When is it Trash?

[Bull]

I need help in this area. I have a decent amount of space, but still feel cluttered because I think I just keep too much stuff. This applies to my basement and my two barns. Old books that I think I might look at again one day, molding cut-offs from the rooms I have remodeled, old lumber that might get used some day, all kinds of knick knacks. How the heck do you guys decide to toss something? I always get caught up in the train of thought that makes me ask "what if I need this some day?" It's a problem, and I'd like to simplify things if I could!

Thanks for any wisdom.

 

[krusty the clown]

i usually toss something within 3 day's of needing it.....

 

[goodfellow]

i usually toss something within 3 day's of needing it.....

Ironically, I have had the exact experience way too many times. I toss it and within just a few days/weeks I need it.

It must be a "Karma" thing?

 

[rburke65]

It's ALL Treasure!!

 

[Bull]

Well, if you guys keep everything, too, then how do you prevent your spaces (basements, barns, garages) from being so full that they are a hassle to use?!

 

[Question]

I have the same problem. I have so much stuff that when I start looking for it and cant find it, I go and buy some new ones and them find what I was looking for a week after I needed it...

I bet I have some molding that matches yours...

 

[Jbullfrog]

Just build a storage shed.

 

[rsanter]

I have the same problem as the rest of you. I keep it because I might need it, it takes up space that I would like to have for something else. and when I do get rid of it I generally need it or find I could have sold it within a short time after getting rid of it....

I would say that you need to look at the stuff in a coyple of ways.
what is the PROBIBILITY that I will need it

what is the value verses the ease of replacing the item compaired to the value of the space it is taking

bob

 

[bugdust]

I think we all have this problem. I generally go through the shop about once a year and force myself to throw out a few things. It's never enough and, like the rest of you, I end up needing it two weeks later.

At work, we go by the 6-month rule (although it's really more of a 12-18 month rule): If you haven't used it in the last 6 months, toss it. There are, of course, exceptions to any rule. Specialty stuff, hard-to-replace or expensive stuff, etc.

I think if you organize it well it will be easier to figure out what is a keeper and what is trash. I want to label everything in my shop at some point.

"A place for everything, everything in it's place"

 

[Stuart in MN]

I did a major cleanout of my basement the summer before last, and threw away 90% of the old wood scraps and other similar trash I had been saving for twenty years because I thought I'd use it someday.

I haven't missed any of it.

 

[Tantara]

About once a year I get fed up and start cleaning. A lot of times if I just organize better I can fit a lot of stuff in a smaller space.( add shelves) It also helps if I clean up after myself as I go. Thirdly I have started to be more honest with myself and I am realizing some projects are not going to get done so I have been removing them from the shed.

sell, give away or throw away.

I like working in my shed so much more when I can find things that it doesn't bother me if I have to buy an item or two.

Brad

 

[tatra]

cleaning up for me has become "rotating stock"..................

 

[Junkman]

I send mine to Question's garage...........

 

[Hellcat6]

Move. Do that a couple of times and you will quickly start getting rid of stuff you don't need when you have to pay to move it cross country! Start donating stuff and you will get the bug to do it more often, helps people who could use a hand and gets the **** our of your garage so you stop tripping over it.

 

[JakeD]

I pour through everything once a year, and if I haven't used it since last year, I seriously consider getting rid of it. Especially if I seriously considered it already the time before.

I pretty much donate all of mine to Good Will and write the value off my taxes. I like how simple and fast donating is, I get some value out of it, and it may help someone else out too.

 

[Frank Elson]

I have a clear up every now and again, usually end up building new storage shelves or coming up with a better idea. Then I toss some stuff and, like everyone else, end up needing it shortly afterwards.

 

[Frank Elson]

sorry, I dhould have added. Moving everything around, finding new storage ideas is an excellent way of finding things you'd forgotten you had, so then if you do need it you remember you have it.

 

[Question]

The other problem is that when you go in and pull out something that you stored for 20 years it seems to justify saving all that other stuff...........not

Yes I do have some of Junks junk......no not that kind

 

[billspit]

I use a one year rule for most of my stuff. Tools are of course exempt. I too tend to keep wood products, fittings, pieces fo pipe, old light fixtures, any scrap metal etc. Problem is, when I need something, I often can't find it, so i buy it again. Then I find it later. I've ditched a lot of my old magazines and books, because the internet is usually a better source than 20 year old publications.

