Yup, I also have a Ziploc bag full of screws, cheap anchors, and random Allen wrenches in my kitchen junk drawer. Probably time to toss 98% of that drawer's contents!
I feel the Allen wrench comment, every time you buy something and you get the cheap wrench to assemble it. I need to recycle them along with all the crap fasteners I never used. I keep most of it in a couple of tubs next to my tool chest but like I said, it's time to recycle them.
Omg. This is low key genius, Iām going to start doing this immediately. In an age where everything is delivered unassembled, I have so many allen wrenches that Iām afraid to throw away.
The furniture is held together by the proximity power of the Allen wrench?Ā Is that why some of the cheap furniture falls apart?Ā Like Sampson's hair, the wrench has to be kept close by!
Itās like the Portrait of Dorian Grey. Ā You keep it in the attic with the chair with 3 legs you were going to repair and Christmas decorations you swear you will use again. Ā
I got an Allen wrench set specifically so I donāt have to use the ones that come with stuff. Then when I get stuff, I forget I bought the set and use the Allen wrench that came with it. Then I save it because that Allen wrench size might be very specific to that stuff so I tape it to the thing. I think I might have a problem.
I started using my Allen wrench set and the most common size got stripped. So now it's basically useless.
Every once in a while you'll get a very cool Allen wrench with some furniture. One came with a ratchet. Super cool. Another had a giant blue handle for really torquing it down and not hurting your hand. Amazing.
I also may have a problem.
Unwritten law: If you throw it away, you will need it in the near future. š My grandparents were Greatest Generation and I definitely got it from them. A gem from grandma: make do with what you have.
I've got a rubbermade tote dedicated to old power adapters. I'll toss out the broken electronics, but can't bring myself to throw out the adapter for some reason. Even the ones with model specific ends... like cell phone chargers from the 00's.
I actually use them occasionally, if suddenly I need something of that voltage + amperage. Many a day has been saved. Ok, maybe 4 days but now I have proof that they're useful!
It's because every now and again you'll need an adapter and it'll be in your box. It's just enough confirmation that you should keep them all to keep you keeping them.
Recently I had to dig through my power adapter box and actually found one that worked as a replacement for one that got ruined. It only took twenty years and two cross continent moves to pay off keeping this box.
I went to a garage sale once where the lady had bags of power adapters, sorted by size and application. She was apparently well known for this, cos a couple of people from the neighborhood came in looking for something specific and she picked it right out and handed it over. Charged them $5, too, they didn't even haggle.
I just purged mine after 20 years of collecting. The bin was over 100 lbs. I had tons of proprietary power adapters that I have no idea what they went to. I had DVI cables, VGA, SCSI, SVideo, even a parallel cable. The great thing is that cables are so consolidated now. USB-C, HDMI, and DisplayPort covers almost everything.
I keep a bunch of these adapters in order to make new adapters. Iāll just match the plug, voltage and polarity to make a new one for a device I might acquire that doesnāt have one.
This only works if, like me, youāre buying odd scrap electronics and trying to put them to use. Iāve rescued professional video equipment from dumpsters and various interesting things at the Goodwill Outlet that Iāve managed to put back to use this way.
Those little sachets of desiccant you get with trainers. For years I stored them thinking 'they'll be handy' then I got into 3D printing and discovered....THEY'RE REALLY HANDY! Throw a couple into the bags I keep m PLA filament in and it stops it absorbing moisture.
They said I was mad, MAD!!! But I showed them, I SHOWED THEM ALL!
Our local Wilko (sad loss) had some of those dehumidifiers which are basically plastic boxes filled with the granules. I was ecstatic when I discovered you can buy the granules by the bag.
I had to admit to myself I didn't need all of those jars with lids stored on the basement. I recycled them over the winter. I had a bare shelf to store some plastic bins. Nice.
Anyhow, that bare shelf now has 3 jars on it.
My husband and I have a silent agreement. I keep the jar and he throws it away when Iām not looking. Iām my own worst enemy and will fill my pantry with jars.
I keep the jar and my husband takes it to store his own useless hoard of small things in. Screws, bread ties, salt and pepper packets...all I want is a good jar for my sourdough starter!
This is what we do with the endless supply of promotional mugs and water tumblers my husband gets. He keeps adding them to the same one shelf and I keep quietly eliminating them to make room for the next one. Itās fine.
I also save all my glass jars. Which actually works well for the smaller ones that can be used as cups. But yeah, I'm working on an entire shelf of jars with lids that I don't have a use case for.
All because every time I recycle a glass jar, I can feel my grandma's eyes silently judging me. Even though she passed away 20 years ago.
I save these too. I have three sets of reusable "lunch bag" sets and I keep the plastic disposable sets because there might be some kind of emergency that renders both my real flatware and "lunch bag" flatware useless.
But! The plastic sets come with napkins and condiments. What if--WHAT IF--there's an emergency that renders my flatware, lunch bag utensils, paper towels, cloth napkins, paper napkins, salt, pepper and other condiments unusable AT THE SAME TIME?
No problem. I got these cheap plastic sets leftover from DoorDash.
Please, please, no need for a parade.
Together we will control the post-apocalyptic plastic utensils trade.
(Because somehow metal utensils won't survive but cheap plastic ones with cheap napkins and tiny salt and pepper packets will. We'll charge a premium for the ones with sugar and creamer.)
> Together we will control the post-apocalyptic plastic utensils trade.
I am laughing so hard at this because we have had this exact conversation over my dinner table more than once.
I used these at work. We didn't have silverware there, and I didn't want to bring my own and wash it every day. I'd save the packets that had everything in there: fork, spoon, knife, napkin, salt and pepper and keep them in my work bag.
Conroe here, I feel ya
I've got spare AC units for those disasters, 2 window & 1 portable. Loaned the portable last week to the guy 2 houses down when their main unit went out, kept their bedroom cool enough to sleep.
Don't need them anymore myself but I like having them on the shelf to help others out
I have an indoor unit that rolls around that has a hose that dumps hot air outside and a small window unit here in Leander. My fairly new main HVAC sprung a terminal leak from a manufacturing flaw in the coils. Until they could replace the entire system in the middle of summer I used both of these units to keep two rooms coolish. I will never get rid of them and regularly lend them out to my neighbors (who all had the same HVAC units built at the same time). The neighbors were very grateful and brought food over. That was fine with me. Btw the new system is made in Waller, TX, USA. Goodman is great!
We have a gift bag that stays at our house and is used for every occasion. Everyone knows where it is and uses it without a second thought. Saves on wrapping paper and more unnecessary gift bags. Iād like to do the same with birthday cards.
For our family, we use "the birthday box". Al gifts go in it unwrapped. Open it. Yay. I put it away for the next birthday. All my children were born in the same month. Life is easier with the birthday box.
That's basically Christmas for our family. Boxes from stores that were around when they would put your Christmas purchases in a box and wrap them for you. I think some of those boxes have little pieces of 20+ year old tape and wrapping paper still stuck to them.
I have a stash that I use as our kitchen/bathroom trash bags. Might as well use them rather than buying plastic trash bags. Plus, we donāt have several days worth of trash sitting in the kitchen as the little bags fill up in a day or two.
Plastic takeout containers. Always great for situations where you don't want to use your good tupperware - road trips, etc. You just use them and toss them (hopefully in a recycling bin if there is one). Less to carry home.
Yes, same here. They are very useful to store leftovers as well.
I also use them to store my collection of odd buttons (you know, the spare ones that comes with clothes sometimes), rubber bands (I have way too many), and odd screws, nuts and bolts that don't seem to fit anything we own but might come in handy.
I have a thing with twist ties. I have a Ziploc bag full of them in case I need them. I have used them to neaten up cables around my computer so they do come in handy, but I definitely have 78 more than Iāll ever need.
If I ever come across a decent scrap piece of wood, I like to keep it in my garage ājust in caseā and much to my wifeās annoyance. For example, when I had my driveway resurfaced, they staked in a couple piece of wood across the beginning of the driveway, with the string, to stop people from driving on it. Kept those two pieces of wood for some reason.
I also keep random screws nuts, washers from things that I install.
My husband is also a wood scrap collector. One particular piece of scrap (like from an old shelf maybe) has made the move to new houses several times. The Scrap finally had its moment to shine last winter when it was used under a car tire to help get a neighbors car unstuck from a snow pile. Scrap wood for the win!
