Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long time

[Haven]

I've had the same Master Lock since the 6th grade. I bought it for gym class, and for some reason completely unknown to me, I've managed to hold onto it all these years--20 years, in fact. The lock went all through junior high, high school, and college. I've kept it in my purse every day since college to lock my locker at the gym. I looked down at it the other day and realized that I have been entering the same code into the same lock since I was ten years old.

I'm not the type to lose stuff very often, but with all the moves and changes, I'm actually shocked that I still have this Master Lock. And frankly, I don't know if I could ever learn a new lock code at this point! I think after 20 years it must be ingrained in my brain or something.

What interesting items have you managed to keep for a long time that you use in your daily or near-daily life?

 

[rosetta]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I lose everything. All the time. I've lost jewellery, my passport, sweaters my mother knitted. Important, irreplaceable stuff.

Somehow, I still have my first stethoscope I bought in medical school 13 years ago. I lost it 3 times so far, but found it again through some crazy ways. I used it A LOT.

I dont use it much these days as it's too precious!

 

[April20]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

When I graduated from high school, someone gave me one of those lap desks. You know, the kind with the bean bag like back with the writing surface on top. I remember thinking "when the heck am I going to use THAT?". Sixteen years later, the answer is ALL THE TIME. It's made it thru ten moves, two of them cross country and I haven't lost it yet. Pretty miraculous all things considered!!

 

[yssie]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I'm pretty good about keeping stuff around until it wears out. Had the same headphones for four years before the cord finally wore out, have had the same sunglasses for five - just keep changing the prescription on the lenses. Same (well, only!) nice purse from first year of college, I pretty much always know where my keys are...

The one thing I can never keep track of, for whatever reason, is my chapstick. At any given time I have five or six open ones floating 'round that I'll randomly find and use for a couple of days - or hours - until I lose it and the next one turns up!

Haven -

Rosetta - hang onto it for another twenty years, it'll be vintage and perhaps worth quite a bit!

April - I just got one of them! The gel-filled ones. It's awesome - I can take my laptop to bed and not worry about frying it.

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

Holy cow, I still have my Master Lock from the sixth grade too! And... the lap desk I was given as a gift while in the third grade!

The weird thing is that I've moved cross-country and intercontinentally several times, I purge possessions regularly, I eschew collecting trinkets, and LOTS of stuff has gone by the wayside because of the formers. But your two examples remain for me too!

 

[jewelerman]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

fun question!
I have a few items that come to mind.
1- at age 49 many pieces of jewelry have continued to stay with me since childhood...the silver lighthouse charm given to me by my mothers best friend at age 8 is still worn on a neck chain once a week, as well as the turquoise ring given to me by my sister at age 7.I also have an antique 36 inch gold watch chain that Ive worn since i found it at age 10 after it was found in a drain of our house during remodel.Used to wear it wrapped around my waist or neck to school never lost it once!
2-Carried the same North Face brand backpack from the age of 12 in 1974 until it literally denigrated in 2008 and had to buy a new one.went with me everywhere everyday from 1974 until 2008!
3- used the same key ring fob everyday since 1977 when it was given to me by my father when i learned to drive.
4-used and carried the same jewelers loupe everyday since 1993 and its in really bad shape but i cant seem to give it up!

 

[iheartscience]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I'm too scared to post because the second I do I'll lose it all!

 

[mrs jam]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

The keychain I bought when I got my very first car at 16. It has a brass tag with a row of ballerina pigs wearing tutus and pointe shoes. My younger brother noticed it last weekend while we were celebrating Father's Day and couldn't believe I still had it.

 

[Jennifer W]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I'm too scared to post because the second I do I'll lose it all!

It is exactly this superstition that stops me mentioning the engagement ring I've worn for nearly ten years. Or the car I've had for slightly longer...

 

[D&T]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I still have these items, and I'm not sure why I can't let go of them
minnie mouse watch face - 21yrs
antique butterfly pin given -20yrs
keychain with picture from amusement park - 20yrs
3 master combo locks - 21yrs
ice skates (still pretty new looking) 14yrs
rollerblade -14yrs
my first snowboard - 13yrs
My first skis - 15yrs
stethoscope - 13yrs
My first official Hotel Manager name badge - 9yrs
A $2 bill - 11yrs

 

[Haven]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I'm too scared to post because the second I do I'll lose it all!

It is exactly this superstition that stops me mentioning the engagement ring I've worn for nearly ten years. Or the car I've had for slightly longer...

I think engagement rings and cars are easy to hold onto! No need to worry on those points, Jennifer!

 

[Haven]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

Rosetta--That is pretty cool, to have the stethoscope you bought in medical school. Especially since it's something you use quite often, I imagine!

April--I had one of those lap desks in college and I loved it!

Yssie--I'm impressed that you've kept your sunglasses for so long. I cannot keep a pair of sunglasses for longer than a year. I either sit on them or step on them or leave them behind in a public place. I lose my chapstick all the time, too. I keep tubes in every purse just so I will always have one, but those little suckers always end up running away.

Fleur-de-lis--How funny! I love my little Master Lock. It has kept my things safe in so many different gyms for so many years!

Jewelerman--My North Face backpack is starting to disintegrate, as well! I can't remember when I purchased it, probably in the late nineties during college, and I'm so sad that it's starting to fall apart. (It's really just the liner, so I'm keeping it!)

Mrs Jam--That's crazy! It really fascinates me when people are able to hold onto items for years that they use regularly.

