I Am Thinking It Might Be About Time To Start Downsizing My Possessions

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PROSTOCKTOM

PROSTOCKTOM

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The older I get the less interested I am in owning a bunch of stuff, to the point I feel owning things is like a ball and a chain around my ankle.

I've heard if you don't use it for a year then you should toss it out. I have a car in the garage I've owned since 1995 and haven't touched it since 1998. Not tossing it out, but I should.

In the day it was easy to find cars and there were at least 5 junkyards close by. Today there are no junkyards and you are not going to find any cars sitting around behind houses, or on

county roads. To me the good days of the hobby are slowly getting behind me and I am sure I am not the only one feeling this way. Even going to the dragstrip is becoming more work

than the enjoyment I get out of it. One of the truly enjoyable things I like to do a lot nowadays is taking long naps. Gee, I sound Like I have one leg in the grave already. I suppose at

some point we are all faced with what to do with all that we own, and what to do with it. How have you downsized your treasures?

Tom
 
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I started filtering out stuff a few years ago, even tho I'm only 58. I began by no longer feeling the need to have 3 to 5 spares of the same part. Just 2 should suffice. Some of the excess I've dumped in my oldest son's shed, some I've given away or sold. Why the oldest son's shed? Cuz he's got his own place. The next 2 kids are only 17 and 14. LOL. I have also resisted the urge to bring more projects home for myself. I mess with the Shelby Dakota and have a 68 Bcuda ragtop waiting for me after we finish son number two's Dart Sport. Looking to retire in 7 years and plan to travel with the wife, so the 68 project will suffice.
 
PROSTOCKTOM said:
The older I get the less interested I am in owning a bunch of stuff, to the point I feel owning things is like a ball and a chain around my ankle.

I've heard if you don't use it for a year then you should toss it out. I have a car in the garage I've owned since 1995 and haven't touched it since 1998. Not tossing it out, but I should.

In the day it was easy to find cars and there were at least 5 junkyards close by. Today there are no junkyards and you are not going to find any cars sitting around behind houses, or on

county roads. To me the good days of the hobby are slow getting behind me and I am sure I am not the only one feeling this way. Even going to the dragstrip is becoming more work

than the enjoyment I get out of it. One of the truly enjoyable things I like to do a lot nowadays is taking long naps. Gee, I sound Like I have one leg in the grave already. I suppose at

some point we all have to face with what to do with all that we own and what to do with it. How have you downsized your treasures?

Tom
Click to expand...
Me too so I bought another car. :BangHead: :BangHead: :rofl: There's a method to my madness. I only have room for 2 so I will sell my 66 Dart. The 64 Polara is that car I have always wanted. The last car I might own before I get too old to drive. Eventually I will sell the Swinger as well. I really don't need 2 cars let alone 3.
 
I'm 59 and still wrongfully going in the opposite direction. My favorite Mopar A body has always been the 1967 Notchback. I don't have one. My favorite Mopar B body is tied up between 1968 Coronet R/T or Super Bee and the 1970 Roadrunner. I don't have any of the 3. I do have the idea of them surrounded with other A and B bodies and many spare parts. I've been talking about downsizing and know I should. Last night I gave away my Amish Oak spare table and chairs and a nice couch to a good friend in need. Thankfully he didn't need a car...LOL
 
I am 71 and just had my will done and out of curiosity and at a request from my investment people I listed all of my assets. I went overboard just for me. It is time to get rid of things. But how do you do it? Facebook Market place is a joke and they and Ebay want to tax you. If you get a spot at Carlisle you have to have a tax number. Plus not only cars, trucks and motorcycles but I have a fairly large collection of toy trains. I have been asking family members and they don't want my "stuff" So I am hoping for advice here. This is a great thread and I think much needed
 
I'm 60 and having been through a divorce at 51 I lost a lot of the things I used to think were important. I realized they didn't make me happy. I have quite a few hobbies other than cars. It always seemed I enjoyed the "hunt" more than the actual owning of a particular item. I have sold off most of my guns , old archery equipment , car parts etc. My new way of thinking is if it's collecting dust I sell it. I still have a few things that I'll never get rid of but I find it easier not having "stuff" weighing me down. The analogy of a ball and chain comes to mind. Couldn't have said it better.
 
