Don't do this to your children

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Big Dad

Big Dad

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My mother is too old to care for herself any longer @ 94 she is healthy but, her mind is not .

My step dad passed away in 2012 and after he was gone, she really loaded the house up with things that to her are important, glassware, figurines and countless other items that have no value to anyone but her .. I've loaded 8 pickup loads so far to friends that wanted some of the stuff , hardly a dent in it .. I would easily guesstimate another 20 loads .

Giving stuff away is not as easy as one would think , we need to clear the house so it can be sold to pay for her nursing home..

everyone that comes in just says, wow, over and over ..

what a massive waste of money
 
Sorry to see you going through that - have been thinking recently about my kids (like your title) and getting rid of things that were my parents' and their parents'. None of this has any sentimental or financial value to anyone, and I have found that my girls have no desire for "stuff!"

Sadly, thinking a driveway dumpster is likely to be the answer.

Good luck!
 
Yeah, its the ***** ..but , hard to throw stuff away too, it has value to someone .. all the clothes and shoes are fairly new , much of it still has the price tags on it and nothing cheap , all quality stuff ..I've found a home for a lot so far but, so much left to go .

I took pics , might post up some to show you the scope , its ridiculous
 
90% of my stuff is not "knick-knacks".

It has a real value and a good value if a moderate amount of research is done.

My heirs have been advised to take some time and look stuff up, but to to take a realistic price rather than top dollar (even 50% of what they find, for a quick sale).

In reality, they could scrap all my car and shop stuff and get 10-20K, but if they spent a few hours per week, they'd likely get close to 75K or more.

They could sell my music and audio stuff for about 5K to a wholesaler, or spend a few hours per week and get closer to 30K.

Same with my other hobby stuff.

They are smart enough to know which works best for them.

They'll get the house and it will be paid off so that will be a plus.
 
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That’s a lot of work, and it’s tough on people when they lose someone and start to collect stuff like this.

Just went through this with my grandparents house...although it wasn’t a hoard of stuff it was hard to “give away” stuff. We donated some, and they treated it like trash and it was all good items. I was upset after that and hauled several loads here to my house and it’s now taking up a 2 stall garage. My grandma was moved into an assisted living apartment, my grandpa passed away last May and it’s been tough. Their house has been in the family since the 1940’s and it will be hard to see it go, it sold and we close soon. Was a lot of work to get it empty to be able to sell but will be nice to have it sold and my grandma doesn’t have to worry about money. We plan to have some garage sales this summer to get her some more $ for her stuff instead of donating it all.

Stuff like this isn’t easy, I’m glad your moms belongings meant a lot to her but it’s still tough to deal with it all, I hope it all goes well with clearing the rest.
 
Went through that several years ago, once we removed the 26' box truck of diecast and models we had 2 20' roll-off dumpsters full, every day we put stuff out to the curb for free and we had someone come every week for the nicer stuff for donation. I kept my fathers automotive literature books (30 boxes). Only a couple pieces of furniture were kept, most was donated or trashed. We had a dealer purchase my fathers architectural book collection.

But the volume of trash was unbelievable and that didn't include the 2 recycle bins going out each week (for about 6 months). All this and we lived two hours away.

I have some junk but nowhere near what my father had, my Barracuda had already been promised to my niece and everybody knows it.


Alan
 
In my mothers case, the house is paid off but, nursing home costs $4200 a month, it gobbles up the value of the house .. fast , and for her to go on title 19, she has to have zero assets, they only give you a few years of grace period to do that ..in most cases its 5 years .. anything less than that, they just come back and tell you to give them the money, if you quickly pass away its not such a big deal ( well, to you it is ) .. the state will just take what ever your own, kids get zero
 
Here are a few pictures
junk1.jpg
 
It's a difficult situation. You know it's a waste, but in their minds it's important and to deny them is difficult and causes arguments you don't want. Went through it with wife's mother when she was losing her grip on what was best. She felt like we the children, were telling her, the parent, what she could do. Sometimes it was like things were bought just to show us she could. Near the end she asked if we could give stuff away to poor people, and we got rid of a lot before the end. Sell what you can, dumpster for the rest. Sucks, but only way out.
 
Just a small sampling , and here is another kicker .. she told me multiple times, her funeral was all paid for , etc .. called the local funeral place
said, oh yeah, she has it all planned out .. its going to be near $10,000 .. but, never paid for it .. lol , yeesh
 
Well, I tend to have collected things myself, I have quite a few Electric guitars, and firearms, I seem to have two of everything I like LOL! I even had two Mopars at one time,but.... anyway there are auctioneers who will clean the place out and auction off the good stuff, also there are antique markets where you can take the other thihgs, i did see a couple of cool lamps and the blue glass items.that stuff would sell at an antique shop, I dont know for how much though. That is a lifetime of collecting things, and maybe she came from a time where you didnt throw away good stuff...but it may be psychological, people ask me why I have two of everything and I really dont know..I have two Harley davidsons, 2 classic cars,( my Mopar and a fox body mustang...) I figure I am fortunate I guess...
 
Had 3 local auctioneers come over, none would deal with it .. too much junk, too much work .. not enough return .. its worth pennies on a dollar to be honest
You look at stuff men collect , like guns, car parts ( the right stuff ) old gas station stuff , etc it all goes up year after year ..

she used to wear 5 diamond rings on each finger , sister took all the good jewelry
 
Big Dad said:
My mother is too old to care for herself any longer @ 94 she is healthy but, her mind is not .

My step dad passed away in 2012 and after he was gone, she really loaded the house up with things that to her are important, glassware, figurines and countless other items that have no value to anyone but her .. I've loaded 8 pickup loads so far to friends that wanted some of the stuff , hardly a dent in it .. I would easily guesstimate another 20 loads .

Giving stuff away is not as easy as one would think , we need to clear the house so it can be sold to pay for her nursing home..

everyone that comes in just says, wow, over and over ..

what a massive waste of money
Click to expand...
Move her in with you. At 92 a rest home is a waste and like hiring a dog sitter for your dogs last days.
... shes almost gone and you wont care for her...?

If you have kids...maybe let that house be their starter home. Things are tough and the kids could all use a little help securing their future.
 
She can't be left alone , she has wandered off from the nursing home couple times already , one night it was cold out and found her 3 blocks away in someone's car in just her night clothes .. like leaving toddler in your house
 
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