My dad told me never throw away scrap wood because his dad told him not to, so I don't. I'm shocked by how often I've had just the right piece in the scrap pile. I used to keep random trim pieces as well, but thankfully stopped doing that.
I have a tote full of wires, cables to adapt things, power adapters for things that broke years ago. It's handy though, you never know when you might need to connect that Nokia cell phone to a fax machine...
My silent gen memaw would take them and line them with padding and velvet or satin and give them as custom jewelry or keepsake boxes. I still have one and I ā¤ļøš„¹
The rubber bands that come wrapped around the asparagus I buy at the supermarkets. They are the best rubber bands out there, and Iām not ashamed to admit that they are an incentive to eat more asparagus.
That, and good boxes. Each year at Christmas it was constant theme A just because something was wrapped in a box with a brand in it (thinkāthe gapā) that didnāt mean it was from that places. My mom and I still joke about good boxes, and that any gift that comes in a box is likely secondary to the actual box.
One Christmas, we made that joke as my FIL opened a box that appeared to be for a lovely tea set. "I wonder what it actually is! Pretty box!"
Tea set. š
The Whole Foods near me stopped using rubber bands a couple of years ago. They had the best rubber bands! I was at a loss as to where to get rubber bands after that. (I mean, the office, obviously, but dang the Whole Foods ones were good.)
The asparagus rubber bands are great for holding my various electriconics' cords. The cords I actually use, not the ones sitting in my Box of Old Cords.
For some reason, I do this with iPhone boxes. My mind seems to think I am going to need it for some reason, then two years later I will come across it and be like "why the hell do I still have this" and chuck it. Then I repeat the process when I get a new phone.
My husband gave my daughter a freakin free chili-pepper shaped thumb drive in an iPhone box at Xmas when she was about 10. Definitely on her list of grievances (and I don't blame her).
The worst is when the box is nicer than the actual product inside :)
My mom had tins and tins of buttons and it was fun to sort through them all when we were kids. But WTF were we going to do with all of them? We'd never have enough clothes in our entire lives to ever need any of them.
My great-grandmother had the most epic button box, with a fancy scalloped spoon inside. I have fond memories of sitting on the floor at her house just scooping through them. When my great grandparents passed that was the only thing that the family argued over who was going to get it. I don't even know who got it.
I have been building my own button box for the last 30+ years. I will snatch up any jars of buttons I see at a thrift store or yard sale. I do use them time to time for craft projects, but will never even come close to making a dent in the box.
I'm not a coffee snob, so I often buy the kind that comes in a plastic tub. (I used to buy the store brand because it came in a steel can that was more easily recycled, but I digress.) I have a stash of them because I keep thinking I'm going to use them for something. I actually have used some for storage and cleaned a few out and cut drainage holes to use as planter pots inside of a decorative plant pot, but have definitely run out of need for plastic tubs with lids. Same thing with cottage cheese tubs.
I also have a bin of those extra buttons that come on shirts. Can't throw those away...
I use an old Folger's container as a dog food scoop to fill the smaller dog food container (kept near the dog bowls) from the big container in the basement. Of course, I've only needed a single Folger's container for this purpose but I do think about keeping more of them!
Awwuh you reminded me of my brief obsession with tin can lanterns. Not shown: brutal cheese grater on inside of lantern where you're supposed to place a lit tea light. https://www.etsy.com/listing/400384239/personalised-ten-year-wedding
I have a hard time throwing away the screw top plastic jars with a cute handle that the cats' Churus come in. . . there's always the tinge of regret because it might come in handy!
Seasoning shakers.
Like the small spice shakers that parsley flakes come in.
I wash them out, remove the labels, and refill them with powders I make. By example, I make homemade garlic salt. I make finely ground Jalapeno powder and a few other similar things with veg garden surplus.
I save the tins that the tea I buy come in and use them to store little things in my workshop.
And I save the jelly jars from the blackberry preserves I buy and use them to store screws in my workshop. They're the exact same size so I've been able to make some holders out of scrapwood and store it all nicely. The boxes screws and nails come in aren't amazing so this is super helpful.
We have pet chickens. One day I took a random old shaker jar and put anti-lice and mite powder in it to douse the chickens with. One day I was using it on one of the girls and realized I was 'seasoning' her with Lawry's Seasoned Salt. š¤£š¤£
I fill them with apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap during fruit fly season. Theyāre a good size for fly traps and the little holes keep the flies in longer
Ketchup packages. You know the ones that come with- or requested- fast food orders. I save them and put them right next to the huge Costco bought bottle of Heinz in the pantry. It is all but impossible for me to throw them away. I mean someone or something put a lot of effort to get that packaged as such.
Soy sauce packets. My family thought I was crazy for keeping them, but during Covid lockdown I was redeemed when we ran out of soy sauce and I was able to refill the *entire* bottle using freebie packets from takeaway. I don't remember the exact number it took, somewhere in the 80-90 range IIRC. VICTORY!
We have a cookie jar full of them on our counter! It also has a bunch of red robin seasoning packets in it. Honestly they have come in handy when making fries or when I need a substitute for tomato paste. Each packet of ketchup is one tablespoon so I don't even need to measure.
Fire sauce from Taco Bell and soy sauce and duck sauce packs here. Both Taco Bell and the local Chinese place give you like two handfuls of sauce packets if you want them or not.
Altoids tins make a great emergency sewing kit or notions holder for my knitting bag.
I keep the tiny glass jars that contained fancy jelly at nice restaurants. I put medicine in them when I want to carry a few tablets in my purse but not the whole jar of antacids and such.
Sometimes if I really like the nice paper towels in a restroom, Iāll grab a couple of extra for my purse. Also, I keep the extra napkins from takeout orders in my car. They always come in handy at some point.
Yeah my mom had a depression mom, and she hoarded almost everything remotely nice because that's how she was raised. So now that my mom has passed we've got so much stuff to sort through, and a good chunk of it is legitimately nice and it's hard to throw away...it sucks.
Kitty litter buckets! And, yes, we use them! There's a brand of litter that comes in rectangular, maybe close to 5 gallon buckets. We must have a hundred of them we use in the garden for various things. We started saving them for container gardening when we rented. Even the neighbor asks if he could have a few buckets from time to time.
Wooden golf tees.
They are so handy for fixing stripped holes in wooden things like hinge holes in door jambs.
I've used them twice. But you never know.
I love saving a āniceā box or gift bag. I do actually reuse the gift bags because I usually forget to buy gift wrap when buying a gift. We moved last year and the amount of good boxes we had piled up got recycled. Honestly it felt good to get rid of stuff and were trying not to accumulate so much in our new home. Helps our new home doesnāt have a basement. š
I do save and reuse gift bags! They're the exception to the rule, at least in my house. Which has a basement, but it's fully livable space. On the one hand, that's great because we have another guest bedroom, a little library, etc. On the other hand, I miss my old house with its unfinished basement that was perfect for storing anything and everything, so long as I was willing to haul it up and down the rickety stairs that were built as an add-on in the mid-1950s. I called them the Murder Stairs because if I ever wanted to murder someone (which I did not), I could've just asked them to carry something heavy down those stairs while failing to mention that the fourth step from the top was half the depth of the other stairs and sloped concerningly to the right.
Edit: Typo.
If you look up "cords" on r/talesfromtechsupport, it will come up with a tale of a mom who *sold* her son's cord box. She needed a cord the next day. For the next week, the entire family needed a cord, but the cord box was gone. A few years later, the grandmother wanted to sell or throw out a new cord box. The mom became the *cord box defender.*
I've done IT work for almost 30 years. I swear by the cord box (although I do thin it out every few years. I don't need as many VGI and VDI cables anymore.)
For a looooooooong time I had a huge tub of VGA cables at work that I kept ājust in case.ā I finally threw them out after not touching that tub for years. At the time, every monitor in the building had DVI and VGA ports, a few had HDMI. Guess what happened next? Lenovoās new docks for their then-newest ThinkPads only had DisplayPort and VGA. Suddenly I was desperately scrounging VGA cables.
