When it is it enough "stuff"?

[orygun]

I'm 61 and have lived in the same house for 37 years. You wanna talk about stuff? We got stuff!
Fortunately the wife has also recently gotten on the "thin the herd" and is starting to clean house. I've also been doing that in the shop and storage.
I got rid of a couple of dirt bikes and acquired a couple of nice handguns I don't need, but the handguns do take up a lot less space.
Speaking of guns, I don't have as many as I used to, but I have more than I have used. Around 2010 I sold a lot of the guns I had and was fine with that. After Dad died I ended up with all of his and the "family guns". Then I bought some and traded into a couple more.

Guns have value beyond their purchase price, but I often wonder how many of them I really should hold onto.

As far as the rest of the stuff in our house, we could get rid of 80%, including clothing not including food, and we would probably not go wanting.

 

[kmk1012]

My 14 year old son and I were walking through the gun show in Albany this weekend and we were hiking that this would be a good show for us to get a few tables for the gun junk we don't use. Would be a great way to spend some time with him and make a few dollars. We guessed that there was conservatively close to $15k in extra "stuff" that we consistently move out of our way looking for things. I went on a several year binge when I came into a windfall and now need more space, time, or just more space. Maybe I'll get a couple tables in November, have lots of stuff to offload.

 

[Dirty-30_lever]

Sheeeeeeeet……I'm fiddy with 2 boys under 7….my house is a friggin disaster! The garage is my only resort for peace and quiet outside of locking the door for the daily deuce. Lego's, plastic dinosaurs with horns all over the place, crumbs, ….believe me, downsizing would be a dream, but it's only getting bigger with no end in sight…. I love it!

 

[Nwcid]

My 14 year old son and I were walking through the gun show in Albany this weekend and we were hiking that this would be a good show for us to get a few tables for the gun junk we don't use. Would be a great way to spend some time with him and make a few dollars. We guessed that there was conservatively close to $15k in extra "stuff" that we consistently move out of our way looking for things. I went on a several year binge when I came into a windfall and now need more space, time, or just more space. Maybe I'll get a couple tables in November, have lots of stuff to offload.

I did exactly that about 15 years ago. I got 2 tables and had a fun weekend and moved a lot.

 

[Nwcid]

Sheeeeeeeet……I'm fiddy with 2 boys under 7….my house is a friggin disaster! The garage is my only resort for peace and quiet outside of locking the door for the daily deuce. Lego's, plastic dinosaurs with horns all over the place, crumbs, ….believe me, downsizing would be a dream, but it's only getting bigger with no end in sight…. I love it!

Yeah, that is a very different lifestyle. We are both under 50, both kids are out of the house and on their own. We get to do the things we want to do, most of the time.

 

[TDH]

When I moved six years ago, I had been in that house for ~14 years. I found boxes in the storage space that had never been used opened since I lived there. I opened them to make sure I didn't hide any gold or something stupid and junked them. If I didn't need it in all that time, I didn't need it. I've been selling off a few things more lately, kind of prepping for the next move, and probably downsizing. I feel you.

 

[CLT65]

Timely thread for me as well; it really must be a 50's thing. This has been on my mind for several years now. Simplify, simplify, simplify!

I have a lot of gun and reloading stuff, but fortunately not much other outdoor gear, no RVs, boats, bikes, etc.. With my wife's medical issues and bills, there hasn't been time or money for that kind of thing. I purged a bunch of stuff several years ago, and was on my way to actually building up some savings, then along came more medical bills and some home repairs, and now it's gone. I need to sell some more stuff now to buy roofing materials for the rest of the roof this summer. I haven't been in this tight of financial situation in a very long time. It sucks to sell your stuff only to see the money from it disappear in the wind, but on the other hand it's good to have it and not have to go into debt. And to be honest I really don't miss it.

I have a safe full of old milsurp guns, many that I've owned for decades and haven't shot in years. I lacked the foresight and finances to buy the really nice ones, but every one of them I really enjoyed when I bought it, with never any intention of reselling. Now I think I could sell most of them and not miss them.

