I've been meaning to get to a post like this for a while. @dandesign86 recently asked me what I've kept and this was the sign.
While I've saved thousands and thousands of things to sell, donate, or gift away, I do occasionally keep things for myself.
To clarify, these are not all of the items I've kept. These are just some I'm thinking of or seeing as I'm looking around my apartment. In cases where pictures are available, I'll simply list some extras.
Let's Begin...
My mattress! It was about a year old and spotless in a bag from a move out. I'd normally never touch a mattress, but this was an exception. It was a floppy 71 pounds and impossible to get up my stairs by myself. It took me about an hour to barely get it up 6 steps around a bend before I gave up and left it on the first floor for a friend to help me with the next day. Retail value was $3,200.
This pic was from around 5 AM.
This is how I got it home:
Where there's a will, there's a way.
When I decided to keep it and not sell it, I couldn't believe how comfortable it was. To put this in perspective, I would actually be happy when I woke up in the middle of the night, would smile at how comfortable the memory foam was, and drift off again into heavenly sleep. This phase lasted for about a year and I can't even imagine a more comfortable mattress being possible.
Here's the original blog post.
Now I find endless amounts of video game systems, but haven't kept any for myself. The once exception was this Xbox One shown here being tested using my friend's power supply. This was exciting and I was able to wipe it and make my own account. I actually found this while walking in the rain with an immigrant from Turkey as I was trying to teach him how to find stuff to sell. I lifted a plastic kitchen garbage bin with a toaster oven sticking out, but it felt too heavy for just that. I lifted the toaster oven out and saw the Xbox inside, nice and dry. We kept talking and then I found a bag full of vintage video games and controllers. Needless to say, the guy was floored.
This is a stock photo of the Breville Smart Oven I've been enjoying for about a year. I actually have a second I've been meaning to clean before listing. The retailed for $400. Before that, I was using a smaller Breville Smart Toaster Oven. I chose not to take a full picture of mine because this one is much nicer, and my kitchen counter isn't looking photogenic at the moment.
I'll include a snap of part of it now for kicks. The main setting dial gets a little wonky sometimes, but it's not a big deal. That's probably why the original owner tossed theirs. The preset settings were exactly what I needed and I got rid of my microwave since. It's so easy to pop a steak or potatoes in there and let the magic happen.
This 1980's Japanese Cort electric guitar. I got it fully tested at a guitar shop. It was a "closet find." This means that it was all original and virtually untouched as it sat in a closet for a few decades. I kept it because it was a fun thing to keep to eventually earn guitar on. Funny enough, the guitar shop tried to buy it from me, but I declined.
I saved this 55" smart TV second before the trash collector walked up to me to take the bags next to it. It worked great and I've kept it since. It occasionally randomly shuts off, but I probably just have to go in the back and tighten a connector. It happens so rarely that it's not worth the time to unscrew everything. It likely explains why the person tossed it.
These 30 and 40 pound dumbells were found just as Covid was sweeping over my city. They were brand new in their boxes inside a suitcase. I happened to get Covid right after this, but let my neighbor borrow them for a few months since they had no access to exercise equipment.
I found this red electric kettle and kept it since it's a nice brand and look. It had a slight wobble to the switch, but it seemed to settle in and works just fine ever since. I guess the prior owner had no interest in wiggling the switch to get it to line up properly. It retails for about $130. It's in my cabinet right now, so a nice professional stock picture ensues.
I had a bad nerve injury in my lower back and had been doing spinal decompression stretches at a chiropractor's office on top of adjustments and acupuncture. The doctor suggested buying one of his back stretchers for about $120, but I simply went outside and found this within a week or two for free.
These Staby vibration training rods have been amazing while I've been stuck at home. They help with endurance, stabilizer muscles, and baseball pitching strengthening. I uses these all of the time.
Some Other Items Kept:
- Foam back roller.
- Small massage ball you roll on I use at baseball games.
- A stack of 5 and 10 LB exercise plates for barbells.
- 3 huge wooden bookshelves to store items I find.
- About 13 large stackable clear plastic bins, 3 plastic cabinets, and tons of smaller clear plastic bins.
- Endless amounts of light bulbs and rolls of shipping tape.
- Apple Magic Keyboard 2 to replace my prior wireless Apple keyboard, which replaced my older Apple wired keyboard, ha.
- Extra large deep lidded GreenPan frying pan that was virtually brand new. I forgot to take a picture of it before using it, but do have a pic of it covered in olive oil right after its maiden use I decided not to grace Hive with. It didn't even have a scratch.
This may seem like a lot, but I've been doing this for 6+ years and have found an unthinkable amount more. While it'd be nice to keep even more, I want the space and the income. While it's nice to get free stuff, keep in mind that I'm usually out in the middle of the night on the streets putting in the effort to find these things on my city's curbs in the dark.
Again, this is just top of mind glancing around my main living area. There's plenty more for a second post I already have in mind that I've jotted notes on to take some pictures. I'll likely come up with that in a couple of weeks because it's nice for me to memorialize these for myself as well.
Thanks for following,
@steemmatt