What to do with it all

[Blaze]

Like Quiksilver, I'm another "clearer outer" living with a hoarder (must be a men's thing ....). My siblings and I were pretty ruthless clearing out my parents' house when my mother died, we took what we wanted and the rest went to auction or house clearance. We have no children, nephews or nieces to leave anything to so goodness knows who will sort out what we leave behind .... presumably the beneficiaries in our wills. Neither of us has ever been an avid collector of ornaments or knick knacks, whether of value or not.

I'm not particularly sentimental about "things" and someone else's (even family) furniture or "stuff" will not necessarily have any meaning to me. I remember my parents wondering what would happen to all their things when they went and they were only too well aware that clearing up after them would be a monster task, which it was ...... We learned that a lot good antique furniture is not be worth what you think it is when you come to sell ...

[niemeyjt]

Another hoarder (me) with a "clearer outer".

I have a load of stuff in storage which, if you apply the two-year rule, should be chucked.

My solution, if I ever retire, is not so much to chuck all the useful items but to try to actually store and label them sensibly so they can be better used once I no longer want/need them.

[Hotrodder]

Like Quiksilver, I'm another "clearer outer" living with a hoarder (must be a men's thing ....). ...............

Ahem....... I've never met a man that hoards shoes, handbags, or kitchen gadgets.

[OTBC]

We took a load of stuff back to the UK last month to go to an auction house(it wasn't our stuff, from a friend who died).

We contacted the auction house online before the visit, with photos, descriptions etc to see if it was worth selling.

Sorted out the "wheat from the chaff", packed it in the car & set off. No receipts for anything...we didn't buy it. We knew that a couple of things were worth a few quid in the UK market.

Our only plan, if questioned, was to say that we were just taking some crap stuff back to a relative in the UK that had left it here.

No one at Calais looked at the stuff.. looked in the car as usual.

No one at Dover looked at the car contents (French small car maybe?).

The rest of the 'stuff" will be put on Vinted.fr to see what happens.

[Polarengineer]

Us lads say, never throw stuff away, it will come in handy one day, even if you never use it.
To organize for those 'left behind' I might lable stuff with my estimate of the value, or what was paid for it and let them decide what to do with it. In the meantime, it's my stuff and I want to be near it.

[MAD87]

@hughnique Our 'stuff' shouldn't be crossing any borders as our children live in France and have done since 1991. They'll have to sell it all on eBay or summat, unless I get to it first....

[niemeyjt]

My father used to buy boxes and toolboxes for workshop things - sadly he seemed to forget what he had bought and buy a second . . . and then not put anything in either.

Someone once said you cannot have too many tools - having sorted out his dozen Dremel-style drills I can confirm they were wrong!

[curtis]

When we moved from a large country house into town a few years ago, I was faced with having to sort through a huge amount of car stuff. That helped to reduce things.When we moved to France 25 years ago I had hired separate truck that I loaded with car spares.
But, during covid I spent a while being realistic. There was so much stuff that didn't fit the cars I now have and I decided to take a fair amount to the déchetterie. I have since sold a lot at several bourses. Tomorrow is another clear out. A large collection of pictures , framed posters, enamel signs. There just isn't room to put them all up in the workshop.

[Quiksilver]

Like Quiksilver, I'm another "clearer outer" living with a hoarder (must be a men's thing ....). ...............

Ahem....... I've never met a man that hoards shoes, handbags, or kitchen gadgets.

Overruled They're all totally essential items! Well, apart from the handbags.....

[Naylor's Ark]

Like Quiksilver, I'm another "clearer outer" living with a hoarder (must be a men's thing ....). ...............

Ahem....... I've never met a man that hoards shoes, handbags, or kitchen gadgets.

My husband has more shoes than me and almost as many bags! (Of the male variety)