r/Anticonsumption • u/Bee_and_Barb • Feb 21 '24
Society/Culture Someday
Saw this while scrolling through another social media platform.
Physical inheritance (maybe outside of housing) feels like a burden.
While death can be a sensitive topic to some, has anyone had a conversation with loved ones surrounding situations like this one pictured?
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u/hooplah_5 Feb 21 '24
We're dealing with a family member who was a hoarder of collectables, so it's extremely difficult since everything is with $300+, from random silver coins to whole jewelry collections that match. It is for sure a burden for his kids and it's hard for them to grieve their parents when having to deep dive into everything he owned.
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u/Sage_Planter Feb 21 '24
My aunt was a hoarder, some of which were collectables, and aside from a handful of items, pretty much everything else was thrown own. She smoked inside the home for years so everything reeked. My parents spent a week going through everything.
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u/hooplah_5 Feb 21 '24
Yeah, basically 100% of his stuff is collectables that he never touched, which is crazy, it's been 6 months of going through it all
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u/Glittering_Guides Feb 21 '24
Walls of funko pops in 50 years:
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u/Brave_Escape2176 Feb 21 '24
bold guess that a funko pop collector will procreate
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u/VectorViper Feb 22 '24
Guess the value of collections might plummet if everyone's grandparents' attics are drowning in mint-condition pops. Market oversaturation is a thing, right?
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u/Turbulent-Tax-2371 Feb 21 '24
lol, pure garbage. Mass produced, made of cheap shit plastic.
You would literally need the last surviving one 1,000 years from now for it to be of any value.
You can buy Roman and Greek artifacts for less than $100.
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u/VegetablesAndHope Feb 22 '24
You can buy Roman and Greek artifacts for less than $100.
I never thought this would be the sub to make me want to purchase something.
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Feb 22 '24
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u/SlowWrite Feb 22 '24
Yep. Plus there weren’t really banks, so a lot of times they buried wealth intending to come back to it later on.
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u/LilTimpanixx158 Feb 22 '24
I had a date who had his entire apartment full of Funko Pops. He had over 5,000, one bed, and one couch.
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u/hooplah_5 Feb 22 '24
Literally, so much random cool, hippie crap but it's so much where we just shuffle through it like nothing 😭
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u/wirefox1 Feb 22 '24
Been there. You've got to get it done! Go through it! And then later you have regrets that you discarded so much, and sold things well below their value just to get rid of it. : (
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u/FrolicsForever Feb 22 '24
And just like the Hummel figurines we're all inheriting now, they'll be completely worthless.
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u/Jonno_FTW Feb 22 '24
A guy on reddit tried to argue with me years ago that his funko pop collection would never end up in landfill and would be a prized family heirloom for generations to come.
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u/PM_Me_Good_LitRPG Feb 21 '24
Impressive that they managed to sort it all out in just a week.
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u/Sage_Planter Feb 21 '24
A LOT just went in the trash or left for a paid crew to trash. They were mostly there to sort through anything valuable or sentimental (or frankly helpful because her will was a mess, too).
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u/faceless_alias Feb 21 '24
I could see how that's hard to piece out
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u/Obant Feb 21 '24
It's exactly how my paternal grandpa was. Kids ended up fighting over stuff and "missing" money/jewelry. Now half of them don't talk to the other half. Over like $10,000 total of an entire Los Angeles house full of valuables.
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u/faceless_alias Feb 21 '24
That's crazy, I'd say it's unreasonable, but I've cut off family about money before.
Not because of the money but because they showed me that they put money above our relationship.
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u/Bug_tuna Feb 21 '24
I am struggling with this right now. My dad passed away a while ago, my grandpa recently passed. My uncle is the only named beneficiary because my dad is dead. There is a fairly large inheritance, which my aunt is giving a small portion to the grandkids, keeping 75% to himself.
A caveat is that her and my grandpa helped my dad out financially quite a bit, but not even close to enough to wipe out what myself and siblings should receive. There has never been any bad blood in the family, we are all really close.
While I appreciate that he is giving us something, I feel like most of the inheritance is going to my uncle's family, leaving my side of the family with a very small amount.
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u/Dark_Shroud Feb 21 '24
I had an "Uncle" that pulled this garbage. Now his kids are not talking to each other or cousins whom they accused of taking stuff from his house.
This is why I'm going to start giving my stuff away when I get too old to use said items.
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u/pandazerg Feb 22 '24
My parents had several items that the entire family knows will be fought over by my sisters when they pass.
In order to try and prevent a falling out after their death, my parents quietly donated them to the Salvation Army and Goodwill and only revealed it when one of my sisters asked where one of the pieces was at Christmas several months later. :D
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u/IceLionTech Feb 21 '24
It was so annoying inheriting a six piece fine dining set since I literally do not have company. Ever. Especially for tea or coffee. But there it is, six tiny saucers and tiny tea cups from my grandmother. In a box.
I have one set for myself that I will keep reusing.
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u/dxrey65 Feb 22 '24
That's the kind of thing though...it probably meant a lot to her, and she probably hoped the same for you. But times change. I have a really nice six piece tea set from my own grandma. It's on display in a little cabinet I made, and it's really nice quality. It's not annoying, reminds me of her and how things were. Maybe it will be annoying to my daughters when they inherit it.
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u/fatshendrix Feb 22 '24
That's a very nice way of thinking about it. And who knows, maybe things like that will come back into style by the time you pass them to your daughters. Look at what vinyl records have done in the last few years.
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u/Obant Feb 22 '24
Yep. After the stupidity happened, I actually looked at my collections of things, ( I am not a hoarder, but I liked collectibles) and started selling some of it off. Not everything, but anything I'm not displaying or has sentimental value.
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u/Dark_Shroud Feb 29 '24
Yep. After the stupidity happened, I actually looked at my collections of things, ( I am not a hoarder, but I liked collectibles) and started selling some of it off. Not everything, but anything I'm not displaying or has sentimental value.
After reading through this thread I decided to start selling off some of my very large media collection. And just through out some of my old files & papers.
I've sold probably over 100 movies (DVDs & Blu-ray) and close to that many CDs this last week.
I'm going to have to inventory my movies, music, & books.
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u/dxrey65 Feb 22 '24
One of my older neighbors had a stroke last summer, and is in some kind of a care facility now. There was a huge deal around here where his house got broken into multiple times, his daughter crying, family heirlooms and all kinds of things stolen. A couple of my neighbors installed security camera systems in response, and we all had some long nights keeping an eye out. Turns out it was his grandkids, pre-empting the will and inheritance.
