View Full Version : How many storage boxes do you have?
I have not counted mine. I currently have storage boxes in two places, the shed and the basement. I am starting to go through them in preparation to move, but I am still hanging onto things and don't want to get rid of them.
This makes me wonder, how many people have boxes in storage somewhere, how many do you think you have, and what is in them?
Example: I have a box of cookbooks and a box of down blankets for guest bedrooms but no guest bedrooms yet.
I have no boxes and I have no "elsewhere".
See, I think that is where I want to be. No boxes, use everything I have.
Teacher Terry
2-18-20, 5:57pm
I have none but my husband is another matter.
ApatheticNoMore
2-18-20, 6:22pm
I have a closet, so I have some books and old diaries and some financial stuff I may not need anymore, in boxes, in the closet.
I keep some extra computer parts as well, but sometimes I actually use those.
iris lilies
2-18-20, 6:38pm
I am not sure I want to count. Haha.
Actually, I have never purchased Tupperware tubs because I inherited quite a few from my mother. She’s been dead 10 years and its even longer since she used them.
Oh, and I inherited some from the Lily Society when it disbanded.
also I grab empty tubs from the alley when I see them. People toss them occasionally, without lids. I use those non-lidded ones to haul things around for flower shows.
Yes I would like to be in a place where I didn’t have things stored in tubs except for my flower show hobby.
rosarugosa
2-18-20, 7:06pm
I have several, but they aren't all full of excess stuff. For example, I bought two extra-large ones to store window air conditioners when they are not in use. I have 2 smaller ones for bird seed. I have 2 for seasonal decorations. I have 2 with smaller pieces of luggage. I guess I'm pretty comfortable with what I have currently. I did empty out and get rid of a few in the past couple of years.
Oh, shoot. I have storage boxes. I did have a lot more, and since our downsize we have a lot of empty storage boxes. My boxes hold mostly memorabilia. I had at least 1 storage box for each kid--I've handed them over to them, so those are gone. I have my own boxes--one full of diaries I've kept since 1964, and one with family memorabilia, letters from my mother, the deed to the cottage at Madison, stuff like that that my DH thinks I should purge, but can't bring myself to do it. I did get rid of a big storage box of domestics--curtains I bought and then replaced, but never got rid of "in case" I decided to switch them back. I had a big storage box of T-shirts from way back--grammar school T-shirts, shirts my kids loved so much they wore them incessantly, all kinds of T-shirts. The funny thing is, my DD and her fiancee came down to help us pack and they LOVED the box of T-shirts. They are thrifters--they go "pick" at thrift stores and then they redesign the clothes and resell them, so these t-shirts were a gold mine.
So, my storage boxes are kind of dwindling, but it's hard to get rid of them all. I probably still have about 10.
1 of baby clothes and memorabilia. All my genealogical materials are in binders. I also have two full two drawer filing cabinets of non-genealogical general papers. I guess I am not a storage box person. I do use boxes a la Marie Kondo but for things I use rather than store like my underwear.
I am impressed and kind of bummed by these answers. I am obviously the hoard-y outlier.
I probably win the prize of storage boxes right now. One full room of boxes and shelves full of fabric and books and kits. Two stacks of boxes full of vintage Fiesta. Another room full of hubby's "stuff" in boxes on shelves. Getting rid of it is a gradual process. I am getting ready to cut 12 boxes of wool into one or two boxes of pieces ready for sewing. Waiting on my cutting mat.
Have had some success in not letting new things into the house.
I lied. We each have 1 small box of K-12 memorabilia in the top of the linen closet. Forgot about those. This was a cleanup project about 20 years ago!
iris lilies
2-18-20, 9:04pm
I lied. We each have 1 small box of K-12 memorabilia in the top of the linen closet. Forgot about those. This was a cleanup project about 20 years ago!
how do you store photographs? I am trying to cisualize getting photos down to 1 shelf of albums.
Umm, probably more than a dozen.
DW has a bunch of plastic tubs for her stuff (seasonal decorations, some stuff she plans to give DD someday, etc.).
I have a few boxes in another room which hold a collection I want to find a home for.
Like anm I have a box of cables and adapters that I do use. I also have a box of personal memorabilia which I haven't looked at in quite some time (used to have three boxes; two smaller ones filled with yearbooks; got rid of those when I moved to the efficiency apartment).
There's a box of stuff that came with the house (some leftover ceramic tile, pieces-parts that we don't use on the appliances but which should stay with the appliances).
There are a couple of boxes out in the garage holding items moved from MiL's house when she went into assisted living; most of those are waiting out a year and if MiL hasn't come up with a reason to raid the boxes they're going to disappear.
One of DW's few declared projects when she retires is to go through boxes. I'm happy to help and once she retires, I'll have more time to get to the collection boxes and get those out of the house, too.
how do you store photographs? I am trying to cisualize getting photos down to 1 shelf of albums.