What's important to me now is spending time with my kids before they're all grown up. My oldest will be 20 this year. I'm starting to feel old.

 

[FATAL125]

When is it enough "stuff"?

The second it is labeled as "stuff"...

Personally, I purge every 6 months whether its needed or not. I try to stay very disciplined and intentional with the things I bring into my world, but "stuff" still happens.

I do give myself some grace and there are a handful of exceptions as there are things that have potential value or use, but generally speaking if I haven't needed or thought about something in 6-12 months then it really isn't that "needed". I'd rather have to re-buy something 2 years later than hold onto it for the off chance I "might" use it.

 

[TDH]

. I'd rather have to re-buy something 2 years later than hold onto it for the off chance I "might" use it.

I get in that situation often, but I 'might' need it someday.

 

[FATAL125]

I get in that situation often, but I 'might' need it someday.

When I started my construction company I let the "but I might be able to use this later" get ahold of me.

We moved into a new house about a year after I started and I was disgusted with myself over the crazy amount of stuff I had accumulated because "just in case". Yeah... I never used any of it.

 

[Knobgoblin]

Same age bracket, same basic situation. I mostly just give stuff away now. Lol , but even that doesn't always work.
I came home from work yesterday and the dining room table was half covered in ammo. Hard side pistol cases on the floor, rifle bag upstairs beside my bed.
What gives?
My son had emptied out a trailer full of stuff in a hurry ( he's moving) ,and ol dad gets to stow all the gun stuff for a few weeks. Most of it is "his" from me , but some of the ammo was my stash over at his house. I asked him why he didn't just burn through it like when he was a kid .
I keep telling him to just sell his damn safe , and buy another after they settle in to the new place. He's going to end up moving that thing 3 times. I hate moving gun safes. Nobody listens to Dad.

 

[Nwcid]

Same age bracket, same basic situation. I mostly just give stuff away now. Lol , but even that doesn't always work.
I came home from work yesterday and the dining room table was half covered in ammo. Hard side pistol cases on the floor, rifle bag upstairs beside my bed.
What gives?
My son had emptied out a trailer full of stuff in a hurry ( he's moving) ,and ol dad gets to stow all the gun stuff for a few weeks. Most of it is "his" from me , but some of the ammo was my stash over at his house. I asked him why he didn't just burn through it like when he was a kid .
I keep telling him to just sell his damn safe , and buy another after they settle in to the new place. He's going to end up moving that thing 3 times. I hate moving gun safes. Nobody listens to Dad.

Yep, the "gun kid" just had to move into an apartment in the city and added a fair amount of stuff back into my gun room

 

[jayR]

 

[Pete F]

8 years before my retirement goal, I started stocking up on a few guns that I wanted, tons of ammo and reloading equipment (single stage) and scopes/red dots.

Then my Dad passed, the ultimate in firearm enthusiasts, and half of his gun collection was mine for the taking. My Brother got the other half. I actually turned down some guns that I wasn't interested in, and forgot to get one of his Dillion 550's. He also was my supply for reloads, give him a thousand empties and they came back full. Most of the guns that he had were from Shotgun News, he never used the internet.

I also adopted many guns that needed repair or just a good cleaning and rust removal.

So now I have a safe that is over full and the one time I sold a gun, I got screwed by the FFL. Never again.

4 years before my retirement date, I developed health issues and had to retire. This in turn caused a drop in shooting and reloading.

My Friend that had 16 acres of land passed away from cancer several years ago. This was my main shooting spot, no RO's or marshmallows that would try to give me pointers.

I need to either start using my stuff, or sell it even though I have a 24' by 72' shop. I even thought that I could turn it into a pistol range.

I am now 68 and have been shooting since I was 11 (centerfire, starting with .45 ACP and .303 BE).

My record is 700 rounds of centerfire ammo in an afternoon. I don't think that I can do that anymore.

 

[Xmark1]

Well youngsters, I'm just shy of 70 years old. My guns are my friends. I shoot almost every week. I will not sell my friends.
I have seven, gun safes stuffed with so much stuff that it overflows into other places in the man cave/house.
I have no heirs and don't need no more money.
My hobby makes me feel good, and that's good enough for me.
When I die, I die. I will not worry about my stuff left behind.