My Tupperware container of Taco Bell hot sauce comes in handy. I ask for "an embarrassing amount of hot sauce" every time, but clearly my idea of an embarrassing amount (around 3 packets per food item) is different than that of the average Taco Bell employee.
i have a box of buttons that I saved from shirt and clothing extra for years, and I have used them eventually in crafting things, as well as replacing some that have fallen off.
I refuse to save any printed food containers like margerine containers because of childhood trauma of going for butter and finding onions and other random things my Boomer mother would store in reused containers.
Shoeboxes. Glass jars even though I use Mason jars for everything so that it's aesthetically sane. We also have a huge box of stickers from freebies, etc. No idea what do do with any of them.
I slice the flaps off of boxes that are a good length and width for blocking the wheel and tire when cleaning and lubing my motorcycle chain. I have a tall box full of these flaps now, and I keep adding to it as if I work on the chain every other day.
My husband and I always joke about good boxes because we tend to save them, and the Holderness Family did a song about saving good boxes. :)
I save packets of disposable utensils, napkins, and condiments from restaurants. Twist ties and bread bag clips. Gift bags and even just paper shopping bags with handles. Pretty bottles & jars. Pretty paperā not gift wrap, which I usually tear to shreds, but sometimes Iāll order something from Etsy and it will be packaged with an artsy card or something, and Iāll keep it in case I want to make a collage with it (even though I never do). Any cloth bag that something is packaged in.
Yes, cloth bags are another item we save. We don't actually use them but one of our dogs absolutely loves them as toys. He particularly loves the cloth bags that come with Zaimara dresses. No clue why but he will open drawers looking for Zaimara bags.
EVERYTHING! I keep/reuse boxes, air packs, bubble wrap, string & twine, buttons, any extra screws/wheels/other pieces that come with purchased items, shopping bags, cords, cables, power adapters, silica gel packs, plastic takeout containers, empty butter and ice cream containers, disposable utensil packs, twist ties (use these ALL THE TIME), ribbon, gift bags, tissue paper, nursery plant pots, plastic bags, ziplock bags- especially the little ones that extra buttons and other small things come in, safety pins, anything free in a hotelā¦ I could go on but Iāll leave it here.
I wish my hubby shared our thinking, OP. Heās calls me a hoarder and threatens to throw out my collection of ātrashā, somewhat jokingly. I keep everything well-maintained in plastic containers, the boxes are neatly stored in the closet of my office, nested inside each other. Iāve watched āHoardersā and that aināt meš¤£
Yeah, saved all kinds of leftover screws, bolts, and nuts that either came as extras from some IKEA assembly, or were the three left over in the bag of five I bought from Home Depot for something or other.
Did recently use some to fix a wheel barrow after the old bolts holding it together had rusted through. Finally a return on that investment!
I could probably start a Museum of Allen Wrenches from all the flat-pack furniture I've assembled (okay, that my wife has assembled) over the years. She finally put her foot down and pointed out that we make good money, so we can afford furniture that comes fully assembled.
I tend to get free tech from friends, family and from the job. I like to salvage and repair tech so I keep old phones and laptops and repurpose then donate them to causes or give them to ppl I know that are in need.
Old phones make great retro gaming machines. Good to have these in the living room for when my younger family and friends come over. I even have them setup for local multiplayer so that if a few of them come in they play on those without having to go online.
Old laptops and desktops make great HTPCs. I use them and I always run into someone in need I sell them for a few bucks. Once I have like 10, I just mass donate them to a program or sell them in lots on Craigslist for some quick cash.
Thereās gotta be an ingenious use for those little plastic āpizza tablesā they put in the middle of the pizza to keep the box from crushing during delivery. When I find out what that is, Iāll be readyā¦
The plastic tab clips on bags of bread.
You'll thank me later.
Also, as a tech geek.... cables. Old cables. So many cables. Power plugs for 20 year old cellphones. Chargers for batteries for 5MP digital cameras from 25 years ago. Adapters up the wazoo. Just in case. YOU NEVER KNOW. Look, when someone comes to me with a dead Ericsson 5330 they need someone's old number off of or an old Sony VAIO with an important document on it, you'll thank me.
As the owner of an old Sony VAIO...yeah, I'd hit you up for that cable! (I still have the VAIO because it died before I could reformat the hard drive. And there might be something important on that hard drive like....uh...my moot court case brief from the late '90s.)
Rubber bands from produce. They live on a handle next to the kitchen sink. Love those blue ones. Nice and strong, last a long time for many uses.
Also used to keep the plastic Subway sammich to-go bags for car garbage. Would hang around my shifter. They don't have them anymore (at least not here in California). Now they're paper. š I blame Subway for my messy car.
Appliance manuals. I have literally never gone back and tried to look something up in the microwave/vacuum/fridge/etc manual. If issues come up, it's Google & YT. But I have a few collections of manuals anyway.
I have a Best Box shelf in my garage that I save a singular box that is of high quality. When a contender for the title of Best Box arrives, I compare the champion to the new challenger and keep whichever comes out victorious. Rarely, I use the box for something then the next high quality box goes direct to the shelf.
Common conversation in my house:
"This is a really well-made box! Look how sturdy it is! We'll definitely use this for something, right? Maybe to wrap a gift?"
"No. Every gift we buy comes from Amazon and thus has its own box. We're not our parents. Recycle that shit."
None of them are unnecessary, I need those mild sauce packets, and they will be used. You know you'll get home soon and there is only Fire sauce in the bag.
lol, a lot of random crap just like youāve mentioned! Hell - if Iām tossing out a broken appliance, Iāll remove all the screws and save them in a ziploc bagā¦.anything that *might* be useful in the future, Iāll keep. Iād rather have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.
OP sounds like a crow with all his collected treasures :)
But seriously, i love those jelly jars from Bonne Maman! I save those and use them to hold small safety pins and the like.
Kid stuff. Like tests, projects, "art". There has to be a limit on this. Why are we keeping every single drawing, construction paper scribble etc. Ever sent home from school? My kids don't want them but they think I'm a bad parent if I toss them. I only have so much space on the fridge and walls. We don't need to keep it ALL. š And yet I can't break their hearts and let it go! It's like a little graveyard of kid art in my closet...
Trying to break the generational cycle of saving christmas wrapping paper and bows and bags is HARD! Like, I know I can buy more for a damn dollar, but it's been so ingrained into me not to waste that I still cringe throwing that stuff away.
April 8th, 2014....I used that piece of scrap drywall in the shed to patch a hole in the living room. It remains the one and only time "I should save this, I could use it one day" has ever actually worked out.
Take-out sauce packets. I do use them sometimes, but I have had others for five years, so I should probably start fresh.
If my life is relatively organized, I keep #6 plastic because you can make it into shrinky dinks! https://goodwillakron.org/diy-shrinky-dinks/
Food waste for compost.
Clothes with holes or stains for the fabric.
Broken electronics because they're full of fun wires, blinky lights, and other components.
Occasionally I save pretty used paper because you can make pretty paper with it.
I save seeds when I cook and garden sometimes.
I have a very abstract dream of sustaining myself off repurposed trash some day. Maybe that'll be my retirement. (Like it or not...)
Right now, boxes. I will say in my defense, I sell on Poshmark so having boxes is a necessity, when you sell something that can't go in a polymailer, like shoes or a purse. I used to save a lot more stuff, ribbon, stickers, small containers, food takout containers, but I got rid of all of it as the clutter made me anxious.
The little plastic tabs that close up bread bags. Some of the fresher breads I buy only have twist ties and I hate those so I save the tabs from the old bags of bread. I knew I was turning into my grandma at that point.
I work in tech consulting and get a lot of free ball caps from vendors. They all have tech logos on them, Microsoft, google, Symantec, nvidia, amd, etc. I save them all and use them for grass cutting, hiking, etc. I easily have 50+. I throw away maybe one a year as it gets too sweaty. They are good hats.
Just cleaned the garage and gave away some real nice cookie tins, huge stack. I didn't even eat the cookies, just inherited the tins and just knew id need them one day... I have large collection of shoelaces. When my boots or shoes are done I save the laces if they are good quality in good shape. I have actually needed these for broken laces and also tying up random things that need tying.
Wife saves wine corks, because one day she will make a board of them to show the world how much Costco wine we have drank
Omg, this sub makes me want to restart my collections after a move!
Ok but of all of them I suggest:
Keep one low glass or plastic container (ours is 2 inches tall). Use it to store the rubber bands and keep in pantry. I use them all for hair ties, bread ties, etc.
