Those pesky unidentified pieces/parts - - -
 

I am attempting to do some decluttering -

all those decisions to make!!!

Anyway - what do you do with those odd screws, nails, plastic parts that seem to belong to something?

Personally, I have a full drawer(and then some) full of these mysteries and they will probably be buried with me...unsolved!

I tend to keep all that. I try to corral them to one place.

I periodically toss after a time.

I'm afraid to toss anything anymore! I threw away a 'white cord' I couldn't remember what it went to, and sure enough it was later, it belonged to my Bernina 153........can't be replaced! even thru the company. . . so sad.

I save all those stupid screws, etc..........like nanacc, they will be buried with me, Or my 2 sons, will shake their heads after I'm gone and say "what was she thinking". lol, joke will be on them to figure out what to do with this stuff.

What a Bummer!

You know, as soon as you get rid of that stuff, you will find out what it was for! Always happens.

I keep 'em in a plastic container. Can't count the number of times I've needed something that a part is just right for!

Save mine in a container. Even DH has a need for something once in a while .

I keep them in part of a drawer, when I need something, I know I can use it.

Toss them in the "junk" drawer in the kitchen. What I tend to "save" tho are instructions for appliances, large or small that we no longer have.

I tend to do a lot of throwing out, I call it "chunking", esp when on a cleaning streak! However, I have regretted chunking some things, so now if I think the object will ever be needed again, I try to store it and all of it's components together, and label it!

I hate to throw anything out including screws,nails, etc. if in good shape. Just yesterday I needed to replace the flashing at the bottom of my rear garage as it gotten ripped off when they removed the old concrete slab. Seems the previous owner used very short screws and that's why it was so easy to pull away from the building. Anyway, went to my trusty dish I throw odds and ends screws and found longer ones to replace the shorter ones. And yes, I threw the shorter ones into the trusty dish for a future project.

As to sewing items, if I remove them myself I will throw them into the drawer next to the machine so I know it came from that particular machine cause I know the next time I open the drawer and wonder where it came from I'll know its something from that machine and not the other machines. Short term memory here so need all the help I can muster at times.

Most of the small parts I find are detritis from my husband or grandsons. I put everything into the "junk drawer," and can usually say, "Here it is," when asked if I know where the whatsis is. The drawer never empties, by the way.

My junk drawer has lots of stuff in it which I will never use, but every once in a while, I say: I know where that piece (screw, bolt, nut, etc.) is, it's in my junk drawer. I find it and the item is fixed. I fix everything that is fixable. LOL

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*** I threw away a pair of keys once - didn't seem to fit anything in the house -
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*** as soon as the garbage truck collected -
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*** my brain computer kicked in -
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*** they fit the file cabinet -
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*** Had to fix the lock so it would not lock by accident.
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I keep most everything like that too. In a junk drawer or in the garage in a can.

We have a rule here at our house. If you haven't seen it, or used it in 2 years. Toss it. If you decide later that you need it, you would not have known where to look for it anyway.

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.

Hi, doesn't everyone have a junk drawer?

In 50+ years of living in the same house with the same man - several!

My DH is a regular McGuyver. He stashes every little bit and loose end. Hardly a month goes by that he doesn't use some stuff from that stash to fix/make something. I never toss anything (even the tiny center thingie from the dental floss box) until I have asked him if he wants it. VERY little gets trashed.

My DH carries lonesome screws in his pockets. The pocket gets a hole in it from the lonesome screws, and sooner or later the screws are 'distributed' somewhere. I hate when I find one on the floor by stepping on it! That's worse than stepping on a lego. :thumbdown: