Downsizing

[SomedaySoon]

This past weekend we had a "Yard Sale" to purge all the knickKnacks, books, unwanted furniture, and every sort of clutter (I mean, how many unused picture frames do you actually need!). It worked well in that we got a few hundred dollars and only had to drag about 10% back into the house for disposal/donations. Prior to that we had scanned all the best photos and videos and got rid of the albums and tapes. Next big step is to pack up and deliver one set of bedroom furniture to a relative who wants it. All getting ready to move into our smaller brand new home.

We signed the contract to sell our house this morning. I'm still smiling......

 

[Live And Learn]

This past weekend we had a "Yard Sale" to purge all the knickKnacks, books, unwanted furniture, and every sort of clutter (I mean, how many unused picture frames do you actually need!). It worked well in that we got a few hundred dollars and only had to drag about 10% back into the house for disposal/donations. Prior to that we had scanned all the best photos and videos and got rid of the albums and tapes. Next big step is to pack up and deliver one set of bedroom furniture to a relative who wants it. All getting ready to move into our smaller brand new home.

We signed the contract to sell our house this morning. I'm still smiling......

congratulations ! that must feel good !!

I'll probably do a yard sale also, only because I'd probably need to rent a small u-haul to bring it all to Goodwill.

 

[W2R]

congratulations ! that must feel good !!

I'll probably do a yard sale also, only because I'd probably need to rent a small u-haul to bring it all to Goodwill.

Here, the Salvation Army will send a big truck around to pick up furniture but Goodwill doesn't do that for us. So, all our furniture donations went to the Salvation Army, and we took the smaller stuff to Goodwill. I admit, when we were preparing to move back in 2010, we were making daily trips there for a while. Here, a permit plus surprisingly hefty fee are required for a garage sale, so we never got around to doing that.

Since we decided in 2011 not to move after all, I seem to be in a RE-cluttering, UP-sizing phase. Seems like stuff just accumulates if I am not battling against the tide. Amazon Prime has not helped me to stem that tide; my long-suffering UPS guy can attest to that fact.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

In our area, the Disabled American Veterans will also come pick up furniture, even from inside the house. We like that! They told DH, "You just point at what you want hauled out, and we'll take it."

 

[cinman2000]

We downsized this winter from 4100 to 1200 sq feet! The old house also had a 2000 square foot attic that had a full stairway, and some seasonal living space. We sold a lot of furniture to the new owners, since they were upsizing. We still are in the process of downsizing some items, since we are out of room, despite purging a lot of items. All in all, we are the envy of our friends, parents, etc. As a side note, we upsized the yard from a city lot to one acre, which will keep us busy gardening, etc.

Love this idea! Now to work on the DW Makes me wonder how much $$$ I should be putting into the current place.

 

[48Fire]

Love this idea! Now to work on the DW Makes me wonder how much $$$ I should be putting into the current place.

Thanks, fortunately my DW was well-aligned with this plan, and even influenced me to a less expensive house. Some people asked me if we bump into each other a lot, but we like that, too.

 

[LitGal]

Since my divorce 12 years ago (when the boys were 12 and 15), I have downsized from 2400 SF to 1500 to 850 and now about 600 (the boys are one their own now!).

I purge clothes and books and other things constantly and still had tons of stuff to give/throw away in each move.

I like to take a "positive" approach to downsizing stuff: instead of asking myself "what should be thrown away?" I ask: "what do I really want to keep?". I feel better that way--I'm making a conscious decision to keep only what really means something--useful and beautiful things. Sometimes it has to be a game: I can only keep 5 of these 50 books--which 5 will it be?

Wow-- what a great approach. DH and I are procrastinating on purging our bookshelves, closets, his workshop, and the garage. Choosing the few things we will really want/need should help us seriously "downsize."

We yearn a bit for those years when "moving" meant to simply fill up our trunk and move to the new furnished apt.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Amazon Prime has not helped me to stem that tide; my long-suffering UPS guy can attest to that fact.

I agree on the danger of Amazon Prime. When I get the urge, I just visualize being on a beach with an umbrella drink in a tropical location living out of suit cases and think about how much easier it would be to pull that off without buying more stuff to donate or put in storage.

My husband was doing the taxes this year and commenting on the large volume of Goodwill donation receipts from last year, and we still have a lot of rooms to go through. The scary part is we haven't missed a thing.

 

[Live And Learn]

Wow-- what a great approach. DH and I are procrastinating on purging our bookshelves, closets, his workshop, and the garage. Choosing the few things we will really want/need should help us seriously "downsize."