 

[tdkkart]

Part of the solution is to not collect ****, especially used ****, in the first place. Do not buy something that you do not have an immediate use for.
"Yes, but it's a deal and someday I'm gonna build me a thingy."

Fine, when the day comes that you're finally gonna build the thingy go buy the parts.
Yes, it may end up slightly more expensive, but only for that one thingy. If you think about all the **** you've bought and thrown away, or it rots into un-useability, before using it you've wasted alot of money.

When you get done with a project, throw away the scraps,NOW. Who's ever gonna use an old brake rotor or a used tailpipe??
"But I'll save it and haul it for scrap later."
Yes, and unless it's in a designated area you're gonna have **** all over. Get rid of it now.

There's guy around the corner from my last place, collected every old clapped out Subaru he could get hold of. Took off all the removeable "good" parts and scrapped the rest.
WTF for?? The car you just scrapped was junk cuz it was a rotted out hulk. Guess what, so are all the rest of them that are left, damn few people wil be stopping by for a motor or trans out of an 80's Subaru.
He enjoyed tinkering with stuff, and had a decent building, but usually ended up working on his good stuff outside because his shop was full of ****.

Jump over to the hotrodders bulletin board. There's a couple guys over there that go through strings of old **** projects, work on them for awhile and then dump them for a loss. They'll always complain they can't afford anything decent.
Maybe it's because they are spending all their money on ****??

Too many people get caught up in this trap, and they die without getting rid of 1/10 of it all. They do nothing but leave their relatives with a mess.

 

[Bull]

When you get done with a project, throw away the scraps,NOW. Who's ever gonna use an old brake rotor or a used tailpipe??

This part has me laughing quite a bit...sounds funny, but people really do save stuff like that!

 

[nonhog]

I'm trying to set rules on that sort of thing . Most important if I cant store it in an organized manner better rethink keeping it.

Since I am still organizing my shop , I'm saving alot of stuff because it *****
running to the hardware store to grab something . Takes the wind out of my sails too often.

Maybe we should start a "should I trash this?" thread
Already have something in mind, picture tonite .

 

[alkemyst]

when it is now getting in my way and I don't have a project lined up for it.

 

[Bull]

I spent a bit of time this afternoon cleaning the basement. I took all the larger pieces of wood and trim that I might need in the rooms I am renovating and brought them to my barn. The smaller stuff is getting thrown out. Also identified maybe 30% of the books on a shelf down there as trash. Still way too much stuff!

How do you get rid of old cleaner, spray paint, gallon pant etc.?

 

[rsanter]

the other method I use is if I do not know when I will need it I will store it away in a far off corner out of my way
then a few years later when I do have a use for it I cannot remember where I put it and I cannot find it.
so I buy another one

bob

 

[gunguy]

Too many people get caught up in this trap, and they die without getting rid of 1/10 of it all. They do nothing but leave their relatives with a mess.[/QUOTE]

Amen brother. When Dad died and I was cleaning out the house to prep Mom's move to assisted living, I found boxes and boxes and boxes of old staff notes, blue prints, JUNK (not even in the catagory of "I might use sometime").

Why did he keep this stuff? I don't know except that maybe that it was part of his identity as a career Air Force officer. I don't think he ever went through that stuff since the day he retired. Did I go through it before tossing it? Yes. Made at least 20 runs to the dump with a full pick-up truck each time.

My sister-in-law must have at least 30 years of National Geographic magazines stacked in the garage taking up space because she might use them for "something". By the time she finds a use, the mice, bugs and the Georgia humidity will have ruined them, if they haven't done so already. Heck the Salvation Army and Goodwill won't even take encyclopedias anymore. Stuff like this I give to the church so the Sunday school kids can cut out the pictures.

If it's not cataloged and orginized, you're an accumulator instead of a collector. I have to fight it all the time. It will bury you.

Good luck,

Jim

 

[Junkman]

I wouldn't think of telling anyone else what to do, when I have a habit of keeping way too many things that I should have gotten rid of a long time ago. I will however, relay a story about someone that I know that bought a used rolling tool box this past fall. He is the type that doesn't keep anything after he is through with a project. He also isn't the type of person that does his own work, but has people come into his workshop to do the old car repairs as needed, or has the car taken to there shop. Getting back to this tool chest, that he bought.... Someone was moving out of a storage unit where he works, and he saw the box outside. Out of curiosity, he went over, and asked if the fellow wanted to sell it. The guy said yes, and they agreed on a price. It was full of both Snap-On and Craftsman tools. This friend of mine told me about the purchase about a week later. Since all his cars are old, and only use fractional sockets, and wrenches, he threw all the Metric stuff into the dumpster. I did get a few sockets that were in a drawer that he had missed. I just shook my head in disgust, and he thinks that I am crazy to have wanted these "old Metric tools". His comment to me was "you already have all the tools you need, and didn't need these." Last week, he changed some switches that were perfectly good, and replaced them with all new. He threw all the old ones away, since he didn't have any use for them.. I could have used them in my restoration....