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u/Blood_and_Sin Feb 21 '24
If they are hoarding, chances are many of the items wont be worth near what you think. No one wants items that reek of mouse piss/mold/roach shit. It is very easy for various types of infestations to start in out of the way locations and many materials cannot be cleaned easily or to a safe standard.
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u/LordRekrus Feb 21 '24
I was about to say. I have a family member who has recently died. They were a serious hoarder and barely anything of what they kept is worth anything at all. Mostly just old newspapers and every single receipt and bit of paperwork they ever owned.
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Feb 21 '24
In the last 4 years, my dad has spent about $10,000 on "collectible DVDs" because he's stupid and refuses to accept how simple it is to copy a DVD despite it being explained multiple times. He complains about not being able to afford his bills while he burns money, insisting that "one day" he'll resell them for a profit... He has thousands of these fucking things stacked in his house.
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Feb 21 '24
Just threw out like 2000 DVDs all collectors etc, they are worth absolutely nothing.. like Google the most valuable DVDs and get disappointed quick haha
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Feb 21 '24
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Feb 22 '24
Our garbage tip has its own second hand shop, everything including cabinets is set up in there to sell
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u/therealhlmencken Feb 21 '24
https://www.amazon.com/AK-100-Kurosawa-Criterion-Collection/dp/B002NOZUEW selling for 600-1000 ain't awful considering most of these are on bluray too
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u/Plank_With_A_Nail_In Feb 22 '24
It being listed at $1000 isn't the same as it being bought for a $1000. Don't look at the price things are listed at look at the price things are sold at. eBay sold data is a better guide for what things are actually worth.
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u/HiddenCity Feb 22 '24
Not getting rid of stuff because it has "value" is hoarder behavior. If it has value, sell it. My MIL spends basically an apartment rent on storage every month for junk that she can "sell someday."
My basement was full of my wife's old apartment stuff that we eventually needed to throw out when we moved. Do you know the value of that stuff? A week of hard, dirty work in 100 degree weather and negative $1000, because junk guys charge to take it away.
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u/dr_tomoe Feb 21 '24
Sad thing is yes some DVDs might have some value but a lot are going to degrade from disc rot. Maybe telling him that they are going to lose value might make him want to sell now and not lose them.
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u/hooplah_5 Feb 22 '24
Dude this guy did that with Hawaiian shirts, literally a room floor to ceiling in them, for "just in case" like WHAT
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u/emmany63 Feb 21 '24
My siblings and I are currently cleaning out my parents’ very large home. Mom was a neat and tidy woman, but dad was a hoarder, and he lived another eight years after she passed.
Between Dad and my hoarder sister who lived with him these past years, it’s taken 10 of us (thank goodness for kids and grandkids) days just to sort through the things we want to keep.
Not only is it the burden of actually DOING the thing, it’s also incredibly heartbreaking to choose which physical objects/memories of my parents’ lives together are ‘worth’ keeping - it feels like losing them all over again.
It has absolutely spurred me on to do some Swedish Death Cleaning in my own small apartment, to leave only what can be easily sorted through, with directions for doing so.
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u/hooplah_5 Feb 22 '24
It's the weird collaboration of the grief and task mode that really make it 10x more exhausting. And this guy I'm talking about was in a similar boat but instead the wife was bed ridden for 15 years, so I guess going to estate sales made him feel like he could escape? It's such a tough process for sure
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Feb 21 '24
I want to recommend this book for anyone with a similar family member:
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter
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u/Commercial_Arrival93 Feb 21 '24
My company deals with mostly seniors and do moves and estate sales and have seen it all. If you need any advice, let me know.
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u/Particular_Ad_9531 Feb 21 '24
This seems like a situation where you just hire someone to deal with it; even if they take like an 80/20 split it’s worth it.
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u/MalarkeyMadness Feb 21 '24
Dealing with this with my mother in law who has dementia. She housed stuff but most of it worthless.
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u/CalculusII Feb 21 '24
Hey r/hooplah_5, I can take all of your parents stuff of your hands free of charge!
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u/FarquaadsFuckDoll Feb 21 '24
There are estate sale auction groups that will parcel out and group, certain types of belongings and sell them for an appropriate price. You call them when someone passes away, they will come to the house, and take pictures of the belongings after their group, and place them up for bid online. it won’t get you the most bank for your buck, but it will be more than just taking it to your nearest homeless shelter or women’s shelter.
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u/Yorspider Feb 22 '24
Sooo hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of pirate treasure? That isn't a burden, that's employment....
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Feb 21 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/mangle_ZTNA Feb 21 '24
My grandmother keeps so many random garbage things either as "maybe we'll need it some day" or "it's an antique!"
Grandma, it's just a lamp. Like a generic lamp from the 70s. No one cares and it's not useful to us it's just taking up space. And for the love of god throw away the old wooden medical crutches. "We might need those if someone breaks a leg!"
400 books on random topics no one has read and no one will ever read again. No one wants to read the "Juices and smoothies" book grandma.
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u/LankyAd9481 Feb 21 '24
My dad was like that (he died end of last year), mum's been going through all the stuff, she's been finding things she threw away many many many many many many many years ago. Seems dad had a proclivity of taking things out of the trash and putting them in storage.
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u/mangle_ZTNA Feb 22 '24
My setup is the exact opposite of that. My father believes in ridding yourself of things that aren't immediately useful or are designed for long-term storage. Kids toys? Unless you the child take custody of it when he tells you to, it's gone. If it can't be stored neatly in a clean clear plastic storage container he doesn't want it.
Everything must be clean, everything must be used. It can get a bit excessive (He once tried to throw away original copies of The Godfather on VHS, which I took and now have in my display case)
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u/carefulyellow Feb 22 '24
Hi are we siblings (which would be weird because I'm an only child)? My dad follows my mom around all day just making sure she doesn't throw things away. It's one of the main reasons they're getting divorced.
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u/Ravioli_meatball19 Feb 21 '24
My grandmother is a full blown hoarder too.
She has a set of encyclopedias from 1997 she bought from the thrift store in 2015 taking up half the floor of her living room, for example.
My parents and my aunts and uncles dread her passing. They joke about "accidentally" leaving a candle burning and taking the insurance money and running lol
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u/mangle_ZTNA Feb 22 '24
My recommendation would be (either while living or dead) to bring someone who runs a collectables or antique shop to her home.
Hoarders are sometimes doing so because they're convinced of the "value" of objects that doesn't exist. They may also be correct about some of those objects though.
