I actually sold a 200 disk changer for money! Most downsizing is a matter of giving things to Goodwill
Decluttering
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I actually sold a 200 disk changer for money! Most downsizing is a matter of giving things to Goodwill
Amethyst
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We did give away a lot of household items; after so many years of not buying them, I was rather shocked at how much it cost to buy new ones for our new home.
I had some really nice (I thought) bookcases, that the charities refused to pick up because they were not solid wood. These ended up in the online auction, where they brought very little.
I had some really nice (I thought) bookcases, that the charities refused to pick up because they were not solid wood. These ended up in the online auction, where they brought very little.
Maxsold is a company based in my town of Kingston, Ontario and is affiliated with Gordon's Estate Services.
https://maxsold.com/about
I have met and dealt with the founder, Barry Gordon, when we moved my mother and had to reduce her possessions. I can certainly vouch that this company is top notch to deal with. As part of their service, they bundle up the persons (or businesses) possessions for the on-line auction. Yes, you might get more money if you tried to sell individual items on line, but their business model is based on reducing the stress on the estate. After all, I don't think that my 85 year old mother would have had much success trying to sell a bunch of shovels or old glass dishes on her own before she moved to an apartment. The one downside is that you can't physically see the items for sale to verify their condition and you have to pick them up in person if you had the successful bid. I have bought a large 1930's floor model at one of their sales and it was as advertised. Our son-in-laws are looking at some of their sales for used electrical tools that would be only used occasionally, so why buy new?
Maxsold now has branches across Canada and the US, so they may have auctions in some of the regions where some of our group lives.
Car-Guy
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
This thread reminds me that I really need to start decluttering... I'm a hoarder (collector
) by nature but I can't keep adding out buildings to store my overflow stuff. There is one storage shed (~12x24) that I haven't even opened the door of in over a year.... I probably have 20+ containers in that shed that are full of old computers and computer parts. I saved them because I was thinking I may need them someday and/or maybe they'd have some value in the future.... Well I don't think I'm going to need them in my lifetime and I doubt that they have much (if any) value. Lot's of other stuff in some of these sheds I really don't need.... Just hate to toss stuff but maybe it's time to start....
) by nature but I can't keep adding out buildings to store my overflow stuff. There is one storage shed (~12x24) that I haven't even opened the door of in over a year.... I probably have 20+ containers in that shed that are full of old computers and computer parts. I saved them because I was thinking I may need them someday and/or maybe they'd have some value in the future.... Well I don't think I'm going to need them in my lifetime and I doubt that they have much (if any) value. Lot's of other stuff in some of these sheds I really don't need.... Just hate to toss stuff but maybe it's time to start....
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Amethyst
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Amethyst
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It's known as SABLE: Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectation.
I wouldn't bother getting rid of it unless you want to/have to. This recent craze for "you've gotta get rid of everything now, so someone else doesn't have to after you die!" sounds like a big ole guilt trip to me. "They" can hire an estate seller, same as you can.
I wouldn't bother getting rid of it unless you want to/have to. This recent craze for "you've gotta get rid of everything now, so someone else doesn't have to after you die!" sounds like a big ole guilt trip to me. "They" can hire an estate seller, same as you can.
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We just got done with my FIL's place, and although talked about an estate auction company, decided against it. I'm glad we did, especially with reports of doing the estate auction and after fees, only being a few bucks ahead (and it sounds like it could have been a few bucks in the hole, pretty easily).
Instead, we started with the "inner circle" family and let them take whatever they wanted. We have some very appreciative grandchildren of the FIL. Then his sister and his nieces and nephews got some stuff. Then we went with friends, acquaintances, and finally hauled the rest to the local mission. Of course some stuff wasn't worth anything but the volume was low enough that we just filled a herby curby weekly, no dumpster required. Of course, zero dollars earned, but lots of goodwill and smiles.
For instance, we ended up with a few boxes (not too much) of "personal" stuff that DW didn't dump (but probably should have). To pick one example, plastic trophies from FIL's w*rk golf tournaments. I'm sure the FIL would have tossed those without blinking an eye, but DW saved them since she thought they might have meant something to him.
