I have been giving away a LOT of fabric. Just took a large tote to a retreat and none of it came home with me - woo hoo! My tastes have changed dramatically; so the repros and muted colors that I once loved just sit in my way. Perhaps not literally - my husband put all fabric in bins and moved it to the basement, a whole other topic. But they weigh on me in that when I try to find something, I have to dig though, or in that I wonder what will happen when I am gone.
Our house is FULL of "stuff". When my inl-aws passed, a lot of their things came to our house and were put in the basement. Nothing that we need, or will be used - just stuff that he cannot get rid of. It's kind of a family thing - they kept everything. Every card ever received, for example. Every gift ever given. If it wasn't used bc not the right style or size, it didn't matter; gifts were not ever moved along, they were kept.
With significant health challenges and joint issues (Ehlers Danlos), it is concerning to me. I literally could not get this stuff out of the basement if something should happen to him before me. I have told him who to contact for my sewing things - a handful of friends who are in the same guilds I am in, who know which charity projects the guilds work on so would take things, or if people want to just take something to use it themselves. I guess if I am left to deal with it, I will be paying "3 Men and a Truck" or similar company to come and take it away.
I don't really look at what was spent on these things that I give away as a loss. Almost always, I was shopping with friends, so enjoyed the day with them. Or, on a trip. Some people collect shoes. I collected fabric. Even if it wasn't used, I enjoyed the day that it came home with me. If I went to a movie, or a play, I would spend money and not have anything other than memories, right? We are not in debt and have what we need.
Like many people, I have a lot of guilt about things I cannot control - but my fabric isn't one of them, lol.