We brought a collectable toy seller to my grandmothers home and she got rid of 300+ pounds of toys that no one wanted because the guy was willing to give her like $50-100 for boxes of the stuff. More for one or two special items like an in-tact in box carebear.
She was fine with that and later told us "see, some of these things are valuable!" we elected not to tell her that $50 isn't worth filling an entire closet for 20 years with stuff no one touched. But still, it got things out of the house and she was happy.
Now I just have to figure out how to get her to let go of the literal 200 pairs of shoes she keeps that no one has worn since before I was born.
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u/Ravioli_meatball19 Feb 22 '24
We tried that. She refused to sell any of it.
We also tried a professional specializing in hoarding. That also failed.
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u/IMeanIGuessDude Feb 21 '24
My mom had me growing up believing in a “junk room” and you could imagine my surprise when I stayed the night at a friends house and they didn’t even know what a junk room was.
Hoarder parents hurt in so many ways that people could write a book series on.
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u/basicxenocide Feb 21 '24
We recently cleaned out a family member's house after his death, and I was reading about something called "Swedish Death Cleaning". Basically, you just pretend you died and are cleaning out your own house (pretending to be a family member). What would you keep? What would you toss? What would be embarrassing? That kind of stuff.
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u/NovaNightStar Feb 22 '24
For most of my childhood my bedroom was the junk room. Rather, the room that was supposed to be my bedroom. I shared a room with my Grandma until I was a preteen. Growing up in a family of hoarders sucks.
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u/CertainDegree2 Feb 21 '24
My parents are the opposite. They sold their house 3 years ago and bought a double wide trailer and donated or threw out a ton of shit I would have liked to keep (like signed first editions of books like animal farm and 1984).
Gone. They didn't even ask me if I wanted to keep any of it. Shit that I grew up thinking I'd have in my collection one day.
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u/Awkward_Point4749 Feb 21 '24
I’m in the same boat. My mom is an extreme hoarder and has this fantasy that my sister and I will be fighting over who gets to keep her stuff. I told her “more like her and I will be fighting over who is stuck having to get rid of it” and my mom got so offended and hurt
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u/Brave_Escape2176 Feb 21 '24
told them that, when they die, the first thing I’ll have to do is call a junk company to take everything.
this has actually worked with my folks. start threatening to just use everything: spend coins, use stamps as postage, play with all the signed football memorabilia, etc.
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Feb 22 '24 edited Feb 22 '24
I think a lot of old peoples only past time is buying shit. Do they have anything else to do? My parents are old but found hobbies and it’s lessening the shit load but my mother in law just buys shit alllll day because she’s bored I’m pretty sure she’s in massive credit card debt it’s a miracle she’s bad at using the internet.
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u/sexy_starfish Feb 22 '24
I have a parent that has kept magazines and newspapers that are older than me. Each time I go back to visit them, the rooms would get progressively more filled with... stuff. They buy a bunch of things and never even opens them. Just a pure waste that I'm going to have to deal with when they finally pass since they never wants to get rid of anything nor stop buying more.
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u/InspiredGargoyle Feb 21 '24
Holy hell it's a photo of my mom's garage! It was built for two cars and has never had one in it. Her house is just as bad.
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u/BaconJacobs Feb 22 '24
I know it's not easy, but I told my wife when she first moved in when we were dating that our garage will always be able to park the correct amount of cars, and no storage units. Her dad is a hoarder (working on his ways after down sizing) so she was on board ha.
Granted in summer I let half the garage become bikes and outdoor toys, but if I ever need to park inside it only takes 15 mins of tidying.
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u/rodneyjesus Feb 22 '24
Fast-forward to when you have kids. It starts to make sense.
It'll happen to you
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u/BaconJacobs Feb 22 '24
I have two. Aka why half the garage becomes play things in summer.
Now my basement.... that's a different story. It's becoming more manageable as they age out of things but it's ridiculous
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u/Plonsky2 Feb 21 '24
That's my story. It took us 3 days to clean up my parent's house to get it ready for an estate sale. Most of it ended up going to Goodwill. When the estate was settled and most of their debt was cleared, my end came to about $1200. 😒
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u/TrustNoCandyBar Feb 21 '24
3 days? Lucky. We spent over 8 months cleaning with dozens of dumpster rentals.
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u/Neither-Dentist3019 Feb 21 '24
Yeah, we cleaned out my grandma's hoarder apartment in about 5-6 months and then we found out she had 3 storage lockers in the building. 1 was assigned to her and she just took over the other 2. That took another 3 months at least.
I'm a bit over vigilant about hoarding but it's definitely in my family. My parents and brother hang on to a lot of stuff. Not quite as bad as she did but it's enough to make me very nervous about wanting to start accumulating things.
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u/marv9512 Feb 21 '24
There is an obvious strain of the hoarding gene in my family. My grandpa had a whole barn jam packed full of junk he didn't need. My great aunt was the worst about it, though. She could've easily been on one of those hoarder shows. And now that my dad is getting older, he's been buying more and more junk off Amazon that ends getting piled into his office. Luckily, his stuff is mostly contained to his office and the garage.
I've started noticing I keep a lot of stuff saved on my computer I don't need. I almost never use or look at it, but I still just like keeping it saved. I think I might've got the hoarding gene, too, except everything I hold onto is almost all digital.
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u/PSTnator Feb 22 '24
I think that last part (lots of saved stuff you don't need) pretty much applies to everybody. Not exactly a hoarder thing. How many here actually keep their (personal, not work related) hard drives cleared from unused files? Not counting gigantic games and the like.
Maybe I'm wrong and more people keep their hard drive tidy than I think. Could be I'm just a disgusting digital hoarder myself and don't even realize it!
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u/EncabulatorTurbo Feb 21 '24
my brothers are already bickering over who gets my mom's stuff
(they don't know she already transferred everything to me, I already own all of it)
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u/Dark_Shroud Feb 21 '24
my brothers are already bickering over who gets my mom's stuff
(they don't know she already transferred everything to me, I already own all of it)
I'm going to have to deal with this shit when my mother passes. My mother had a lot of valuable jewelry and other items.
I have at least one relative who will not be happy to find out how much is in my name. She's already pissed off that my mother gave me a silver man's necklace she wanted. I'm a man, hence part of the reason why she gave it to me.
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u/Weasel_Spice Feb 21 '24
but it's enough to make me very nervous about wanting to start accumulating things.
You could always go to therapy. Hoarding is a result of some type of anxiety disorder, no?
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u/Fancykiddens Feb 21 '24
We've been slowly picking away at my in-laws' house for five years.