I guess a middle ground would be to put a letter in with your "Ducks in a Row" papers that say "I never got around to throwing out X, Y, and Z, so feel free, they mean nothing to me, and less to anyone else".
Instead, we started with the "inner circle" family and let them take whatever they wanted. We have some very appreciative grandchildren of the FIL. Then his sister and his nieces and nephews got some stuff. Then we went with friends, acquaintances, and finally hauled the rest to the local mission. Of course some stuff wasn't worth anything but the volume was low enough that we just filled a herby curby weekly, no dumpster required. Of course, zero dollars earned, but lots of goodwill and smiles.
I do agree, they can. The problem is that you would probably be more comfortable throwing stuff out than they would.
For instance, we ended up with a few boxes (not too much) of "personal" stuff that DW didn't dump (but probably should have). To pick one example, plastic trophies from FIL's w*rk golf tournaments. I'm sure the FIL would have tossed those without blinking an eye, but DW saved them since she thought they might have meant something to him.
I guess a middle ground would be to put a letter in with your "Ducks in a Row" papers that say "I never got around to throwing out X, Y, and Z, so feel free, they mean nothing to me, and less to anyone else".
Out-to-Lunch
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Well, my MIL has 80,000 records, albums, and phonographs. Many of them are rare and/or desirable. She is selling them on eBay at a decent clip. If she lives to be 185, she will probably have sold them all!
(All the foregoing it true.)
(All the foregoing it true.)
iloveyoga
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
In the seven years since I retired I have done a lot of decluttering and helped with our parents' estates and moving Mom. Once you get to a good point, you have to keep getting rid of stuff. eBay and Facebook marketplace have helped me a lot.
gooddog
Recycles dryer sheets
Wife and I have a saying: "when in doubt, throw it out". Works well, and on the rare occasion we toss something we actually needed, we have found that we come out ahead in the 'aggravation vs cost' comparison.
Car-Guy
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
That's funny....I do exactly the opposite.
It took me 8 months! to go through my mother's 4000 sq foot hoard loaded with mice. Don't do that to your kids. We saved about 5% of her stuff, had an estate sale company deal with the rest, made lots of $$ and took pictures of everything for posterity.
In our auction, the big surprise was a large 55 year old Stieff stuffed fox in great condition with original tags. It went for $650! I would have given it away.
Amethyst
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Our approach is evolving, but here's where we are the moment.
A) Identify 4 categories. Keep, Donate, Sell or Trash.
Anything you haven't worn or used in a year (or two) goes out the door. Gather and sort items into the last 3 categories into piles/area of your garage or basement.
B) Call a worthy organization who picks up donations and schedule them to come over. Or, put all your donations into your own car/truck and deliver to the worthy org of your choice. Win Win situation.
C) Leverage yard sales or a local Marketplaces (i.e., FB Marketplace, Craigslist, eBay, etc.) because some cash is better than no cash at all. Sell desirable items via yard sale or local marketplace. Don't dicker on price too much, you're getting paid to declutter.
Be honest with yourself and identify only things people really might want to buy today. By example, tools, lawn/garden equipment, snow blowers, vinyl records, and exercise equipment are all hot items now. But the only chance you'll sell a Lee Majors Leisure Suit is if the local high school needs a wardrobe for a Six Million Dollar Man production next spring. Okay, maybe it will sell this month if someone wants to dress like Lee Majors for Halloween.
D) Place nicely kept large ticket items with a consignment shop, or antique stores. If you can't get them placed, or get any cash for those items, donate them to your worthy org.
E) Moving forward, if one new shirt comes into the home, then one or two old shirts must go. Buy a pair of new shoes, and one old pair must leave. Try to continually unload anything we haven't used or worn in the last year or two. It's my hope this strategy should keep us just about even.
E) Remaining items go into trash pile or recycle bin.
A) Identify 4 categories. Keep, Donate, Sell or Trash.
Anything you haven't worn or used in a year (or two) goes out the door. Gather and sort items into the last 3 categories into piles/area of your garage or basement.
B) Call a worthy organization who picks up donations and schedule them to come over. Or, put all your donations into your own car/truck and deliver to the worthy org of your choice. Win Win situation.
