Stuff

Christine Kane has an interesting blog post on things that we can throw or give away. I thought it might be an interesting challenge to examine whether the items she lists are things I am also holding onto needlessly.

1. All the hotel key cards you’ve brought home with you.

Nope - I hardly ever stay at hotels and none of them have had key cards.

2. The doilies your Aunt Edna crocheted 35 years ago that got handed down to you.

Hmm, the few items I've inherited from deceased relatives are all items that are dear to me and that I would not want to dispose of. However I can see a problem in future years when my sister and I have to deal with the houseload of trinkets owned by my parents.

3. CD’s you haven’t listened to in three years or more.

We're about to deal with this one. All our CDs are going to be copied onto our computer (backed up), and then taken to a second-hand dealer.

4. The boxes of cassettes you’ve been meaning to transfer to CD’s.

Nope, all cassettes were disposed of years ago. I do have a couple of videos waiting to be transferred though.

5. The bread maker.

Sorry, I'm not getting rid of the bread maker. It makes great pizza dough.

6. Your wedding dress

Ouch. My mother has looked after my expensively boxed wedding dress for me for nine years now. I'm not going to leave it to anyone, so why am I holding onto it?

7. Credit card bills from 1995.

Nope. I've gotten good at throwing out that sort of thing.

8. The Allen wrenches from every piece of IKEA furniture you ever assembled.

Nope, but then we don't have IKEA here!

9. The jacket you spent way too much money on and never wore.

Nope. If I'm going to spend a lot of money on something then I always wear it. I do have too many second-hand or cheap items of clothing that I don't wear though.

10. Every scratching post or toy your cat doesn’t like.

Yep, I know there's a box of unused cat toys floating around somewhere.

11. House plants you no longer love.

I don't have house plants. I tend to kill them.

12. The stacks of O Magazine you swear you’ll re-read

No O magazines, but I'm pretty certain there's a stack of NZ House and Garden magazines somewhere.

13. Every little zippy bag that came with a Clinique purchase.

Er, there may be the occasional one of those, but I think I've used most of them.

14. Every unopened perfume that came with a Clinique purchase.

Nope. I don't tend to buy a lot of cosmetics. Though on second thoughts, I do have a few samples hanging around that I'm unlikely to use.

15. Leftover scrunchies in case you grow your hair long again.

Nope. My hair's in a long phase at the moment.

16. The “Cherries Jubilee” flavored lip balm that makes you nauseous.

Nope. I managed to offload all my unlikely-to-be-used lip balms at Christmas time. I do have several Victoria's Secret balms, but they're all yummy.

17. Every single regretful lipstick color you bought on a whim. (And yes, “Cherries Jubilee” is probably there, too.)

Nope. I don't have very many lipsticks.

18. Your last four cell phones and all their chargers and blue teeth.

I have one old phone, but the battery connection is a bit dodgy on my current phone, so I'm holding onto the old one as a back-up. All of our other phones got recycled earlier this year.

19. Single socks.

Yes, I need a stocktake.

20. The Spode Christmas plates and mugs you don’t like. (Along with the Christmas bath towels and welcome mat.)

Yes, we have a few Christmas bits and pieces we should probably do away with. We don't really celebrate Christmas in this household. Summer Solstice is more our style.

21. The framed posters you had in your college dorm room.

Nope. We like all the posters we still own, and they're all keepers.

22. Old stereo wires.

Aaarrrrghhhhh. I'm still working on this one. My husband is an AV systems designer. Enuff said!

23. The nails, screws, anchors, and cup hooks rusting in the bottom of your tool chest.

Yep, guilty as charged.

24. Remote controls that don’t remotely control anything you still own.

Once again, guilty as charged.

25. Lamps, toasters, blenders, coffeemakers that no longer work.

One lamp, one vacuum cleaner. They'll make it to the landfill one day.

26. The notion that you will ever be one of those moms that makes beautiful scrapbooks.

Not guilty of that notion! Our photos are in a box. They're likely to stay there.