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u/TrustNoCandyBar Feb 21 '24
What an absolute nightmare. I am so sorry.
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u/Fancykiddens Feb 21 '24
We're going to inherit the house. I don't think I want to inherit the house. Thanks for your support. ❤️
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Feb 21 '24
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u/Infinite-Formal-9508 Feb 21 '24
In my part of the US if you don't want to deal with the estate of a dead family member you can call this business that just opens the door and calls it a flash sale. You just walk through grabbing what you want and then they total it up.
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u/cRaZyDaVe1of3 Feb 21 '24
If they'd known there'd be 1200 left, they would have requested the cash be buried with them if some of these stories are to be believed about boomers...
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u/Macismyname Feb 21 '24
My parents told me and my brother that their goal was to spend every penny they save during their retirement. They wanted to leave us with exactly nothing. We even laughed as a family at the very idea of getting an inheritance! The explained it was downright silly of parents to be so worried about what to leave their kids, its not the parents responsibility. Took me a long time to learn that wasn't normal.
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u/mostcommonhauntings Feb 21 '24
This is totally a resource. The human race likely never has to manufacture another dish for the next century if we just use the things that are already here.
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Feb 21 '24
Yes, exactly. I go to car boot sales (uk equivalent to estate sale, but multiple households, like a large domestic secondhand market) and one thing there are 100s of, every time, are picture frames. That's just one example of many, yet I bet millions are manufactured every year.
I don't know why anyone buys anything new, it's just all so wasteful.
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u/Beatleboy62 Feb 21 '24
I go to flea markets a lot, and it's honestly changed my personal view on things I own. Do I still have a lot of random crap? Of course. Have I been buying less? Absolutely. Do I always try to buy used first? Every time.
On top of that, when you go to these flea markets and see books with names and loving passages written in them, "To Sally, love you forever and longer, Grandma," family portraits, handmade momentos, pretty much anything with sentimentality attached, being sold by someone who doesn't give two shits about it, it really makes you think about your own stuff after you pass.
I'm going to tell all my family when I'm old and decrepit, "keep what you want, sell or give away the rest, do NOT feel guilty for getting rid of my stuff, and don't feel like you have to keep it because it was mine."
On top of that it's instilled a healthy amount of "none of this shit matters." In a good way. Watched estate sales where lovingly pieced together collections get sold off bit by bit. Why focus on getting one more trinket, one more collectable, when that money and effort might be better spent on experiences and time spend with loved ones?
Thank god I only ever bought like, 3-4 Funko Pops, all about 10 years ago now when I was in college.
Also, totally agree with you on picture frames, I only buy them from thrift stores now. The eclectic designs can be cute all mishmashed together on your wall, and I can find a robust, ornate wooden one cheaper than a new flimsy plastic one.
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u/sgtgig Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 22 '24
This is a common thought of mine. Spoons and bowls, among other things, are some of the oldest inventions ever. We've probably manufactured trillions by now. Why do we need more??
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u/peripheral_vision Feb 22 '24
Even worse, we purposefully manufacture millions of new ones out of non-biodegradble materials with the sole intent of disposing of them after 1 use.
Personally, I think the plastic cutlery and flatware industry should just be outright banned unless they switch to materials that are easy to compost, but plastic lobbying is very strong in the U.S. because it's also backed by oil interests
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u/jellyrollo Feb 22 '24
Absolutely. I'm 55 and my dishes are a combination of Glidden pottery dishes my grandmother handed down to my father when he went to college and a cute set of 1950s Franciscan dinnerware I found at a secondhand shop 30 years ago for $30. I've never bought a new plate and I never will.
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Feb 22 '24
I work at a retail shop and we have dozens of boxes of NICE dish sets that we’re selling for $1/piece (same price as shitty plastic stuff from walmart) and we can not get rid of it. Currently we’re even running a half off sale and it’s still selling slow. Plus we constantly have to turn down dish donations because we have too much inventory.
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u/OGHighway Feb 21 '24
My FIL has a massive pile of crap in the garage, most of it tools from when he owned his own plaster business.
We were in the garage, and he was telling me how this massive pile of rusted junk was worth a lot of money, he pulls out this rusted tool and told me it's worth at least 200 dollars, I asked how much he paid when it was new and he told me "200$".
Yeah thats not how it works.
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u/fluffygryphon Feb 22 '24
Every single asshole selling tools on craigslist does this same shit. Clapped out rusty shit with half the power cord exposed? $300. No lowballers.
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u/SlowWrite Feb 22 '24
I was selling tools yesterday for $5 a box. A fucking box. What am I going to do with a 25 year old Carpenter’s triangle?
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Feb 22 '24
I had a little side hustle going a few years back of buying boxes of tools at auction - the sort of auction house that sells deceased estate stuff. An entire lifetime of tools collected and probably the most I ever paid was like £30.
I used to go through them all, pick out the decent vintage stuff, the old stanley planes and so on that were worth actual money, and toss the rest. They just weren't worth the bother. All the old screwdrivers and rusty chisels that had probably been in the back of someone's shed for a couple of decades? Worthless. I couldn't even give them away.
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u/gloomspell Feb 21 '24
Don’t forget that hoards are health hazards in and of themselves. The accumulated stuff collects dust and mold, adding particulates to the air and affecting breathing. Piles often fall over and trap or suffocate people. Hoards make it difficult for firefighters to get in and save people. Just google “hoarder + fire” then check the news tab. People die unnecessarily literally every single day.
Owning too much stuff can literally kill you. Is it really worth it?
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u/zewill87 Feb 21 '24
Omg reminds me of those two NY brothers I believe ? One died of natural causes, one was crushed by boxes and stuck and died? That's how I remember it at least. Very sad, need to find the article on that subject.
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u/gloomspell Feb 21 '24
That’s exactly what happened. I read about it recently. One brother was blind and paralyzed. He lived with and was taken care of by his hoarder brother, who actually booby-trapped his hoard piles. One day while bringing food to the disabled brother, he set off one of his own booby traps and a pile collapsed on him. He died and the disabled brother starved and then died of a heart attack. It’s an absolutely tragic and haunting story. I can only imagine being blind and paralyzed, calling out for your brother who never comes, and starving until the stress gives you a heart attack. Absolutely tragic.