C) Leverage yard sales or a local Marketplaces (i.e., FB Marketplace, Craigslist, eBay, etc.) because some cash is better than no cash at all. Sell desirable items via yard sale or local marketplace. Don't dicker on price too much, you're getting paid to declutter.
Be honest with yourself and identify only things people really might want to buy today. By example, tools, lawn/garden equipment, snow blowers, vinyl records, and exercise equipment are all hot items now. But the only chance you'll sell a Lee Majors Leisure Suit is if the local high school needs a wardrobe for a Six Million Dollar Man production next spring. Okay, maybe it will sell this month if someone wants to dress like Lee Majors for Halloween.
D) Place nicely kept large ticket items with a consignment shop, or antique stores. If you can't get them placed, or get any cash for those items, donate them to your worthy org.
E) Moving forward, if one new shirt comes into the home, then one or two old shirts must go. Buy a pair of new shoes, and one old pair must leave. Try to continually unload anything we haven't used or worn in the last year or two. It's my hope this strategy should keep us just about even.
E) Remaining items go into trash pile or recycle bin.
We had a three bedroom house with basement and garage that we lived in for 25 years with two children. We rented a two bedroom condo and prepared to rent out our house. We moved to the condo and took what we wanted and had an estate sale with what was left. There was still stuff left- mainly furniture- we ended up hiring a guy with a truck to take to Goodwill. We had a storage locker and when my daughter moved to a house we moved the stuff to her attic. She moved again and we did another pass through and brought that to the condo. We have since bought a condo and did another pass through. I am trying to get up the nerve to donate my wedding dress to one of those angel gown places as the kids don’t want it. I have a large stack of photos and we have a storage locker in the condo with Christmas stuff. This season, I’ll do another sorting of that.
My mom decided to move to Assisted living a yr ago. I was out of town on a travel assignment. 2 of her neighbors helped her go thru everything!. She had to make decisions and they pushed thru. When I returned I was shocked. Yes I had wanted a few thinks from the kitchen but no biggie. Mom took maybe 10%+ too much to AL but she is eliminating now and misses nothing. I have ALL of the old family photos and have to do something with them.
We sold out home in MA and moved to a 1100sf condo in FL. We spent 2 yrs downsizing. We still need to purge more. I am giving it time to be sure it is not needed or worn especially since we are now FL weather acclimated (will be wearing warmer clothing in our cool "winter").
Moral of the story. It is just stuff it feels good to lighten the load. Marie Kondo was my inspiration as I was raised in a post depression house. I will not burden my children with stuff.
We sold out home in MA and moved to a 1100sf condo in FL. We spent 2 yrs downsizing. We still need to purge more. I am giving it time to be sure it is not needed or worn especially since we are now FL weather acclimated (will be wearing warmer clothing in our cool "winter").
Moral of the story. It is just stuff it feels good to lighten the load. Marie Kondo was my inspiration as I was raised in a post depression house. I will not burden my children with stuff.
OP
OP
Golden sunsets
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OP here.. Well yesterday was the day the rest of the stuff designated as throw away left our house. It was a good feeling. It only took 2 guys with a big truck an hour to remove everything from our two staging areas in the garage and basement. We had bagged up most of it. We swept up afterward and made a pledge not to ever bring anything to the basement again, or if we must, we have to remove something of equal size. In the end we went through every closet, drawer, and storage space in the house. I also thinned out a lot of kitchenware. We had accumulated way too much. We must have had 15 flower vases, accumulated over the years. The three big categories left that we will eventually have to get rid of before a move are tools, books and family fine China collections.
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Throw them out. Nobody looks at old photos. Not even you.
Nobody looks at digital photos, either. But at least those don't take up physical space.
Amethyst
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Car-Guy
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
We still look at our old photos from time to time... Most (99%) have been converted to digital which makes it easier to sort and find.... Once in a while someone in the family will ask us if we have an old photo of "this or that" from the past... Ex. an old house, pet, car, family event, etc...
I'll admit that we get fewer requests as the years go by. But, as time goes by, there are also fewer family members around to ask.
