Junk day

Caroline

We recently had "junk day" in my neighborhood.

If you're not familiar, it's that glorious day where you can put darn near anything you want to get rid of out at your curb, and the nice recycling  people will come by and take it away. That is, if someone else doesn't nab it first. "One man's trash is another man's treasure" is never more evident than on junk day!

It feels great to get rid of stuff. And I hope that most of what I tossed can actually be recycled. But it also makes me feel kind of guilty at all the junk I accumulate and toss away—not good for the wallet, not good for the planet. I did a mental inventory of some of the more major household junk I've tossed out in my life so far.

Here's the short list:

1 washer/dryer set
1 dishwasher
2 microwaves
2 computers 
2 TVs
3 vacuum cleaners
3 couches
4 toasters
5 cell phones 

I'm sure there's much more, but this is what readily comes to mind. Now, it's not a terrible amount after almost 20 years of adulthood—but still, thousands of dollars worth of "stuff" and enough to start my own flea market.

If I had the opportunity to start over at 22 again, I'd try to save myself some money and avoid accumulating so many things that eventually sit at the curb on junk day.

Here's what I would NOT do again: Accumulate new technology too quickly. The first three cell phones I owned were a total waste of money. Granted, it was the ‘90s, and if you didn't replace your phone every couple years you looked hopelessly out of date. But still.

Here's what I WOULD do again: Buy secondhand whenever possible. It's a good bet when you can't afford to buy quality new items that will last awhile. I did this with my furniture and wish I would have done it with more often with my appliances—I probably would not be on my fourth vacuum cleaner today!

Are you starting to accumulate a lot of "stuff" in your adult life?