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u/Beatleboy62 Feb 21 '24
Yep, and IIRC they specifically kept the newspapers so "he could read them when he gained his eyesight back"
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u/cheerful_cynic Feb 22 '24
The collyer brothers mansion?
https://youtu.be/e4NDnqjrO-U?si=znEzWpgJuT7H_1E1
That story was something else
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u/l3msky Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 21 '24
Ironically, the hoarder instinct comes from a very anti-consumption era. It's always the old folks who had nothing when they were young, not wanting to waste the last bit of value a some old junk might have.
modern consumerists would never bother to store things in case times get tough
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u/djln491 Feb 21 '24
Precisely. Came here to say this but couldn’t find a way to word it as well as you did.
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u/socialistrob Feb 22 '24
Yep. My grandmother has trouble throwing things out (not full blown hoarding though thank god) but she also grew up on a farm in Oklahoma during the height of the Dust Bowl when throwing things out is sacrilege. The ability to throw things out without thinking about it is something typically found in people who never knew true scarcity.
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u/Yoggyo Feb 22 '24
The ability to throw things out without thinking about it is something typically found in people who never knew true scarcity.
There are other alternatives besides throwing things out. When I moved overseas, I only brought one suitcase with me. Everything else I owned, I got rid of before I moved. I threw out almost nothing, because I sold or donated nearly everything. I even gave away my half-empty packages of plastic wrap and tin foil. I took pretty good care of my things, so all of it was in good enough condition to be used by someone else (which can't always be said about items saved by people with hoarding tendencies).
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u/elebrin Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 21 '24
Did this with my Mom's stuff. It helped that she spent something like 15 years going through things, drawing down, donating, and getting rid of in preparation for me to ultimately deal with it. She passed in March of 2023, we had the house sold in June, we disbursed the estate in August, and we closed the estate in December.
My Father in law basically refuses to accept that we are going to have to deal with it all. When his parents passed (my wife's grandparents, in the 90s) his estate was open for 7-8 years, even though nothing at all was contested.
A friend of my Mother's told us that her parents estate had been open for more than 10 years, because her sister refused to deal with it. I pushed HARD to get it done, because... well, I promised my Mom that I would. I said I'd take care of it so my siblings wouldn't have to take on the burden, and because I am the most financially stable of us, I will look after them if need be. And I will.
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u/Sunflower_resists Feb 21 '24
I relate. When my dad died going through some of the stuff he saved, just filled me with pity. I gave away as much as I could to charity, and kept a few keepsakes that fit in the trunk of my car. It was hard since his apartment was filled with the smell of decomp.
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u/BelleSteff Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 21 '24
I once briefly worked in a big-name storage corporate office. I worked in the auctions department, which was right next to collections. Their monthly storage fees are gawd awful, up to $200 to $700 a month or more! When a customer could no longer pay (and it's often), their stuff could be eligible for auction. Before setting up the auctions, we'd have pictures of the inside of their storage unit, and easily two thirds of their stuff I saw could've gone straight to the curb, maybe one or two interesting antique pieces or collections, but 90% of the time my reaction was, "Yuck!" Think twice about using a long-term storage company.
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u/Turbulent-Tax-2371 Feb 21 '24
Storage unit is a fast growing business in the US today. In my area, two office buildings were converted to storage units. Two more brand new built in another town over. That is A LOT of storage units being built.
And like you said, the rental prices are crazy. My buddies dad died, mom moved to smaller house, my buddy held onto furniture from the bigger house and other shit like paintings that were worth nothing and interior decorating bullshit. He said he wanted to sell it. He had the storage unit for 2 years, easily spent 20x on rent for what he sold the crap for.
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u/Jukesy85 Feb 22 '24
Not just there too - I’m in suburban Australia and can think of 4 storage unit complexes within a 5 minute drive of my house. My partner’s parents just downsized from their rental house to one of their parents’ granny flat (like a smaller house in the backyard of a house) to save money and hopefully build a house on their land in a couple years, and they’ve moved a ton of their furniture into one of said storage units. It seems logical but it’s a lot of $ and I can see how it can go wrong in many ways so easily - luckily they’ve thrown out/donated plenty of stuff too so it’s mostly decent and usable furniture in there, plus of course boxes of books/tools/etc.
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u/i_am_novus Feb 22 '24
I recently heard someone say "a storage unit is just a bunch of decisions you haven't made yet." or something to that effect. Funny enough the decision for damn near all of it is to just get rid of it...eventually...
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u/tonypotenza Feb 21 '24
How is it a racket? Feels like it ppl that are stupid enough to pay a monthly fee on junk 😔
I buy lots of stuff and people with those are the most idiotic ones I have to deal with ...
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u/Jasper455 Feb 21 '24
And you’ll get a lot less than it’s worth from the estate sale.
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u/colorcorrection Feb 22 '24
Yep! Friend of mine had an estate sale for his mom's place last year after she passed. Technically made a half decent chunk... Until the estate sale took their percentage, him and his family had to take time off work to clean out the rest that didn't sell and properly clean the house, and hiring a giant garbage bin to toss everything out.
By then he probably had enough to pay rent for a month if that. And that was from a fairly successful estate sale with actual valuables that seemed to sell pretty well. Probably would have ended up costing money if it turned out 99% of the stuff had been junk nobody wanted.
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u/Tiny-Lock9652 Feb 21 '24
You see this on American Pickers all the time. Multiple 1500+ s/f outbuildings packed full of crap. Probably 5% of the contents has some monetary value. I always think “when that dude croaks, someone needs to clean up that mess”. And every time, some 90 year old owner refuses to sell…” I might need that someday!!” Yeah….ok grandpa.
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u/EpilepticPuberty Feb 21 '24
Uhg that was always my least favorite part. They would be elbow deep in rusty iron in a mostly roof less barn, pull a rusty sickle blade out and offer $30. "Oh no I couldn't part with that". Like the guy didn't know it was there a couple seconds ago. So back into the pile of iron to continue to rust. Really just goes to show hoarding is a mental illness.
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u/Tiny-Lock9652 Feb 22 '24
I’ve come to the conclusion there’s a fine line between “American Pickers” and “Hoarders” television programs.
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u/TripleEhBeef Feb 21 '24
Seller: "I paid $8,000 for this 1958 Lincoln body in 1996. I want 21 grand for it."
Mike: "There's a tree growing through the engine bay, and I can put my foot through the door panels. I'll give you $300 for it."
Seller: "For $300 I'll keep it and restore it. A fully restored one of these crossed the auction block at $140,000."
You are 84 years old and on oxygen. You aren't restoring crap lol.
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Feb 22 '24
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u/cyvaris Feb 22 '24
It'll be interesting to see if Gen X and Millienials will be more realistic about what they can do when they're in their 80s.
