My grandfather was a hoarder, the sort you see on TV, and his favourite excuse for why he had to keep all his empty, washed and dried, Pedigree Chum tins (and the lids) was that they might "come in handy".
It's been one of our favouritefamily phrases for almost as long as I can remember. Usually when I find myself keeping something because it might come in handy it triggers me to get rid of the item.
I decided to get rid of some stuff from the loft. It's - mostly - kitchen fittings. I don't need them, but they are just too good to give away. It's the sort of stuff that costs you a lot of money when you want to buy it, but no one wants to buy when you're selling.
I decided I'd give them away. I went into the loft, was amazed at how butterly cold it is up there (I guess that's a good sign, it must mean the ceilings of the rooms below are well insulated) andfound where I'd stored them. I confess there were a couple of items where I thought "Hmm, maybe I can use those when my sewing area is ready....", so they have a stay of execution until the room is done.
I also picked up two other large items. One was a helium cannister. If I didn't use if for DH's special birthday, I'm clearly not going to use it. The other was much more of a wrench, it was my guitar. My parents bought me the guitar some 44 years ago. It's a child's size, and I was amazed at how good the condition was. It's always been kept in its case. The strings need replacing. I'd tried to give it to DSS2 when he was about 8, but his mum sent it back.
As I'm typing this, I'm thinking "surely you've enough space to keep your guitar? You might play it again.". Funny how I only think of that when I think of getting rid of the guitar.
It was painful to get everything down the ladder, one item at a time (I'm getting old now), and photographed them. And today I posted them.
Most of the items have gone now, just a couple more cluttering up the landing. If they don't go, I'll offer them on Freecycle/Freegle, and if that fails, well, they're going to the tip. I've got to go anyway as I also found yet another box of VHS tapes, with Thunderbirds and Star Trek recorded from the TV on them. Dozens of them. I found a use for some of the sleeves, but the tapes themselves are in carrier bags and I'll take them to the tip. One of the Tips has a VHS tape disposal point, so I'll make use of that.
Actually, that reminds me. I've got some paint in the loft that I won't need anymore. I'm changing the colour of the room it's for, so I don't need to keep the spare. I think the Tip has a paint tin collection point too, so I might as well do that as well.
And while I'm up there, I'll see whether there are any other quick wins.
