What do you keep?

[Daisy]

Are there any strange things that you keep year in and year out for no particular reason, or is it just me?

I've just carefully put away my 2022 calendars and little pocket diary. I keep them every year, but I've no idea why. Since Covid my dairy is almost empty, so why hoard it! But I can't bring myself to throw them away.

[Lizzie48]

Oh dear Daisy, where do I start, all my diaries from my 16th! The same for birthday cards. Postcards, all in albums, that was when we first moved here 53 years ago, my mother would send the boys cards. Drawings etc from the children and grandchildren, all they have made over the years etc etc. Music magazines from when the boys were at home, they don't know this though, they will discover them when they have to empty the cupboards in the shed.

Then of course, the sewing corner, I have buttons from my MIL, a lot of things from DS mother and the rest I have saved over the years.

[Gemini]

Champion hoarder here!

OH and I also both keep our diaries for years, and the wall calendar.

All my 3 babies birth congratulations cards, all sorts of other cards, children's drawings etc. SO many photos including now all the ones from my mum's house.
Every year, and this is no exception. OH says we must sort out the loft before it comes though the ceiling and both throw away at least some of the stuff which has stayed untouched up there since we moved in 12 years ago. There is far more of mien than hers, but then she hasn't any children,

[Oma]

Nothing hoarded apart from photos , DS&DD school reports
GS1s First baby hat and GS2 first mittens

Im not a hoarder .
The loft has been emptied apart from Christmas stuff and cases .
B tends to throw stuff in the loft just incase we need them ( we never do )
but then I drag them out every now and then for the tip .

I hate clutter I’m a place for everything and everything in its place person.
Drives B mad at times 😁

[Plantaholic]

I am not a hoarder, I keep photos of course and some drawings the children have done. We had a sort out in the loft some years ago but it could do with another one, I can’t get up there now, I have to stand on the loft ladder and point things out but what can I do with a Beaver Lamb fur coat!

[WeeGranny]

This house move gave me the impetus to clear out things that were no longer wanted/needed. DC weren't interested in keeping their old drawings etc, so they went ( apart from a couple of poems). I've kept some cards and letters from OH but old birthday cards etc have gone. When we cleared my in-laws house, there were so much rubbish ( drafts of references, timetables, photos of people/places OH knew nothing about), I vowed that my DC wouldn't have to spend hours sorting through 'stuff' only to get rid of it. I still have quite a bit of stuff, but I've become more ruthless in what I keep or dispose of.

I keep old calendars for a couple of years just for reference e.g. when did I have a blood test etc. This started when OH became ill and it was handy to reference doctor's appointments etc.

I had the loft part boarded when I moved and there's stuff up there that I have no cupboard space for e.g. Christmas stuff, craft stuff, duvets in storage bags and some paintings which are waiting to be hung! There also some boxes in the shed which need to gone through, but I'm in no hurry to do them! I think there's quite a lot of photos and slides. I've bought myself a thingy to make them digital, then I shall probably dispose of the originals.

[Oma]

WG
I said the same thing I didn’t want the children to have all my rubbish to go through ,
I don’t have many ornaments either ,

Im going to IKEA tomorrow to get storage to house the mountain of photos we have ,
I have Albums for both my Children and all 3 Grandchildren and one album with photos of my parents and siblings and grandparents ,
But there are hundreds of random photos just in a huge ikea bag .
I intend going through them and getting rid of useless ones of past holidays scenery etc we will never look at again .

[Daisy]

I think photos can be one of the most difficult things to store or not store.

WeeGranny, my DIL1's father 'digitised' all his family photos years ago - and now can't access them because the technology is redundant and no longer supported by the manufacturers. DIL said at the time she wished he'd given her the prints.

When (!) I get round to sorting our photos out I'll keep the most precious ones as prints as well as in the Cloud. It's also good to write on the back who they are, the place and an approximate date.

I'm not a hoarder, but OH is. Everything is kept in case it comes in handy. Sometimes he's right on that one, but I still wish he'd hoard less. Our garage looks like one of those programmes you see on tv - stuffed to the ceiling! It bothers me because somebody will have to clear it out if he doesn't.

[Mimi]

I'm also not a hoarder and I agree with WeeGranny and Oma , I don't want our children to have to sort out lots of unnecessary clutter left behind when myself and OH die.
I vowed this after having to clear out my mum's possessions . The stuff she had kept 'just in case' . It was 1991 when she died and amongst her things were, an old rent book from 1977 hundreds of odd buttons in several tins, old curtains that would never fit the windows of her current house. The list is endless.
OH is more of a hoarder, he will keep lots of useless rubbish and unusual for a man he likes ornaments whereas I would happily get rid of most of the ones we have appart from an ornament of a very colourful man with a wobbly head .
It sounds weird but it's the last thing dad brought me when he went to a garden centre. He said he brought it because of the bright colours and with his failing eye sight it stood out for him
He never went out again after that day

[Lizzie48]

I have sorted all out that isn't important to me, all the important papers the boys will need are in one special case, the rest is up to them! I am not an ornament person really, in fact compared to most people I know my house is empty! When a friend came for the first time a few years ago she thought I was moving house!

[Daisy]

Mimi, my OH likes furniture - as much as he can cram into the house if I'd agree, and lots of pictures and I'm quite the opposite. It's a constant arena for discussion but I point out I'm the one who does the dusting and I don't want anything else to dust.

Lizzie, your house sounds like bliss.

[Gemini]

Sensible man your OH Daisy

[Plantaholic]

I am not a hoarder, but I really need to sort the photographs out and name the ones I keep. I have to keep the garage clear as I like to garage my car. I suppose I am a bit of a clothes hoarder as I have put on weight since I stopped swimming and bowls and I can’t throw clothes away that I can’t get into in case I have the impulse to get this weight off.

[Gemini]

I never actually want throw anything away! It doesn't come naturally to me .
It's probably a good job OH isn't like me.

[Nanto2girls]

I'm not a hoarder but hubby is. Luckily his junk is in the shed and garage.
We have a lot of photos,although some are on disc or stored on the computer.
I used to save all cards,but they have been decluttered.
We have the last christmas card from mam and dad,and then the last one from dad.
I seem to be quite ruthless now,if i decide something is going,it goes.