Do you ever think about how your collections will affect the life of your kids?
Posted by az_kikr1208@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 129 comments
This post made me think about the material items that are currently affecting my parents' and in-laws' lives, how their stuff will affect our lives, and how my stuff will affect my kids. Lots of comments on this post about the collections that people display in old china cabinets. My mom and her sister are still dealing with the mountains of stuff my grandma had, 3 years on. Things that were absolutely priceless to her, that are just a burden now. My dad's mom is still alive at 98, but the time is coming, and her house is packed with things. My mom has stuff piled to the rafters. My mother-in-law had to deal with the households of her mother and step-mother. Her stepmother had a big collection of Royal Daulton figurines. She obsessed over them, spent thousands. Nobody wants them now. A piece that retailed for $300 in the 80s is worth like 30 bucks on eBay. It costs more to pack it for shipping than it's worth. All just junk now. Does anyone ever think about how their kids will deal with stuff that's important to you? Your Funkos, your Lego, your 80s toy collection, whatever? I have a large collection of vintage rc cars. They're very important to me, but who will want them in 40 years?
Resident-Trouble4483@reddit
I’m going to be honest most of great grandma’s stuff went to goodwill. A couple of family members wanted furniture that was in better condition which made sense but over half of it went to goodwill,the salvation army and willing neighbors who wanted free stuff. Newer clothes and stuff that wasn’t junk but junk to us went to an elderly care center and the rest of the junk pile went to the dump. Outside of photos and some sentimental items my grandma her sisters her brothers their kids and their spouses didn’t want it and us grandkid’s aren’t going to keep ahold of all of it.
MexicanVanilla22@reddit
I don't care if all my shit ends up at the Goodwill. I have it because it brings me joy. I'm not going to get rid of it and live a sterile life just so that it'll be easier to clean up after me. Cleaning up a loved one's personal items is part of the grieving process. Sure a house full of junk is different than a small cupboard or cherished prizes, but I'm done with walking on eggshells and taking up as little space as possible.
PerspectiveEven9928@reddit
This exactly. It’s the epitome of selfish to act like older people should get rid of things they treasure and spent a lifetime collecting so you have less to do when they die. Get over yourselves
DirtRight9309@reddit
EXACTLY 👏🏻
BaldHeadedLiar@reddit
Yep. This.
Blackbird136@reddit
Unpopular opinion: I like stuff. I think it’s what makes a home a home. Who wants to live somewhere that looks like a medical office waiting room?
Obviously there is a line, and I’m not talking hoarder amounts or actual junk or trash. But a China cabinet full of a beautifully curated collection adding warmth to a room? Bring it on.
PerspectiveEven9928@reddit
Same. And if that China cabinet of carefully treasured collection brought someone joy over their life how obnoxious do you have to be to think they should part with it early because you’re too lazy to be burdened with how to get rid of it when they’re gone
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
lol, I do! Life is messy enough, I need a calming palette and clear space around me to ground myself.
PerspectiveEven9928@reddit
I find this whole concept bizarre. I loved sorti BFF thru my grandmas things and keeping a few sentimental things to display in my own home. My older kids loved picking a few to keep for themselves as well And the things we had to sell or donate or really just bin? They brought her joy. So for that reason it was worth the effort. I’d hope I raised my kids to think the same and. Now br selfish little brats
Dirtycurta@reddit
My collections are high value stuff, I just don't have children to pass them on to.
Weird_Squirrel_8382@reddit
Someone in another comment said they willed their valuables to benefit an animal shelter. I think you can do that for lots of charities.
wintertash@reddit
My mom collected fun anthropomorphic teapots. When she became ill, she had people close to her pick ones they wanted eventually and she put their names on the bottom of each one. When she died, people who’d chosen a teapot over the past couple of years got theirs. All the rest were given away to whomever wanted one when they came to pay their respects at the house.
I loved that she wanted to ensure dealing with them wasn’t our problem when she died.
She’d originally planned to have the unclaimed ones be (in her words) “door prizes at [her] funeral” but at the last minute she changed her mind so we didn’t have to stress about bringing them there.
Weird_Squirrel_8382@reddit
That's so sweet
lsp2005@reddit
Oh she sounds amazing! I am really sorry for your loss. Her memory gave me joy, and I hope it brings you happiness too.
Frequent_Alfalfa_347@reddit
Love this. My grandmother did the same with her teacups and souvenirs from trips she had taken. All the grand children were encouraged to pick what they like and she’d put our initials on the bottom. They were passed to us when she died.
Weird_Squirrel_8382@reddit
My son roasted me when I told him I updated my will. He was like "Do I get all you Kate Spade? And all your perfumes in the high heel bottles? Ooh, you know I call dibs on the original Nokia phone." I was like "either that or the house."
