Well - just think of how many times you’ve found $20 in a pair of pants or a suit coat you forgot about.
My older sister went on a vacation. She hid all of her jewelry in the bedroom trash can and tossed tissues on top of it. Came back from vacation and tossed it all out. A week later she was looking for her jewelry and couldn’t find it in her jewelry box. It finally dawned on her what she had done. Family heirlooms, etc. She had some really nice stuff. I think it was $50,000 plus that she put the claim in for. She had a few things that she wore on the trip.
I had a similar instance with some rarely used work attire (tyvek suits, resperators, etc.). We kept them in a couple of black garbage bags in the shed. When it came time to need them we couldn’t find them anywhere. I had a vague sense that they got tossed doing some straightening up in there month’s prior.
Duh!
Famous last words of the compulsive Worker Bee: “Just straightening up, that’s all!”
Pawn shops are great for short term storage of jewelry or electronics while on vacation. Sure you pay interest, but you can decide the amount and you get a cash loan for your trip as well as secured and guaranteed safekeeping for your valuables.
I once hid $2,000 cash in a old sport jacket in my closet. Forgot about it and a couple of years later tossed it in a trash bag with old clothes for the good will donation drop box (big steel bin). I was just about to toss it in the bin when as an afterthought I decided to check the pockets. Can you imagine? : O
I was told this story at closing on my current house. The guy was a minister, so I have no reason to doubt it.
An elderly woman lived in the house I currently own. They bought it new in the 30’s. Upon her passing, a daughter in law began organizing and cleaning the house. Other family members came in to help and looked for the jewelery/heirloom stuff that she kept hidden in frozen food boxes. It had all been tossed in the initial clean-out.
The seller asked that I let him know if I ever found anything hidden away. Nothing to date.