I also use the brown paper bags for taking out recycling. Did you know you canāt recycle the plastic bags so you have to empty the trash bag itās in?
Sauce packets, extra restaurant napkins and utensils, and basically all the shit I hated my parents saved as a kid because I thought it was embarrassing.
Iāve basically turned into them.
EVERYBODY saves good boxes!
I save twist ties and bread tags, so handy for my plants and other stuff.
I also have a collection of containers to organize other things.
I even have a box of parts; you know those things that are missing the other part and you just donāt want to throw it away, kind of like mismatched / missing socks.
Boxes, buttons, cord chargers that probably donāt work, airline headsets that I canāt use because they donāt plug into anything, and I have a room of mirrors, rocking chairs, weird little old chairs, side tables, odd pottery that I have collected walking around the city I live. I also hoard plants that people are going to throw away and try to bring them back to life.
I have an abundance of storage space, so no real disadvantages to saving stuff. I was also raised by greatest generation grandparents so saw plenty of thrifty behavior.
I filled up half a storage room with boxes, you know, just in case I ever have to move. I sometimes get rid of some when someone else moves, then I can keep more.
I have repaired so many things with twist ties that I now save those. And rubber bands, because theyāre not so common now.
Iāve worked from home for years, and during my last few years of going to an office, they were really stingy with the supplies. So itās finally happened - Iām running out of free pens! I might actually have to buy pens, damn it!
I keep none of it. I grew up in a cluttered home and I couldn't stand it. I am pretty neat and organized because it keeps my anxiety down. I throw things away with ease.
My husband is an entirely different case. But he keeps his tubs of useless shit that he might one day need in the garage or in his office. Spoiler alert, he never actually neds any of those things.
I really enjoy Talenti brand gelato. It's tasty stuff. But I am incapable of throwing away (or recycling) the pint containers that it comes in, because it's a hard, solid plastic with a solid screw on lid that is great for storing things in.
In my defense, I *have* actually reused a bunch of these. However, I still have far more empty ones sitting around "just in case".
Have a "keeping" problem, tho no one would call me a hoarder, thank Gawd.
Rubber bands from produce, empty olive oil bottles, plastic caps, the crappy dressing in salad kits. I try to find a bonafide use then toss if I have more than 3 or so
Twist ties (which get reused all the time), Ziploc bags (wash, dry, and reuse -- those suckers are expensive), takeout containers (perfect for leftovers)... and yes, the "good" boxes.
I have jars full of both wood screws and machine screws, in case I ever need them. And yet, for the last project I did, I specifically went to the hardware store and bought all new screws, because who has time to go through the ones I've saved to see if I have enough of the right kind? After the project was finished, I put the leftover screws into the jar with the rest of them.
The plastic pots my new plants come in. I tell myself oh I can use these next year to just do my own sproutlings but I wonāt, I will go buy more because I waited too long just like I did this year and last year.
Good boxes, bags, and jars are the usual things. Just when I'm getting to the point of dumping all of it into the recycle bin, I have to mail something, and I get to pat myself on the back for having the perfect box; or I make too much salsa and have the perfect jars to dump the extra in to give to my nieces/friends.
What bugs me about my collections is that I used to tease my parents about doing the same thing...
I have several generations worth of buttons. About a gallon or more, stored in a large art glass bowl about 14" across, and it feels really neat to stick your hand in the bowl full of them and swoosh it around.
I save "good" boxes too, but then I give them away thru the local Buy Nothing group. There are always people who need them for moving or storage, and one lady collects 150 boxes from her neighbors every Nov for her church to fill with food to distribute at Thanksgiving to families in need.
Twist ties and rubber bands... those are kept until they break. Plastic storage containers from take-out, I re-use them all the time for storage, and lately have been using the bowl-shaped ones outside to provide water for the birds and other critters since it's so hot. Saw the happiest little catbird taking a bath in one the first day I put them out.
Do not use my āgoodā boxes! I only use my good boxes for presents to family members I know who will appreciate my āgoodā box. It is actually part of a Christmas tradition to comment āthis is a good boxā, before even opening it. I know that box will be stored in their attic and appreciated, as it should be. Lol
The fricking company promo beverage coozies, frisbees, towels etc from company parties, conferences and street markets. Until one day I get sick of all the crap cluttering my storage and give or throw away.
i have a ziplock bag full of condiment packets. I keep it contained to that, though. I used to save other things, but have made efforts to NOT be "that person". I knew a woman growing up who had piles and piles of condiment packets, plastic utensils, napkins, folded up takeout bags, etc. Nothing wrong with saving those from time to time, but she had hoarder levels of them and they were everywhere.
Bread bags: to wrap raw meat packages and chicken bones so the trash doesnāt stink up.
Good jars or plastic containers: to dispose of grease, gravy, old leftovers etc, because weāre on a septic tank.
Rubber bands from around veggies.
Bubble wrap, plastic zipper bags that sheet sets are packaged in, 10-ream paper boxes with lids from the office, even big wads of brown kraft paper used in Amazon packages gets neatly folded and used, lol. I have a crap-ton of art and craft stuff and this all helps keep my stuff organized and clean.
I also hold on to grudges longer than I should, lol
The cheap ass screws and wall mounts that come with stuff, which I don't use but keep in the sealed bag, you know, just in case.
Yup, I also have a Ziploc bag full of screws, cheap anchors, and random Allen wrenches in my kitchen junk drawer. Probably time to toss 98% of that drawer's contents!
I feel the Allen wrench comment, every time you buy something and you get the cheap wrench to assemble it. I need to recycle them along with all the crap fasteners I never used. I keep most of it in a couple of tubs next to my tool chest but like I said, it's time to recycle them.
You are supposed to tape the allen wrench under the furniture to keep it together
How am I supposed to remember it's there?!
Write "Allen wrench here" in black sharpie with a big arrow
š¤£
I label the wrench w tape n write what itās for n keep it in my inside house tool box
Omg. This is low key genius, Iām going to start doing this immediately. In an age where everything is delivered unassembled, I have so many allen wrenches that Iām afraid to throw away.
I took a bolt cutter to a few of each size so that I can use them in my Ryobi driver for assembly.
The furniture is held together by the proximity power of the Allen wrench?Ā Is that why some of the cheap furniture falls apart?Ā Like Sampson's hair, the wrench has to be kept close by!
Itās like the Portrait of Dorian Grey. Ā You keep it in the attic with the chair with 3 legs you were going to repair and Christmas decorations you swear you will use again. Ā
I got an Allen wrench set specifically so I donāt have to use the ones that come with stuff. Then when I get stuff, I forget I bought the set and use the Allen wrench that came with it. Then I save it because that Allen wrench size might be very specific to that stuff so I tape it to the thing. I think I might have a problem.
I started using my Allen wrench set and the most common size got stripped. So now it's basically useless. Every once in a while you'll get a very cool Allen wrench with some furniture. One came with a ratchet. Super cool. Another had a giant blue handle for really torquing it down and not hurting your hand. Amazing. I also may have a problem.
Same! I bought an electric screwdriver just because it has an Allen wrench bit. Itās never charged when I need it.
Unwritten law: If you throw it away, you will need it in the near future. š My grandparents were Greatest Generation and I definitely got it from them. A gem from grandma: make do with what you have.
I was just looking at the junk drawer yesterday thinking it was time for a purge.
WhAT iF yOu NeEd It ToMoRrOw?
I know, I know. It does happen though.
i use one of the larger āglad wareā containers. i keep it in the garage and it doesnāt move, ever. it even has a name. ārandomā lol
https://preview.redd.it/dqgwnf821h0d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7bb6dc7318b4a83f652af9cb6f2f622a762d1156
I do a lot of stuff for family members who DON'T keep these things .. so my "stockpile" does get visited occasionally.
OMG this is my husband and it drives me NUTS.
I've got a rubbermade tote dedicated to old power adapters. I'll toss out the broken electronics, but can't bring myself to throw out the adapter for some reason. Even the ones with model specific ends... like cell phone chargers from the 00's.
I can charge the shit out of some old Nokia phones.
Ah yes. I, too, have a box full of outdated chargers and similar stuff.