When my grandma passed, we split up her nice dishes. The uncle who bought the house from the estate bought the furniture, and has repurposed most of it for his sports memorabilia.
My mom's house doesn't have a lot of clutter. She's a photo album maker and I look forward to getting those. She keeps the Walgreens photo printer in business.
venk@reddit
If your kids don’t want anything to do with your collection while you’re alive , then they won’t when you’re gone
az_kikr1208@reddit (OP)
My kids have very little attachment to stuff. They're 16 and 17, and 90% of their childhood stuff is already gone. I still have 3 or 4 boxes of my old treasures I can't bear to part with. It'll probably all hit the dump someday. They couldn't care less about my crap.
t-rex_leggings@reddit
Same, ours are 18 and 22 and couldn't care about anything from their childhood, it's so weird
frooootloops@reddit
Yeah my 18 y/o is like “awwww! Backyardigans! I loved that!” and then that’s it.
venk@reddit
Kids that age grew up online, they don’t have the same attachment to physical things we do.
Try to take your kids CS skins (or whatever) and you’ll probably get some pishback
booyakasha99@reddit
I plan to ask my kids if they want my stuff. Baseball cards, comics, original transformers, etc. If not, I’ll sell them before I get too old and finance a vacation or two.
Regular_Error6441@reddit
That's such a great idea!!
Appropriate-Code-698@reddit
My friend…. No one wants that.
Blazenkks@reddit
Our parents grew up, with Parents that went through the Great Depression. So the whole mentality of saving stuff or the habits of not passing up a good deal, so they buy 5x more then they need to save it… Definitely effected my Mom.
I’m sure some of us have hoarding tendencies because our parents ingrained “lack of stuff”. And I’m sure some us make conscious efforts not to hoard stuff and every couple of years purge things that haven’t been used forever.
As Americans we just have soooo much stuff now a days that I think that Great Depression “lack of stuff” and subsequent attachment to stuff mentality just isn’t really a thing anymore and won’t ever be a thing for our kids. They will look at our stuff as junk too without much attachment. I wouldn’t worry about. Like you said your kids aren’t real interested in your collections. They have their own things they are into. Death and the aftermath is something we all end up having to deal with. Don’t stress on what you may leave behind and just focus on what time you have!
ProsodyProgressive@reddit
My grandma keeps trying to give me stuff - I’m just not attached to stuff. She has some nice collections, for other people . If it’s not in the will, it’s allllll going in the estate sale.
HeywoodJaBlessMe@reddit
Once my kids are out of school I will look to offload my modest collection myself. I love it, but It is mostly something I like to enjoy with them.
If I croak first then I suppose they'll need to figure some stuff out.
MexicanVanilla22@reddit
Just a thought that if you enjoy it with them they probably have some great memories of the times you've shared. They may want a piece of that once they're old enough to appreciate the nostalgia.
HeywoodJaBlessMe@reddit
That's a good point and I hope it becomes true. They would of course get dibs on the collection if either wants it. Happiest outcome for me would be one or both of them keeping a small subset of favorites. The old TV is a pain though.
Typical-Human-Thing@reddit
I had to painfully cure myself of my attachment to Stuff real fast when I was a young adult and wasn't allowed to bring much with me when I left home (they were mad about it). It hurt but it made moving a lot easier since then. If my house was on fire I know what I'd grab: my cat, then maybe my documents and idk my laptop isn't worth anything anymore. My Nintendo switch maybe.
Bonus: they wanted all my childhood crap so it's THEIR crap now. 😎
GeetarEnthusiast85@reddit
I don't have kids and I'm not going to have any.
I have a collection of autographs that are certainly going to be worth something. I'm going to leave instructions on what services to contact for selling so whoever gets my stuff can hopefully sell for top dollar.
Pierson230@reddit
I don't have kids but am looking forward to giving my guitars to my nephew one day
Dude has no idea how lucky he is going to be
I did really hate going through all my parents old shit when I helped them downsize. SO MUCH SHIT.
rubywizard24@reddit
My stepfather has a basement FULL of lumber. At 70 with almost no actual retirement to speak of, he refuses to sell it. He “might need it” one day. I’ve taken his stubbornness to heart and really tried to live simply.
Pierson230@reddit
Oh god I feel you
My dad had tools and fasteners. The tools were largely understandable, if excessive; the fasteners were just unbelievable.
Screws, bolts, nuts, washers, thousands of them, of all shapes, materials, and sizes.
Like, motherfucker, you LOVED going to the hardware store, so why not wait until you need something, and go to the hardware store when you do, instead of buying ALL THE FASTENERS IN CASE YOU NEED THEM?
