The Search for What I Don't Need

Things to get rid of.  I was reading about how people "strap on their tombstones" and keep waaaaaay to much unneeded stuff.  I was thinking this probably doesn't apply to me, since my husband has a fierce aversion to bruised apples, socks with thinning heals, and the last squeezings of the toothpaste. Surely, I have nothing in this home that has become outdated - other than myself.  So I went on a hunt.
It didn't take long to find something.  You know how the experts in spice-ology say you should never keep your spices past their expiration date?  And you know how you rarely check an expiration date on cream of tartar or poultry seasoning?  Well... if you have eaten a baked good in the last sixteen years from my kitchen, I guess you should consider yourself lucky.
I have had this bottle of fine Mexican vanilla since... well... a couple of presidencies ago.  My question is this: Why would anyone sell fine vanilla in a two gallon vat - for home use?  I was quite happy when this was gifted to me from a trip my parents took to southern Texas.  I never predicted that it would take up residency in six different kitchens over the next quarter of century (almost).  I've had this vanilla longer than I've had a husband... and there's still some left as you can see.  I could indulge my "waste not, want not" mentality and whip up twelve double batches of chocolate chip cookies complete with vanilla frosting today... or I could just rip off the band-aid and toss it in the recycling... or I could press my luck and see if this fine bottle of delicious flavoring can make it through my 5th grader's college entrance essays.
What have you held on to past its prime?  Stay tuned.  This week, I'll be posting more "treasures" that have outstayed their welcome.