27. Old blankets and linens you keep in case you suddenly have 27 sleepover guests.

Nope. Our linen is pretty minimal.

28. College text books

Most of them were given away when my parents moved from Auckland to Taranaki. There are a few floating around that I could probably dispose of.

29. Any boring decorative item that does little more than fill space.

Guilty of this one! Not ready to deal with it yet ... Plus I have family who keep adding to the collection.

30. Vases you don’t love or use.

Yep, left over from our wedding nine years ago. Some of them should really be passed on, like the crystal bowls I've never used.

31. Candle holders you don’t love or use.

Yep, see above!

32. Picture frames you don’t love or use.

Yep, see above!

33. All your class notes from college.

No, they all got thrown out years ago. My parents may still have some old school writing books, although I think they were all destroyed in a flood.

34. The idea that you have to save every piece of your children’s artwork and school work because it might mean you don’t love them if you don’t.

Nope. No children, no problem!

35. The “good silver” you don’t use that was passed down to you.

Nope. We use our silver. We do have a 16 place dinner set we don't use though.

36. Old VHS movies

I think Hamish still has a few of these. Yes, they really should be disposed of.

37. Unlabeled VHS tapes.

Yep, we have some of these as well.

38. The stationary bike that got even more stationary after you got it

Nope. If I had a stationary bike I'd use it. Hamish does have a mountain bike he hasn't used in around eight years though.

39. The fabric pieces you’ve been collecting in case you ever become a quilter.

Nope! None of these, though I would like to learn to quilt.

40. Flashlights that dimly light up only after you bang them over and over on your thigh.

Nope. All our flashlights are in good working order.

41. Old keys that open some door somewhere in the past.

Er, I think there may be a ring of unused keys in a drawer in the kitchen.

42. Suitcases you don’t use.

I was going to say we used all our suitcases, but then I remembered an old one I threw under the house when we moved in here.

43. Old computers.

I think Hamish uses all his bits and pieces for his various AV installations. What wasn't being used was taken for recycling earlier this year.

44. Old stereos.

Nope. We took our old stereo to a second-hand store when we moved here. Hamish uses everything else.

45. Promotional duffel bags with ugly logos and bad acronyms stitched all over them.

Ugh. Nope!

46. Anything that makes you say, “But I got such a good price on it!”

Um, not that I can think of off the top of my head.

47. Anything that makes you say, “But I paid so much for it!”

I'm fairly certain I'm not guilty of this one. A couple of years ago I might have pointed to my bike, but that's certainly getting a lot of use now!

48. Half-full cans of paint

Er, yeah. Unfortunately we inherited a fair few cans from the previous owner. I've been meaning to take them to the landfill for recycling.

49. Extra baby items/Old baby items

Funnily enough, we're not guilty of this one! That's unless kitten harnesses count.

50. Record albums.

Sigh. Yes we do have records. Yes, we some day plan to get a player. Yes, we do regard those we have as part of wider music collections by artists we love. Are we likely to get rid of them any time soon? Nope!

51. Gifts you never liked.

I'd have to have a really good think about this one. I think I've passed on of most of the presents I've not wanted, by giving them to people I know would appreciate them.

52. All the cross-stitch, knitting, or sewing projects you never finished.

Nope! Most of my projects are writing-related and ongoing.

53. Any glassware or dinnerware that is a “memorabilia” item from proms or sororities or sports events.

Ugh. Nope!

54. Old information packets you no longer need or that you can easily find on line.

I've just had a cleanout, so I can safely answer no to this one. I even threw out all my old Weightwatchers guides.

55. All the hotel soaps that you took with you.

Nope! It's Hamish who is the soap stealer.

56. The belief that you only have to go through the de-cluttering process once and won’t ever have to do it again.

I tend to de-clutter about once every year, and I get more ruthless each time. I know we still have too much stuff though. Let me cling to the small comfort of stuff for a little bit longer.