McBeanserr@reddit
Shopping addiction.
have1dog@reddit
Some of the might be quite valuable, especially any exotic hardwoods. However, If it is just a just a bunch of construction grade lumber, then that’s a different story.
rubywizard24@reddit
I had someone quote it this summer and it’s over $45k worth of lumber. But nope, let’s let it sit and not use that money to enjoy the golden years.
have1dog@reddit
If he has any nice Brazilian rosewood, ebony, or old growth mahogany, that’s stuff is highly desired by guitar makers.
To be fair, it has probably multiplied in value by quite a lot over the last 10-20 years. That being said, I’m not sure how it did in comparison to the S&P500 though.
WhatTheCluck802@reddit
Same with my stepfather except he had a whole giant garage built to house his extra lumber that he does nothing with ever.
az_kikr1208@reddit (OP)
My grandfather worked at the county dump for 50 years. He drug something home almost every day. They had a whole farmyard full. It's all rotting back into the earth now.
rubywizard24@reddit
Well at least it’s being returned to nature 😂
16yearswasted@reddit
I don't have kids, but if I did they would fucking lose their shit at the chance of displaying my gunpla in their china cabinets, look at this and tell me I'm wrong:
imtooldforthishison@reddit
I have a Transformers kid and there are probably more Transformers displayed throughout the house than I even realize.
inko75@reddit
I’m envisioning your house and like everything in the house is actually a transformer 👀
16yearswasted@reddit
Looking back, about 90% of the original Transformers toys were absolute garbage in robot form. The newer toys are so much better overall.
imtooldforthishison@reddit
They are!!! And since he's grown and got a job, but still lives at home, the caliber of Transformers coming into this house is incredible.
frenchrangoon@reddit
8-12 year old boys, sure
16yearswasted@reddit
Aggressive-Bath-1906@reddit
I have no kids. My sister will inherit everything. Records and musical instruments (mostly guitars) are what she’ll have to deal with. I told her to save two sentimental guitars, then take the whole lot of musical gear (amps, guitars, pedals, etc) to a local guitar shop, explain the situation to them, and take whatever they are willing to pay. Whatever is left over, donate to goodwill.
FionaGoodeEnough@reddit
I don’t have that kind of stuff. I have a ton of books, as do my parents, as did my grandparents, but when my dad died, the only thing that made me happy was going through his books and picking out the ones I wanted to keep. He and I went through his mom’s books when his mom died, and it was similarly a bright spot at that time.
The things I have in quantity are books and records, and art supplies. When the time comes, my daughter is free to sell or donate them as she sees fit. Yes, maybe she’ll end up throwing them away, which I don’t like to think of, but I’ll be dead and she’ll be alive. She has to do what’s right for her. At the same time, I have to do what is right for me, and I am not planning to live like a minimalist at the end unless that makes final years feel better for me.
MexicanVanilla22@reddit
I'm currently going through what's left of my in-laws book collection after the estate sale. I've really found some gems. Books that were inscribed by a great grandfather. Books with notes written in the margins. Funky old bookmarks that my husband made when he was a kid. Books that my MIL let me borrow after her book club. Books that my FIL did additional research on and tucked his pages and pages of notes inside. My kids may never want them, but I think they're special and I'm going to hang onto them.
SnowMission6612@reddit
I don't get the big deal.
I just cleaned out my mom's stuff. She's not dead, but she's in a 24/7 care home now and has no room for personal effects, really, so I had to clean out her stuff as if she were dead.
Yeah, I had to throw away a lot of crap. Maybe like 70% went into the dumpster. 29% went to Value Village (after failing to sell it). 1% I kept. All of it was done in under a week.
I admit it was a very tiring week and I don't feel good environmentally about the full dumpster, but I wouldn't consider it a "burden". And a lot of the stuff that went into the dumpster would have been considered priceless by mom, but her mind's gone now, none of that's valuable to anybody, so who cares? If you don't want to do it yourself, get a junk disposal company to come and they'll probably have it done in a day.
Each generation is more nomadic than the one before it. My wife and I are an international couple and we honestly have no idea how many countries our kids are going to live in. Every time we move countries, our whole lives gets fit into a few suitcases. Furniture gets sold/donated, gifts get given, a bit does get thrown in the garbage (though we're much better than my mom: no dumpster needed). Because of that, I haven't had a physical collection of things (not even books) for several years. If it's not digital and isn't clothing, it's not part of my collection.
Some of my mom's stuff could have been sold if I'd had months to wait for the right buyer. Still under $1000 in total, though. So, meh, Value Village can have it. No burden on me.
aubreypizza@reddit
Swedish Death Cleaning, great book I suggest everyone read. Best quotes imho:
Can I give an old samurai sword to my teenage grandson?
