did
well for themselves and passed away in the same year, about 5 years ago. My
family is faced with just forgetting about all the energy they have spent
trying to get money for the items. Of course, a few things had surprisingly
high value but 99% was more trouble than $.

My grandfather was a uranium physicist for the Atomic Energy Commission and I
grabbed as much related memorabilia as I could. They are currently stored in a
secure barn attic but I want to get them out. But, actually do want to test
them for radioactivity lol. Anybody know about this?

~~~
dlss
> But, actually do want to test them for radioactivity lol. Anybody know about
> this?

Perhaps buy a radiation tester? [https://smile.amazon.com/GQ-GMC-300E-Plus-
Radiation-dosimete...](https://smile.amazon.com/GQ-GMC-300E-Plus-Radiation-
dosimeter-monitoring/dp/B00IN8TJYY/)

~~~
geon
Or a can of film?

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toomanybeersies
My old man was talking to me the other day about this.

He was telling me that self-storage will be great investment, with all the old
people moving to smaller retirement homes and villages, they need a place to
store all their stuff.

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cafard
About 20 years ago,I looked around the back yard of an uncle born in the early
20s. Back by the fence, there was a patched gas tank from a pickup truck.
There were also four or five rusted out hibachis, which were neatly nested
together and leaning against a tree. A cousin to whom I mentioned this
suggested that it was the effect of a childhood during the Depression.

------
eecc
I'm also convinced that we've come to value immaterial goods more than a
plentitude of physical widgets.

I also believe that we're instinctively attracted to the act of fiddling;
while yesterday we needed a lot of physical things to appease this instinct,
we can content ourselves with an App store, with grooming our computers,
phones, emails, social profiles, etc.

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BrandoElFollito
This is the problem I will have with my parents and in-laws.

I hope to find a charity who would take everything and use what they want/can
and get rid of the rest. There are valuable things and non-valuable ones, I do
not want anything (I love my parents but am not attached to material things
and do not like souvenirs)

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OneOneOneOne
I've wondered where this stuff ends up after donating to charity. Is there a
set of less fortunate people that could really make use of these things? Are
there people eager to add more of these items to their "collections?" Do the
charities end up discarding large percentages of this stuff?

~~~
lomo6
A lot of US charities actually ship clothing to Africa because they get so
many used t-shirts and the like.

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alexyungvirt
If the stuff you have is collectible, and in new/gently used condition then
try completeset.com/sell - they are a TechStars grad out of Cincinnati that
sell the items for you on consignment. Easy way to have some "found money."
They even pay for shipping.

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golergka
I've been working to reduce amount of stuff I own lately. Now I can fit it all
in one carry-on and one luggage bag - I literally moved to another country a
couple of months back without paying anything extra or shipping anything. And
I never want to go back to own more.

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thegayngler
My dad, my sister and I don't like to keep stuff around that is not being
used. We will keep the stuff we have as long as it makes sense to but we don't
believe having more stuff is good. We think living a minimalist lifestyle is
the way to live.

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rachkovsky
So tired of paywalled nytimes links!

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xchaotic
I think the article should have been in the Onion, not NYT

