Where do you start???

[Brainchild]

Spring cleanup is this month,where the city will pick up all the old appliances,and junk for free instead of thier normal $15 removal fee.

So I open the door of the garage,which I can't hardly walk through because of my pack rat habits,and stand there looking at all the good stuff I have collected and kept and wonder "What am I going to throw away this year?"

Last year everything that didn't work,and cost more to fix than a new one got tossed,and now I'm faced with this problem.Everything in here works this year.And I'm not one to throw something away,but I'm gonna have to have a storage building if this stuff don't go!Besides I'm told there is room for 2 cars in the garage,but I can't see it right now.I mean I have 2 upright pianos in here WHY?!?!

SO how do you decide if you're gonna keep it or throw it away,or donate it to the second hand store.I mean what is the proper method in this case?

Obviously I haven't used it in a year,and some of this stuff is leaving cause I don't want it anymore.I think I'll start a pile in the alley for all the broken stuff,and pile all the working stuff in front of the house with a free sign in front of it.And then have it all hauled off on the 24th.

Anyone else have Packrat Problems like i do?And how do you force yourself to break the cycle?

[truckpuller]

I myself would start with the wife and kids

Only kidding there

Well i dont have a garage and i dont have a shed so that way i cant keep nothing and dont have to worry about getting rid of anything. If it needs replaceing then i throw old out a keep the new dont have nowhere to keep anything.

[Brainchild]

Well that's too easy

[vass0922]

Where do you start?!?!
Why at the beginning of course!

Best way to beat the packrat thing?
Let somebody ELSE decide what goes!!
G/f gets on my case because I keep around my boxes from geek stuff I buy
No I can't throw it away

[Brainchild]

Wellthat's perfectly understandable.

I threw away the box to my digital camera,and even though I had the reciept,manual,cables,CD,Charger,Mem Card,and Case,Wally World still wouldn't exchange it

They finally did after a week of calling the main office,and yelling at a bunch of people.I keep all my boxes now

[jman01pa]

If I havent used it in a year, it goes bye bye. If the items worth something without repair then yard sale it, donate it or give it away. If its broken or after 2 weeks I cant do one of the above three then it goes in the trash.

I have moved too many times in my life and learned what I need to keep and what I dont.

[StealthyV]

I'm experiencing the same problem, but in my room at home. my family has been in the same house for over 23 years (I'm 22yrs old) and I have stuff from my childhood in there.

it's basically soo cluttered I can't walk in there, and it's getting to be a problem, especially since I recently moved home from college. I filled a garbage bag already with stuff I don't want and managed to give it the ol heave-ho.

my advice is to acknowledge the sentimental value of your stuff, and then move on. pack it up, put a ribbon on the dent and try to sell it. old appliances can be sold (though I'm not sure to WHOM) on eBay or at a tag sale. toasters are great collectibles and lots of people are interested in buying them.

my latest plan is that next week (my parents are going away) I'm going to move all the stuff from my room down into our family room/den and pick through what I want to keep and what I want to go. I hope to get rid of 75% of the junk.

gl!

~Branson