A Christmas without a book for a present is a disappointment.
Save your favorite dildo, but throw away the other 15.
Jonestown_Juice@reddit
Can I keep the top 5 best dildos at least?
ladydonttekno1@reddit
Swedish Death Cleaning, y'all. Don't burden your loved ones with your items that they don't want. Take care of downsizing while you're alive and able.
MyNameCannotBeSpoken@reddit
On another sub, maybe r/askoldpeople, someone said they are selling their collection now to get the best offers as their kids don't know the value of items in their collection. No estate firesales
Regular_Error6441@reddit
This is actually pretty solid advice... Having dealt with someone's possessions after they passed, there were so many things that were clearly significant to them but were just items to me.
WarpTenSalamander@reddit
My mom has been doing this for a couple years now. She’s been dragging my dad along the process, begrudgingly. Neither of them are in ill health, she just wants her basement cleared out finally, and for us kids to not have to deal with all the stuff when they eventually pass.
I am eternally grateful.
GroundbreakingHead65@reddit
My mom collects nothing and has already downsized. I have zero collections of my own.
TheForce_v_Triforce@reddit
Nope, don’t have any collections. Or kids.
WarpTenSalamander@reddit
I’m not much of a collector myself. If anything I like a good clean out every now and then. Nothing feels better than going through the back of a closet and then hauling a few boxes to a thrift store.
I have been on the receiving end of a few collectors in recent years though. In my experience they come down to two main categories: decorative and therefore difficult to rehome (taste is subjective, plus decor trends change so much over time), and eternally useful so even if the recipient can’t use them somebody will want them.
Vintage china set in a pattern that is highly specific to a certain time period? Furniture that’s nice solid wood but very ornate or otherwise dated to a certain era? Precious Moments figurines? All examples of things that fall into the decorative category. I can’t tell you how much people nowadays do not want this stuff. You can’t hardly pay people to take it off your hands.
Woodworking tools and supplies? Good quality cooking utensils, appliances, or knives? These things were, are, and will always be useful. Maybe you don’t know what to do with them, or have the time for them, but somebody does. And they’ll pay you some amount of money for them. Maybe not what you think they’re worth, but they’ll come pick them up and then you won’t have to worry about them anymore.
imtooldforthishison@reddit
I have already told my son "I don't care what happens to it after I die."
That being said, I only have one collection, and its my dad's beer steins that he collected in his travels with the military over 27 years and I only accepted it because with all these big manly beefy beer steins, he also displayed this god awful, ugly as shit, coffee cup i made for him when I was 8.
I try not to hoard things so clean out should be fairly easy for him. All he's really going to be up against is pictures.
forever_erratic@reddit
I'm not a collector, but I do play a bunch of instruments. I guess the closest thing to collecting we do is buy local art, nothing super pricey, just cool shit that also gives back to the community.
quickblur@reddit
I'm pretty minimalist, so I won't leave any junk for my kids.
Short-Step-5394@reddit
When my mom died, my siblings and I picked out the things that held sentimental attachment as a remembrance, then we paid an estate sale company to liquidate the rest. Got a couple of grand in profit from it.
My dad is a minimalist, so no worry there.
JosephBlowsephThe3rd@reddit
My collection of microplastics has certainly affected their lives.
weepinwilo@reddit
omg i have boxes and boxes of royal daulton rose china and tons of crystal wine glass in 4 huge boxes from my mother who dies in 2007. it has moved with me across thousands of miles and currently sitting in our garage. dont know what to do with it. dont want to deal with it. just sits there.
kg51113@reddit
Maybe start by seeing if family or friends want a couple of the glasses. Some people like to have a few nice wine glasses or maybe a pair could be given to a couple for their wedding. You might be able to piece it out and only keep a small selection if you want for memory. Mismatched china pieces are a theme for weddings and parties sometimes.
weepinwilo@reddit
oh yeah thats already happened. my aunt (mom's sister) was a vulture when she passed and cleaned out all the stuff she wanted. going over there is like being at my childhood home. trust me, no one wants this and im not trying to make money, but donating it gives me mixed feelings like i feel guilty letting go of my mother's things. idk its a weird sentiment and illogical bc its collecting dust in boxes.
143019@reddit
I tried to get my Mom to get into Swedish Death Cleaning with me once she entered hospice. It did not work.
My Dad was worse. Why would you need 4 nonfunctioning TVs from the 80s? He had 9 rakes in the garage. He did have a collection of Life magazines back to the 40s I think, and someone bought the whole collection for $250.