I'm 62 and still buying tools for some reason. I don't know if I will restore another car after this one but I do fix our daily drivers. You got to have a hobby. Thankfully I don't have a large volume of parts. Its hard to get rid good stuff if you have the room to store it. I sell the parts that I think are worth something while I still remember what I have. Once in awhile I find something I need in the stash :) I'm still keeping some old parts I've had for 15 years in case I find another car (air cooled Porsche) which is unlikely. There will come a day where I will have to have a clearance sale otherwise it will be left to my wife or kids to just trash it all when I am gone or not able to deal with it....hopefully when we have to leave this house one day. Who knows. My Mopar buddy on the other hand is fine letting his kids rent a steel trash bin and throw everything he owns in it when he goes. He has 3 cars he never drives too. I'd rather not do it that way. My wife spent a year clearing out her parents place before they sold the place. Not fun.
 
I’m 70 and have decided I am only going to buy cars I can drive home and do a little piddling with. My goal is to buy, drive for a couple years and sell. If I break even, or don’t lose too much, I will be happy.
 
I'll be 48 this year and watching the progression of my older friends along with this disgusting economy has changed my outlook. The cost of batteries/tires/etc. required to keep my small fleet of Mopars in service has become a life-altering negative investments vs. a hobby I can support with side jobs and selling some parts.

The financial aspect of the hobby has changed everything. As an example, I should be excited about getting the GTS back out for some 1/4 mile therapy yet I find myself dreading the call to order a drum or two of 110 Sunoco. I try not to think about it but it's difficult to ignore with the price of....everything.

Another for instance is my 67 D600 beater dump truck. It has been sitting for a few seasons and I need to haul some rock from the neighbor's old rock pit for road maintenance. I cringe at the thought of resurrecting it not because of the labor but the potential cost inolved. I'm not sure how many more $200 group 24 batteries I can handle buying just based on principle alone.

My 66 Coronet just had a PowerMaster 95A alternator die. It has about 8 hours of runtime and maybe 500 miles on it. I'm so distusted (out of 1 year warranty Made in USA) that I'll letifsit for a few months. Again,the principle of spending an additional $164 irks me for than the pleasure of driving the car.

It's an uphill battle at this point. I'm hopeful for better things to come in the future.

In the meantime,the rich will get richer and I'll be brown bagging PB&J for lunch trying to save up for some race gas.

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I too have been thinking about letting go of lots of my auto related items that i haven't done anything in years.
For instance i have shelves full of Mopar factory repair manuals that go back from the early 1950's till the later 1990's.
And factory parts books from the early 60's thru the 1970's.
Been wondering if there's any vendors out there in the USA that come out and buy entire collections.
Not getting any younger at age 72, and sooner or later, some of my medical conditions are going to finish me off, and take me out.
And i'm the end of the line, family wise, and nobody else left to give my stuff to.
Gotta find new homes for things while i still can, i guess.
 
Me. 77 and been in the hobby since 80s. Old, wore out, with a rare muscle disease, and do good to put one foot in front of the other, but doc says keep moving, so I pick my battles as they say. I am down to 2 project cars from 4 ( a collection of AMC, Mopar, Ford , Merc). I would get down to just one, but its a buyers market and it has been soft since before Covid. The 2 remaining have all body/pait done, one is a runner, etc etc....Not many want any form of a project, most want a $15-2000 car for $5,000. Cars, parts....Like said, FB Marketplace is a joke, I detest Ebay, and advertising and shipping parts is such a hassle. If something has no value to someone, it needs to go to the scraper. But, that is harsh!!!!

I moved a lot of parts out of a shed that a huge pine was about to crash on other day and for example, I found 6 new sets of Mopar points. (Just what I found) The very east of my stuff. I use points. Only Fords I have left used a different points. I will advertise them on FABO eventually and sell them as a set of 6 not shipping them one at a time for a few cents!!! But I can never make my self them them in the burn pile either. Last time I gave away parts, I had to pay the darn shipping!!!!

I still love the hobby, (trying to) working on a car, cruising down the road, windows down, NO AC and NO radio, just fresh air and a Texas blacktop.
I still meet some really good car guys....but, sometimes it seems like all just a dream.

Like the old cowboy said,,,,"I still ride wild horses.... in my dreams!" Yep, been there, done that.... in my dreams."
 
My dad showed me how to do it by his example. When he could not keep up the yard and house, they downsized and moved into a Duplex associated with a nursing home. Two bedrooms, two bath, single room kitchen/dining room/living room. All one level with a walk in garage. He asked family if they wanted anything, next it was friends, and what was left was auctioned off. What they kept went into the Duplex where they both lived till they passed on.