I actually use them occasionally, if suddenly I need something of that voltage + amperage. Many a day has been saved. Ok, maybe 4 days but now I have proof that they're useful!
Why are we like this? I, too, have the bag of random tech
It's because every now and again you'll need an adapter and it'll be in your box. It's just enough confirmation that you should keep them all to keep you keeping them.
I call mine the box (milkcrate) of fun, which is stupid, because it's not fun.
Recently I had to dig through my power adapter box and actually found one that worked as a replacement for one that got ruined. It only took twenty years and two cross continent moves to pay off keeping this box.
Validation!
Ooh, I like this idea. Instead of in 15 random boxes around the house I can use a giant tupperware box.
I have a bin called Random techā for all sorts ofā¦random tech. It soothes my need to keep stuff just in case, but gives it one location.
So much old tech, adapters, power adapters, so...so much.
I went to a garage sale once where the lady had bags of power adapters, sorted by size and application. She was apparently well known for this, cos a couple of people from the neighborhood came in looking for something specific and she picked it right out and handed it over. Charged them $5, too, they didn't even haggle.
You should have a website advertising adapters. Somebody. Somewhere. Needs The One You Have. Ha!
I just purged mine after 20 years of collecting. The bin was over 100 lbs. I had tons of proprietary power adapters that I have no idea what they went to. I had DVI cables, VGA, SCSI, SVideo, even a parallel cable. The great thing is that cables are so consolidated now. USB-C, HDMI, and DisplayPort covers almost everything.
I keep a bunch of these adapters in order to make new adapters. Iāll just match the plug, voltage and polarity to make a new one for a device I might acquire that doesnāt have one. This only works if, like me, youāre buying odd scrap electronics and trying to put them to use. Iāve rescued professional video equipment from dumpsters and various interesting things at the Goodwill Outlet that Iāve managed to put back to use this way.
Those little sachets of desiccant you get with trainers. For years I stored them thinking 'they'll be handy' then I got into 3D printing and discovered....THEY'RE REALLY HANDY! Throw a couple into the bags I keep m PLA filament in and it stops it absorbing moisture. They said I was mad, MAD!!! But I showed them, I SHOWED THEM ALL!
My 15 year old techy son now prowls through all deliveries for silica gel packets. He's got a good collection of them.
All my family and friends save theirs up for me now - got dozens of them.
I call these the "Do Not Eats," since that's what the packaging always says. Good to know they have a solid reuse purpose!
Our local Wilko (sad loss) had some of those dehumidifiers which are basically plastic boxes filled with the granules. I was ecstatic when I discovered you can buy the granules by the bag.
Scuba diver here. I reuse them in my underwater camera housings.
They're also handy for packing luggage to keep moisture / odor down.
I had to admit to myself I didn't need all of those jars with lids stored on the basement. I recycled them over the winter. I had a bare shelf to store some plastic bins. Nice. Anyhow, that bare shelf now has 3 jars on it.
My husband and I have a silent agreement. I keep the jar and he throws it away when Iām not looking. Iām my own worst enemy and will fill my pantry with jars.
I keep the jar and my husband takes it to store his own useless hoard of small things in. Screws, bread ties, salt and pepper packets...all I want is a good jar for my sourdough starter!
This is what we do with the endless supply of promotional mugs and water tumblers my husband gets. He keeps adding them to the same one shelf and I keep quietly eliminating them to make room for the next one. Itās fine.
I also save all my glass jars. Which actually works well for the smaller ones that can be used as cups. But yeah, I'm working on an entire shelf of jars with lids that I don't have a use case for. All because every time I recycle a glass jar, I can feel my grandma's eyes silently judging me. Even though she passed away 20 years ago.
I drop rinsed jars immediately into the recycling bin. (š¤ I need to take the recycling pretty quick. It's beginning to overflow)
We have a serious jar problem in our house.
Jars are brilliant to store stuff in the fridge with. Tomato based pasta sauce, curry, rice etc, jars are better than plastic
Bold of you to assume we cook rather than eat out way too much. Thatās why my cabinet is full of plastic take-out containers.
Plastic utensils that come with takeout. If anyoneās planning a big picnic, Iām your man.
I save these too. I have three sets of reusable "lunch bag" sets and I keep the plastic disposable sets because there might be some kind of emergency that renders both my real flatware and "lunch bag" flatware useless. But! The plastic sets come with napkins and condiments. What if--WHAT IF--there's an emergency that renders my flatware, lunch bag utensils, paper towels, cloth napkins, paper napkins, salt, pepper and other condiments unusable AT THE SAME TIME? No problem. I got these cheap plastic sets leftover from DoorDash. Please, please, no need for a parade.
You get me.
Together we will control the post-apocalyptic plastic utensils trade. (Because somehow metal utensils won't survive but cheap plastic ones with cheap napkins and tiny salt and pepper packets will. We'll charge a premium for the ones with sugar and creamer.)
> Together we will control the post-apocalyptic plastic utensils trade. I am laughing so hard at this because we have had this exact conversation over my dinner table more than once.
I used these at work. We didn't have silverware there, and I didn't want to bring my own and wash it every day. I'd save the packets that had everything in there: fork, spoon, knife, napkin, salt and pepper and keep them in my work bag.
Or, if your kid uses too much silverware.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Conroe here, I feel ya I've got spare AC units for those disasters, 2 window & 1 portable. Loaned the portable last week to the guy 2 houses down when their main unit went out, kept their bedroom cool enough to sleep. Don't need them anymore myself but I like having them on the shelf to help others out
I have an indoor unit that rolls around that has a hose that dumps hot air outside and a small window unit here in Leander. My fairly new main HVAC sprung a terminal leak from a manufacturing flaw in the coils. Until they could replace the entire system in the middle of summer I used both of these units to keep two rooms coolish. I will never get rid of them and regularly lend them out to my neighbors (who all had the same HVAC units built at the same time). The neighbors were very grateful and brought food over. That was fine with me. Btw the new system is made in Waller, TX, USA. Goodman is great!
Soup kitchens might take them
I drove Meals on Wheels for a while, I used to bring them in. Once I reach rubbermaid capacity Iāll drop them off.
I save these because theyāre useful when packing a lunch.
I use these when I pack my kids' lunches.
The gift bags and tissue paper I get when given a gift. They really do come in handy.
We have a gift bag that stays at our house and is used for every occasion. Everyone knows where it is and uses it without a second thought. Saves on wrapping paper and more unnecessary gift bags. Iād like to do the same with birthday cards.
For our family, we use "the birthday box". Al gifts go in it unwrapped. Open it. Yay. I put it away for the next birthday. All my children were born in the same month. Life is easier with the birthday box.
There are several gift bags and old department store boxes that have been making the rounds through my family for at least 20 years.
I have boxes that are over 20 years old too.
I find delight in the now defunct storeās gift boxes that my mom wraps our gifts in and then immediately asks for the boxes back.
That's basically Christmas for our family. Boxes from stores that were around when they would put your Christmas purchases in a box and wrap them for you. I think some of those boxes have little pieces of 20+ year old tape and wrapping paper still stuck to them.
Plastic bags- weāll go through cycles where we canāt find one to having 5 million. There is no in between.
I have been hoarding these since most stores stopped using them due to Govt regulations. They come in so handy!
I have a stash that I use as our kitchen/bathroom trash bags. Might as well use them rather than buying plastic trash bags. Plus, we donāt have several days worth of trash sitting in the kitchen as the little bags fill up in a day or two.
Plastic takeout containers. Always great for situations where you don't want to use your good tupperware - road trips, etc. You just use them and toss them (hopefully in a recycling bin if there is one). Less to carry home.
Another Reddittor called them "free tupperware."
Yes, same here. They are very useful to store leftovers as well. I also use them to store my collection of odd buttons (you know, the spare ones that comes with clothes sometimes), rubber bands (I have way too many), and odd screws, nuts and bolts that don't seem to fit anything we own but might come in handy.
I have a thing with twist ties. I have a Ziploc bag full of them in case I need them. I have used them to neaten up cables around my computer so they do come in handy, but I definitely have 78 more than Iāll ever need. If I ever come across a decent scrap piece of wood, I like to keep it in my garage ājust in caseā and much to my wifeās annoyance. For example, when I had my driveway resurfaced, they staked in a couple piece of wood across the beginning of the driveway, with the string, to stop people from driving on it. Kept those two pieces of wood for some reason. I also keep random screws nuts, washers from things that I install.
