Things with (basically) no value whatsoever...........

[ChrisB2]

I'm sure plenty of people would be willing to spend the time. Put up a Craigslist ad, offering to sell the pennies for $20.

Then you would have to deal with CL crazies for 20 bucks.

It's like the old saying that Bill Gates can't afford to bend over and pick up a hundred dollar bill off the sidewalk, he would lose money taking the time to do it.

I wouldn't throw away the pennies, but I never would have saved them in a jar in the first place. Ours get spent all the time, my wife will count them out in the McDonald's drive thru just to get rid of them.

 

[line6man]

Then you would have to deal with CL crazies for 20 bucks.

It's like the old saying that Bill Gates can't afford to bend over and pick up a hundred dollar bill off the sidewalk, he would lose money taking the time to do it.

I wouldn't throw away the pennies, but I never would have saved them in a jar in the first place. Ours get spent all the time, my wife will count them out in the McDonald's drive thru just to get rid of them.

Then donate it to someone in need. The point is, a bag of $72 worth of pennies is definitely not worthless.

 

[nashvillebill]

And you'll probably find there were some dimes and nickels mixed in too, you might even have $73 !!!!

Still worth toting down and getting the cash out. It won't take THAT long, the machine holds a bunch in its intake hopper.

 

[line6man]

Will a Coinstar machine even accept that many pennies?

 

[Bass Viking]

I read about half, that's pretty good, right? I don't know now if I'm even on topic but I have a burning desire to put out there one of the most painful useless item discards I ever had in my life...

Ya see, back in around 1990, Digidesign came up with this "affordable" digital audio recording thing called Session 8. It was one of, if not THE first digital recording piece of machinery. And it cost a little less than $4000. Ya needed a scuzzy drive to record the music on, and that was only an additional $1000. For one gigabyte. Then you needed a DAT player to mix it down to, another $1000, and well... long story short, I bought it all and within 3 years it was obsolete. I still have the DAT recorder, but tossed the Session 8 and hard drive on one snowy evening a few years later. I stood there watching the snow covering it, knowing there was nothing I was ever going to be able to do with it. Didn't even want to give it away....

You can do way more now with a $30 interface and free software than you could with my $6000 worth of crap.

Ahh....

Remember the Synclavier keyboard in the 80s? Sting used one, so did Zappa. Cost 100 grand!
Some years ago I threw out a bunch of back issues of Keyboard magazine. All the technology the magazine focused on is obsolete.

 

[Bass Viking]

Most things that we consider "collectible" today will hold zero value in a few short years because there is no context for younger generations.

I'm wondering if that will include pre-CBS Fenders, 59 Les Pauls, and all the collectible instruments that are currently worshipped?

 

[two fingers]

I'm wondering if that will include pre-CBS Fenders, 59 Les Pauls, and all the collectible instruments that are currently worshipped?

Very few people consider banjos from the mid 1800s valuable. And there probably aren't 100 really nice examples of those left. Why would a Les Paul or a P bass (of which there have been hundreds of thousands made) hold much value in 150 years?

 

[Bass Viking]

Very few people consider banjos from the mid 1800s valuable. And there probably aren't 100 really nice examples of those left. Why would a Les Paul or a P bass (of which there have been hundreds of thousands made) hold much value in 150 years?

The only reason I can think of is the Fenders made while Leo was in charge might have some historical value. But that's just speculation.

 

[Muddslide]

I am really disgusted with myself that I even know who those people are.

I've come to care so little about celebrity BS and modern culture that I actually hope to get to the point where I don't even know who the POTUS is, but I'm pretty cynical and apolitical.

 

[BAG]

We had a really nice high-rise single bed that our youngest daughter used to sleep in. It was in excellent condition, made of very nice timber, came with an excellent quality mattress and came from a smoke free and pet free house. I couldn't believe how low in price I had to go to get it sold. I think I ended up getting $50 for it. Not even really worth the time I spent advertising it and pulling it apart for the buyer.

 

[BAG]

Sometimes you've got to think outside the box.

Ski gear loses value very quickly. A set of skis five years old are basically worthless these days.

I wanted to get rid of some old skis....... i also wanted a decent sturdy hat and coat stand for the foyer at home. I bought some cheap timber, four brass coat hooks and a few screws and killed two birds with one build.

I'm currently on the lookout for a free snowboard or two and some solid rod to make some shoe racks.