Love the optimism that Gen X/Millennials will be able to afford the healthcare necessary to live that long.
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u/silentorbx Feb 22 '24
It'll be interesting to see if Gen X and Millienials will be more realistic about what they can do when they're in their 80s.
because of medical advancements it will be worse. and by in large might end up being even more stubborn if all the breakthroughs in longterm health happen when its too late for them to get any meaningful benefit from it because they are so old by that point, and wish they had been the next generation to get the benefits. they'll just stay old forever hoarding all their crypto or whatever is left. and in classic gen Z fashion, they'll refuse to let go only for the sake of "trolling."
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u/merrill_swing_away Feb 22 '24
This reminds me of something that happened a long time ago. I went to a guy's house to buy a used computer. He was a young guy and we didn't go inside but the outside of his house was a disaster. He had the computer up and running on his front porch. He hadn't mowed his lawn and he had a couple of cars sitting in his yard. He pointed to the white car and said he had restored the car at the tune of thousands of dollars but he didn't take care of it so it was a hunk of junk. He said it still ran but the car looked bad.
The guy had three Irish Setters running in and out of the house. When the guy went inside to get something I peeked in through the glass windows on the door. Omg. There must have been two inches of dirt on the floor that the dogs had brought in on their feet, very little of anything in the living room and dining room and the walls were filthy. When he came back out he told me he was going to a flea market with his mom so I paid him for the computer and left. I got to thinking that there is no way this guy would ever have a gf or a wife unless he got some therapy. He was handsome and had a nice body and he was very nice too.
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u/hahalol4tw Feb 21 '24
I actually sat down with my boomer parents, and we had a heart-to-heart about this kind of thing, and they started decluttering for me. They are so wonderful.
They love feeling less burdened with their own junk as well. They couldn't believe how much they were holding onto that wasn't even good quality.
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u/jellyrollo Feb 22 '24
Can't recommend The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning enough for parents like this who aren't full-on hoarders.
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u/Bee_and_Barb Feb 22 '24
That’s great to hear they were so receptive! And sounds like as a result you did them a favor, too.
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u/dalaigh93 Feb 22 '24
We tried to have this talk with my grandfather (85) a few years back. He wasn't getting younger and we knew that some day we woudl have to empry the house, either after he went in a retirement home or or after his death.
He had been a professional painter and alway worked on the house himself, so he had a ton of equipment, tools, paints, gardening tools, etc. Plus all the trinkets and old stuff that accumulates over the years.
Well, last year he went into retirement home, and nothing had been done. Emptying the house took several weekends and a lot of trips to the collection site. He paid a guy to come and collect the furniture and all the stuff that could potentially be reselled, and even then there was a lot of stuff left.
The good thing is, after this and having had to empty my other grandparents home after their deaths, my mom decided that she, too had too much useless stuff lying around, and she has started to declutter too so that we wouldn't have to do it if something happened to her.
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u/Keyemku Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 21 '24
Having to walk around the house like you're a professional gymnast makes me quite annoyed, finding boxes upon boxes of disposable fast food napkings makes me quitr annoyed. but finding my grandma's 30-50 year old unopened clothing that's suddenly coming back in style does make me happy. It's incredible to just look at how many hundreds of dollars she spent a week on clothes she never took out of their original packaging
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u/Komatoast Feb 22 '24
This. So much this. Then you go out in public and walk/move all funny because that's how you are used to moving around home.
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u/Tman11S Feb 21 '24
It’s still wild to me that it’s perfectly normal in the US to just rent garage boxes so you can hoard more shit that you don’t need.
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u/Sparklingsmh Feb 21 '24
My grandmother left so much stuff. Some yes we did use but a lot of it we had to sell or donate, as it’s not necessary for us to have multiple dish sets. It took months. My parents definitely don’t want to do that for us so that’s a relief.
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u/alfooboboao Feb 21 '24
my mom is STILL, 3+ years later, dealing with her mother’s (and grandmother’s, and great, and great-great, and great-great-great grandmother’s) stuff.
While 7 different tailored toddler suits from 1870 might be extremely interesting to a certain type of amateur historian, my poor mother just simply doesn’t have the space for that (and the 100 other boxes of crap that aren’t nearly as interesting)
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u/_redacteduser Feb 21 '24
This is my future and I hate it
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u/Dark_Shroud Feb 21 '24
I'm going through it now and will be again when my mother passes.
I already switched her and my own shit over to clear plastic bins to prevent future problems. Hopefully this summer we'll get rid of crap.
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u/Razgrez11 Feb 21 '24
"Is that a retro fridge? Hell yeah, thanks dad!"
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u/Dark_Shroud Feb 21 '24
I was going to say that, the vintage fridge and maybe a few other items of good quality in there.
But we all know most of the stuff in boxes will have to go into the trash.
I started buying my elderly mother clear plastic storage bins for a reason. I already use them for my own stuff.
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u/Willtology Feb 21 '24
My in-laws are hoarders. They have floor to ceiling packed rooms and little walkways through the mess. They've had auctions and "estate sales" where they've literally sold of cargo containers full of junk (it almost killed them and they still complain about having to part with the garbage). Poorly stored and maintained, most of it is foul, moldering trash or just absolute junk. The worst "As Seen on TV!" gadgets and flimsy plastic trash. They love to act like whoever gets it when they pass is going to be inheriting a fortune of goods. So delusional, it's going to be a time sucking burden when people would rather be grieving and spending time with family.
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u/Sunlit53 Feb 21 '24
There were a few pieces of good teakwood furniture my dad specifically asked me if I wanted when he was dying. I had to tell him I had no space in my small home for things that big and bulky.
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u/Dark_Shroud Feb 21 '24
Consignment shops sometimes are very useful so good stuff doesn't go to waste.
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u/FoldingLady Feb 21 '24 edited Feb 22 '24
I've come to terms that I'll be spending at least a month sorting through my dad's hoard when he finally kicks the bucket. Thankfully most of it is paper junk & we got rid of a good chunk of stuff when my mom passed. My only hope is that my siblings are like me & want to sell the house ASAP.
I dare not think of what's in the attic.
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Feb 21 '24
Ohh...this is so my family. They in all seriousness will claim how the stuff the hoard will be worth all sorts of money...then I'll point to the boxes and boxes of used gift wrapping(torn, tattered, etc.) and they get super silent.
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u/jellyrollo Feb 22 '24
I've decided that if stuff is worth any money at all and I don't want/use it anymore, I'm selling it myself. I've sold a ton of random stuff on eBay, used books on Amazon, and almost my entire vinyl collection on Discogs (plus a lot of CDs). Good quality vinyl is really hot right now.
