My father had tin cans, glass jars, boxes full of screw, nails, bolts, etc. Much too much to save so I picked out a few pieces and put them into a plastic box with dividers. The rest went to Habitat Restore or the recycle bin if items had rusted. Hubby says I have a problem because I selectively save spare pieces in plastic bags and label everything with a marker. It works for me when I want to find the long screws to reassemble the wood protective case for the a/c unit which is outdoors!
In a separate drawer, I have cords and chargers labelled for phones, photo frame, cameras. A large flat clip closure from purchase of bread is labelled and attached to the cords. (This also works nicely to ID items plugged in the wall outlet or electrical strip.) A separate box of mystery cords is keep nearby. Years ago I threw out a transformer needed for the portable carpet sweeper. It was an expensive error, so we ended up giving DIL the newly purchased battery and trashed the rest of the appliance.