We have never been big into photos in our nearly 40y married. I think there are maybe 6 albums on the bottom shelf of our bookcase. There are also 2 scrapbooks: 1 from my K-12 and 1 from my 32d in Holland with Mom/Dad/sister.
Teacher Terry
2-18-20, 10:29pm
I have 6 photo albums from our entire life for a family of 5. The kids want us to keep them for them.
I have one box of collectible books, one of old glassware and one of old photos. Two boxes of off season clothing. That's it.
DH probably has 10-12 boxes of camera related stuff - all in his closet. The shed and mudroom may have 3-4 of what I don't know...manly man stuff.
Our next move will be considerably easier than the last one.
Like Tybee I am in awe of the small number of boxes out there! We have an attic and basement! NOT A GOOD THING! I have many empty boxes in the attic....and stuff on the floor of the attic to be put in the tubs...but hasn't happened. I did get rid of a load of things one year just doing it 15 minutes at a time, but not recently. The basement is not boxes but tools and paint and pots and tools and tools and tools which are not mine to purge. Oh and we have shoeboxes with tax documentation back to the 80s. Husband does not want them gone. So, bravo to those of you who have reduced the piles. It's inspiring.
Like Tybee I am in awe of the small number of boxes out there! We have an attic and basement! NOT A GOOD THING! I have many empty boxes in the attic....and stuff on the floor of the attic to be put in the tubs...but hasn't happened. I did get rid of a load of things one year just doing it 15 minutes at a time, but not recently. The basement is not boxes but tools and paint and pots and tools and tools and tools which are not mine to purge. Oh and we have shoeboxes with tax documentation back to the 80s. Husband does not want them gone. So, bravo to those of you who have reduced the piles. It's inspiring.
It is inspiring! We have taxes going back several years, and my husband has a shed full of tools. I think mentally I was not even counting them.
I have three or four boxes of fabric, two boxes of wool (sweater and sock), and six boxes of seeds. That is just the beginning.
It is inspiring! We have taxes going back several years, and my husband has a shed full of tools. I think mentally I was not even counting them.
I have three or four boxes of fabric, two boxes of wool (sweater and sock), and six boxes of seeds. That is just the beginning.
Oh, well, if you are counting tools... And as for taxes, do you believe I've never thrown out a tax return. And I have every paycheck stub I ever earned. My husband calls it hoarding, I call it archiving historic documentation.
Catherine, maybe someday one of your grandchildren will get a kick out of your paystubs--or write a dissertation on pay inequality. We found my husband's grandfather's tax return for whenever they started doing them--he owed 12 dollars for the year.
mschrisgo2
2-19-20, 10:22pm
I have 5 boxes of fabric, one with project in progress (to keep my dogs out of it), 2 of sewing/quilting tools and notions= 8. Plus 4 boxes of seasonal decorations, a box of misc housewares, and a box of memorabilia in the shed= 6. Plus 2 boxes of photos, and 1 box of paper archives in my home office space. Grand total: 17. But it is all stuff I have been through in the last year, stuff I use, and want to keep. I use plastic bins to organize my small house :)
rosarugosa
2-20-20, 6:47am
Catherine: I also have every tax return, but no pay slips.
Mschrisgo2: I am the same as far as organizing a small house and using plastic bins as one of my tools.
happystuff
2-20-20, 8:49am
Two rather large bins of Legos. :) I'm saving them for my retirement. LOL..
Teacher Terry
2-20-20, 12:50pm
I can’t believe anyone saves all the tax returns or paystubs. Too funny!
I can’t believe anyone saves all the tax returns or paystubs. Too funny!
I was thinking the same thing. I keep 5y tax returns in case of audit. Paystubs have been electronic for years but when I got them, I tossed them as soon as the W2 arrived.
Feed the Shred-It box people.
I keep 7 years of tax returns, along with a year that I did get audited, with all the documentation for that. I keep some divorce papers. I need to get rid of the eighth year on taxes. I keep stuff on my IRA going back to inception, but obviously, just year end kind of thing. I keep stuff on houses we've bought and sold but I am getting sick of having that stuff and did get rid of about half of it this fall. The amount I have feels overwhelming, and I do not want to put it into electronic storage only. When I did have the audit, it was great to have the paper; I was comfortable with that.
Where do you put all those tax returns, and how many boxes do they take. I need to go count mine.
Teacher Terry
2-20-20, 1:51pm
I have kept the divorce papers which I have needed a few times. I threw away the paperwork for houses we have owned.
But don't you keep the records of the work you do etc. in case you have to sell it, or did that tax law change now and we don't have to do that anymore? Something changed.
Teacher Terry
2-20-20, 4:05pm
Once the house is sold I keep for a few years and then dispose of them.
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