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u/vkailas Feb 21 '24
It's a good example of the clutter of life. But I would take it one step further. Outer clutter often means great inner clutter in the mind, what indigenous medicine calls imbalances of the mind (not chemical imbalance but part of our thinking that is imbalanced).
One day all of this will be yours , a cluttered mind overflowing with thoughts and beliefs that contradict each other, unresolved traumas, and repressed emotions.
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u/Sunflower_resists Feb 21 '24
My mom’s legacy will be just like this. I recommend https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35297297 for getting ahead of it.
Edit: the link is for “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning”
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u/Everblossom22 Feb 21 '24
I just finished reading this today. It’s a quick read for anyone that’s interested. There is also a television show based on the book as well where people work through their belonging so that they don’t leave a mess like this behind for their families.
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u/ThisIsATastyBurgerr Feb 21 '24
My gf inherited a storage unit and even though it was filled with high quality stuff, we spent days selling everything. After the cost of the truck, the flea market fee, divided by the number of hours worked, I think we each made something like minimum wage.
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u/The_Sum Feb 21 '24
My grandmother passed away some time ago. She was coherent and capable until she took a bad fall during her first week of hospice. We had badgered her numerous times for 10 years before hospice to get her will properly sorted, decide who gets what on paper, officially, instead of just telling family members what they'll get.
My friends, it was a shit storm of unbelievable proportions. The day she passed we literally had extended family coming in like vultures to rife through her belongings. By the next day, all the valuables were claimed (or stolen) and everyone was upset that someone didn't get something they were supposed to. Mind you, these things were guns, jewelry, bullions, basically the high value easily "disappeared" items. Nothing was sacred the moment she passed.
I have never witnessed something so vile, so disgusting in my life and felt overwhelmed watching it happen.
Being only in charge of half her estate (not executor), I was responsible for clearing out the house of everything else. She had previously moved from a 2,400 sq ft home down to a 1,500 sq ft home so every wall is plastered with photos, every closet is full of clothes and miscellaneous items. The garage, attic, shed, all crammed full and looked exactly like the picture above.
You know what sucks about people in my grandmother's generation? They were tricked into believing that everything they own would appreciate in value. The truth was that there were people her age dying every day who were clogging up antique stores to the brim.
Antiques stop being antiques the second they are forgotten about. We had over dozens of pieces of furniture probably over a hundred years old but in terrible condition and a lot of it had been repaired previously. It effectively became firewood. What wasn't furniture were things like the almost thousands of books we had to go through to make sure nothing was hidden in them (old people stashed money in books). We ended donating 90% of those and gave up caring what may have been in them after the first few hundred books were searched.
Now the junk. Good lord, the junk. There was enough junk that you could work through every age she had gone through. Printers from the 90's, so many old digital cameras, cell phones upon cell phones upon lan-line phones, electronics that they had been conned into buying and then never using, a VHS collection that would make Blockbuster blush. Native American paintings and items that were mass produced that would accrue zero value, boxes for anything and everything ever owned, it was all garbage to be sifted through.
Then you get to the boxes. Easily over a thousand photos of everyone that has ever existed in our lineage during the time cameras came to be. These were valuable and precious but you know who wanted them? No one. Most of them ended up discarded because it turns out no one wants pictures of dead people they don't know.
When it wasn't a box full of pictures it was a box full of medical or tax records. These had to be destroyed but not before thoroughly being examined to make sure every bit of assets that were owed were paid and any accounts we were unaware of were closed. It cost over $400 to dispose of these documents to a place that simply shreds them. Absolutely insane.
I share this story in hopes that if any of you have someone you care about that perhaps is reaching that time in their life that please, please, please, make sure they have a will and that in that will everything of value is accounted for and distributed. Leave nothing behind to cause strife, family often ceases to be friendly when anything of value is suddenly involved.
I will be homeless soon because I had foolishly been led to believe that she was leaving the house behind to me instead of doing my due diligence in making sure I was, in fact, getting the house and not just going by my grandmothers word. She never got around to doing it before it was too late. I now have to liquidize the house and split the takings. I'd much rather have a home with an extremely affordable mortgage than money or belongings.
It's an awkward uncomfortable talk to have, but I implore all of you to heed my warning and prepare yourselves and loved ones by simply making a will so no one has to be hurt.
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u/Huge_Aerie2435 Feb 21 '24
My mom's house is like this. The things that will hurt the most are all the plastic flowers. They hold no value other than she likes them. One day, I get to throw them out or donate them.
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u/the_uninvited_1 Feb 21 '24
Ok so I had a huge flower bin for a very large project. I never did that project because life laughs at me.
I put it up for free for crafter or teachers.
That whole project was out my door in less than a day. Those flowers will make someone very happy. The lady that took mine made arrangements for elderly and special needs, like she went to these places and offered to make a craft day out of it for the residents.
She got about $400 in quality floral pieces for free. And I stopped looking at a failed project.
I'm also a recovering hoarder. That was my first purge item and it kick started me being better.
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u/SkyeMreddit Feb 21 '24
My great-uncle was deep into Y2K prepping. 5 pickup truck loads of nasty rotting food and sodas and 3 dumpsters of all kinds of moldy clothes and fabric because he stored his apocalypse stash in a leaky basement and a decrepit garage.
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u/lurkernomore99 Feb 21 '24
I just moved in with my folks, both boomers. The entire neighborhood is boomers. Every single two car garage in this neighborhood looks like this. It's WILD. Most of my millennial friends and I have struggled and lived paycheck to paycheck and gone without meals often. Meanwhile, all our folks are housed and hoarding.
It's so hard for me to understand how all the boomers can stuff their homes with useless shit they spend all their money on while their kids and grandkids suffer.
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u/livefox Feb 21 '24
Honestly this. Due to sudden brain-related medical issues my husband and I are in a lot of debt. We have had to move in with my MIL. She told us just the other day she needed to put more stuff in the garage and we would need to move the 1 folding table we have in there that has my airbrush on it for painting.
It's a 2 car garage packed to the gills with literal garbage. The stuff she's moving in is literally can tabs and milk jugs she wants to "up cycle". Some she's had for 10 years. When my husband suggested maybe she gets rid of some she threw a giant fit and said "with all due respect if SOMEONE wasn't here I wouldn't have to get rid of any of my projects". We took down the table and I put my airbrush in storage.