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Getting rid of physical photo albums is one decluttering step we took. I bought a document feed scanner, and sold it when I'd thrown out 99%+ of our photos. But then we inherited a huge batch of photos 
Earlier thread, pointing to earlier threads:
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f54/scanning-family-photos-aaaauugh-101271.html#post2340803
Earlier thread, pointing to earlier threads:
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f54/scanning-family-photos-aaaauugh-101271.html#post2340803
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A couple of years for Christmas my Mum gave my sister and I each a thumb drive and a small album:
She'd gone through years of old photo albums, had about 1000 photos from our childhoods converted to digital at a local photo shop, and then put the favorite few dozen into newly printed (much smaller) albums. Compressed 2 crates of storage into a slim book, and created a nice way to hand-them-down.
She'd gone through years of old photo albums, had about 1000 photos from our childhoods converted to digital at a local photo shop, and then put the favorite few dozen into newly printed (much smaller) albums. Compressed 2 crates of storage into a slim book, and created a nice way to hand-them-down.
DH & I downsized 2.5 yrs ago--from 5BR 3K SF to 1800SF 3BR townhome. (no first floor master yet...we are mid to late 50s...that will be our warm weather move in a few years..)
it was SO SO SO cathartic to purge! We have 3 children, 2 live in other states & one lives on campus at college. We did put some of their "memories" in tubs & housed them in my parents basement (they still live in 3KSF home!) as we have very little storage. DID have a garage sale/sold things on Facebook Marketplace, gave a TON away. I'm not a collector at anytime, but really looked at things carefully--either needed to be useful, have good memories or something loved for beauty.
After 2.5 yrs I have determined I need to purge again--many things we moved we have not used & I am fine getting rid of it!
We expect to move out of state (WARM & DRY) in the next few years & hope to do it with as few items as possible...clothing, memories, little else.
it was SO SO SO cathartic to purge! We have 3 children, 2 live in other states & one lives on campus at college. We did put some of their "memories" in tubs & housed them in my parents basement (they still live in 3KSF home!) as we have very little storage. DID have a garage sale/sold things on Facebook Marketplace, gave a TON away. I'm not a collector at anytime, but really looked at things carefully--either needed to be useful, have good memories or something loved for beauty.
After 2.5 yrs I have determined I need to purge again--many things we moved we have not used & I am fine getting rid of it!
We expect to move out of state (WARM & DRY) in the next few years & hope to do it with as few items as possible...clothing, memories, little else.
SpinDoctorTX
Recycles dryer sheets
We upsized to a 2200 SF home- from 1800SF- 10 years ago to an almost new home with a better kitchen and layout for my DM's "wing" (BR, Sitting Room & hall bathroom). We all have some dedicated space which works well for us.
Newer homes have less storage it seems, so we donated a huge amount of stuff before and after we moved. After I ER, over 2 years we gave away a ton of biz suits/ outfits & I continue to get rid of things every quarter. Now, we are each wearing once all of the clothes that go to the dry cleaner (I do NOT iron- period). They go in the wash then, and if it requires ironing, I donate it. Now, much of our master closet is storage- on shelving and on the rods hanging in bags. We are in a regular mixed age/ race neighborhood, which is our preference.
One quick way would be to call an estate sale company and have them go through- pick what will/ won't sell, and handle it all for you. It's less agonizing than selling your stuff for pennies on the dollar, which is what most stuff is worth really. I took photos of a bunch of things that served no purpose and added to clutter, and donated those- fond memories intact. We both detest garage sales- having, or going!
Newer homes have less storage it seems, so we donated a huge amount of stuff before and after we moved. After I ER, over 2 years we gave away a ton of biz suits/ outfits & I continue to get rid of things every quarter. Now, we are each wearing once all of the clothes that go to the dry cleaner (I do NOT iron- period). They go in the wash then, and if it requires ironing, I donate it. Now, much of our master closet is storage- on shelving and on the rods hanging in bags. We are in a regular mixed age/ race neighborhood, which is our preference.
One quick way would be to call an estate sale company and have them go through- pick what will/ won't sell, and handle it all for you. It's less agonizing than selling your stuff for pennies on the dollar, which is what most stuff is worth really. I took photos of a bunch of things that served no purpose and added to clutter, and donated those- fond memories intact. We both detest garage sales- having, or going!
