Downsizing - seriously!

[Dawg52]

well.. a musicians definition of active is somewhat skewed... and I'm fairly certain that "folk star" is a contradiction in terms, but I have a band and we tour a little. We own a recording studio and still do projects for others (but only the ones I like) and I still teach guitar and composition at the local college and to a handful of private students. Not quite yet retired, but working on my own terms. Mostly.

Cool. One more question. How did you get hooked up with this website? Are you a website/software junkie? I guess that's 2 questions.

 

[Janet H]

Cool. One more question. How did you get hooked up with this website? Are you a website/software junkie? I guess that's 2 questions.

Junkie? Maybe..... is there a cure that doesn't involve [-]going cold turkey[/-] turning off my laptop?

We are getting serious about retiring and have a bunch of issues to work out.
DH has worked for Uncle Sam for more that 35 years - since 18 years old. He can pull a full retirement next year - just waiting for the birthday.
This site is highly helpful and unusually engaging. I just don't have the stomach for most traditional planning and financial info venues. Somehow my denim just doesn't feel right in a polyester world.

 

[unclemick]

Beeee careful / they have dangerous people on this forum - just do it/don't read books/ keep it simple/ put it on auto pilot/ etc.

Pssst Wellesley or Target Retirement or ??



heh heh heh -

 

[heyyou]

Late to the discusssion, so this is for the OP. Go rent whatever style of home that you think you might like to live in. Several years ago, Scott Burns wrote about one guy who owns places like the one where Billy and Akaisha live sometimes. By following links and Google, those park-model parks are in many locations and climates. They all have rentals. My suggestion is to try different levels of downsizing before moving off of the rural place. A park model may be too radical of a change.

What I find attractive about the parks is that a business person is managing the place, not a homeowners association.

If you do sell off the stuff, then need it again, you can rebuy used at craigslist and estate sales. It won't be exactly the same, but you would have time to shop for what you did want.

 

[kumquat]

Funny, since my DW/me did exactly that. We were married after I returned from Nam in '69. All our "possessions" were in the back seat of our '69 Dodge Dart on our way to my next assignment.

Back in the early 70's I was working a temp j*b in eastern Canada. They layed me off the day before Good Friday and offered me a permanent full-time j*b starting the day after Easter Monday. That meant I missed 2 paid statutory holidays (with pay). I got PO'd and decided to move west. By mid-night I was on the road with all my worldly goods in the trunk of an Austin-Healy Sprite.

 

[Khan]

Back in the early 70's I was working a temp j*b in eastern Canada. They layed me off the day before Good Friday and offered me a permanent full-time j*b starting the day after Easter Monday. That meant I missed 2 paid statutory holidays (with pay). I got PO'd and decided to move west. By mid-night I was on the road with all my worldly goods in the trunk of an Austin-Healy Sprite.

Back in '74, I drove from Dover NJ to Stockton CA via Pensacola FL and San Diego CA with most* of my worldly possessions (and a passenger) in the MG.

*A box half the size of a large desk arrived two weeks later.

 

[audreyh1]

It took us a year to get rid of most of our stuff (including a house and a boat)! We moved from a home into a motorhome, and only kept what we could carry in the motorhome and in a 5x10 ft climate controlled storage unit in my MIL's town.

It was a lot of work, and took concentration and ingenuity, but it was SOOOOO worth it! Very freeing, lots of closure. We found good homes for a lot of our stuff and that was very rewarding as well.

Regrets? Nope!

I thought of it as "streamlining our life". After a few years of retirement, we looked at what was most important to us in our daily lives and how to rearrange our lifestyle to optimize these most important things and get rid/minimize of the rest. Living mobile was a major part of it. It became painfully obvious that the responsibilities of home ownership were a total drag on our lifestyle as was extra stuff that we didn't use.

I don't think we would have made the right decisions before or right after retiring. I think we needed a few years to get our priorities straight first.

Think STREAMLINING!

Audrey

 

[GladToBeFree]

I've often thought that an all consuming fire would be a blessing in disguise. I have trouble letting go of crap that is really not worth keeping. It really came home to me a couple of years ago when I was off working on relief effort with the Red Cross during the Katrina crisis and someone broke into the house and stole a number of valuables from us. After seeing the losses that folks in MS experienced, I was somewhat immune to our loss. If I had not been in MS at that time, I'd have wanted to find the perps and destroy them.

Accumulating "things" is only a temporary "satisfier". True satisfaction comes from other sources. I only hope I'm able to let go before I die. Hopefully long enough before to really enjoy life.

Jim.

