Decluttering

[John Galt III]

" Anyone want a perfect set of World Book encyclopedias?"


I don't know...how well do they burn?

Before you light it.... I was able to sell a complete Syntopicon of something like 60 books of wisdom (Great Books or something like that, with Plato, Freud, Shakespeare, etc.) for $80 cash on Craigslist. I had one person show interest, the person who bought it. Guess I lucked out.

 

[pacergal]

When my last parent died, my siblings and I each kept a few things. the rest was sold, sent to Goodwill, or dumped. It took us a couple of weeks.
It made me realize I do not want my kids to have to go through that (although I know they will have some things to dispose of).
We did a major purge when we retired, and I still go through closets every few months. Every year, DH and I go through the house again. Anything we have not used or worn goes out the door.
When we replace our furniture, we plan on buying way less than we have now. I don't mind empty spaces in the rooms.
The next big project is taking care of pictures, slides, etc.

 

[brett]

We did a downsize/de-clutter from a large 5 bedroom home to an 8X8X16 container. Anything the did not fit in the container was gone. This forced us to prioritze.

One year later we rented a place and emptied the container. We asked ourselves why we kept so much. Gave away quite a bit to those who had suffered in our local floods.

Eight years later we are still getting rid of things that were in that container.

Bottom line....there is nothing that we have missed. Contrary is true.

Large basements and corporate moves (never had to pay for a move or pack for a move) were our downfall. That, and allowing two children who had flown the nest to use our home as a storage locker.

 

[Golden sunsets]

When my last parent died, my siblings and I each kept a few things. the rest was sold, sent to Goodwill, or dumped. It took us a couple of weeks.
It made me realize I do not want my kids to have to go through that (although I know they will have some things to dispose of).
We did a major purge when we retired, and I still go through closets every few months. Every year, DH and I go through the house again. Anything we have not used or worn goes out the door.
When we replace our furniture, we plan on buying way less than we have now. I don't mind empty spaces in the rooms.
The next big project is taking care of pictures, slides, etc.

Yes, I found yet another stash of photos today in a piece of furniture that I had not checked. I just don't know how to proceed on all of the photos.

 

[Koolau]

<SNIP>

Anyone want a perfect set of World Book encyclopedias?

I have (well had) my own thank you very much.

 

[Ronstar]

We did a downsize/de-clutter from a large 5 bedroom home to an 8X8X16 container....

Impressive!

 

[Souschef]

We recently donated 500 music CD's to our local library. We have Alexa, and that is all we need now. We also got rid of the large CD player and amplifier (boat anchor).

 

[RunningBum]

Anyone want a perfect set of World Book encyclopedias?

I have fond memories of browsing that set as a kid. If a set fell into my lap I'd take it, but I don't want to pay (much) for shipping.

 

[ImaCheesehead]

We had been married 33 years, in our latest house 16 years before we decided to sell it and become full time RVers.

The house wasn’t huge, 2400 sq feet, but a full basement (and the basement was FULL) and a 3 car garage that was full of tools.

We had one big garage sale - the first and only one I will ever have- and we sold so much. Tools and yard stuff sold especially fast. We put our bed, some comfy furniture and our dining room table in my Mom’s lower level and that’s where we sleep and hang out when we visit her yearly. The rest was sent to St Vincent DePaul, the hospice resale shop, and the dump.

It helped that we never had kids, so didn’t have that clutter. We did have a bunch of old stuff from DH’s parents and grandparents and practically everything we ever bought because we had the room to store it, so why not.

The upshot is that we live in 400 sq feet now and I have everything I need. I miss NONE of the piles and piles of stuff we had. I make myself ill sometimes thinking of all the hours we worked just to buy all that stuff, and all the time shopping for it, and all the time spent cleaning it.

One day we will settle in a fixed location again and the furnishings will be simple but comfortable and will reflect the taste I have at the time and the location we live in.

It is a difficult task, but once the stuff is gone you will wonder why you even cared about it.

 

[Katsmeow]

We have downsized and decluttered in stages.

10 years ago we had an about 4500 SF house with on 2 1/2 acres, with a guest house, pool, huge covered patio and two double garages. It makes me tired to think of it. That said, we had 6 people living there when we bought it.

A couple of years later with only 4 of us still at home and your youngest in high school we moved to an about 3000 SF house on 1 acre, no pool. We truly got rid of a lot of stuff. We had one double garage at the prior house that we used just for storage. We had stuff in there that had been there for years (mostly stuff the kids had outgrown or stuff that was no longer relevant).

So we lived in the 3000 SF house for 6 years. Then, in 2018, all kids on their own, we moved 4 hours away to what we felt would be our true downsizing retirement home. It was quite a bit smaller. I think around 2200 SF.