D&T--I kept my first name tag from my first job for YEARS! I think I finally let it go when DH and I moved into our home. That was easy for me to hold onto, though, it was tucked away safely in my hope chest!

I love reading about everything you all have held onto over the years! Thank you for sharing!

 

[AmeliaG]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I'm sad! I only have my high school ring because my parents held onto it when I left home. My mom died and my father found it in her jewelery box and gave it to me.

I lose things like crazy.

 

[packrat]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

JD-almost 11 years.
My dad's childhood teddy bear and my Snoopy I got when I was born, 36 years. I slept w/them up until I got married.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

At my parents house I still have my school id from the 6th grade lol. No idea why.

I also have a teddy that I won in a coloring contest in kindergarten. Micah currently loves him.

 

[canuk-gal]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

HI:

I have an ancient JanSport napsac that I use three times a week to haul my gym stuff around! I'll never part with it. My DH has his original HP calculator he bought in first year University--and he still uses it!

cheers--Sharon

 

[lbbaber]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I have a puppet that I have had for 30 years (since I was 4). I keep it on my night stand. My little sister was murdered almost 30 years ago and the last time I spoke with her we were arguing about the puppet. She had it with her when she died.

I was reading this thread thinking that I lose EVERYTHING and then I hopped into bed and saw the puppet so I logged back on.

 

[monarch64]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I still have the rocking chair (solid walnut) that my mother rocked both my brother and me to sleep in for the first years of our lives. I do not intend to purchase a glider/ottoman when I have children because I would prefer to keep this rocking chair in existence for as many generations as possible.

I've lost or had to sell many other items that have been difficult to let go of. This rocking chair is something that I hope to keep in the family for many years to come.

 

[jstarfireb]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I have a lot. I'm practically a hoarder!
-stuffed animals
-not only my first stethoscope, but my DAD'S first stethoscope!
-like Haven, a Master lock that dates back to middle school
-high school and college class rings
-photos and scrapbooks since middle school
-pretty much all the jewelry I've ever been given or bought

 

[VRBeauty]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

My telephone number - I've had it for over 30 years now!

When I got my first apartment all on my own (no roommates) my mother put together a huge box of brand new kitchen gadgets for me. I'm still using several of them... a manual can opener, spatula, and tongs, to name a few. Also a bright red plastic colander by Hammerplast - which I still use even though I managed to melt the handle off a year or two ago! Generally though I'm notoriously rough on stuff.

 

[Trekkie]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

Anyone who who has even a passing acquaintance with me would tell you that I lose everything and would lose even myself if I could.

However, I do have the pink teddy I was given for Christmas when I was four. He now lives in my FI's cupboard with Barry "Bazza" Hopkins, the kangaroo I liberated from Australian curio shop slavery.

Oh, wait. I was also recently re-united with the enormous pink teddy my dad gave me when I was two.

And I still have my potty. Yes, the potty I was potty-trained on. It's very cute - my FI says it looks more like a throne than a potty. He wants us to keep it for our own children one day. I wonder, do people still use potties to potty train their children?

 

[Trekkie]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

HI:

I have an ancient JanSport napsac that I use three times a week to haul my gym stuff around! I'll never part with it. My DH has his original HP calculator he bought in first year University--and he still uses it!

cheers--Sharon

My BFF still has his first HP calculator too! It's the special engineering calculator and it doesn't have an equals sign. What is a calculator without an equals sign?!

 

[NOYFB]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I still have my first microwave that was given to me 19 years ago by my mother as a one year anniversary present. The marriage ended a month and 17 days later, but I still have (and use) the microwave! It's been across the country, in 4 different states, and still works!!!

 

[Maria D]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I couldn't think of anything until canuk-gal and trekkie mentioned the HP calculator -- yes I still have mine and still use it! Even though I have access at school (I teach high school math) to all the latest TI graphing calculators, I still go back to my HP 11C -- and it's *because* of the Reverse Polish Notation! No parentheses or equal sign needed.

I can think of a lot of things I still have but *don't* use -- but that's another thread!

 

[sba771]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

Thinking of high school- I also still have my lock and even after years of not using it I still know the code. i also have several sweaters I still wear and, of course, my TI-83 which is very outdated now and I can't remember how to use some of the functions.

I have all my stuffed animals from my childhood, mostly Disney dolls, and my doll house is in great shape with all the teeny details including silverware and plates. I was very lucky growing up and never wanted for anything, but I also did not have tons and tons so I treasure everything I had and I still do.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

I know this is silly, but I'm still glad D and I have the car we bought 10 years ago when I was in college. We pooled the little money we had and paid cash for it so we could explore outside of DC on the weekends. When we bought it, it had just over 30K miles on it and now it has over 200K. Byron chewed on the gear shift when he was a puppy and it makes me happy every time I see his little puppy teeth marks.

We've had so many fun trips in that car, I can't seem to think about parting with it. It looks awful, haha, and his coworkers laugh every time they see him drive to work in it, but I love that car. And it's still going strong!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Re: Items you use a lot and have managed to keep for a long

There's soooo many things I can list, but am about to go get my hair cut (yah!) & do lunch. Kids are about done w/school. Gotta have a bit of fun before they're home.

One of my use a lot/manage to keep and GREAT investments have been my collection of MAC makeup brushes. They've lasted forever. Next time my neighbors smoke detector goes off, I'll be grabbing the cat, my cpu, and the makeup brushes.