I'd definitely sell the CPAP machine. Easier said than done, but having confidence in being able to afford a medical device in the future feels like the hidden victory of selling a high value item you *might* need in the future. I also like to frame these tricky situations with a "shame on me for holding onto this and let it collect dust when somebody else could actually be using it!" Then, I like to actually meet the person I'm selling via Facebook marketplace and somehow it is always nice to see the item off to a new owner who is usually quite excited about their great new find.
Just to piggyback on the last comment, I work for an estate attorney and have cleaned or helped clean out many deceased persons’ home.
If the CpAp machine works and you don’t need it, consider giving it away.
In 5-10 years, the technology will have advanced or the tubes will have become brittle or some other issue that will render the device unusable.
Those machines can save lives or make someone’s life SO. MUCH. BETTER. that it would be a blessing to share.
If it is one thing I’ve learned in my 5+ years of this job, get rid of things that you don’t/cant/wont use.
While you are alive, you can make sure that your treasures go where you want them to go.
We bring in a dumpster.
The amount of time a client will pay for me/your children/your friends to find a likely charity, box it up and get it there, is going to be a sunk cost.
I vote donate the CPAP and anything else you’ve got in some closet for ‘someday’ or ‘maybe’.
Sylvia.
P.S. the most interesting part of that question was how/why she no longer needs the CPAP machine. Please share that story.
Maybe it will inspire someone else’s health journey or kick off a discussion about survivor’s grief and how to let go of a loved one’s items.
Hi, Rebecca. I love your work. The thing I agonize over is creative/craft stuff. I make a lot of gifts and I use crafts as meditation when I’m going through stuff and to drain intellectual overhead from my brain during ‘making’ binges. I’ve actually written about it. To help manage this beautifully I’m in the process of creating an art and design space for me and these materials. For example I’m on a making binge now making baskets from scrap yarn. If I only bought yarn for each project (which I might have done but went a different way with the project or never made it) I wouldn’t have all this beautiful yarn for these basket. So I do ultimately use these supplies. As I build this space I will review and purge non recyclable things that ‘might have been’. This is why in this case I believe that beautifully arranged easily accessed organization of these items is the answer here. Would love your thoughts on that.
I’ve had similar conversations with a decluttering client who has hoarding disorder and a shopping addiction (Not that holding onto something important and expensive makes you a hoarder!). She also has extra CPAP machines as backups and all sorts of extra tubes, etc, some of which she ordered during one of my appointments. My questions about needing an entire 2nd or 3rd machine vs just some of the parts didn’t help. Obviously her situation is different, given the disorder and past trauma she is working through.
But I’ve also had lots of conversations about small kitchen appliances. The panini press plus Foreman style grill, Instant Pot, Vitamix plus Bullet plus multiple sizes of food processor, toaster oven, air fryer, etc all living in one kitchen. All collecting dust and filling cabinets to the brim. And I work predominantly with single midlife and more mature women. And most of them have indicated they don’t cook a lot.
I think holding onto things like this is really twofold: the money spent and the fantasy self the objects represent. I’ve certainly struggled with this myself. You want to be someone who frequently cooks for dinner parties with friends or who bakes for the office friends or who knits for the homeless or whatever it is. So we hold onto these things but really these items just bully us about the money wasted and the hobbies never picked up.
A related question I often struggle with is whether to keep an item or item(s) that I don’t use often but that belong to a category of items I use all the time. For example, if I bake a lot and love to try new recipes, should I hold on to the tart pan I haven’t use in many years because it seems likely I will use it again at some point? I think lots of hobby gear (craft supplies, sporting goods, games, etc) could raise this same issue.
So my questions about the CPAP machine and other technology-driven items are how old are they, how well were they made, how repairable are they, is there/will there be newer versions that make what you have obsolete? I wanted a wireless keyboard and my husband got one from his brother, who had been holding onto one for just such a circumstance. Only it's not wireless it's a plug-in and it's not a regular USB plug. So it's obsolete...We also have my mother-in-law's vacuum cleaner (yes, you are seeing a pattern). She died in 2003 and we had it repaired maybe 5 years later. We haven't always used it consistently, but we use it all the time now and used it intermittently over the years. If it breaks, though, we probably wouldn't be able to fix it. So ....these are other consider
I also think it's worth asking if you need the things like the cake decorating set to still enjoy the activity. For example, I love making decadent cakes too, but I don't have any fancy tools that are taking up space in our home. You can rent or borrow things you might only need occassionally.