We sold our house before we could even look for a house and rented a 2 bedroom apartment as a short term rental while we looked. Most of our stuff, we put in storage. We got rid of lots of stuff they we just didn't like or had no room for (including some furniture) but the storage unit was large but packed full.

The new house was on 1/3 of an acre but did have a pool. It didn't long after moving in to realize this house had little storage. The house we had sold had a lot of built in storage. This had known. The old house had a nice sized utility room. This had virtually no storage. The clothes' closets were tiny. This house was 20 years or so older than our last house. It was maybe $40k more money for a much smaller, older house.

What did it have? A great, great location. The 3000 SF house had been in an acreage community 20 minutes from the closest grocery store. Now, i have multiple grocery stores within 5 minutes. At the old house, a "close" shopping center or mall was one 40 minutes away. Now, I have several within 15 minutes.

Still that storage situation and the tiny master bath and tiny closets and some other negatives were pretty big.

So we did a 6 figure remodel. We gutted the master bath, expanded the utility room, added a large closet to the bedroom, removed the fireplace from the living room. We added a sunroom (fully done with flooring, AC, heat, etc). We basically touched every room in the house in one way or another. The only thing we didn't do was remodel the kitchen. It would have been nice but was just too much money and the kitchen while not ideal was OKish. We took care of the huge storage problem by removing the existing pantry and building one much larger. The house is now about 2400 SF.

I am happy how it worked out. We finally have the storage we want and the remodel was really, really worth it. And the size of the house is a good size for us.

Oh -- you might wonder why we didn't just buy a newer house that was more expensive so we wouldn't have had to remodel. I would have if I could have. But, this market was extremely hot. We contracted on this house before it was officially listed and still had to beat out 2 other people and pay significantly over listing price. The area is highly desirable and houses even now with the Pandemic still usually sell very quickly. When we were looking there were literally no 1 story houses to be had in the general area we were looking at that were better even if we had had an unlimited budget. To get a 1 story (which we wanted) we either had to buy and remodel, build a new house or simply not buy in this area.

So after all that this house is a lot more expensive than the one

 

[FIREd]

I went through 2 pretty severe rounds of decluttering over the past 10 years. I used to get so attached to things, but I'm getting much better at letting go. And I try not to accumulate much anymore. My condo is sparsely furnished and decorated and I like it that way. It feels serene but still homey.

 

[Amethyst]

We moved to a house with no basement, so hired one of those "estate sale online auction" outfits and got rid of the old house's basement's contents, along with a few things I was tired of from upstairs. Almost everything sold, even old carpet, although that only brought $1.00. It was interesting to see what sold for a fair sum (Mr. A's vintage audio equipment), and what went for pennies (anything glass or ceramic, even good stuff). The auction people disposed of whatever did not sell.

All we did was put everything in "like" piles in the basement. All the pots and pans here, all the fans and heaters there, etc. Garden tools and cleaning supplies went in the garage. The auction people sorted, priced, photographed, and listed everything. The auction was held after we had moved out, so the auction people provided personnel to monitor the customers' comings and goings as they picked up their lots.

We made enough to cover the $700 auction fee plus a few dollars left over. As for what to keep/what to get rid of, it's hard to get to 100% when you're stressed and in a hurry. You end up keeping some things that you didn't need, and wishing you'd kept others.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We moved to a house with no basement, so hired one of those "estate sale online auction" outfits and got rid of the old house's basement's contents, along with a few things I was tired of from upstairs. Almost everything sold, even old carpet, although that only brought $1.00. It was interesting to see what sold for a fair sum (Mr. A's vintage audio equipment), and what went for pennies (anything glass or ceramic, even good stuff). The auction people disposed of whatever did not sell.

All we did was put everything in "like" piles in the basement. All the pots and pans here, all the fans and heaters there, etc. Garden tools and cleaning supplies went in the garage. The auction people sorted, priced, photographed, and listed everything. The auction was held after we had moved out, so the auction people provided personnel to monitor the customers' comings and goings as they picked up their lots.

We made enough to cover the $700 auction fee plus a few dollars left over. As for what to keep/what to get rid of, it's hard to get to 100% when you're stressed and in a hurry. You end up keeping some things that you didn't need, and wishing you'd kept others.

Interesting. I've heard of these estate sale groups but never considered them for downsizing.

 

[Amethyst]

Our real estate agent suggested them. When I went to their web site, it looked like they market primarily to people going into tiny assisted living places (or to the children of such people), so maybe they need to expand their marketing to a wider group.

Interesting. I've heard of these estate sale groups but never considered them for downsizing.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We have downsized and decluttered in stages.

10 years ago we had an about 4500 SF house with on 2 1/2 acres, with a guest house, pool, huge covered patio and two double garages. It makes me tired to think of it. That said, we had 6 people living there when we bought it.

