Why is it so Hard to Throw Away the Stuff My Kids Won't Want? by Scott Stolz, CFP, RICP (week 68)

 

According to a 2025 StorageCafe survey, 42% of all baby boomers are renting a storage unit.  That means there is a lot of stuff out there that the next generation won’t want.  We’re one of those 42%.  Our unit mostly stores my baseball card and sports memorabilia collection.  I’m sure my kids will love the cash they will get from my collection, but they will hate the process of going through it and trying to figure out what to keep, sell or just throw away.  Therefore, I’ve begun the process of doing this so that they don’t have to.  The reality is, of the probably 500,000 cards I have, 500 of them likely represent 98% of the total value.  It finally occurred to me, I’ll pay more for the storage unit over time than the majority of the cards will ever be worth.  Especially since the storage company seems to increase the cost of the unit by about 10% each year. 

Step one for me is to reduce the number of cards to a quantity that can at least be stored in a much smaller and cheaper unit.  I took a big step forward yesterday when I dumped three whole boxes of cards into the recycling bin.  Emotionally, it seemed like the wrong thing to do.  But I just reminded myself that if I didn’t do it, my kids will.  I’m wondering if I’ll feel any differently once I get to box one hundred.  There’s a part of me that is excited about this project.  It’s like a treasure hunt.  I mostly know what cards are in these boxes, but I fully expect to find a few cards that I’ve forgotten all about or thought were long gone.

But it’s not just cards in storage.  There are also boxes of “things” that have been saved for various reasons over the years.  I came across such a box last night.  Amongst other things, this box contained my 7^th and 8^th grade yearbooks (boy did my brother and I look young), the annual photo from my college fraternity, the basketball letter for my high school leather jacket, a paper I wrote in high school, and my referee shirt from when I officiated basketball games to pick up money when I was in college (which I couldn’t get on past my chest).  The shirt brought back the memory of the game I officiated with my father at my old high school while I was still in college.  That was a cool night and a very fond memory.  However, the shirt still went into the trash.  The box also contained a bunch of old newspapers.  If anyone wants the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette or Champaign-Urbana Courier from July 21, 1969 – the day after we landed on the moon, I have them.  The cost of the paper by the way was $0.10.  Or if you want the complete Chicago Tribune from April 5, 1974, the day after Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record – I have that too.  I found the 1982 World Series program I bought when I attended games 6 and 7 in St. Louis.  That reminded me of how I slept outside the stadium all night to get the ticket for game 6.  For you younger readers, there was no Ticketmaster back then. You actually had to get in line at the ticket window to get your physical ticket. The ticket stubs for both games were inside the program.  The tickets cost $25.  Compare that to $902 I’d have to pay for a standing room only ticket for this year’s game 3 (go Rays!).  I also found St. Louis Cardinal Year Books from 1968-1974, all of which reminded me of my family’s annual trip to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play the Cubs.

I haven’t thrown away much from that box yet.  Throwing away baseball cards with little value is one thing, but throwing away memories is another thing all together.  But they are my memories, not my kids’ memories.  These will all end up in the trash someday.  I know that and if you have such items, you know it too.  So, why is it so hard?