I'd definitely sell the CPAP machine. Easier said than done, but having confidence in being able to afford a medical device in the future feels like the hidden victory of selling a high value item you *might* need in the future. I also like to frame these tricky situations with a "shame on me for holding onto this and let it collect dust when somebody else could actually be using it!" Then, I like to actually meet the person I'm selling via Facebook marketplace and somehow it is always nice to see the item off to a new owner who is usually quite excited about their great new find.
Just to piggyback on the last comment, I work for an estate attorney and have cleaned or helped clean out many deceased persons’ home.
If the CpAp machine works and you don’t need it, consider giving it away.
In 5-10 years, the technology will have advanced or the tubes will have become brittle or some other issue that will render the device unusable.
Those machines can save lives or make someone’s life SO. MUCH. BETTER. that it would be a blessing to share.
If it is one thing I’ve learned in my 5+ years of this job, get rid of things that you don’t/cant/wont use.
While you are alive, you can make sure that your treasures go where you want them to go.
We bring in a dumpster.
The amount of time a client will pay for me/your children/your friends to find a likely charity, box it up and get it there, is going to be a sunk cost.
I vote donate the CPAP and anything else you’ve got in some closet for ‘someday’ or ‘maybe’.
Sylvia.
P.S. the most interesting part of that question was how/why she no longer needs the CPAP machine. Please share that story.
Maybe it will inspire someone else’s health journey or kick off a discussion about survivor’s grief and how to let go of a loved one’s items.
I love your note at the end. I was also curious about that.
Hi, Rebecca. I love your work. The thing I agonize over is creative/craft stuff. I make a lot of gifts and I use crafts as meditation when I’m going through stuff and to drain intellectual overhead from my brain during ‘making’ binges. I’ve actually written about it. To help manage this beautifully I’m in the process of creating an art and design space for me and these materials. For example I’m on a making binge now making baskets from scrap yarn. If I only bought yarn for each project (which I might have done but went a different way with the project or never made it) I wouldn’t have all this beautiful yarn for these basket. So I do ultimately use these supplies. As I build this space I will review and purge non recyclable things that ‘might have been’. This is why in this case I believe that beautifully arranged easily accessed organization of these items is the answer here. Would love your thoughts on that.
Yes this!
Thank you. I know when it comes to ‘stuff’ we frequently kid ourselves🤪
I’ve had similar conversations with a decluttering client who has hoarding disorder and a shopping addiction (Not that holding onto something important and expensive makes you a hoarder!). She also has extra CPAP machines as backups and all sorts of extra tubes, etc, some of which she ordered during one of my appointments. My questions about needing an entire 2nd or 3rd machine vs just some of the parts didn’t help. Obviously her situation is different, given the disorder and past trauma she is working through.
But I’ve also had lots of conversations about small kitchen appliances. The panini press plus Foreman style grill, Instant Pot, Vitamix plus Bullet plus multiple sizes of food processor, toaster oven, air fryer, etc all living in one kitchen. All collecting dust and filling cabinets to the brim. And I work predominantly with single midlife and more mature women. And most of them have indicated they don’t cook a lot.
I think holding onto things like this is really twofold: the money spent and the fantasy self the objects represent. I’ve certainly struggled with this myself. You want to be someone who frequently cooks for dinner parties with friends or who bakes for the office friends or who knits for the homeless or whatever it is. So we hold onto these things but really these items just bully us about the money wasted and the hobbies never picked up.
A related question I often struggle with is whether to keep an item or item(s) that I don’t use often but that belong to a category of items I use all the time. For example, if I bake a lot and love to try new recipes, should I hold on to the tart pan I haven’t use in many years because it seems likely I will use it again at some point? I think lots of hobby gear (craft supplies, sporting goods, games, etc) could raise this same issue.
So my questions about the CPAP machine and other technology-driven items are how old are they, how well were they made, how repairable are they, is there/will there be newer versions that make what you have obsolete? I wanted a wireless keyboard and my husband got one from his brother, who had been holding onto one for just such a circumstance. Only it's not wireless it's a plug-in and it's not a regular USB plug. So it's obsolete...We also have my mother-in-law's vacuum cleaner (yes, you are seeing a pattern). She died in 2003 and we had it repaired maybe 5 years later. We haven't always used it consistently, but we use it all the time now and used it intermittently over the years. If it breaks, though, we probably wouldn't be able to fix it. So ....these are other consider
ations for keeping or tossing.
I also think it's worth asking if you need the things like the cake decorating set to still enjoy the activity. For example, I love making decadent cakes too, but I don't have any fancy tools that are taking up space in our home. You can rent or borrow things you might only need occassionally.