We yearn a bit for those years when "moving" meant to simply fill up our trunk and move to the new furnished apt.

his workshop, and the garage I'd prefer not to think about those spaces at the moment ! He calls *me* a hoarder but his stuff is bigger and weighs more than mine.

 

[Live And Learn]

Update ! Still haven't tackled the master bedroom walk in closet but I'm going to have to act fast ! We just purchased our retirement home in a 55+ community. Now I need to get out of the current (too big) home and hope I dont take too much of a beating on the sales price. The new home is LOVELY - I'm very excited and am looking forward to living there.

 

[LitGal]

Congratulations, Live and Learn!

There's nothing like putting yourself on a forced schedule; moving does wonders for getting rid of stuff!

Since April I have purged the three closets in the extra bedrooms, plus my books. (DH has only started to sort through his books.)
The good news is that those 3 closets now look more "normal" (ie., not bursting with stuff so that it's hard to shut the doors). Plus about half of my books are ready to go (garage sale, then Salvation Army).

Bad news: those closets are still full. There's no way they can be condensed into 1-2 extra closets in an apt.

Plus, boxes are starting to stack up everywhere, and we won't have that garage sale for at least a couple months. (We still have so much clean out to do.) We're starting to look like a warehouse, without any immediate move planned.

I guess this will pay off when all the stuff is out/gone.

 

[JoeWras]

My dear Dad, nearly 90, moved to senior living over the winter. My siblings and I are in the process of cleaning out the house and putting it up for sale.

What a sad, happy, crazy, process!

We've found goofy little toys, I mean tiny little things, that are bringing floods of memories back. But we've also found so many things that just bring sadness. We have at least 10 vases that Mom (who passed 8 years ago) stored away. I realized these were from flowers I sent her. Now just stuff collecting dust.

I seriously don't feel like buying another item of anything for another year.

There are many unopened items that were given as gifts. What a waste.

I just tell my friends to send their presence, love and TIME. No "stuff." And for me, that's all I want from friends and family. I don't want stuff that I have to make pained decisions about.

Dad never could get rid of a tool. I'm now making decisions about tools from the 20's and 30's that were my Granddad's stuff. Dad could never part with his Dad's stuff. These are not really antiques either. Just stuff like brushes, chisels, punches, etc. Tools that haven't been used for 60 years. I can verify that antique brushes - despite being made with quality camel hair or something - still disintegrate due to the ravages of time. Oh boy. Oh, and physics in the 30's was the same as today. Guess what? Iron and steel still pit and rust. A straight edge razor not used for 60 years, despite being stainless, still pits and rots.

When we're done with this, I'm going home to make hard decisions on my stuff and do an early downsize. This process is tough, tough, tough.

Make it easy on your kids or whoever will look after you some day. With ER, you now have time to live simple and get rid of it. Whatever it is. You don't need it.

 

[steelyman]

...
When we're done with this, I'm going home to make hard decisions on my stuff and do an early downsize. This process is tough, tough, tough.

Make it easy on your kids or whoever will look after you some day. With ER, you now have time to live simple and get rid of it. Whatever it is. You don't need it.

Could be one of the best posts I've seen in this juke joint.

 

[Live And Learn]

My dear Dad, nearly 90, moved to senior living over the winter. My siblings and I are in the process of cleaning out the house and putting it up for sale.

What a sad, happy, crazy, process!

We've found goofy little toys, I mean tiny little things, that are bringing floods of memories back. But we've also found so many things that just bring sadness. We have at least 10 vases that Mom (who passed 8 years ago) stored away. I realized these were from flowers I sent her. Now just stuff collecting dust.

I seriously don't feel like buying another item of anything for another year.

There are many unopened items that were given as gifts. What a waste.

I just tell my friends to send their presence, love and TIME. No "stuff." And for me, that's all I want from friends and family. I don't want stuff that I have to make pained decisions about.

Dad never could get rid of a tool. I'm now making decisions about tools from the 20's and 30's that were my Granddad's stuff. Dad could never part with his Dad's stuff. These are not really antiques either. Just stuff like brushes, chisels, punches, etc. Tools that haven't been used for 60 years. I can verify that antique brushes - despite being made with quality camel hair or something - still disintegrate due to the ravages of time. Oh boy. Oh, and physics in the 30's was the same as today. Guess what? Iron and steel still pit and rust. A straight edge razor not used for 60 years, despite being stainless, still pits and rots.

When we're done with this, I'm going home to make hard decisions on my stuff and do an early downsize. This process is tough, tough, tough.