I'm 70 now and can still do everything, but I'm getting to a place were things are going to be sold unless I really love them. I do have my "dream" car, the 66 Formula S 4 speed 273, plus a 68 Fastback 383 automatic Formula S, plus my brothers 67 Fastback Barracuda with 400,000 miles on it. So I'm not going to buying anymore cars, but I do have a lifetime of collecting all the best stuff for A-Body cars. Some days it is hard to pass on deals, but I'm learning. I do take an hour nap after lunch some days if I feel like it. Other days I feel like I'll never have enough time to do all I want before my health goes.

Stuff is a ball and chain. If you have too much, it keeps you from enjoying the truly good stuff you have. I started ten years ago selling stuff I wouldn't use. Then selling stuff to help someone out on a project. I also stopped selling on eBay when they wanted to tax me on stuff we are lucky to break even on. When was the last time you took your car out for a joy ride? When was the last trip with the wife, family, or friends? What is important to you? What do you still want to do or see?
 
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hemi71x said:
I too have been thinking about letting go of lots of my auto related items that i haven't done anything in years.
For instance i have shelves full of Mopar factory repair manuals that go back from the early 1950's till the later 1990's.
And factory parts books from the early 60's thru the 1970's.
Been wondering if there's any vendors out there in the USA that come out and buy entire collections.
Click to expand...
There is a guy at Chryslers at Carlisle every year, I'll try to get a card this year.
 
Well I started my downsizing today. I have a 96-gallon trash tote and the trashman comes on Friday's. Typically I have one bag of trash per week, so that leaves lots of room for junk.

So my weekly goal is to make sure I have that 96-gallon tote full every week, and I had it packed to the top when I wheeled it to the road.

Also, today I hauled a good heavy load of steel in the dually over to a friend's welding shop and gave it to him. I hadn't touched it in years.

On another note, today I bought a tunnel ram top to modify for a Birdcatcher. Got rid of a lot and only took in a small piece. Win for this week!!!

Tom
 
The only way I can get rid of stuff is to take a box load, cherry pick a few parts, walk to the trash barrel, close my eyes and dump. Close the lid with my eyes still shut, walk away. Otherwise I take more stuff back out…..
 
I hate it but this has been on my mind more and more every day. In 2014, I bought a 73 Dart 340 Sport, with sunroof and fold down rear seat. It's one of my all time favorite cars. It had some rust issues but I thought I could drive it while tinkering with it over time. Of course it wasn't as nice as pictured or advertised. Are they ever? You could pull the paint off it with a piece of tape. And the brown color camoflauged all the rust spots all over it. It has a lopey cam and tight converter which made it undriveable in my opinion. Then I figured out the right front frame rail had been damaged and actually bondoed over and painted. So I took it all apart for a full body restoration.
Then I started taking care of my parents home replacing rotted out floors and floor joists, doors, and deck. I took over their yardwork. My father passed away 2 years ago and left a full basement jam packed with his lifetime collection of stuff to go through. That took all summer and part of fall to go through and move out. Last spring and into summer I spent getting Mom's house ready to sell and move her into my downstairs. Since then, I have put in a small kitchen area for her.
I had to move a lot of our stuff into our garage to make room for Mom. Then a lot of my tools and car parts had to go to a storage building. My Dart wasn't costing anything to sit in my garage, but now I'm paying over $150 a month to keep it.
My wife has been on disabilty since I think 2007. She has a difficult time even walking. I do most of what needs to be done to keep our household going from grocery shopping to picking up food, dishes, laundry, vacuuming and mopping, yardwork, etc.
Late February, for the first time in my life, I got to spend a couple nights in the hospital (atrial fibrillation). Yay! I'll be 70 in November.

