One Frugal Thing -- Garbage is Not an Inheritance
1) My husband and I finally completed the work on his late parents' crammed full storage unit! In the end it took four long days, two donations trips to the Habitat ReStore, three full trips to the dump, a car load of broken furniture to a kid to be restored, (which he'll keep) multiple items brought home to deal with later, (sigh . . . ) and a couple things left in place for my brother-in-law to pick up later in the week.
Our poor minivan!
As a reminder, this job was in addition to the months of backbreaking work my husband did in 2024 to clear out and tackle their house's delayed maintenance in the name of readying it for sale. Luckily he's not an only child. Unlucky that the house was two-and-a-half hours away, which necessitated pricey hotel stays.
The shelving units were riddled with hidden bug sacks, so they got dismantled and dumped into our backyard. We'll hose them down and reassemble them for our own basement storage.
Mind you, not as an excuse to cleverly store more stuff than necessary! We're thinking baseball, hockey, ski, cycling and soccer equipment, as well as the necessary life supplies that need to be kept on hand.
This is no kind of inheritance to leave for your descendants. People joke about the "Millennial inheritance," but really it's every generation.
As a reminder this was the before.
I'm good about not holding onto capital "S" Stuff. but I could do better. Our 1914 house is pretty big, which means it can hold onto a surprising amount of Stuff before it appears cluttered. This experience has motivated me to do another sweep through the house to see what can go.
Wish me luck!
In the end I'm just happy that my husband no longer has this physically and emotionally demanding chore looming over him. Saying bye-bye to shelling out $137/month for storage is just the cherry on top of the sundae!
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Buh-bye storage unit, gross broken things, and bug sacks ... and am I the only one with "Love Shack" in my head now, but replacing the words "Bug Sack" ?? Maybe just me.
Good job, Katy!
Congratulations on a job well done, Katy and Mr. NCA!
One of my relatives had a situation similar to yours. His dad was a junk collector with a capital J. Found all kinds of bargains at the freight-yard salvage place. Which he bought and never used. I don't think you could've put another item, even a toothpick, in the dad's 2-car garage and outdoor shed. The son was an only child, and when his parents died, it took him over 2 years to clean out everything. He even found a soldier's mess kit from World War ONE!( Complete with a unopened can of Spam, K-rations or MREs....or whatever they called it back then.) He ended up selling it on eBay, Spam and all.
Today I went to the thrift store to see if I could find the matching bottom (skirt or slacks) to the dressy jacket I bought from them in last month's bag sale. No such luck. But I got some of their free books, which promptly went to a LFL in the slums. A lot of people in the 'hood don't have transportation to this thrift store or to the public library, so I try to help out when I can.
I've been doing more cleaning out and donated items to this thrift store, Salv. Army and Goodwill. The latter gave me their 20% discount coupon. I have several coupons, but will give some to my cleaning lady who recently moved to a duplex near a Goodwill store.
Found some already-read paperbacks in good cond. in my closet boxes. Went to the used book store to trade 'em in. They only accepted one, but it brings my total up to $22 in credit. (Nobody gives cash around here.) The others got donated to the thrift stores and LFL and public library for its book sale.
Washed the car, took off the old fading bumper stickers and put a new one on. It says: "Had enough? Vote Democrat!" In all capital letters.
"Slums" is widely considered offensive.
I applaud the work you've done. It sure is good incentive, isn't it, not to leave the same kind of inheritance for your children.
I live in a small condo, and do not rent a storage unit. I do have a unit (free) in the basement of our building, but most of the stuff in it is what my DIL's mother left behind when she died. I am storing it as a favor to my DIL until she is ready to deal with it.
Little by little, I am getting rid of stuff, anyway. Thank goodness I don't seem to have the hoarding gene. I don't get that at all.
I'm happy for you and Mr. NCA that chapter is over. Your before and after photographs say it all.
1. In that vein, a friend offered me her set of china from the 1970s. Full place settings for 25 people! I never have 25 people over. While kind of her, not only will I probably never use it, I have no place to store it except the cellar or the attic where, let's face it, it will just sit. I am in my late 60s and am presently doing the Swedish Death Cleaning thing.
2. I just finished a library book, The Women by Kristin Hannah. Highly recommend.
3. I hung out 2 loads of laundry this morning.
4. I walked a get well card up to my neighbors' house to save a stamp after hearing the husband broke his hip during a fall.
5. I have tiny little green tomatoes on my plant and I would guesstimate hundreds of small unripe raspberries on the Raspberry patch bushes. I got sick of paying for my favorite fruit so I planted ONE Raspberry bush which has morphed into a moderate sized patch in about ten years.
Congrats on getting the storage unit emptied! We just emptied out my mom's and sold what we could at a yard sale, and got a reseller to come and take the rest away. She'd put this stuff in a storage barn at a relatives house 25 years ago when she moved out of state, and didnt want most of it once she got settled in, but also didnt want to deal with it because it was so overwhelming. But its all gone now so I won't have to deal with it down the road. Hurray!
Loud cheers for you and Mr. NCA on reaching this milestone, Katy. As you know, you're preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned. There's no way I'm going to leave the magnitude of mess for my own executor that NDN1 has left for me, CF, and her nephew.
What a thrill to see that nearly-clear storage unit!
My friend dropped off a bunch of things for me to sell or donate, I get to keep the profit. I'm always thankful for those loads.
Ate some fresh tomatoes from my garden. Seeds were free. Rainwater (collected) was free.
Worked my volunteer gig where I receive the support of many like minded people, while providing food for my community at the same time. My mother is headed to assisted living and I received so much encouragement today.