Make it easy on your kids or whoever will look after you some day. With ER, you now have time to live simple and get rid of it. Whatever it is. You don't need it.

Great post and exactly what I needed to read. I spent 3 hours in my closet today. I felt like I was in an episode of "hoarders". 15 pocketbooks, really I kept 3. I had about 30 gift bags. Kept NONE since we don't really exchange gifts with anyone - lunch, dinner, or some other "get together" mean so much more. I also ended up with 3 large boxes of trash (T shirts I haven't worn in 20 years !) and a very large box for Goodwill (gorgeous sweaters and shirts that I'll never fit into again !). It feels good to get rid of the "junk" but I'm going to enter 'touch decision phase' soon since some of my furniture won't fit into the new place. Its not fancy but it all matches and deciding what stays and what goes is going to be difficult.

But as you said "whatever it is, you don't NEED it" ... that hit home so thank you again.

 

[JoeWras]

Great post and exactly what I needed to read. I spent 3 hours in my closet today. I felt like I was in an episode of "hoarders". 15 pocketbooks, really I kept 3. I had about 30 gift bags. Kept NONE since we don't really exchange gifts with anyone - lunch, dinner, or some other "get together" mean so much more. I also ended up with 3 large boxes of trash (T shirts I haven't worn in 20 years !) and a very large box for Goodwill (gorgeous sweaters and shirts that I'll never fit into again !). It feels good to get rid of the "junk" but I'm going to enter 'touch decision phase' soon since some of my furniture won't fit into the new place. Its not fancy but it all matches and deciding what stays and what goes is going to be difficult.

But as you said "whatever it is, you don't NEED it" ... that hit home so thank you again.

Congrats on your cleaning day. Sounds like great progress!

You are welcome, but it is just something that hit me from the heart. Family took the day off for Mother's day today, spending time with each other. That's a gift we all appreciate. And the young moms I think will appreciate the fact that 4 generations of family were together today.

Flowers wilt, but memories of visiting with great-grandpa last forever in their hearts.

 

[panhead]

Excellent post. I've done this process after my mother passed away (my father went 6 years earlier) and I could not have described the feelings any better. My father (and myself) are the same that we are unable to throw out tools. This is making me re-think some things....

My dear Dad, nearly 90, moved to senior living over the winter. My siblings and I are in the process of cleaning out the house and putting it up for sale.

What a sad, happy, crazy, process!

We've found goofy little toys, I mean tiny little things, that are bringing floods of memories back. But we've also found so many things that just bring sadness. We have at least 10 vases that Mom (who passed 8 years ago) stored away. I realized these were from flowers I sent her. Now just stuff collecting dust.

I seriously don't feel like buying another item of anything for another year.

There are many unopened items that were given as gifts. What a waste.

I just tell my friends to send their presence, love and TIME. No "stuff." And for me, that's all I want from friends and family. I don't want stuff that I have to make pained decisions about.

Dad never could get rid of a tool. I'm now making decisions about tools from the 20's and 30's that were my Granddad's stuff. Dad could never part with his Dad's stuff. These are not really antiques either. Just stuff like brushes, chisels, punches, etc. Tools that haven't been used for 60 years. I can verify that antique brushes - despite being made with quality camel hair or something - still disintegrate due to the ravages of time. Oh boy. Oh, and physics in the 30's was the same as today. Guess what? Iron and steel still pit and rust. A straight edge razor not used for 60 years, despite being stainless, still pits and rots.

When we're done with this, I'm going home to make hard decisions on my stuff and do an early downsize. This process is tough, tough, tough.

Make it easy on your kids or whoever will look after you some day. With ER, you now have time to live simple and get rid of it. Whatever it is. You don't need it.

 

[Semiretired2008]

We have been working on cleaning out the excess for two years now. We still have about two more years of clearing / cleaning to go. We are taking our time, but our (or at least mine) goal is to reduce to below what is necessary and then build back up to what we would call the ultimate and still reduced level...

We are not going to the minimalist level, but it might be close. I want to be light enough that I could move on a whim... The hardest part is agreeing on what we "need" and what we do not need to keep and my kids have laid claim to a lot, but are unable to take claim to their claims - I do not want to be a storage facility until they feel they are ready or they change their minds...

 

[Unpaintedhuffhines]

About 18 months ago we moved from a 3,500 sf house to a 1,400 sf house. We had filled the house over 15 years with all kinds of stuff, but we were forced to purge. Overall, it was exhilarating. When we got stuck, we'd watch about 10 episodes of hoarders, and then it got really easy. Amazing how many trophies and ribbons the three kiddos won I've the years -- we lined them up, took some photos, then gave them all away (I think they may have kept one or two).