A couple of years later with only 4 of us still at home and your youngest in high school we moved to an about 3000 SF house on 1 acre, no pool. We truly got rid of a lot of stuff. We had one double garage at the prior house that we used just for storage. We had stuff in there that had been there for years (mostly stuff the kids had outgrown or stuff that was no longer relevant).

So we lived in the 3000 SF house for 6 years. Then, in 2018, all kids on their own, we moved 4 hours away to what we felt would be our true downsizing retirement home. It was quite a bit smaller. I think around 2200 SF.

We sold our house before we could even look for a house and rented a 2 bedroom apartment as a short term rental while we looked. Most of our stuff, we put in storage. We got rid of lots of stuff they we just didn't like or had no room for (including some furniture) but the storage unit was large but packed full.

The new house was on 1/3 of an acre but did have a pool. It didn't long after moving in to realize this house had little storage. The house we had sold had a lot of built in storage. This had known. The old house had a nice sized utility room. This had virtually no storage. The clothes' closets were tiny. This house was 20 years or so older than our last house. It was maybe $40k more money for a much smaller, older house.

What did it have? A great, great location. The 3000 SF house had been in an acreage community 20 minutes from the closest grocery store. Now, i have multiple grocery stores within 5 minutes. At the old house, a "close" shopping center or mall was one 40 minutes away. Now, I have several within 15 minutes.

Still that storage situation and the tiny master bath and tiny closets and some other negatives were pretty big.

So we did a 6 figure remodel. We gutted the master bath, expanded the utility room, added a large closet to the bedroom, removed the fireplace from the living room. We added a sunroom (fully done with flooring, AC, heat, etc). We basically touched every room in the house in one way or another. The only thing we didn't do was remodel the kitchen. It would have been nice but was just too much money and the kitchen while not ideal was OKish. We took care of the huge storage problem by removing the existing pantry and building one much larger. The house is now about 2400 SF.

I am happy how it worked out. We finally have the storage we want and the remodel was really, really worth it. And the size of the house is a good size for us.

Oh -- you might wonder why we didn't just buy a newer house that was more expensive so we wouldn't have had to remodel. I would have if I could have. But, this market was extremely hot. We contracted on this house before it was officially listed and still had to beat out 2 other people and pay significantly over listing price. The area is highly desirable and houses even now with the Pandemic still usually sell very quickly. When we were looking there were literally no 1 story houses to be had in the general area we were looking at that were better even if we had had an unlimited budget. To get a 1 story (which we wanted) we either had to buy and remodel, build a new house or simply not buy in this area.

So after all that this house is a lot more expensive than the one

Yes, the amount of storage available in our next home will be important. I think storage tends to be overlooked when house hunting. Most likely our next home will have a basement, although I'm generally not a fan of basement storage.

 

[Golden sunsets]

I went through 2 pretty severe rounds of decluttering over the past 10 years. I used to get so attached to things, but I'm getting much better at letting go. And I try not to accumulate much anymore. My condo is sparsely furnished and decorated and I like it that way. It feels serene but still homey.

I find as I go through the house with the big plastic bags in tow, that I develop a hardened attitude about what to keep and what to trash. I think its almost a self protective mindset to keep from becoming too sentimental.

 

[akl432]

We moved to a house with no basement, so hired one of those "estate sale online auction" outfits and got rid of the old house's basement's contents, along with a few things I was tired of from upstairs. Almost everything sold, even old carpet, although that only brought $1.00. It was interesting to see what sold for a fair sum (Mr. A's vintage audio equipment), and what went for pennies (anything glass or ceramic, even good stuff). The auction people disposed of whatever did not sell.

All we did was put everything in "like" piles in the basement. All the pots and pans here, all the fans and heaters there, etc. Garden tools and cleaning supplies went in the garage. The auction people sorted, priced, photographed, and listed everything. The auction was held after we had moved out, so the auction people provided personnel to monitor the customers' comings and goings as they picked up their lots.

We made enough to cover the $700 auction fee plus a few dollars left over. As for what to keep/what to get rid of, it's hard to get to 100% when you're stressed and in a hurry. You end up keeping some things that you didn't need, and wishing you'd kept others.

Sounds like it worked out really well! Which estate sale online auction company did you use?

 

[Ronstar]

An estate auction is a sure fire way to declutter quickly. All of my late grandmother’s belongings went in a couple of hours. Her car wasn’t in the auction, but my uncle sold it to someone at the auction. Same with her house. The auction ended with nothing left.

 

[Koolau]

I have fond memories of browsing that set as a kid. If a set fell into my lap I'd take it, but I don't want to pay (much) for shipping.