DirtRight9309@reddit
it’s just stuff, who cares. if you raised your children right, they will be much more upset about you dying than they will about what to do with your stuff. unlike the original poster who clearly doesn’t give a shit about their parents
unicorntearsffff@reddit
Y'all had kids? 🤔
library_wench@reddit
You think our generation, that had REAL toys as kids, want Funkos?
How dare you. 😛
I’m the one-woman liquidator of the family. I sell off collections, the kids’ outgrown clothes, a damn BASEMENT full of items from my parents’ house. I take a commission, and the rest is Vacation Fund. Grandma’s horse figurines and my Barbies and the niblings’ toddler toys have paid for dinners, concerts, and amusement park tickets.
Intelligent-Camera90@reddit
I collect cookbooks and have a very modest Pyrex collection, which are semi-practical. I also don’t have kids. It can all get donated when I go, or if I have nieces/nephews that want…they can take it.
When my grandmother moved into the wrinkle ranch, my mom and aunt cleaned the house out. I asked for the mirror that my grandma bought on her honeymoon in Hawaii and it’s now hanging in my dining room - just as it hung in hers.
jojocookiedough@reddit
I don't have much of a collection. My parents were both hoarders so yeah. I'm not a minimalist or anything, but my book collection is contained to a single bookcase, rarely buy collectibles or knick knacks and only if there's space to display it, etc. Whatever I leave behind won't be too much of a pain to deal with. I cleaned out 2 hoarder houses after my dad died and my mom went into care. I would never leave that kind of burden for my kids.
jlkb24@reddit
I have retro consoles and play Crazy Taxi for the most part. I collect all versions of Crazy Taxi from demos to prototypes, sealed copies, rentals etc. My teen doesn’t really play games. She has a Switch but only really plays Minecraft or Roblox and MC runs better on her iPad.
I’ve told the wife that yeah I have a lot of stuff but much of it has value and that she could sell it but don’t donate or give it away. I feel like I’m gonna need to itemize everything.
My game room is also a wiring mess because of all the buttons and switches I have to connect everything while also being able to record myself with audio and no need for a computer to do this.
Sold most of my sports cards during the boom as I realized nobody would want that stuff.
Pandorasopinbox@reddit
Not lots of collections (one or two only) but my Dad always says to my Mom “Pandorasopinbox is just going to bring a dumpster in when we die, you know that right?” My Dad understands I’m a minimalist and my Mom kind of understands but seems resistant.
hiding-in-the-webz@reddit
I have a feeling all my playbills from every show I've ever seen will be put in a giant bonfire lol. And honestly, I'm okay with that. Having never thought about this until this moment, I'm actually really fine with that. Maybe I'll put it in my will. I don't have much in terms of knick knacks or collectibles and my playbills are really just for me. I actually love the idea of releasing those up into the ether after I'm gone.
For my own mom, she keeps talking about Swedish death cleaning, but keeps holding onto things cause sentimental. I finally asked her, "if it was covered in vomit, or poop, would you feel the need to clean it?".
All of a sudden, the light bulb went off and she went NO OMG I CAN THROW IT OUT. Hopefully that question helps someone else's parent realize sentimental means nothing in most cases lol.
az_kikr1208@reddit (OP)
'Would you clean it if it had poop on it?' OMG I love this. Keeping this in my head. Thanks!
Vesuvia36@reddit
I only collect books and keychains, I wouldn’t be upset if my daughter didn’t want them. I remember my mom collected beanie babies and when she passed away none of us really wanted them. I think I took one to remember her by and not sure my other siblings took any.
nuskit@reddit
Childfree here, so no kids to overwhelm with stuff.
That being said, I'm not a big collector, though I do still have my old Colecovision, Atari, controllers, and 57 games. I also have a folio of baseball cards from the early/mid 80s and a collection of old money from around the world that my grandfather, father, and eventually I contributed to as we traveled the world.
Im sure the gaming setup will be easily sold. Aside from a few baseball cards, most will be in the trash. The money may be of interest to someone since it's so weird, though I hope to find someone who will want those things beforehand.
My gardening equipment and firearms may be sold off in a lot sale. Aside from that, my sentimental items fit inside a 6"x12" box, so you can chuck it in the fire with my corpse if you like. My intent is to start purging as I approach 60, then get everything organized before I finish the job myself around 70. I'm not going to be alone, or in a nursing home, and my husband is so much older than me that he'll probably be long dead. The big stuff is already willed to an animal rescue, anyhow, since I refuse to will anything to my niblings after the comment "you don't have kids so when you die, I'll be rich!".
SalsaSmuggler@reddit
Well the ting is I collect things that have value (graded cards and comics, gold and silver coins, etc.) as well as collectibles of various sorts so if I croak, my daughter can keep what she likes and sell the rest easily. I don’t know what to do with the house full of dishes and cake pans I’m currently dealing with from my grandmothers passing lol so I hope not to leave my kiddo in a similar situation.
