How are you guys keeping track of your personal inventory? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 months ago by Cataphract@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

44 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Starting to transfer to a spreadsheet instead of my usual paper notebook I list all my electronics in to get a grasp on all my parts (towers, laptops, memory, motherboards, videocards, etc). Lately I've been on a kick of labeling all my shelves (medicine, linen, kitchenware) and trying to sort things into random plastic bins I've had laying around waiting for a purpose.

I realize I could dive into deep rabbit holes for every category. With electronics I'm thinking of documenting every chip, board, and component along with compatibilities. Pantries and personal goods could be inventoried and auto-reordered, better tracking of my tools and materials with service reminders for equipment, etc etc.

I've gone through years where I throw everything away and get rid of anything not used recently and years where I horde everything and anything. Seems moderation in both is key and why keeping it all in mind and documented seems like the right thing to do if you have the time to kill.

tldr, what tips or tricks do you use to keep up with all your shit?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Lol, right, right.

Tell me again how to live my life?

I like being able to grab something from inventory rather than having to buy it again because I didn't save it last time (for example, electronics components sometimes cost as much for one as it does to buy 10, or household hardware that only comes in multiples but I only need one for now).

Or the different tools for different seasons, like my gardening stuff that gets put away for winter - but before spring I need certain seeds and sprouting kits, but not everything. Being able to grab just the container of specific seeds, and just the container of one sprouting kit from storage is lots easier than grabbing a 50lb container with everything in it.

Or computer/electronics hardware. I have specific, inventoried containers for cables, adapters, components, etc, so if I need something I can check my inventory on my phone rather than "just order it from Amazon", wasting money and resources.

Then there's books, rather than keep them all on a bookshelf, they're containerized (moisture-proof) and inventoried, when I want a specific one, I know exactly which container to get it from. And yes, there are certain books I find worth keeping around to re-read or when I'm looking for a specific bit of info.

Blankets, camping gear, household hardware (sockets, latches, door knobs, light bulbs, timers, extension cords, etc), exercise gear, seasonal clothes, 1all properly stowed and mostly inventoried.

Other seasonal stuff - cookware that's used occasionally (crock pot, pressure cooker, roasting pan) are stowed and inventoried so I know exactly where they are, and I could even tell anyone exactly where to find them.

You may not see a value in this, but I'm not throwing away stuff that I know I'll use occasionally. I'd rather have it stowed so my living space isn't cluttered but it's still reasonably accessible.

Plus the inventory is useful for insurance purposes - I don't worry about being able to file insurance claims, as I have both a "written" inventory and pictures of everything (all properly stored and backed up).

[-] orcrist@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago

People who own a lot always say what you say. It's your life, so don't apologize, but since you went into attack mode, here are some reasons you are (partly) wrong.

The post was about tracking everything. That's obviously stressful, thus the post. Owning less is a great solution for some people for some items.

Owning things you occasionally use sounds like good financial sense. No need to rent. But owning them itself costs money. For storage. For shelving. For moving costs. And it takes time, when you need to search through your junk to find it again. Or you can't, so you buy a new one, and now you have two. Have you done the math on each item you own? Are you actually saving anything? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2024

80 points (93.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26673 readers

1939 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics.

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.