 

[WH0DAMAN]

Too many people get caught up in this trap, and they die without getting rid of 1/10 of it all. They do nothing but leave their relatives with a mess.

This is my dad. He is always asking me if he can use my shop to work on his truck. Thats because his garage is FULL of ****. I cannot believe what he keeps. It's a sickness. I have threatend to drop off a dumpster and just chuck it all. He about has a heart attach when I say that. I back off because if he does have a heart attack, I will be cleaning by myself I dont forsee it being cleaned out anytime soon.

 

[ket-tek]

I'm glad to see I'm not alone. I've been stashing away 'usable' **** for years and have many times worked on a cars in the gravel driveway because the bay was to messy to pull a car in..

Seems that about every 6 months I would get mad and go on a "cleaning spree" and basiclly just reorganize my junk, and move some of the bulkier items into the crawlspace.. Outta site outta mind. I'd barely fill up 1 trash can..

I've been through three moves in the past 6 years and AFTER finally building a new house with a 3 bay that I'm gonna own for quite a while and getting excited about finishing it out nicely like many of you guys have I decided to clean house and took 4 trailer loads of car parts and misc lumber to the dump. Most of the stuff had not been used since the first house and It makes me sick how I busted my **** (and back) moving most of that **** 3 times!

I'm trying to turn a new leaf and stop collecting. It was tough and it's only a fraction of the stuff, I had to mentally push my self to stop thinking of uses for some of it and just ditch it! It feels great afterwards I don't miss it.

I think about building another shed to store the junk, but that's another project that will produce more 'valuable extras' and push my time and money goals of finishing the current garage off even further..

Good Luck!
-Don't think about it, just trash it..

 

[Bull]

What about cardboard boxes? I have a lot of these, and they take up a lot of space. I have a bunch of car parts I am slowly selling, and I have saved all these boxes for shipping. In the past, I have gotten rid of boxes and then been stuck with a bulky or oddly shaped part and no good box to ship it in.

Anyone have that problem solved?

 

[Brad54]

I come from a long line of pack rats. My great aunt and uncle's farm in Henry County, Illinois is a legend.

My grandmother's house had a 2-day auction. On the first day, we hauled stuff out onto the lawn, and all day long people said "I can't believe all this fit in that house!" to which we replied "Come back tomorrow--what you see is only half of it."

We found 3 army foot lockers packed to the bring with canceled checks. from HER father! I'm not kidding.

Recently, my father told me he has ALL of his tax files, going back to his first job. WHY?! "Well, some day I might want to look thru it." What the hell for?!

As far as "stuff" goes, I'm horrible too, and like most of you, I have too much stuff, and when I throw it away, I need it a couple weeks later.

Scrap metal goes on a pile next to my shop. I load it up and haul it away a few times a year.

Scrap wood: I've got problems with that. It gets stored here and there, and is usually in the way, but when I need it, I'm glad I've got it. I don't have a storage method yet, but check in the woodworking magazines at Home Depot: they very frequently have storage systems and solutions for organizing left-over wood.

And I also read a tip in one that said "don't obsess over every scrap of wood. Have a few for projects, and throw the rest in your wood stove." Great advise. I'm burning my brush this weekend, and will be throwing a bunch of old lumber on it.

Parts: A friend gave me a great bit of advise; if it's too good to throw away, but not good enough to keep, just go ahead and throw it away. As car guys, we ALL have stuff that falls into that category. It was great advise when I moved, and it's still good advise. I've thrown out a good bit of stuff, but I've also kept a bunch of things too. But what I've kept isn't random ****, it's parts that I know I will use, even if it's just "some day."

My problem right now is that I am horribly unorganized, and my shop and garage aren't finished... which means nothing is "set up," it's just "stashed there, in a manner I can work with it. Sort of."

Dad is coming down in April to help finish the shop and get it organized with me.

-Brad

 

[Brad54]

What about cardboard boxes? I have a lot of these, and they take up a lot of space. I have a bunch of car parts I am slowly selling, and I have saved all these boxes for shipping. In the past, I have gotten rid of boxes and then been stuck with a bulky or oddly shaped part and no good box to ship it in.