You would not have wanted mine. When it was published, there were only 4 known elements: Air Earth Fire Water

 

[Koolau]

We moved to a house with no basement, so hired one of those "estate sale online auction" outfits and got rid of the old house's basement's contents, along with a few things I was tired of from upstairs. Almost everything sold, even old carpet, although that only brought $1.00. It was interesting to see what sold for a fair sum (Mr. A's vintage audio equipment), and what went for pennies (anything glass or ceramic, even good stuff). The auction people disposed of whatever did not sell.

All we did was put everything in "like" piles in the basement. All the pots and pans here, all the fans and heaters there, etc. Garden tools and cleaning supplies went in the garage. The auction people sorted, priced, photographed, and listed everything. The auction was held after we had moved out, so the auction people provided personnel to monitor the customers' comings and goings as they picked up their lots.

We made enough to cover the $700 auction fee plus a few dollars left over. As for what to keep/what to get rid of, it's hard to get to 100% when you're stressed and in a hurry. You end up keeping some things that you didn't need, and wishing you'd kept others.

We too used an old, established, family owned auction place. (For a fee) they picked up everything and then sold it. We too were surprised what sold well and what didn't. I had a couple of old rifles that no longer worked (just firing pins, I'm sure) that sold for more than I would have guessed. We had some relatively new, but expensive glassware (name brand, but forget what) that sold very well indeed. Other stuff went for pennies. You can't outguess 'em. I think the trick is to use an auction company with a reputation for selling "good" stuff, not just "junk." All their sales are always well attended. IIRC they took 1/3 and we were happy to give it to them. YMMV

 

[oldphd]

Having just relocated last year after 37 years in one house, we are glad to be on the other side of the decluttering. And we are working to avoid accumulating again.

My parents are in their mid 80s. Currently in a townhouse type condo, where they moved 10 years ago after deciding the house was too much. They have lived in roughly 15 places all over the country in their 65 year marriage.

Sooo... they are now thinking they need another change, and are working on decluttering. I recall 10 years ago during the last move they talked about all the stuff they got rid of. So how much can there be?

Few items they've mentioned they still have...
My grandfather's work service plaques (he passed away almost 30 years ago).
A project of my dad's from college... he's been retired for 20 years...
A receipt for a hotel night from the when they got married, in 1955. It was for $9.

At least the project is on the list of things that my dad considers a must keep, not sure about the other 2. My mom thought the plaques went 10 years ago...

 

[Amethyst]

I had to look it up....maxsold.com

Sounds like it worked out really well! Which estate sale online auction company did you use?

 

[Amethyst]

Did not realize there were two kinds I learned that estate auctions are targeted by resellers, who know what they are looking for. They buy parceled "lots" of people's stuff after looking at the photos online and assessing that somewhere in that "lot" of stuff, is something they can sell for a good profit.

Yes, they took a third (I think) on top of their $700 fee. They cannot lose. If someone's belongings are complete junk which no one wants, they will owe the $700 regardless, and disposal fees to boot. Most of their clientele, as I said before, are looking to clean out an entire home (including furniture), much of which is likely to be junk no matter whose it is.

I think the trick is to use an auction company with a reputation for selling "good" stuff, not just "junk." YMMV

 

[EastWest Gal]

Yes, I found yet another stash of photos today in a piece of furniture that I had not checked. I just don't know how to proceed on all of the photos.

We are scanning old photos. My parents’ and grandparents’ are sometimes being posted on ancestry. In working on these photos I found a photo from the early 1900s with a family of 5-parents and 3 children. Based on some guesses from other photos, I searched some names on ancestry. I found another ancestry family tree that had scanned a couple of the people in the photo and cropped the photo so it was one person per photo. The person working on that family tree is someone I don’t know. The photo is a copy of the exact same photo I have.

In this process we are throwing many photos away. They will not be missed.

You are not alone in the old photo struggle.

 

[Koolau]

Did not realize there were two kinds I learned that estate auctions are targeted by resellers, who know what they are looking for. They buy parceled "lots" of people's stuff after looking at the photos online and assessing that somewhere in that "lot" of stuff, is something they can sell for a good profit.

Yes, they took a third (I think) on top of their $700 fee. They cannot lose. If someone's belongings are complete junk which no one wants, they will owe the $700 regardless, and disposal fees to boot. Most of their clientele, as I said before, are looking to clean out an entire home (including furniture), much of which is likely to be junk no matter whose it is.

Our fees were strictly based on a percentage of total sales - no added fee but higher percent because they did the pick up (and I forgot) STORAGE prior to sale. I actually got to see their storage area. We took some last minute items and they grouped them with our other stuff. The storage barn was HUGE and FULL - they always sold many folk's stuff at a given auction. We didn't have enough for an "exclusive" sale - not sure any one person/household could have filled that barn but YMMV.