DifficultMinute@reddit
Nope. I assume they’ll sell or throw it all away.
Unseasonably-mild@reddit
They can just get a dumpster and throw all my stuff out, I’m fine with that. I can’t imagine why they would want any of it.
weedtrek@reddit
So I find a lot of the problem is just sentiment and greed. It's as simple as having the loved ones go through and take the stuff they want and then having an estate/yard sale and take any offer. You will not get the full value but you won't have to list individual items online and deal with shipping and all that. Anything left at the end of the sale goes to Goodwill or the trash.
It's that simple. A couple days of work, but it's a lot better than dragging it out, storing it, risking things damage, just because you might get a few more bucks.
But yeah, it's a lot better if the person has their positions whittled down to what they actually still use and cherish. And if they give the things to the people they want to have them, while still alive
Booji-Boy@reddit
I've already told my kid to keep what they want, sell what they don't, and donate the rest without feeling bad about it. So far they're mostly into my record collection, concert T's and some random wall art.
memyselfandi78@reddit
I look at everything in my house and the upkeep of my house from an entirely different perspective since I had to clean out my mom's house and fix it up to sell it. I don't want to put my daughter through what I just went through.
catjuggler@reddit
This is why I collect stocks lol
pertrichor315@reddit
I’ve sold or gifted a lot of my childhood stuff or given it to my kids. My son has all my old matchbox cars and legos. My only other collections are guitar stuff and tools. I hope they keep what they want and sell the rest.
draculawater@reddit
My dad’s (rather large) house is hoarded. He has a separate building that’s hoarded. He has an additional shed that’s hoarded. I want little to none of it, but it’s mine to deal with when he’s gone. I’ve tried for years to get him to start selling off things that’ll actually sell, toss stuff that won’t, and slow down his intake of stuff. Nothing doing.
It’s inspired me to really work on the possessions I have so my son isn’t left with a bunch of junk to dispose of when I’m gone. I don’t have anywhere near the amount my dad does, but practices like Swedish death cleaning resonate with me now. At most, he’ll have a sizable media collection to dispose of after he’s picked out what he wants to keep, and that’ll be a one trip ordeal to the dump or Goodwill or whatever.
My mom isn’t as bad but she still has plenty to sort through. At least my sister will be involved with that, though she’s inherited a little of our dad’s hoarding and a little of our mom’s retail therapy tendencies. Her kids will have more to go through than mine.
Jupiter68128@reddit
95% of my baseball cards are going right in the trash.
capthazelwoodsflask@reddit
That’s what made old cards and collectibles valuable, not 500 different, mass produced ‘collectors additions’
Just-Try-2533@reddit
Tbf you should just do this now. A couple of years ago I went through all my 80s and 90s junk wax and just pitched anything that was not rare. It’s crazy how much crap I was holding on to.
venk@reddit
My 1998 Neifi Pérez is going to be worth a fortune any day now.
Jupiter68128@reddit
Former future all-star.
kg51113@reddit
We don't have much. I was really into hockey cards for a while in the late 90s and early 2000s. Friends who had contacts got me things like a broken stick from my favorite player. All of it was left in my old bedroom when I moved out of my parents' house. A few years ago I gave it all to a family member who still collects sports memorabilia and had lost some things in a divorce.
My husband and I have some CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, and video games. That's as close as we come to collectibles.
I've already told my mom that I don't plan to fight over stuff when she and my dad are gone. There are only 2 of us kids, if my sibling wants something, they can have it. My mom has a few things that she wants to give to specific people. If she marks that down, great. If not, we'll do our best.
My ex's mom has shown my daughter a certain thing that's supposed to be hers someday. I told my daughter when the time comes, don't fight with people. If her cousin wants the crystal bowl that badly, let them have it. I've been through a death with this family and know how they act. These are random things that my ex's mom felt connected to certain family members so she bought them. It's not the serving bowl grandma always used for holidays, just a piece of glass that's always been in a cabinet.
OrganicAverage1@reddit
I see a lot of posts like this. I guess my family is different. No one I am related to have large collections of useless figurines or stuffed animals. I do not spend money on these types of things. When my grandparents died it was like multiple freezers full of god knows what but not tchotchkes .