At my age, I'm constantly reminded that there are more birthday candles behind me than in front of me.
The enjoyment I get from shooting and being around other shooters makes me happy and takes my mind off of the fact that death is closing in on me real fast.
I hope but for the grace of God, I will still be shooting till the week I die.

 

[Bobbygun]

My son had emptied out a trailer full of stuff in a hurry ( he's moving) ,and ol dad gets to stow all the gun stuff for a few weeks.

You don't have it so bad. My youngest graduated from college four years ago and moved into town because our Internet connection wasn't fast enough for his remote I.T. job. Since he's just 25 minutes away, he kept his foot (and most everything else) in the door here. Guns, archery equipment, golf equipment, etc. - never left my place. Oh well. It gives him an excuse to visit more often, and he is welcome anytime.

 

[Knobgoblin]

You don't have it so bad. My youngest graduated from college four years ago and moved into town because our Internet connection wasn't fast enough for his remote I.T. job. Since he's just 25 minutes away, he kept his foot (and most everything else) in the door here. Guns, archery equipment, golf equipment, etc. - never left my place. Oh well. It gives him an excuse to visit more often, and he is welcome anytime.

Oh yeah, it's not like we don't love having them move back. I guess I'm just baffled that someone who could pour money into the backstop faster than I could load mags is the same person who did this thing.

 

[WestcoastWes]

Here is some food for thought based on some of my recent experiences in gun and motorcycle collections. A good friend and motorcycle mentor of mine passed in 2016 and left a vast collection of motorcycle parts and a variety of motorcycles that spanned the first 70 years of the 20th century. A lot of "very expensive" parts and motorcycles. Unfortunately he was not super savvy to a changing motorcycle market and a world market in general. He was a "cash only guy" on the rare occasions when he sold motorcycles or parts and he passed on very little knowledge of what things might be worth to his daughter and son-in-law. It made for a very very challenging situation when trying to liquidate his collection. Also had he sold his collection at the height of the market in '15 he would have been able to get way more money for the stuff, but he could not let it go. 8 years later the family still has a bunch of the motorcycles and they are having a hard time finding buyers because of the changing market. I believe that the motorcycles have become a burden on the family because they are still "worth a lot of money" but the buyers are not there. There are storage concerns, value concerns, damage concerns, insurance payments, etc.

Last summer my dad and I helped liquidate a collection of guns in Florida, a really good state to do that (this point in itself should be a warning). Luckily the woman we did it for trusted us and we could get her the best deals under the circumstances, but we ran into so many unscrupulous buyers it was just insane. The highest offer we got on the collection was about $30K and we ended up selling guns individually and made about $90,000. Had there been more time and inclination the guns would probably have been worth well over $125,000. The woman had no preconceived notions on individual prices, she was smart enough not to let a "professional" buy them all but also trusting enough to let a couple of amateurs evaluate them and get what they could get at the time they could get it.
So my lessons were: be realistic with the values of your guns, explain the market to your kids or wife or whomever is going to liquidate (or keep) your collection of stuff. Sure people are ASKING $7500 for that cased, unfired 1982 Dirty Harry 44 Magnum but teach your people how to use the advanced search on Gun Broker and find out what they are actually SELLING for. Do some soul searching and get real facts about what guns are desirable and what guns are not, don't assume they are worth what you paid for them or more. Sometimes this is the worst because you might have to face the fact that its not worth anywhere near what you think it is worth. And lastly it might better to liquidate them and give MONEY to your kids, wife, etc. They may not be able to navigate the muddy waters of the firearms industry and just give up and hoard or give up and sell too cheap.

 

[arakboss]

Never enough stuff. It's unamerican to stop buying, even for one minute. Gotta spend spend spend or the whole thing stops

It's sad but true. Our entire economy is built on people spending more money then they need too. Imagine if a majority of the population decided to go minimalist and stop spending except on bare necessities. It would get ugly.

 

[HiFi Magnetics]

When is it enough.....