Getting rid of things you are attached to or sentimental items

Perhaps it is a form or hoarding, maybe it's normal...but I definitely have a case of it. I still have my first bike from 6th grade, first car (250 miles driven in the last 4 years) and kind of my first boat. Technically, it belongs to my Dad, but it was my ticket to freedom when I was 14 and it's been in the family since then. It's a 1961 13' Boston Whaler that we've taken everywhere. We've fished 7 miles offshore with it, filled it with lobsters in the Keys, and everywhere in between.

I now own a 1981 15' Boston Whaler, which is a much better boat when it comes to ride and a little more space. I use it when I am in Tampa, and the 13' when I visit my parents. The issue is I just bought a 1977 Whaler 15' that was too good of a deal to pass up. The plan was to clean it up and sell it for an extra $1-2k. My dad however, brought up the idea of keeping the 1977 15', and selling the 1961 13'. On paper, this would be great because it's definitely an upgrade, and the 15 would be more fun for towing to the Bahamas/when I am back home. The issue is I have so many good memories with that 13' I don't want to let it go!

Anyone else have issues with cars/things they get attached to?

Move halfway around the world, that really thins out your belongings

I'm no help. I pack rat many things. Get rid of the 15'. You'll be more inclined to do proper maintenance on the 13'.

To be clear, I am definitely keeping my 15' (the 82). The issue is whether to give the 77 15' to my Dad and sell the 13', or sell the 77 15' for a profit, and Dad keeps the 13'.

Sell 77.

Dad gets 13'.

??

Profit.

I have a hard time. Sometimes I get hoarder tendencies and the wife has to stop it.

Why don't you just ask your dad which one he wants? Seems easiest.

Then burn the other two.

Yes, definitely, me too. I just got rid of my '88 Chevy 1/2-ton that'd I'd owned since '04, and had been in the family since new. I don't have seller's remorse yet, but I have a feeling there may be a day years from now that I will.

As an only child, with both my parents gone, I feel a bit like the "family archivist". I have tons of things that belonged to my parents & grandparents that I'm holding on to because my daughter(or eventually, possibly, my grandkids) might want some of this stuff. Most of it doesn't have much monetary value, so it just sits in boxes.

Oddly enough, since I started seriously dealing in antiques/junk/whatever several years ago, I've found it much easer to sell my own crap. I had a bunch of stuff leftover from my childhood that I decided I really didn't give a damn about, so I've been slowly passing it along. I figure if I don't enjoy it, it doesn't have any real significant sentimental or historical value, and it's worth a buck or two, why not pass it along?

Sorry, no help here. The only 2 vehicles Im closed to attached to are my Yugo and the Wartburg mostly because I have so much time in them and so much customization. And I'll sell either of them right now for the right offer.

I avoid getting attached, its freeing.

J308 wrote: Why don't you just ask your dad which one he wants? Seems easiest. Then burn the other two.

That's the issue. I bought a 15' that I started fixing up and now my Dad wants to upgrade the 13' they tow behind the sailboat , for the OTHER 15' I bought to flip. My issue is that 13' has been through so much I would hate to see it go so I don't want him to upgrade.

I should probably just let him do what he wants.

Half of my 2-car garage is taken up by a vehicle that I haven't driven in 10 years, have no real interest or ability in fixing up, and can't bring myself to sell.

Facing having to get rid of a good number of things myself.

15' boat with 65hp outboard (for sale as soon as I clean it up)

2 Mopeds

deciding if I want to sell my Bass and Amp

100 year old Piano that needs work

Assorted furniture

My mother who has been storing a lot of my stuff is going to be going from 2 houses to one. I live in an apartment, so I either need to get a house soon or a storage unit for much of what I want to keep. Some stuff, like the boat, there is just no way I can hold on to.

Apexcarver wrote: Facing having to get rid of a good number of things myself. deciding if I want to sell my **Guitar** and Amp **that I haven't played in 15 years** 100 year old **player grand** Piano that needs **to be completely rebuilt, and will probably still sound like crap anyway**

Yeah, me too.

I have this problem with my DSM...

It was my first car. In about 3 weeks, I will have had it for 10 years. In those 10 years, it has seen road for maybe 3? On top of that, it's gone maybe 1k miles in the last 4-5 years.

The smart thing to do would be to get rid of it, but I've always had plans for it and I feel like if I were to get rid of it it would be like getting divorced without ever consumating the marriage...

I want a house so I don't have to keep moving all my stuff, but I know once I own a house, I'll just collect more stuff.

Renting and moving often is a good way of keep stuff levels low.

shelbyz wrote: I have this problem with my DSM... It was my first car. In about 3 weeks, I will have had it for 10 years. In those 10 years, it has seen road for maybe 3? On top of that, it's gone maybe 1k miles in the last 4-5 years.

Why am I not surprised by this.......although I am going through the phases of should I finish and keep, finish and sell, or just part and crush the damn thing with my '95 sho. I've owned it since '07 and have put maybe 100 miles on it before its clutch decided it wanted to fall apart.

I find it helps to sell/give the items to someone who will enjoy them as much as you did. That boat could be someone else's first boat that gives them their ticket to freedom instead of wasting away in your yard or whatever.

I don't have a problem chunking stuff. Except for my grandpa's old stuff, even then, I don't have any real attachment to it. I just feel like I'm supposed to keep it.

What's the point in having stuff that sits in a box in the storage shed/closet, etc. That you don't use or need?

I have found it getting easier over the years. I only have a finite amount of space to store things. Garage space is priceless, so if it doesn't get used, it's taking valuable real estate and has to go.

PHeller wrote: Renting and moving often is a good way of keep stuff levels low.

You'd think that was true, but I've somehow managed to keep stuff my familiy has had since we lived in Okinawa back in 1974. We probably lived in a dozen apartments between then and when we bought my house in 1992. As I've now been in this house for nearly half my life, fighting my pack-rack gene has been an ongoing battle. I still have many old toys and bikes and 'stuff' from 20, 30 or even 40 years ago that should have long ago been trashed. It didn't help when I was "left the nest" when my mother re-married and obviously had no desire to take with her stuff she acquired with my father.

My g/f is the opposite - she has few emotional attachments and will pretty much dump anything once it has no practical use and can't be hung on the wall as art. I've wondered why we're so different and in a way it may be due to our opposing childhoods.

Her parents bought their house in 1961 (she was born in late '71) and still live there. So she's only known that one 'family home' her whole life. For her, the home was a constant and the things inside didn't matter.

On the other hand, I lived in many different places (and states and one different country) throughout my childhood, so for me, my things were my 'constant' and therefore 'home' was where ever my things were.

This may be all nothing but psycho-babble nonsense, but to my engineer-mind, the first step towards fixing something is recognizing why something occured in the first place.