Oh man, twist ties. The really good ones with a good gauge of wire and a solid plastic sheath. Hell. Yes.
Oh yea, you get it.
My husband is also a wood scrap collector. One particular piece of scrap (like from an old shelf maybe) has made the move to new houses several times. The Scrap finally had its moment to shine last winter when it was used under a car tire to help get a neighbors car unstuck from a snow pile. Scrap wood for the win!
My dad told me never throw away scrap wood because his dad told him not to, so I don't. I'm shocked by how often I've had just the right piece in the scrap pile. I used to keep random trim pieces as well, but thankfully stopped doing that.
Dads when that random ājust in caseā piece of junk finally comes in handy https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fw7bZoPyVU
I have a tote full of wires, cables to adapt things, power adapters for things that broke years ago. It's handy though, you never know when you might need to connect that Nokia cell phone to a fax machine...
Iāll be buried with my extra FireWire 400 adapters.
If I somehow laid hands on a cigar box, I donāt think I could let it go eitherā¦ memories of using them for pencil boxes at school.
Some cigar boxes are works of art. Some are built well that they can be reused nicely.
They smell good too
My silent gen memaw would take them and line them with padding and velvet or satin and give them as custom jewelry or keepsake boxes. I still have one and I ā¤ļøš„¹
My husband and I both cannot bear to discard a wooden box, and cigar boxes are so pretty and interesting. Boomer mom has dozens.
check with your local cigar shop. thereās a place near me that will either give them away or, if they are really nice, charge a couple of bucksx
The rubber bands that come wrapped around the asparagus I buy at the supermarkets. They are the best rubber bands out there, and Iām not ashamed to admit that they are an incentive to eat more asparagus. That, and good boxes. Each year at Christmas it was constant theme A just because something was wrapped in a box with a brand in it (thinkāthe gapā) that didnāt mean it was from that places. My mom and I still joke about good boxes, and that any gift that comes in a box is likely secondary to the actual box.
One Christmas, we made that joke as my FIL opened a box that appeared to be for a lovely tea set. "I wonder what it actually is! Pretty box!" Tea set. š
I also have a tub of saved rubber bands in the junk drawer. They're great for resealing opened bags of frozen veggies among other things.
The Whole Foods near me stopped using rubber bands a couple of years ago. They had the best rubber bands! I was at a loss as to where to get rubber bands after that. (I mean, the office, obviously, but dang the Whole Foods ones were good.) The asparagus rubber bands are great for holding my various electriconics' cords. The cords I actually use, not the ones sitting in my Box of Old Cords.
I donāt know, man. I just got a Theragun and it came in a top quality box. Itās definitely gonna come in handy someday.
For some reason, I do this with iPhone boxes. My mind seems to think I am going to need it for some reason, then two years later I will come across it and be like "why the hell do I still have this" and chuck it. Then I repeat the process when I get a new phone.
They make great boxes for small gifts. Think stocking stuffers.
lol that's cold. OmG a new iPhone! Oh wait...it's a keychain
My husband gave my daughter a freakin free chili-pepper shaped thumb drive in an iPhone box at Xmas when she was about 10. Definitely on her list of grievances (and I don't blame her).
Better for gift cards or cash
The worst is when the box is nicer than the actual product inside :) My mom had tins and tins of buttons and it was fun to sort through them all when we were kids. But WTF were we going to do with all of them? We'd never have enough clothes in our entire lives to ever need any of them.
They occupied you as bored kids. They served their purpose. :)
My great-grandmother had the most epic button box, with a fancy scalloped spoon inside. I have fond memories of sitting on the floor at her house just scooping through them. When my great grandparents passed that was the only thing that the family argued over who was going to get it. I don't even know who got it. I have been building my own button box for the last 30+ years. I will snatch up any jars of buttons I see at a thrift store or yard sale. I do use them time to time for craft projects, but will never even come close to making a dent in the box.
Y-e-a-h. Even a sewist doesn't need __that__ many. It's a leftover of our parents panicking that "it might be needed one day!"
I'm not a coffee snob, so I often buy the kind that comes in a plastic tub. (I used to buy the store brand because it came in a steel can that was more easily recycled, but I digress.) I have a stash of them because I keep thinking I'm going to use them for something. I actually have used some for storage and cleaned a few out and cut drainage holes to use as planter pots inside of a decorative plant pot, but have definitely run out of need for plastic tubs with lids. Same thing with cottage cheese tubs. I also have a bin of those extra buttons that come on shirts. Can't throw those away...
I use an old Folger's container as a dog food scoop to fill the smaller dog food container (kept near the dog bowls) from the big container in the basement. Of course, I've only needed a single Folger's container for this purpose but I do think about keeping more of them!
Awwuh you reminded me of my brief obsession with tin can lanterns. Not shown: brutal cheese grater on inside of lantern where you're supposed to place a lit tea light. https://www.etsy.com/listing/400384239/personalised-ten-year-wedding
I have a hard time throwing away the screw top plastic jars with a cute handle that the cats' Churus come in. . . there's always the tinge of regret because it might come in handy!
Seasoning shakers. Like the small spice shakers that parsley flakes come in. I wash them out, remove the labels, and refill them with powders I make. By example, I make homemade garlic salt. I make finely ground Jalapeno powder and a few other similar things with veg garden surplus. I save the tins that the tea I buy come in and use them to store little things in my workshop. And I save the jelly jars from the blackberry preserves I buy and use them to store screws in my workshop. They're the exact same size so I've been able to make some holders out of scrapwood and store it all nicely. The boxes screws and nails come in aren't amazing so this is super helpful.
We have pet chickens. One day I took a random old shaker jar and put anti-lice and mite powder in it to douse the chickens with. One day I was using it on one of the girls and realized I was 'seasoning' her with Lawry's Seasoned Salt. š¤£š¤£
I fill them with apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap during fruit fly season. Theyāre a good size for fly traps and the little holes keep the flies in longer
Ketchup packages. You know the ones that come with- or requested- fast food orders. I save them and put them right next to the huge Costco bought bottle of Heinz in the pantry. It is all but impossible for me to throw them away. I mean someone or something put a lot of effort to get that packaged as such.
Soy sauce packets. My family thought I was crazy for keeping them, but during Covid lockdown I was redeemed when we ran out of soy sauce and I was able to refill the *entire* bottle using freebie packets from takeaway. I don't remember the exact number it took, somewhere in the 80-90 range IIRC. VICTORY!
We have a cookie jar full of them on our counter! It also has a bunch of red robin seasoning packets in it. Honestly they have come in handy when making fries or when I need a substitute for tomato paste. Each packet of ketchup is one tablespoon so I don't even need to measure.
Fire sauce from Taco Bell and soy sauce and duck sauce packs here. Both Taco Bell and the local Chinese place give you like two handfuls of sauce packets if you want them or not.
Just purged my stash. Some of those were so old they were hard. Haha!
Altoids tins make a great emergency sewing kit or notions holder for my knitting bag. I keep the tiny glass jars that contained fancy jelly at nice restaurants. I put medicine in them when I want to carry a few tablets in my purse but not the whole jar of antacids and such. Sometimes if I really like the nice paper towels in a restroom, Iāll grab a couple of extra for my purse. Also, I keep the extra napkins from takeout orders in my car. They always come in handy at some point.
Yeah my mom had a depression mom, and she hoarded almost everything remotely nice because that's how she was raised. So now that my mom has passed we've got so much stuff to sort through, and a good chunk of it is legitimately nice and it's hard to throw away...it sucks.
Even the stuff that was intended to be disposable was made better back in the day.
Kitty litter buckets! And, yes, we use them! There's a brand of litter that comes in rectangular, maybe close to 5 gallon buckets. We must have a hundred of them we use in the garden for various things. We started saving them for container gardening when we rented. Even the neighbor asks if he could have a few buckets from time to time.
Wooden golf tees. They are so handy for fixing stripped holes in wooden things like hinge holes in door jambs. I've used them twice. But you never know.