 

[Alkali Ike]

I've been the executor, successor trustee, etc. for three deceased family members including my mom and dad. Based on the experience of disposing of their stuff after they died, I'm very careful myself now not to keep around a lot of junk that I don't need. I want whoever has to clean up after me when I'm gone to have as easy a task as possible.

I don't like keeping things strictly for sentimental reasons. And I don't like "dead inventory" in my garage, let alone at an offsite storage site. If I'm not going to use it at least one a year, like camping gear, I probably don't need it.

Most of my excess crap goes to Goodwill. Some goes to the landfill. On rare occasions I might put something on eBay or craigslist.

 

[ChrisB2]

I had a friend once who said he went through his stuff every year and threw out whatever he hadn't used in the previous year. I thought that was a little extreme, but then I have all kinds of stuff I haven't used for decades. Someday I will need a pretty big dumpster to unload it all haha.

Of course, that guy turned out to have some instabilities and ended up spiraling off the grid, as it seems most of my "friends" eventually do...

 

[pedroims]

My memories are in my mind and in my heart. I don't own a thing that have a sentimental value to me, if I own it is because it has a practical purpose, if I cannot use it then it goes either to the garbage or the goodwill. I am teaching my kids to be the same way but who knows if they will be the same way.

 

[dangnewt]

Pennies are for the Coinstar - I wouldn't make a separate trip but the machines seem to be in a lot of grocery stores around here and I do shop for food every once in a while.

After going through the contents of my in-laws house, I learned that 1964 or earlier dimes, quarters and half-dollars (and half-dollars between '65-70) are worth roughly 10 times face value in silver content. My father in law had them rolled up so it was pretty easy, he was a very organized guy but it would be worth picking those out even if they were in a big old container. In Canada, they phased out silver later than the US and it was over two years - '67 and '68 - so you get a different price for the '68's.

That said, I'm on board for your general point, we do like our stuff and it takes effort to keep it under control.

 

[line6man]

I've been the executor, successor trustee, etc. for three deceased family members including my mom and dad. Based on the experience of disposing of their stuff after they died, I'm very careful myself now not to keep around a lot of junk that I don't need. I want whoever has to clean up after me when I'm gone to have as easy a task as possible.

I don't like keeping things strictly for sentimental reasons. And I don't like "dead inventory" in my garage, let alone at an offsite storage site. If I'm not going to use it at least one a year, like camping gear, I probably don't need it.

Most of my excess crap goes to Goodwill. Some goes to the landfill. On rare occasions I might put something on eBay or craigslist.

Ever been to the estate sale of a recently deceased elderly person? Seems like every time I go to one, there is a price tag on every piece of junk in the entire house, and the people running the sale are hell bent on getting top dollar for everything. Sometimes there will be nice furniture and antiques, but its mostly just lots and lots of those ceramic cats that the OP mentioned.

 

[Gaolee]

My mom had an am radio, gold colored, shaped like a globe, that was a regular fixture in my youth. Still have it.
My stepfather had a rotary telephone, red in color. Still have it.
I have many albums, and a turntable. Probably always will.

Sometimes, sentimentality wins.

Um, I have a record player and vinyl records that get listened to. And a few dial telephones that work, and also get used. You can still use a dial telephone to dial a number, but you can't press 1. That was frustrating at first, but now it is liberating.

 

[wraub]

Um, I have a record player and vinyl records that get listened to. And a few dial telephones that work, and also get used. You can still use a dial telephone to dial a number, but you can't press 1. That was frustrating at first, but now it is liberating.

I still regularly use the turntable and records I have, merely an example of old(ish) things that I have sentiment for.

The rotary phone was in semi-regular usage, until I got rid of my landline. No sentiment for that at all.

 

[Photobassist]

I live next to my in-laws and they've got an old building on the property which they use to live in about 35 years ago.

My wife has talked to my mother-in-law about tearing it down, or at least cleaning it out, which she would love to do. The problem is with the grandmother. She's 92 and grew up having nothing, then had nothing during WWII. She believes that EVERTHING has value and can be reused or repurposed in a time of need. While I understand that logic, nothing in that old house will ever be used again, by anyone. Blankets have begun to dry rot and mold, furniture is broken and falling apart, and it's just a mess. It's going to take a lot of time and effort to go through all that stuff once the decision is finally made to scrape it.

One family's junk, is a grandmothers treasure....