The great junk transfer is coming (inherit piles of parents’ stuff)

[ATCclears]

The great junk transfer is coming. A look at the burden (and big business) of decluttering as Canadians inherit piles of their parents’ stuff

Sorting, storing and disposing of old family belongings will be a labour-intensive challenge in the next decade as baby boomers age

www.theglobeandmail.com

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[CamoDeafie]

The great junk transfer is coming. A look at the burden (and big business) of decluttering as Canadians inherit piles of their parents’ stuff

Sorting, storing and disposing of old family belongings will be a labour-intensive challenge in the next decade as baby boomers age

www.theglobeandmail.com

Clicked on it and got directed to an article about the Uvalde shooting?


Edit. It's gonna be either a boon for resales and estate sales people, or a bust for the same.

 

[Provincial]

I keep reminding my offspring that I am enjoying setting them up with huge piles to sort through and distribute among themselves. I may have indicated that I have set in place a system to punish them if they dispose of any of it!

 

[gryghin]

Didn't click on it... As I'm living through this right now.

 

[L84Cabo]

Pay wall.

But if you have never yet had to clean out the house of your parents or loved one when they pass, there is no greater experience that will drive home the notion of, "you can't take it with you." It is also incredibly emotional.

You're dealing with the entire contents of a person's, "life well lived." And the overwhelming majority of it will either be sold, donated, or thrown in the trash. It has forever changed my mentality and thought process any time I go to purchase something.

 

[Member 52301]

LESS is more!

You can't take it with you.

I have helped friends and family go through their STUFF. Alive, healthy, while they were sick and/or dying at their request, and after their death.

My late husband and I were NOT pack rats and we went through our STUFF on a regular basis in over 30 years of marriage.

About the hardest thing for me to do was dealing with my books over the years. He had already gone through HIS books before his cancer discovery and death. I had gone through most of mine BEFORE I was 51 years (I was 51 when he died and he was 56.) so I had LESS books to deal with before my move but I still had a fair amount.

We even discussed my future move before he died and what I thought that I would take with me and what I would put in the keep, donate, GIFT to family/friends and toss. Plus how I would pack my former Coleman pop up camper and the SUV of his. I kept the SUV since it was larger than the car and it would work better for me than the truck in this case. WEIGHT distribution and how many POUNDS would work for me in this case just like we figured it out for our former sail and power boats, trailers from a to z and the camper.

I had only ONE ITEM to toss - one small piece of wood which was left over from a completed project - I kid you not. I should have put it by the log pile out back. That item of wood was in the TOSS/THROW AWAY PILE or into the TRASH pile = garbage can.

The trash pile (INSIDE of 2 garbage cans.) did contain some paper towels and CLOTH cleaning rags that I did not decide to keep, wash and rinse right BEFORE the final check of my CLEAN house before I pulled out of the driveway back east. I had trash pick up once a week back east. (I have the same thing here in MT.)

So other than a BUNCH of shredded papers that I did not burn up and I tossed the shredded paper INTO a large garbage bag... I hardly had any TRASH after living in a house that we built for OVER 30 years.

Everything else was in VERY good condition if not in outstanding shape considering the age of some items plus with some newer items too. That included TOOLS of all kinds and house building tools too.

I sold, donated (Library, church and charity.) and made many GIFTS to my friends and their children. Some to my older brother and older sister back on the East Coast too.

Now out west...

Everything that I personally OWN now can fit into my MT husband's truck bed or into his car other than my small house and 2 car garage that I built and my land - town lot. NO kidding! I LIKE it that way - my way for MY stuff. LESS is more is my motto. LESS TO CLEAN and less to keep up over time.

All of HIS STUFF which is NOT junk or packrat crapola would take something larger to move IF we do move one last time and/or IF he takes the very SMALL amount of furniture, a couple of radios, tv, disc player, his smaller amount of reloading STUFF, his RF ammo, his small amount of CF ammo, his FEWER amount of firearms, his clothing - he owns more clothes and boots/shoes than I own but NOT tons of it, hunting supplies, emergency supplies, a small amount of tools, a couple of saws, an old fashioned style reel mower and an electric mower, axes, his knives, a few books, a few movies and a few music cds of his, etc.

My MT husband is not a pack rat. My late husband was not a pack rat. My late parents were not pack rats even though they were prepared for weather and manmade emergencies being born in 1909 = Dad and 1920 = Mom.

What opens your eyes in some cases and this was NOT a shocker to ME is what you have left if you decided to only KEEP specific SPECIAL items of a loved one.

THAT personal stuff could fit into ONE medium to large BOX. You do have memories, you had their LOVE, kindness, sad/good times, comfort, respect and those things matter the MOST in life.

STUFF is just stuff. LESS is more. LESS to clean and care for.

If I was all alone NOW going on 72 years old, I could live in a Much Smaller House than THIS small house that I built, I would build a small barn - old style barn but super insulated as this small house is and GREEN energy wise as THIS house is now and I would have NO 2 car garage like I have now, I could live on a boat or I could live in a camper of some type too.

Old Lady Cate - A Minimalist at heart even though I formerly owned very NICE things in a former, beautiful, large brick house that I designed with help, a very large garage with a loft, a breezeway and a small barn on one acre of land in the middle of the boonies - farm/lake country.

 

[Member 52301]

OP, thank you for putting this up.

I could read the article. I may have my computer set differently than some of you.

There are many articles about this subject matter all over the WWWeb, in libraries and in book stores.

Side note:

When I donated my large adult set - a complete set of Britannica encyclopedias with yearly updated books from 1950 to 1968 to my library back in farm/lake country, a nice boy sent a beautiful handwritten THANK YOU LETTER to me. I did not even KNOW this young man. His Mother took the letter to my library and they gave it to me in person. The mother and the boy were extremely HAPPY to be able to buy the set for a small amount of money at a library fundraiser.