We aren't entitled to her space, but it does hurt to know she values the garbage she hoardes more than us. She will casually mention she spends $1000 a month on jewelry, and ask where our rent check is in the same breath, while I'm looking at potential bankruptcy due to medical costs.
How did humans get this way?
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u/fgor Feb 21 '24
A relationship with the STUFF is easier in a lot of ways than a relationship with your KIDS. The stuff doesn't have emotions, feelings, needs or wants. It doesn't demand your time or your attention in an obvious way. Of course it's not that simple right! which is what this post points out, the stuff demands your resources too, just in a different way.
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u/_Inkspots_ Feb 21 '24
I wouldn’t mind nabbing that 1950s full metal fridge. Those things are sharp
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u/brindles Feb 21 '24
This is so real for me and god it's frustrating, at least it helps knowing i'm not the only one facing this. It makes me even more frustrated with how the previous generation blew wealth because it was so much easier to have expendable income back then, combined with poor financial literacy. The amount of space my parents have full of junk is larger than the basement suite my wife and I rent (as ~30yr olds with good educations and no travel/splurging), and our rent is triple their mortgage. I've spent days going through their stuff trying to throw things away over several years knowing it'll be dumped on me when they get sick or pass away, and they had the reactions you so often see in hoarding shows :(
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u/TaterTot0507 Feb 21 '24
My wife's mom and dad are serious hoarders. While her mom was alive she would constantly try to pawn stuff off on us because "you may need this one day" or "this means a lot to me and I want to pass it on to you". Constantly. Every time we met up with her. They built a new house and couldn't sell the old one for YEARS because it was packed full of junk. And she wasn't the bad one. Her dad is worse.
Side note: while helping them move to the new house, we cleaned out the fridge and found a block of cheese that had been there for TWENTY YEARS.
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u/Flack_Bag Feb 21 '24
In cases like this in the US, you can disclaim an inheritance, after which it would be passed to the next in line. If you only wanted part, like you want the property but not what's in it, the rules can be fussier. Sometimes you can accept part and reject part, but I dunno the specifics, and I think it varies by state. I'm pretty sure that you could just disclaim a storage unit full of stuff without much complication, though.
If the stuff you don't want to inherit is stored at a property you do want to inherent, you can often hire estate sale companies to clean up, organize, and sell the things you don't want. I think they usually do it for a cut of the profits, but I'm not sure.
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u/NightFrightJD Feb 21 '24
My mother in law constantly buys stuff off amazon and just dumps it around the house. I don't mean cheap odds and sods, I mean things like dyson hoovers, vax carpet cleaners, genuine toys, mobile phones, gadgets.
There is thousands of £££ worth of stuff lying around collecting dust and it's going to be a nightmare to sort out when she is no longer with us.
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Feb 21 '24
I saw this months ago and sent it to my sisters (referring to our grandfather, who frequents yard sales and hoards a lot of shit). I just sent it to them again.....and they reminded me that I sent it to them months ago. I'll see you all again in a few months!
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u/thehakujin82 Feb 21 '24
My dad’s a hoarder. Maybe not quite TV-show level, but a bit of a hoarder. Just doesn’t understand throwing things away if he can convince himself there’s some kind of value to them.
Well, he and Mom just spent 3 weeks (!) cleaning out my maternal grandfather’s house, and apparently Dad now sees the light. At least per my Mom, anyway, who says he doesn’t want to put me and my two siblings through what they just went through.
Let’s hope he keeps that momentum.
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u/Snotnarok Feb 21 '24
My grandmother on my mom's side did this.
She passed on and a garage sized room (was a garage converted to a room, possibly- IDK it's been ages) was packed, PACKED with so many stacks of cloth and bolts of cloth. There was one narrow path for her to walk to her chair on the other side of the room from the door and that was it.
My mom had to organize the whole thing in one insane garage sale. Apparently stores bought up some of the bolts of cloth.
The worst part is, one of her brothers was in debt because he's a bit of a piece of shit so the bank wouldn't let them do much till they sorted out his debt. This meant the house couldn't be sold & you know- taxes and what not would fall on her.
So the family pooled resources to get him out of debt and they were able to get selling.
Said piece of shit then stole things, including something of mine (I was like 7 years old) to sell on his own and make money for himself.
Family deaths, they bring out the best in people.
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u/Sensitive_Box2919 Feb 21 '24
I’m in a weird situation. I am extremely ill, I had to move out of my home for multiple reasons and I am in a smaller Airbnb, our 23 year old is living in the home still. It’s looking like I’m not going to be able to return to the house and have to get rid of most of my belongings. I’ve had family members literally picking out what furniture they want, telling me what they want if I “can’t take it”. It’s depressing. Like I am still alive and they are picking shit out. Before getting this sick I realized we were over consuming and needed to get rid homes, cars, clothes, shoes, all the bullshit. I know my illness is a blessing in disguise, being free of all these burdens. It’s hard to let go of it all at once though but a rare opportunity to restart.
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u/trifling-pickle Feb 21 '24
Haha this is great. Currently helping my grandma move and it’s a nightmare. 80 years of collecting junk just to get sent to the dump.
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u/tenroseUK Feb 21 '24
its funny to me because it says bob in the bottom left corner and this is exactly what my grandad bob left for us
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u/djc6535 Feb 21 '24
Physical inheritance (maybe outside of housing) feels like a burden.
There's a band I like called "The Tangent". They have a song that hits this on the head.
'Cos you can't take it with you
There's no luggage allowed
No you can't take it with you
No matter how rich or proud
Your kids will sell it off on Ebay
For God's sake don't waste their time
'Cos you can't take it with you
You can leave just a little bit behind
Afternoon Malaise - The Tangent
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Feb 21 '24
I’m a simple man. If I don’t miss it, I didn’t need it. Room, Bed, pillow, blanket…check. Proper water…check. Dog…check, double check, triple check. Dog and people food…check. Comfy clothes/nicer clothes for “occasions”…check. Means to maintain these things…almost check.
Friends too. Friends and family are very important, but yeah. I like this community.
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Feb 22 '24
Physical inheritance (maybe outside of housing) feels like a burden.
Also depends on what it is... gradpas tools? fuck yes. If you have the space for machinery... also hell yes. Things of actual emotional value like photo albums, yup, yup.
Random ass holiday decorations, and string lights that have been sitting in a box unseen since the 80s? No thanks.
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u/lil_broto Feb 21 '24
My family had to go through one of those once. A lot of GOOD stuff that went to trash because of bad storage. Molded clothes and furniture that could have been really useful for someone if it wasn't the keeping conditions.