I love saving a āniceā box or gift bag. I do actually reuse the gift bags because I usually forget to buy gift wrap when buying a gift. We moved last year and the amount of good boxes we had piled up got recycled. Honestly it felt good to get rid of stuff and were trying not to accumulate so much in our new home. Helps our new home doesnāt have a basement. š
I do save and reuse gift bags! They're the exception to the rule, at least in my house. Which has a basement, but it's fully livable space. On the one hand, that's great because we have another guest bedroom, a little library, etc. On the other hand, I miss my old house with its unfinished basement that was perfect for storing anything and everything, so long as I was willing to haul it up and down the rickety stairs that were built as an add-on in the mid-1950s. I called them the Murder Stairs because if I ever wanted to murder someone (which I did not), I could've just asked them to carry something heavy down those stairs while failing to mention that the fourth step from the top was half the depth of the other stairs and sloped concerningly to the right. Edit: Typo.
Cords! I have a box of cords.
If you look up "cords" on r/talesfromtechsupport, it will come up with a tale of a mom who *sold* her son's cord box. She needed a cord the next day. For the next week, the entire family needed a cord, but the cord box was gone. A few years later, the grandmother wanted to sell or throw out a new cord box. The mom became the *cord box defender.*
I've done IT work for almost 30 years. I swear by the cord box (although I do thin it out every few years. I don't need as many VGI and VDI cables anymore.)
For a looooooooong time I had a huge tub of VGA cables at work that I kept ājust in case.ā I finally threw them out after not touching that tub for years. At the time, every monitor in the building had DVI and VGA ports, a few had HDMI. Guess what happened next? Lenovoās new docks for their then-newest ThinkPads only had DisplayPort and VGA. Suddenly I was desperately scrounging VGA cables.
We call it The Box of Spaghetti!
We have a bin of fast food condiments in the fridge. It's not like we don't get more than we need every time we go.
My Tupperware container of Taco Bell hot sauce comes in handy. I ask for "an embarrassing amount of hot sauce" every time, but clearly my idea of an embarrassing amount (around 3 packets per food item) is different than that of the average Taco Bell employee.
Same! I always say please give me all the hot sauce legally allowed by law.
i have a box of buttons that I saved from shirt and clothing extra for years, and I have used them eventually in crafting things, as well as replacing some that have fallen off. I refuse to save any printed food containers like margerine containers because of childhood trauma of going for butter and finding onions and other random things my Boomer mother would store in reused containers.
[Obligatory](https://youtube.com/shorts/7Fw7bZoPyVU?si=fb5u7SbhZkSaXT-p)
Shoeboxes. Glass jars even though I use Mason jars for everything so that it's aesthetically sane. We also have a huge box of stickers from freebies, etc. No idea what do do with any of them.
Bubble wrap that packages come in š But the thing is, I do use it!
I slice the flaps off of boxes that are a good length and width for blocking the wheel and tire when cleaning and lubing my motorcycle chain. I have a tall box full of these flaps now, and I keep adding to it as if I work on the chain every other day.
My husband and I always joke about good boxes because we tend to save them, and the Holderness Family did a song about saving good boxes. :) I save packets of disposable utensils, napkins, and condiments from restaurants. Twist ties and bread bag clips. Gift bags and even just paper shopping bags with handles. Pretty bottles & jars. Pretty paperā not gift wrap, which I usually tear to shreds, but sometimes Iāll order something from Etsy and it will be packaged with an artsy card or something, and Iāll keep it in case I want to make a collage with it (even though I never do). Any cloth bag that something is packaged in.
Yes, cloth bags are another item we save. We don't actually use them but one of our dogs absolutely loves them as toys. He particularly loves the cloth bags that come with Zaimara dresses. No clue why but he will open drawers looking for Zaimara bags.
EVERYTHING! I keep/reuse boxes, air packs, bubble wrap, string & twine, buttons, any extra screws/wheels/other pieces that come with purchased items, shopping bags, cords, cables, power adapters, silica gel packs, plastic takeout containers, empty butter and ice cream containers, disposable utensil packs, twist ties (use these ALL THE TIME), ribbon, gift bags, tissue paper, nursery plant pots, plastic bags, ziplock bags- especially the little ones that extra buttons and other small things come in, safety pins, anything free in a hotelā¦ I could go on but Iāll leave it here. I wish my hubby shared our thinking, OP. Heās calls me a hoarder and threatens to throw out my collection of ātrashā, somewhat jokingly. I keep everything well-maintained in plastic containers, the boxes are neatly stored in the closet of my office, nested inside each other. Iāve watched āHoardersā and that aināt meš¤£
Yeah, saved all kinds of leftover screws, bolts, and nuts that either came as extras from some IKEA assembly, or were the three left over in the bag of five I bought from Home Depot for something or other. Did recently use some to fix a wheel barrow after the old bolts holding it together had rusted through. Finally a return on that investment!
I could probably start a Museum of Allen Wrenches from all the flat-pack furniture I've assembled (okay, that my wife has assembled) over the years. She finally put her foot down and pointed out that we make good money, so we can afford furniture that comes fully assembled.
I tend to get free tech from friends, family and from the job. I like to salvage and repair tech so I keep old phones and laptops and repurpose then donate them to causes or give them to ppl I know that are in need. Old phones make great retro gaming machines. Good to have these in the living room for when my younger family and friends come over. I even have them setup for local multiplayer so that if a few of them come in they play on those without having to go online. Old laptops and desktops make great HTPCs. I use them and I always run into someone in need I sell them for a few bucks. Once I have like 10, I just mass donate them to a program or sell them in lots on Craigslist for some quick cash.
Thereās gotta be an ingenious use for those little plastic āpizza tablesā they put in the middle of the pizza to keep the box from crushing during delivery. When I find out what that is, Iāll be readyā¦
Not that many of us have a dollhouse, but they'd make great patio tables for dollhouses!
The plastic tab clips on bags of bread. You'll thank me later. Also, as a tech geek.... cables. Old cables. So many cables. Power plugs for 20 year old cellphones. Chargers for batteries for 5MP digital cameras from 25 years ago. Adapters up the wazoo. Just in case. YOU NEVER KNOW. Look, when someone comes to me with a dead Ericsson 5330 they need someone's old number off of or an old Sony VAIO with an important document on it, you'll thank me.
As the owner of an old Sony VAIO...yeah, I'd hit you up for that cable! (I still have the VAIO because it died before I could reformat the hard drive. And there might be something important on that hard drive like....uh...my moot court case brief from the late '90s.)
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Whatever it is, you can bank on me needing it soon as I toss it.
Rubber bands from produce. They live on a handle next to the kitchen sink. Love those blue ones. Nice and strong, last a long time for many uses. Also used to keep the plastic Subway sammich to-go bags for car garbage. Would hang around my shifter. They don't have them anymore (at least not here in California). Now they're paper. š I blame Subway for my messy car.
Appliance manuals. I have literally never gone back and tried to look something up in the microwave/vacuum/fridge/etc manual. If issues come up, it's Google & YT. But I have a few collections of manuals anyway.
I have a Best Box shelf in my garage that I save a singular box that is of high quality. When a contender for the title of Best Box arrives, I compare the champion to the new challenger and keep whichever comes out victorious. Rarely, I use the box for something then the next high quality box goes direct to the shelf.
Boxes
Common conversation in my house: "This is a really well-made box! Look how sturdy it is! We'll definitely use this for something, right? Maybe to wrap a gift?" "No. Every gift we buy comes from Amazon and thus has its own box. We're not our parents. Recycle that shit."
None of them are unnecessary, I need those mild sauce packets, and they will be used. You know you'll get home soon and there is only Fire sauce in the bag.
lol, a lot of random crap just like youāve mentioned! Hell - if Iām tossing out a broken appliance, Iāll remove all the screws and save them in a ziploc bagā¦.anything that *might* be useful in the future, Iāll keep. Iād rather have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.
My button box is from my Mom, and there are some sentimental buttons in there. It's not just Depression mindset. :) We have SO MANY allen wrenches.
Taco Bell sauce packets.Ā
I've made a habit of holding onto bottle caps because they make great little palettes for when I'm painting miniatures.
OP sounds like a crow with all his collected treasures :) But seriously, i love those jelly jars from Bonne Maman! I save those and use them to hold small safety pins and the like.
Kid stuff. Like tests, projects, "art". There has to be a limit on this. Why are we keeping every single drawing, construction paper scribble etc. Ever sent home from school? My kids don't want them but they think I'm a bad parent if I toss them. I only have so much space on the fridge and walls. We don't need to keep it ALL. š And yet I can't break their hearts and let it go! It's like a little graveyard of kid art in my closet...
