4 ms·

I have several large boxes that haven't been opened in 2-3 moves. I still can't persuade myself to get rid of them.

abstractbill 17y ago
I moved from the UK to the US in 2003, with just a couple of bags of stuff. I threw away a bunch of my possessions when I moved, and the stuff I couldn't bear to throw away, I left in storage in the UK. On one of my trips back, I found a few big boxes full of my stuff and really couldn't remember what was in them. I'd been out of the country for a couple of years by that point, and clearly hadn't actually missed whatever was in these boxes. I threw them away without even opening them - still have no idea what they contained ;)
- dlib 17y ago
  That sort of sums up my rule. If I haven't used it in the past five years, I toss it out. It's only rarely that I come across something that I threw away earlier. Only exception to this rule is books and I doubt that'll change.
  - kscaldef 17y ago
    You might be surprised. I used to think I would never get rid of any books. At some point after N moves and a decade of my decor being dominated by bookshelves I decided I no longer needed to own every book I had ever read in my life. I sold most of my text books on Amazon, except for my intro college science texts which I gave, along with most of my pop-sci books, to someone who worked with gifted high school students so he could pass them along. Most of the rest of the books went to a local used bookstore, or to the library. I kept my favorite books by my favorite authors; only the stuff I was sure I would reread. And, it turns out, I don't miss any of the books I got rid of.
Sukotto 17y ago
I had this problem too. We had a whole closet filled floor to ceiling with boxes of stuff that hadn't been unpacked in over 5 years. One Saturday afternoon, I pulled a box at a time out of the storage closet and the wife and I unpacked it onto the livingroom floor. Each item either: 1) Got placed in the "we will use it within 3 months" 2) Can sell for at least $20 3) Freecycle / Goodwill / Salvation Army 4) Trash I made 10 trips to our dumpster and 2 to Goodwill. (Am now working on selling the $20/each items) What am amazing relief. I had no idea how much that huge pile of boxes was weighing down the back of my mind. So far, we've encountered 2 things we regretted ditching. Honestly though, the only reason we regret it is that we know we had those things. If we hadn't unpacked those boxes I would almost certainly have bought them simply because I didn't even remember they were in a box "just in case I need it someday"
- Sukotto 17y ago
  Too late to edit/fix. Each of those points above was, one of (contractor garbage bag | large rubbermaid bin | pile on the dinner table)

I moved from the UK to the US in 2003, with just a couple of bags of stuff. I threw away a bunch of my possessions when I moved, and the stuff I couldn't bear to throw away, I left in storage in the UK. On one of my trips back, I found a few big boxes full of my stuff and really couldn't remember what was in them. I'd been out of the country for a couple of years by that point, and clearly hadn't actually missed whatever was in these boxes. I threw them away without even opening them - still have no idea what they contained ;)

dlib 17y ago
That sort of sums up my rule. If I haven't used it in the past five years, I toss it out. It's only rarely that I come across something that I threw away earlier. Only exception to this rule is books and I doubt that'll change.
- kscaldef 17y ago
  You might be surprised. I used to think I would never get rid of any books. At some point after N moves and a decade of my decor being dominated by bookshelves I decided I no longer needed to own every book I had ever read in my life. I sold most of my text books on Amazon, except for my intro college science texts which I gave, along with most of my pop-sci books, to someone who worked with gifted high school students so he could pass them along. Most of the rest of the books went to a local used bookstore, or to the library. I kept my favorite books by my favorite authors; only the stuff I was sure I would reread. And, it turns out, I don't miss any of the books I got rid of.

Sukotto 17y ago

I had this problem too. We had a whole closet filled floor to ceiling with boxes of stuff that hadn't been unpacked in over 5 years. One Saturday afternoon, I pulled a box at a time out of the storage closet and the wife and I unpacked it onto the livingroom floor. Each item either: 1) Got placed in the "we will use it within 3 months" 2) Can sell for at least $20 3) Freecycle / Goodwill / Salvation Army 4) Trash I made 10 trips to our dumpster and 2 to Goodwill. (Am now working on selling the $20/each items) What am amazing relief. I had no idea how much that huge pile of boxes was weighing down the back of my mind. So far, we've encountered 2 things we regretted ditching. Honestly though, the only reason we regret it is that we know we had those things. If we hadn't unpacked those boxes I would almost certainly have bought them simply because I didn't even remember they were in a box "just in case I need it someday"

Sukotto 17y ago
Too late to edit/fix. Each of those points above was, one of (contractor garbage bag | large rubbermaid bin | pile on the dinner table)