By now, I'm thinking my dream car is just a fantasy car.
Fantasy:
Screenshot_20250404_091047.jpg
 
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tinman2 said:
I hate it but this has been on my mind more and more every day. In 2014, I bought a 73 Dart 340 Sport, with sunroof and fold down rear seat. It's one of my all time favorite cars. It had some rust issues but I thought I could drive it while tinkering with it over time. Of course it wasn't as nice as pictured or advertised. Are they ever? You could pull the paint off it with a piece of tape. And the brown color camoflauged all the rust spots all over it. It has a lopey cam and tight converter which made it undriveable in my opinion. Then I figured out the right front frame rail had been damaged and actually bondoed over and painted. So I took it all apart for a full body restoration.
Then I started taking care of my parents home replacing rotted out floors and floor joists, doors, and deck. I took over their yardwork. My father passed away 2 years ago and left a full basement jam packed with his lifetime collection of stuff to go through. That took all summer and part of fall to go through and move out. Last spring and into summer I spent getting Mom's house ready to sell and move her into my downstairs. Since then, I have put in a small kitchen area for her.
I had to move a lot of our stuff into our garage to make room for Mom. Then a lot of my tools and car parts had to go to a storage building. My Dart wasn't costing anything to sit in my garage, but now I'm paying over $150 a month to keep it.
My wife has been on disabilty since I think 2007. She has a difficult time even walking. I do most of what needs to be done to keep our household going from grocery shopping to picking up food, dishes, laundry, vacuuming and mopping, yardwork, etc.
Late February, for the first time in my life, I got to spend a couple nights in the hospital (atrial fibrillation). Yay! I'll be 70 in November.

By now, I'm thinking my dream car is just a fantasy car.
Fantasy:View attachment 1716388065
Click to expand...
Wow - you do a LOT!! My hat is off to you for your dedication and love.
 
When I retired and we moved to Florida in the fall of 2023, we literally could have filled 2 enormous dumpsters with what we threw out from our 3000 ft2 house. Where/how could one accumulate that much stuff in the 28 years we lived there??? And how did it all fit? We felt like hoarders carrying it all to the curb. And I greased the trashman's palm each week and helped throw it in the truck.

So now we try to NOT accumulate more but I have to say my shop has WAY too much stuff in it that moved with me. So I need to start anew with further reductions. Oops...I just started to restore my 69 Charger so that should be about an 18 month project (if I'm lucky!) and maybe then I can start reducing again?

p.s. I did sell my open car trailer so that's a start I guess!
 
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My father was a hoarder. Tried to get him to thin out the mess but he said that us three kids could fight over it all when he was dead and gone. Well, we didn’t fight over it but did take a long time to go through it. I had about 15-20 years of Dodge truck parts that I had collected that I have nearly gotten rid of now. I’m almost 57 and have a 70 Duster project and a 1971 Beetle project. Working on the Duster now. Past that, who knows. But, it’s much easier to toss stuff the older I get!
 
PROSTOCKTOM said:
Well I started my downsizing today. I have a 96-gallon trash tote and the trashman comes on Friday's. Typically I have one bag of trash per week, so that leaves lots of room for junk.

So my weekly goal is to make sure I have that 96-gallon tote full every week, and I had it packed to the top when I wheeled it to the road.

Also, today I hauled a good heavy load of steel in the dually over to a friend's welding shop and gave it to him. I hadn't touched it in years.

On another note, today I bought a tunnel ram top to modify for a Birdcatcher. Got rid of a lot and only took in a small piece. Win for this week!!!

Tom
Click to expand...
Look on the bright side Tom...You won't need to find that obsolete board sander anymore!...LOL
 
We put out two large trash barrels, usually full every week. One for trash, one for recycling. Doesn’t seem like we bring that much stuff in. How come our house is not emptying out?
 
PROSTOCKTOM said:
The older I get the less interested I am in owning a bunch of stuff, to the point I feel owning things is like a ball and a chain around my ankle.

I've heard if you don't use it for a year then you should toss it out. I have a car in the garage I've owned since 1995 and haven't touched it since 1998. Not tossing it out, but I should.

In the day it was easy to find cars and there were at least 5 junkyards close by. Today there are no junkyards and you are not going to find any cars sitting around behind houses, or on

county roads. To me the good days of the hobby are slowly getting behind me and I am sure I am not the only one feeling this way. Even going to the dragstrip is becoming more work

than the enjoyment I get out of it. One of the truly enjoyable things I like to do a lot nowadays is taking long naps. Gee, I sound Like I have one leg in the grave already. I suppose at

some point we are all faced with what to do with all that we own, and what to do with it. How have you downsized your treasures?

Tom
Click to expand...
A hell of a house fire will help that situation, all the way around. (NOT)
 
If I am not sure if something is worth a few bucks or not I will put it on FB. If nobody buys it the market has spoken. Recently a few smaller items I had listed for 2 years sold so you got to start early if you have the time. I think most of us could benefit from decluttering and living with less junk. Others find comfort in it I guess.
 
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