Almost every single item of books (And some other goods.) got kept - book wise at the library or were given to other RURAL libraries in my former county/state. NOT only in my township too.

The misc. nice goods including some Ethan Allen and PA House bookcases were used in their offices and some were sold at the fundraiser. One antique man that I personally knew from another church bought one desk. I gave him the HISTORY on that desk. That small village's library now has an ADDITION that was built onto the library after I moved out west. The village was 2.5 miles one way from my old house. My late husband's old Aunts started the very FIRST library in that town and it was in the OLD TOWN HALL. That village was only founded in the early 1800's. NOT really OLD like on the East Coast or in Europe and in many other places in THIS country and worldwide!

The OLD Aunts, some other people in town and on farms, my late husband and I were ALWAYS into libraries back there.

My late parents and mentors were always huge library supporters even though in their homes and in mine growing up we had tons of books PLUS we used the library a LOT back on the East Coast too.

ALL of the people who don't want, need or have no room due to downsizing/moving some nice STUFF should gift to their family or friends IF they want it - first choice AND donate to good causes from libraries, to Volunteer FD/EMT houses/squads, Veteran homes, public/private schools, some charities, churches, etc. for their FUNDRAISERS.

USE it or lose it. Give it to someone who can USE it or appreciate it and don't DUMP it into a landfill.

Trash can be dumped of course but some things still serve a purpose and are in good condition.

Donations, fundraisers, gifts from a to z help support many good causes even if OUR tax dollar money goes to some things like public libraries, public schools, FD/EMT squads, some shelters, soup kitchens, Veteran homes, etc.

Cate

 

[RicInOR]

When my dad died, during COVID, I had to got thru his house, which had been my uncles before that.
I got one of those Junk Pickup Services to come, filled a 10 yrd bin.

Had to clean my mom's house when she got moved into an apartment, a year before COVID There will be another cleaning coming when I have to move her to assisted cares.

Over the past 2 years both my in-laws past. My in-law siblings are going thru a family home which had been their grandparents before.
FIL also had a business, which the stuff he had in there had to be gone thru. I am sad that I can't help. But also glad I don't have to. That home is near Niagara Falls.

In case you are wondering, I heard 24 long guns and 3 pistols. His goto was 300 Weatherby for North American Game & 22-250 for varmints. No gun trust. No one specifically named to get them; they are just part of the estate. And, it's NY.
One challenge my SIL who is the executor will face, is dealing with the mounts he had, some of which are no longer legal - to transfer etc.
We have told her to use some of the estate money for getting a laptop, going for massages.

--

What I have noticed is that 'no one' wants brown furniture. My mom's dinning room set for example, was easily an $8k set when she got it, we had to donate. My wife made so many trips to good will she started alternating. My mom liked "Jesus" art, so the GW guys would typically give the wife the stink eye - why are you getting rid of Jesus. ( not to worry, mom still has half a dozen pieces )

Some things are hard to get rid of. The Tube-TV for example. Mattresses.

And before COVID was the "Does it Spark Joy? / Marie Kondo" movement.

 

[Dungannon]

My parents and in-laws grew up in the depression, so when they died it was a major undertaking to get rid of stuff they kept 'just in case.' [And that was after forcing them to downsize from their home to assisted living!] In some ways it felt like we were throwing them away, as their possessions were intimately connected with the life they lived. All the same, little was of interest due to differences in taste and much was duplicative of what we had already acquired.

We promised the kids we'd never do that to them. We've lived in our house for 48 years, and have had a garage sale every summer to get rid of things outgrown or no longer used. What doesn't sell goes to charitable organizations so it really is gone.

They have copies of our wills, community property agreement, financial accounts and contacts, location of original documents, gun trust and safe combo, and a letter expressing our wishes for disposing of our estates. The executor and alternative already have durable power of attorney for financial decisions if we aren't able or willing to handle that. Our son and son-in-law have durable power of attorney for health issues, in addition to our directive to physician documents on file with each medical service provider.

The cover letter to the package they received includes, among other things, the following ...
- Having created the legal documents appropriate to end-of-life decisions, the following are our joint sentiments regarding disposal and distribution of any remainder - after taxes, debts and all other legal obligations have been satisfied. You will need to coordinate the disbursement of our financial estate with ____ of ____ to minimize taxes.
- Identify any personal possessions of ours that you wish to keep in an equitable fashion. You don't have to divide everything in half, as your interests and/or needs may not be the same.
- As far as practical, sell off whatever remains that has market value. Where items are of negligible worth, or burdensome to sell, give them away if you know of someone that could put them to good use.
- ...
- Our last charge to you both is to make the closure of our estate a visible and memorable testimony to your own children of how this solemn duty is done with equanimity and charity toward each other, acknowledging our great love for you, and thankfulness to God for His never ending grace, mercy and blessing.
Bob

 

[arakboss]

Don't tell anybody but I am trying to get on sharktank with my DeathPods business proposal. Basically when a loved or less than loved one passes, you order a DeathPod. We drop it off at the location. Throw the body and all of their contents in the DeathPod and we take it to burial location where we bury it in an oversize grave.

 

[Provincial]

A friend who was a logger expressed the desire to be buried sitting in the seat of his D-8 Cat bulldozer. Near the end, he relented and sold it to me, under the stipulation that I use it to build roads on our timber property.

I think of him every time I sit in the seat. It inspires me to do a good job of the task at hand, in order to honor his request.

 

[albin25]

Just remember to take photos of everything that you give-away/toss/sell....
.... so you can torture your future-self, with some of the valuable/collectable crap you could have "made a fortune" on if you had only known!

(and no, it ain't gonna be those Disney collector plates or that Civil War chess set)