Similar_Sale_5136@reddit
Stopped collecting anything not valuable
az_kikr1208@reddit (OP)
This is my quandary, what's valuable? My great-grandmother thought her ceramic figurines would be worth huge money, but now it's nothing. My grandmother had a giant stamp collection. But it was more trouble than it was worth to try and figure which ones might be worth something. Nobody collects stamps anymore. An object's value can vary so much. One thing I ended up with from my grandmother's estate was her stereo system. I thought it was neat, and it was going in the dump. A little research and I come to find out it's worth thousands. I think the stuff that I'm collecting is valuable, but will it be someday? I kept a single GI Joe from my childhood collection, it's worth over $100, all by itself. I'm keeping it because I think it will continue to be valuable. when all the people that care about GI Joe are dead, will it be worth anything? It's tough to think about.
cellrdoor2@reddit
My kids have each told me that they want a small part of my vintage dish collection. We use them for any special occasion (even small ones)so they are wrapped up with lots of good memories. I plan on double checking with them one more time down the road if they want it. If not, I plan on only keeping one or two pieces I’d like to keep around and finding some folks who will really appreciate it to gift with it. It’s a popular collector’s item so chances are someone will still want it.
unlovelyladybartleby@reddit
I'm leaving my kid enough money to pay someone to haul my shit away if he doesn't want it. I do want it, so I'll be keeping my China and my vintage Kenner Star Wars figures and my sword collection because I deserve happiness.
Historical-Newt6809@reddit
I have my great grandmother's Curio cabinet. I am hoping that it can be passed down because it is absolutely beautiful and all hard oak wood whatever. But I do understand that it is quite large and if my kids don't want it, I hope they sell it for some exuberant amount of money and are able to live comfortably.
Other than that I have a few small collections, some pops and things like that but I've been trying to get rid of a lot of stuff since they've moved out because it's just taking up space.
I have no idea what's going to happen with my library and I hope maybe if they don't want any of the books that they donate them to kids in need or heck, who knows in how many years, we might be a Fahrenheit 451 situation. I'll be hiding them under my floor.
mnwannabenobody@reddit
I am lucky that my kids are young adults (19 and 22) and also love Funkos, so they'll probably still love mine when they have to deal with it too. My books on the other hand... they will likely dump all those and all I do is plan on buying more until I die 😭😂
SnooGoats7476@reddit
I am a big collector but have no kids.
I guess one day I’ll just get rid of when it no longer makes me happy.
Coolbreeze1989@reddit
I joke with my daughter that she’s lucky I am collecting something she can easily resell: Lego! I do have a lot of “stuff” as I live out in the country, but I have written out a guide for her on how to best get rid of the stuff. And farm animals. I know she doesn’t want to live out here and I don’t want to be a burden when she’ll be dealing with grief (we are very close!)
someguyfromsk@reddit
I have actually thought of that.
I don't have kids, but I do have a considerable farm toy collection. My family would have no idea what to do with it. They have no idea which piece is worth $500 and which is worth $5.
I am going to talk to a friend in the hobby to be the executor of all that in my will. It should only be an issue if I die suddenly, if I know I am going I would try to distribute it before I take the big nap.
New_Needleworker_473@reddit
I don't collect anything. Lol! My kids will have just a very few things to sort through of mine. My 12 yo however has more collections than a museum.
iputmytrustinyou@reddit
Yup. I have already told my mom I don’t want all her stuff, but I will keep one or two things if there is something specific she would like me to keep.
emeraldrose484@reddit
I don't know if I commented on that other post, but my family dealt with an extreme level of rapid declutter for my parents last year. They decided to move to an apartment in an assisted living community, but made the decision so quickly that we suddenly had get them packed and moved in about 3 weeks. Downsizing from a 4 bedroom, 3 story home they had lived in for 45 years, after almost 60 years of marriage, to a 2-bedroom apartment was huge and heartbreaking for them.
We tried for years to get them to sort through stuff, but they did it very passively. But now we had a time limit, so unless there was something someone wanted, everything was being tossed. The disposal group we used donates what they can, and disposes of everything else.
Going through everything was hard on my parents, especially knowing so much was being trashed. I was the primary person going through stuff with them of my siblings. My mom kept saying things like, "that candy dish belonged to your great grandmother - are you sure you don't want it?" But no, I have zero use for a crystal candy dish that I've honestly never seen because it's been in a cabinet my whole life and wouldnt use it anyway.
All this to say - I have been spending the last year or so taking more time going through my own things. I have a lot of stuff that I like and have collected over the years. But none of it needs to be "passed on" to the next generation. My feelings will not be hurt if my niece or nephew do not want my special figurine or my signed baseball. If my stuff ends up in the trash one day, so be it. It brought me joy, and that's the most important thing. If someone else wants my stuff when I'm no longer able to enjoy it, they're welcome to it.
