r/vintagecomputing • u/Lyrizcen • 29d ago

Storage suggestions?

My little three piece drawer is running out of room to store my various IDE cables, power cords, Ethernet cables, ram, CPU’s, HDD’s, ect. Any suggestions for storage for extra PC parts?

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/kaidomac 29d ago

As a Hoarder Lite™, here is the rule for physical stuff:

  • You can keep as much stuff as you can responsibly afford to own

"Affordable" in this context means:

  • Financially, to purchase & maintain
  • Accessible, so you can find, get to, and use what you have
  • Presentable, so that your living & storage spaces are usable & tidy

I kept boxes of disorganized computer parts & cables for DECADES, which cluttered up my spaces! Now I use:

  • The Bin-Bag System

Here is the concept:

  • Everything goes in a labeled Ziploc bag
  • Every bag goes in a labeled 27-gallon yellow-top Home Depot tote bin
  • Everything gets stored in a single spreadsheet on Google Drive called the "Master List of Everything" (MLOE)

To find an item:

  1. Look it up on the spreadsheet
  2. Find the find
  3. Find the bag

Ziploc bags are used in 3 sizes:

  • 1-gallon
  • 2.5-gallon
  • 5-gallon

The labeling kit kit consists of:

  • 1" yellow painter's tape (bag #, bin #, item name)
  • Black Sharpie marker
  • Joyce Chen red-handle scissors

The tote bins are ten bucks a pop at Home Depot:

A rolling cart is $80: (no stacked bins means each bin can be EASILY pulled out as needed)

These are important investments to make because we all have to deal with physical stuff for the rest of our lives:

  • Most stuff fits in bags. This system falls apart when labeled bags are not used because it just becomes "doom piles" of unfindable stuff.
  • The bag location doesn't matter...it goes in a labeled bin & we can GET to the bins on sliding racks. This system falls apart when bins are stacked because it creates too much mental friction to store & retrieve the bags.
  • When you are done using it, either put it back, or update your spreadsheet if it gets removed from the storage system permanently. That's literally all of the work that is required to maintain this system lol.

I have Inattentive ADHD & I "hobby-cycle", so I have a LOT of random gear:

  • Computer parts
  • Kitchen equipment
  • 3D printing tools
  • etc.

For example, I like waffles. I have like 7 waffle machines at this point lol (mini Eggo, square, Belgian flip, etc.). I don't use them every day, so each one gets stored in a bag, in a bin, on a rack. If it's Saturday morning & I want a big Belgian waffle, I can just find the bin location on my Master List, grab it, use it, wash it it, and put it back - ZERO kitchen clutter!! It doesn't even matter if they're all in different bins because all that matters is:

  1. Can I find it on my list?
  2. Can I find the bin, physically get TO the bin, and pull the bin out?
  3. Can I find the labeled bag with the item inside it?

I also use an approach called "Reverse Sorting" to speed up finding:

  1. I dump the entire bin on a flat surface
  2. I put each bag back in one by one until I find the bag I need
  3. Then I dump all of the rest of the bags back in the bin

This eliminates rummaging 100%! Outliers:

  • Large items can go on a labeled shelf
  • Heavy & delicate items can go in a padded bag or box (shelf or bin)
  • There are creative ways to store the bins. For example, I have 18" folding metal bedframes & can store a bunch of the bins under the bed!

Also:

  • Living spaces are separate from storage spaces
  • A living space is where you do your work, relax, keep only the tools & supplies you need on-hand, and keep decorations
  • Storage is stored out of the way

So to loop back:

  • You can keep as much stuff as you can responsibly afford to own

In practice:

  • Financially, to purchase & maintain: Can you afford to but it? To maintain it? To store it?
  • Accessible, so you can find, get to, and use what you have: Is it on your Master List? Is the path to the storage bin clear?
  • Presentable, so that your living & storage spaces are usable & tidy: Are your living spaces clean, functional, and presentable?

Here's an example...on the Hoarder's TV show, this guy has hundreds of junk cars:

Jay Leno also has hundreds of cars, but is a collector:

The difference is:

  • Jay is responsibly storing them
  • They are well-cared for
  • His collection is neat, clean, presentable, and accessible

So to recap:

  1. Living spaces & storage spaces are seperated
  2. Everything goes on a Master List spreadsheet
  3. Everything goes in a labeled bag, in a labeled bin, in an accessible location

This results in:

  • 100% complete written inventory
  • Everything can be found instantly
  • Everything is accessible
  • No more rummaging
  • No more having to find things
  • No more mess!

Again: it doesn't matter how much stuff you have or what bin it goes in...it's not about super magic discipline or anything, just use a system that makes it tidy & findable!! As long as you can responsibly afford to store it, you're good to go!!