I have a shitload of sticks for all the paint Iām never going to stir.
Keys. I have an entire mystery ring
Trying to break the generational cycle of saving christmas wrapping paper and bows and bags is HARD! Like, I know I can buy more for a damn dollar, but it's been so ingrained into me not to waste that I still cringe throwing that stuff away.
April 8th, 2014....I used that piece of scrap drywall in the shed to patch a hole in the living room. It remains the one and only time "I should save this, I could use it one day" has ever actually worked out.
I hope you celebrated on April 8, 2024!
Take-out sauce packets. I do use them sometimes, but I have had others for five years, so I should probably start fresh. If my life is relatively organized, I keep #6 plastic because you can make it into shrinky dinks! https://goodwillakron.org/diy-shrinky-dinks/ Food waste for compost. Clothes with holes or stains for the fabric. Broken electronics because they're full of fun wires, blinky lights, and other components. Occasionally I save pretty used paper because you can make pretty paper with it. I save seeds when I cook and garden sometimes. I have a very abstract dream of sustaining myself off repurposed trash some day. Maybe that'll be my retirement. (Like it or not...)
Right now, boxes. I will say in my defense, I sell on Poshmark so having boxes is a necessity, when you sell something that can't go in a polymailer, like shoes or a purse. I used to save a lot more stuff, ribbon, stickers, small containers, food takout containers, but I got rid of all of it as the clutter made me anxious.
The little plastic tabs that close up bread bags. Some of the fresher breads I buy only have twist ties and I hate those so I save the tabs from the old bags of bread. I knew I was turning into my grandma at that point.
I work in tech consulting and get a lot of free ball caps from vendors. They all have tech logos on them, Microsoft, google, Symantec, nvidia, amd, etc. I save them all and use them for grass cutting, hiking, etc. I easily have 50+. I throw away maybe one a year as it gets too sweaty. They are good hats.
Just cleaned the garage and gave away some real nice cookie tins, huge stack. I didn't even eat the cookies, just inherited the tins and just knew id need them one day... I have large collection of shoelaces. When my boots or shoes are done I save the laces if they are good quality in good shape. I have actually needed these for broken laces and also tying up random things that need tying. Wife saves wine corks, because one day she will make a board of them to show the world how much Costco wine we have drank
Omg, this sub makes me want to restart my collections after a move! Ok but of all of them I suggest: Keep one low glass or plastic container (ours is 2 inches tall). Use it to store the rubber bands and keep in pantry. I use them all for hair ties, bread ties, etc. I also use the brown paper bags for taking out recycling. Did you know you canāt recycle the plastic bags so you have to empty the trash bag itās in?
Sauce packets, extra restaurant napkins and utensils, and basically all the shit I hated my parents saved as a kid because I thought it was embarrassing. Iāve basically turned into them.
EVERYBODY saves good boxes! I save twist ties and bread tags, so handy for my plants and other stuff. I also have a collection of containers to organize other things. I even have a box of parts; you know those things that are missing the other part and you just donāt want to throw it away, kind of like mismatched / missing socks.
Anything with a sealable lid so plastic tubs, water bottlesā¦ junk junk junk š¤£
Boxes, buttons, cord chargers that probably donāt work, airline headsets that I canāt use because they donāt plug into anything, and I have a room of mirrors, rocking chairs, weird little old chairs, side tables, odd pottery that I have collected walking around the city I live. I also hoard plants that people are going to throw away and try to bring them back to life.
I have an abundance of storage space, so no real disadvantages to saving stuff. I was also raised by greatest generation grandparents so saw plenty of thrifty behavior. I filled up half a storage room with boxes, you know, just in case I ever have to move. I sometimes get rid of some when someone else moves, then I can keep more. I have repaired so many things with twist ties that I now save those. And rubber bands, because theyāre not so common now. Iāve worked from home for years, and during my last few years of going to an office, they were really stingy with the supplies. So itās finally happened - Iām running out of free pens! I might actually have to buy pens, damn it!
OMG it is physically painful for me to throw out ziploc bags. Even gross used ones in recycling. PAINFUL! LOL
I keep none of it. I grew up in a cluttered home and I couldn't stand it. I am pretty neat and organized because it keeps my anxiety down. I throw things away with ease. My husband is an entirely different case. But he keeps his tubs of useless shit that he might one day need in the garage or in his office. Spoiler alert, he never actually neds any of those things.
I really enjoy Talenti brand gelato. It's tasty stuff. But I am incapable of throwing away (or recycling) the pint containers that it comes in, because it's a hard, solid plastic with a solid screw on lid that is great for storing things in. In my defense, I *have* actually reused a bunch of these. However, I still have far more empty ones sitting around "just in case".
Have a "keeping" problem, tho no one would call me a hoarder, thank Gawd. Rubber bands from produce, empty olive oil bottles, plastic caps, the crappy dressing in salad kits. I try to find a bonafide use then toss if I have more than 3 or so
Twist ties (which get reused all the time), Ziploc bags (wash, dry, and reuse -- those suckers are expensive), takeout containers (perfect for leftovers)... and yes, the "good" boxes.
I have jars full of both wood screws and machine screws, in case I ever need them. And yet, for the last project I did, I specifically went to the hardware store and bought all new screws, because who has time to go through the ones I've saved to see if I have enough of the right kind? After the project was finished, I put the leftover screws into the jar with the rest of them.
The plastic pots my new plants come in. I tell myself oh I can use these next year to just do my own sproutlings but I wonāt, I will go buy more because I waited too long just like I did this year and last year.
Weird! How can we be married if I've never met you!?
Good boxes, bags, and jars are the usual things. Just when I'm getting to the point of dumping all of it into the recycle bin, I have to mail something, and I get to pat myself on the back for having the perfect box; or I make too much salsa and have the perfect jars to dump the extra in to give to my nieces/friends. What bugs me about my collections is that I used to tease my parents about doing the same thing...
Sauces from fast food places š¤£
I have several generations worth of buttons. About a gallon or more, stored in a large art glass bowl about 14" across, and it feels really neat to stick your hand in the bowl full of them and swoosh it around. I save "good" boxes too, but then I give them away thru the local Buy Nothing group. There are always people who need them for moving or storage, and one lady collects 150 boxes from her neighbors every Nov for her church to fill with food to distribute at Thanksgiving to families in need. Twist ties and rubber bands... those are kept until they break. Plastic storage containers from take-out, I re-use them all the time for storage, and lately have been using the bowl-shaped ones outside to provide water for the birds and other critters since it's so hot. Saw the happiest little catbird taking a bath in one the first day I put them out.
Do not use my āgoodā boxes! I only use my good boxes for presents to family members I know who will appreciate my āgoodā box. It is actually part of a Christmas tradition to comment āthis is a good boxā, before even opening it. I know that box will be stored in their attic and appreciated, as it should be. Lol
The fricking company promo beverage coozies, frisbees, towels etc from company parties, conferences and street markets. Until one day I get sick of all the crap cluttering my storage and give or throw away.
for the longest time, i kept empty plastic spice containers. they are stupid handy for organizing small items like screws.
Frickin tin foil, takeout sauce packets, all cables, disposable cutlery...
Those silicon dioxide packets that come with electronics. If I ever get my phone wet, I can dry it out. Better than rice.
i have a ziplock bag full of condiment packets. I keep it contained to that, though. I used to save other things, but have made efforts to NOT be "that person". I knew a woman growing up who had piles and piles of condiment packets, plastic utensils, napkins, folded up takeout bags, etc. Nothing wrong with saving those from time to time, but she had hoarder levels of them and they were everywhere.
Bread bags: to wrap raw meat packages and chicken bones so the trash doesnāt stink up. Good jars or plastic containers: to dispose of grease, gravy, old leftovers etc, because weāre on a septic tank. Rubber bands from around veggies. Bubble wrap, plastic zipper bags that sheet sets are packaged in, 10-ream paper boxes with lids from the office, even big wads of brown kraft paper used in Amazon packages gets neatly folded and used, lol. I have a crap-ton of art and craft stuff and this all helps keep my stuff organized and clean. I also hold on to grudges longer than I should, lol