It may seem strange for a site dedicated to preserving memories to say that our number one tip is: Don’t save it.  Throw it out.  But it is core to who we are because part of what makes us so overwhelmed by all the stuff we collect and save from our kids, is that we collect and save so much.  

At Savor, we are as much about what to save as we are about how to save it.  And, as with any artist, editing is key.  Not everything is worth keeping.  That’s not an insult.  To the contrary, to keep everything is to devalue the items that truly are special or pivotal or iconic.  Even if we all had all the space in the world to keep everything, if you save too much, no one looks at anything.  It just becomes a big mass to look through.  

We created The Library to save just what matters most.  We toyed a lot with that line of our credo:  Save what matters most.  But also, only save what matters most.  It is intentional that we offer the box sizes we do.

The stuff we really love as we get older are those items that capture perfectly who we really were, who we might become.  Thus, my favorite thing from my mom is a letter she wrote about my twin sister’s and my personalities when we were 18 months.  I found it around my 40th birthday and damn if it wasn’t spot on about traits we would carry on into adulthood.  I’ve loved sharing my travel journals with my kids as we get ready to embark on similar vacations.  But not once have I lamented the loss of a pre-school scribble scrabble.

Savor's Baby Edition Includes Envelopes for So Tiny Treasures Don't Get Lost.

And if you have a hard time parting with these creations, don’t worry.  We’ll have lots of ideas for you to use those kindergarten paintings in the days to come.  Stay tuned.

What stuff has mattered to you? 

About the Author

Jenny Nevins co-founded Savor in 2014 after searching for a better way to hold onto her own kids' keepsakes and coming up empty. A former ACLU lawyer turned self-described organizing queen, she writes about estate planning, family preparedness, and keepsake organization.