So many "advice givers" want us to declutter.

[Jstpssng]

Some of it I will probably never use,

Yet if you only use one piece in 100, it still is a time saver when in the middle of a project and you can go right to a tray vs driving to town. (20 miles one way, for me)

 

[fatjay]

I am also a sunday hardware store, but mostly for myself. And a late night hardware store. I often work into the evening after everything has closed. Problem is, I'm far from organized.

 

[scaredychicken]

they tell us to keep only that which is necessary and makes us happy

I think there is more to it than that. Things that have a purpose, a value, sentimentality, a uniqueness / rarity etc in my opinion are not hoarded items.

I have a lot of stuff, I live on a 7.5 acre of hobby farm, I have equipment, mowers, whippers, fencing materials, a tractor, trailers, and several cars ... the workshop in the garage needs to be better organized. I do not consider myself, and our country lifestyle to be worthy of being defined as hoarding.

My city slicker minimalist children (2 of 3) certainly think that there is too much stuff. I don't care. It is easy to get rid of OTHER PEOPLE's stuff, but it takes a bit of effort to get rid of your own stuff.

DUE to medical reasons, an accessibility renovation, and splitting our house in half to accommodate an additional unit, I currently have 50 years of HotWheels and 50 years of Model Railroading, many tools, fasteners etc mostly stored in totes in the garage. That does not mean that I just need to get rid of those items . When I pare down some of this stuff, it will first be organized, valued, and sold... not just tossed or thrifted. When my car / train buddy passed away in 2018, I was able to buy his 100 drawer fasteners cabinet for the garage. I am repurposing the contents to my priorities, but it is a great storage unit for 1000s of hardware bits.

Organizing the stuff, and using the space efficiently, will make all the difference. That is the first step in de-cluttering. There are also several dump runs that ultimately follow .

 

[jaxs]

Just another part of living where it's different strokes for different folks but some want what they want and want you to have what they want you to have but N-E-V-E-R more or better than they have. It doesn't matter much what people think I should have but it raise's my dander when they insert animals while attempting to shame collectors of inanimate posessions,plants and such.
When judgement day arrives I've earned extra lashes for bringing something back home out of the scrapyard when I sell scrap. Speaking of which,woo hoo $290.00 for 3 buckets of brass a few weeks ago. If they put Bud Lite in brass cans I'd become wealthy.

 

[Oaktree]

I am also a sunday hardware store, but mostly for myself. And a late night hardware store. I often work into the evening after everything has closed. Problem is, I'm far from organized.

Most of my "collection" is fairly well organized. The exceptions are those things that seem to be in the way no matter where you store them, and thus get shuffled around a lot. Never can remember the last place I moved it to when I'm looking for it.

 

[jyoutz]

I not only have drawers of nuts, n no lots, screws, and washers that I have collected over the years, but if also have my grandpa’s collection. But why is it that I often still can’t find matching nuts and bolts when I need them? One thing I have noticed is the old stuff from grandpa has a wider range of thread sizes that what is currently sold in most hardware stores. Those older bolts also seem to be more fine thread patterns.

 

[2manyrocks]

The true meaning of hoarder didn't set in with me until I looked at a home for sale 9 months ago. Every room was packed to the brim with stuff like a thrift store warehouse. Literally, there was a path to the bed in the bedroom. Everything had stuff stacked on it. The stuff had stuff stacked on top of stuff. There was so much it was difficult to assess the condition of the house itself.

If they had a fire, there's no way they'd have been able to escape. Another buyer put a contract on the house, but apparently just closed on the sale for a lot less than the list price. I suspect it may have taken the seller that long to clear out the stuff.

 

[sea2summit]

...but it takes a bit of effort to get rid of your own stuff.

DUE to medical reasons, an accessibility renovation,....50 years of Model Railroading, many tools, fasteners etc mostly stored in totes in the garage.

I'll make it easy for you, send those bad boys my way for disposal. Easy peasy.

 

[ljjhouser]

When I retired and decided to become useless, I had racks of steel angle, sheet steel, black iron, tool steel etc. I got the idea of being useless would mean I would no longer build everything. So in an effort to "change direction" , I gave all my stock steel and materials away, removed the rack, and was so proud of myself for doing so (likewise was my wife). Since I have retired, I have spent enough on replacement materials to pay for all my stock and the rack on which they were stored and then some.

 

[Snobdds]

I bet all you hoarders have children that despise the habit.