PetMonsterGuy@reddit
Kids? Lol
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
I don’t collect anything, it’s always felt like just a bunch of clutter. There’s nothing I like doing more than a big old purge when I feel like I’ve acquired too much shit.
canoegal4@reddit
I collect rocks so I guess if the kids don't want my rocks they can just put them outside but most of them want my rock collections
WhatTheCluck802@reddit
All I collect is books - I’m a voracious reader as are my children. It’ll be easy enough for them to go through my shelves and keep what they want and get rid of the rest. I do have an entire room full of books plus a couple other cases in other parts of the house - but they’re reasonably well organized by subject/genre and it won’t be too difficult to go through them after I’m gone. It’ll be a good workout for them, hauling box after box out. LOL
hungrypotato0853@reddit
I can't stand clutter, and have avoided collecting crap all my life. At 45yo I have zero collections of anything, and it's so freeing. When my folks pass I'll je good woth 1 ot 2 momentos and the rest is getting sold, donated, or tossed. That cabinet of ceramic angels is meaningless to me.
Imaginary-Mix-5726@reddit
I'm doing this with my own stuff right now. And am trying to keep this in mind every time I am tempted by a keepsake or cute decor.
"Would I laugh my butt off if I found this in my own grandma's stuff" is my current litmus test. Every last article and review I wrote for the college newspaper? My middle school pine car trophies? Not so much. Embarrassing poems about Grandpa? Okay, yeah, they'll probably get a laugh from that.
I do wish I hadn't given away my grandparents' bowling gear though. My family is suddenly Into Bowling in a way I never would have predicted.
Sanchastayswoke@reddit
Not really, I don’t have collections of things p
frackleboop@reddit
The only collection I really have is virtual pets from the 90s. Tamagotchi, Giga Pets, stuff like that, and it isn't very big. I haven't thought of what I'll do with those. I have been working on decluttering, though. I know I'm not going to have the energy for it when in older and I don't want my kids to have to deal with it.
midnight-dour@reddit
My nephew can have my Playboy collection…I mean, if he wants it.
Ok_Breakfast5425@reddit
No kids, but my niece will have fun going through my record collection
This_hoe_dumb@reddit
I have several antique bibles. It’s a hobby of mine to find these things, but I told my kids to do whatever they want to with them after I’m gone. Just don’t trash them, if they don’t want to sell the books, they’re going to donate them to a bookstore.
Graybeard_Shaving@reddit
Solid bible collection u/This_hoe_dumb… 😂
Graybeard_Shaving@reddit
Been a minimalist for most of my life. Not a screeching banshee kind of minimalist but definitely on the less is more side of our society. The only items I have that could be considered a collection are 4K physical media and that is contained to one midsized book shelf. If I died suddenly it would take a weekend to settle my possessions. If I had a heads up that death was coming I could have it handled well in advance with minimal effort.
tevamom99@reddit
Yeah. I am actively trying not to amass tons of stuff. But my collections are mostly cool rocks and seashells. I’m trying to clear out the house as much as possible.
On the other hand, my FIL had a massive collection of antique and collectible beer cans and was part of a collecting group. He built shelves to display them all over the unfinished part of their basement (it bled slightly into their finished part). It was a huge part of his life though and my husband remembers going to the collector’s annual picnics with his family growing up. When he passed, the collector guys helped and they apparently have auctions. Whichever ones family didn’t want got auctioned and we ended up with $15k which was able to help contribute to the 24/7 care my MIL needs now.
Regardless, I don’t want my kids to feel burdened by any stuff I have, whatever they don’t want they can give away.
Aurora_Twinstar@reddit
I don’t really collect things except for old family photos and the embroidery pieces I stitch myself. I’m pretty sure my youngest will treasure the 100+ year old photos as she has an interest in family history, but I assume all my stitches are headed to Goodwill
rubywizard24@reddit
Nope, because I am sterile and won’t be having kids. My three best friends are the only people in my will, and they won’t inherit much outside of cash and my vehicles. I practice anticonsumption, so my house isn’t full of useless junk.
MuffinMatrix@reddit
You sound like so much fun. I didn't plan on having kids, but all the crap I've had was still fun.
rubywizard24@reddit
I am fun! I take my friends on incredible vacations and am generous with my money since I don’t spend it on stuff. Thanks for the compliment ☺️
Electronic_Biscotti@reddit
I'm currently going through my/our collection of Legos trying to figure out what to store and what to try to sell/give away. I keep telling my kids that we're living in peak Lego. I imagine some sets will continue to be worth something in the future. But all of these massive collections? I'm not so sure. We're definitely living Lego nostalgia at the moment.
MuffinMatrix@reddit
He now has a pile of legos ready to go all for him. A Nerf arsenal. Random action figures. Matchbox cars.
No idea why I kept them (well, the Nerf I do... office warfare), but now they're his.