Anyone have that problem solved?

No. I've got a stand-up shower stall in the basement (not hooked up yet... one more thing for the great "some day" project of finishing the basement). I neatly stack them in there, nesting as many as I can in one another.
I just threw out a lot of gimpy, thin or damaged boxes--probably a solid third of them, and I still have a lot of boxes. Throw out half of them, and you won't miss them. At least that was my recent experience.

-Brad

 

[russlaferrera]

I collect quality junk. That means I save/buy bulk items on sale/clearance. I just picked up 2 gal. on tar, for $.50, 2 gal of PVC cement $1.00. The list goes on and on. Yes great prices . But I am not a plumber . What am I going to do with 2 gallons of PVC cement? Tar?

 

[Bull]

My problem right now is that I am horribly unorganized, and my shop and garage aren't finished... which means nothing is "set up," it's just "stashed there, in a manner I can work with it. Sort of."
-Brad

Man, that hits it on the head for me. My barn still needs to be finished inside, too. So, until I insulate and apply the interior wall covering, I can't really put things in their proper place and organize. It is driving me NUTS!!

 

[WSMC633]

My Biz Partner is somewhat of a pack-rat. I replace a part on a bike, chuck the old one. Come back 2 hours later and it's out of the trash sitting on the bench. So once he leaves I go out and throw it in the dumpster. Why do I need a jacked up engine case cover? if it was good why are we replacing it?

My dad saved everything. So seeing the mess kind of cured me of it. When I'm done with a project most left over stuff gets junked or recycled. It's generally my mission to keep the shop clean and orderly. I keep a dozen or so chunks of 2x4 around, metal scraps that seem useable etc. but that's about it. I don't need my junk to own me.

 

[boiler7904]

If I haven't used it in the last year and don't see a possible use for it the next year, it's gone. It may go to a relative, garage sale, goodwill donation, etc. but it gets out of my garage. My garage is off limits to my wife when it comes to storage. She can keep her car and mountain bike in there. She has the house and attic for her stuff.

My general rule with scrap wood is anything less than 24" gets burnt in the backyard fire pit. The exception to that rule is that I keep a 6" or so piece of each type of molding that I use in my house to have something to take with me to the store if I need to get additional material later.

 

[Vernmotor]

I just give stuff to my friends..that way if I do need it .I know where it at ! LOL

 

[JOHNMAN]

I moved.

When I was packing my "good trash" and throwing out the "trash trash", I found a local recycling place (actually I made my wife find it, but who is counting). The recycling place took all kinds of hazardous waste.

Paint (gallons, spray bombs, etc.)
Used Motor Oil
Used Antifreeze
Lead Wheel Weights
Tires
Cardboard Boxes
Steel Scraps
Glass

I should have found that place a long long time before I moved.

I have vowed not to collect as much junk here at my new shop. I can dispose of all my own used motor oil. The new shop came with a waste oil heater. Now I can get rid of old motor oil and stay warm. It really helps supplement the fuel costs for my shop. I can collect waste oil all summer and burn it in the winter. It has a 200+ gallon reservoir.

I also found a great web site during our move to get rid of old unused stuff.....

Craigslist.

I was able to have people come out to the house and haul away stuff that I would have paid to have disposed. Sometimes I actually charged some money for it. Lots of things could be gone the very next day.

 

[Kev442]

All good advice. I saved stuff for 10 years at the old house, piled willy nilly everywhere. Was all going to be organized at the new house. Been here 12 years and still haven't gotten to some of it. I am interested in way too many things, I guess. Woodwoking, Automotive, all DIY things.
I am getting better. The woodstove has converted quite a bit of scrap to heat. I decided I was never going to be interested in a certain year range of cars again and gave away an entire van load of parts with the car when sold. I have organized tools to their spots and built the workbench and pegboard. I bought 2 large 4 tray roll around carts for all the bigger things in the garage that would get tossed in the corners. Camping gear got its own shelves in the corner. I've got a ways to go, but feel better in the last year as things get completed. Feeling overwhelmed? Walk around and fill a trash can, it won't take long. Try and tell if you can even see a difference. The answer will be no, and that's a motivator to go farther, sooner. We recently hauled 4 van loads out of the basements at work, what a difference that made!

 

[mad57]

I give most away to my pack rat buddys and my dad , of course they never throw it out so i know where to find it with out storing it?:?)