We made the decision that we didn't want to be like my wife's parents, who have every homework assignment their kids ever had. Every closet is jammed, and the attic is stuffed full. Never going to be us.

 

[wmc1000]

First downsizing from 3800 sq. ft. 2 story to 2800 sq. ft. ranch 5 years ago as a pre-step for ER. Still have 2 yrs. to ER. Will step down to approx. 1500 sq. ft. at that point. Eliminated alot of stuff in first move so next one will be less of a hassle.

 

[Live And Learn]

Update - we will close on the smaller1500 sq ft home in two weeks. I'm still purging. I finally threw away my Business Law textbook from 1985 ! And my Biology textbook from 1987 ! I wanted to sit down and read some from each of them just for the laugh as I'm sure alot of the info is now proven wrong or no longer in use. I'm having a VERY hard time letting go of furniture however. It was all carefully handpicked. I'm having to cram my furniture into the new rooms. I figure I'll give it a shot and maybe if I feel uncomfortable with the situation after the move that I can sell and replace with smaller furniture at that time.

I was pleasantly surprised by the limited junk in the attic. The kitchen will be a nightmare as I have multiples of alot of things (three potato peelers, really ?). I don't have alot of knick-knacks so that won't be an issue either. But I HATE moving, so I'm just not looking forward to this. I keep telling myself that the move is what is enabling my ER, since I'll be saving about $10k / year on housing costs -- meaning I'm able to leave w*rk without having to save another $300k to support the current house. That's about three years of w*rk that I avoid. Gotta love that.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I keep telling myself that the move is what is enabling my ER, since I'll be saving about $10k / year on housing costs -- meaning I'm able to leave w*rk without having to save another $300k to support the current house. That's about three years of w*rk that I avoid. Gotta love that.

I like your math.

We looked at townhouses this weekend that would cost half of what our current home should sell for. Besides the lower home cost, we are looking forward to minimal yard maintenance and lower utility bills.

We have 1,000 sq feet of furniture and clutter that we either have to get rid before we move of or put into storage. I'd like to just get rid of it but I am not sure how long it will take. It has taken years to accumulate.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We are not going to the minimalist level, but it might be close. I want to be light enough that I could move on a whim.

I remember the days of being younger and moving apartments every year or so when the lease was up. It was fairly easy. We'd buy pizza, get a bunch of friends to help and we were done in a weekend. I never felt like I was lacking anything in terms of material goods back then. I don't know why we have so much stuff now.

 

[RockyMtn]

I remember the days of being younger and moving apartments every year or so when the lease was up. It was fairly easy. We'd buy pizza, get a bunch of friends to help and we were done in a weekend. I never felt like I was lacking anything in terms of material goods back then. I don't know why we have so much stuff now.

ah, the good old days of moving with garbage sacks instead of boxes!

 

[Major Tom]

ah, the good old days of moving with garbage sacks instead of boxes!

Load up the car for a few trips, maybe call a friend with a truck for the sofa, and you're done!

 

[Huston55]

Update - we will close on the smaller1500 sq ft home in two weeks. I'm still purging. I finally threw away my Business Law textbook from 1985 ! And my Biology textbook from 1987 ! I wanted to sit down and read some from each of them just for the laugh as I'm sure alot of the info is now proven wrong or no longer in use. I'm having a VERY hard time letting go of furniture however. It was all carefully handpicked. I'm having to cram my furniture into the new rooms. I figure I'll give it a shot and maybe if I feel uncomfortable with the situation after the move that I can sell and replace with smaller furniture at that time.

I was pleasantly surprised by the limited junk in the attic. The kitchen will be a nightmare as I have multiples of alot of things (three potato peelers, really ?). I don't have alot of knick-knacks so that won't be an issue either. But I HATE moving, so I'm just not looking forward to this. I keep telling myself that the move is what is enabling my ER, since I'll be saving about $10k / year on housing costs -- meaning I'm able to leave w*rk without having to save another $300k to support the current house. That's about three years of w*rk that I avoid. Gotta love that.

L&L-

It's exciting tracking your moving and downsizing progress. Sounds like its going well for you all. I especially like the $10k/$300k/3yr rationale; smart thinking!

If you don't mind saying what planned community you're moving to, I'd be interested; if you choose not to for privacy reasons, no worries. I'm interested because DW and I plan to move to FL for retirement.