 

[kumquat]

Back in '74, I drove from Dover NJ to Stockton CA via Pensacola FL and San Diego CA with most* of my worldly possessions (and a passenger) in the MG.

*A box half the size of a large desk arrived two weeks later.

Rookie!

The "back seat" of an MGB (or A) was a lot bigger than the trunk of an A-H Sprite. A box half the size of a large desk is bigger than the trunk and "back seat" of an MG or A-H. You cheated!

 

[Khan]

Rookie!

The "back seat" of an MGB (or A) was a lot bigger than the trunk of an A-H Sprite. A box half the size of a large desk is bigger than the trunk and "back seat" of an MG or A-H. You cheated!

It was a Midget, and I did have a traveling companion (with some luggage).

 

[kumquat]

OK, you win, or at least tie.

 

[SteveR]

My move from college to my first apartment took two medium boxes in the front seat of my brother's car.

My last move in 2002, required one 53 foot van plus 1/3 of another one. My late wife was a bit of a packrat you might say. Our load was 40,000 lbs. so you can only imagine the stuff we are now working through to downsize.

We have filled dumpsters with junk and given away many many things over the past year. We recently cleaned out 4 closets and gave away nearly a ton of clothing and other household items. We have only scratched the surface to my sorrow.

Our next mission is to find a new home for 100 collector plates my late wife collected. Anybody know a good way to get these sold short of Ebay which would be far more effort than they would sell for?

Next is the linen closet and then the office...which is filled with stuff from several prior jobs and tons of books, Consumer Reports back 15 years or more and National Geo. back to 1982.

We have a plan but it will take us several months to get the good stuff left sold or given away to the right person(s). We are also looking at our options for where to go next considering current family is all local. I would like to go full time in the RV for a few years but DW is not there yet due to the grandkids (all hers) so that is not an option for a few more years.

For now the goals is to keep getting rid of stuff and to determine what to keep for the next place assuming we want a small house in a 55+ active adult community. In the meantime....we will continue to travel in the RV for weeks at a time.

 

[youbet]

We have a plan but it will take us several months to get the good stuff left sold or given away to the right person(s).

We seem to be following the same path Steve, although by your description, our pile is a lot smaller than your pile!

On the input side, we've agreed nothing new comes home unless it's offset by something else leaving.....promptly. On the output side, I run ads on Craig's List frequently, jump at opportunities to give things away and try to consume things I'd stashed "for a rainy day" instead of buying new. It's a slow process, but in 15 months of retirement, the pile has shrunk noticeably.

The hurdles we don't know how to solve are the piles of hobby "stuff." DW quilts and grows roses (certified rosarian). I have lots of goodies related to my ham radio hobby including a collection of morse code keys. We both paddle and the garage is littered with kayaks, paddles, life vests, camping equipment, etc., etc. We're active in the hobbies, enjoy the activies and can't figure out how to participate without owning the related "stuff."

So, bottom line, excess general household "stuff" is shrinking successfully. Hobby "stuff" lingers on.

Any ideas gang?

 

[SteveR]

...We're active in the hobbies, enjoy the activies and can't figure out how to participate without owning the related "stuff."

So, bottom line, excess general household "stuff" is shrinking successfully. Hobby "stuff" lingers on.

Any ideas gang?

The hobbies are what bring you pleasure so why downsize them until you can't do them anymore? Our RV is another house and has "stuff" from our previous cabin as well as some new stuff that is RV specific. We will have a new pile of stuff to dispose of once we stop RVing when we can no longer do it but in the meantime, we accept the "stuff" as part of what we must have to do our hobbie and will keep it as long as it is desired.

The collections are hard to part with. Anything you have a personal interest in with acquiring it has a history that is all your own and makes it that much harder to part with.

Good luck.

 

[TromboneAl]

So, bottom line, excess general household "stuff" is shrinking successfully. Hobby "stuff" lingers on.

Any ideas gang?

Can you change hobbies?

Hobby that requires stuff and takes space: Collecting vintage cars.

Hobby that takes less space: Watching TV

But seriously, there are some excellent and entertaining hobbies that require very little stuff.

 

[cj]

Wow, there is some great input in this thread, THANKS! We have begun selling, tossing, giving away stuff. It is very freeing.

Re: hobbies - you are right, this is a tough area. DH has 4 guitars and 5 telescopes. Thankfully he got rid of the really big telescope years ago (it took up a large corner of our living room). He claims he will get rid of more of the astronomy equipment. We'll see. But then there are books (his and mine). I think we'll donate a lot to the library and then borrow whatever we want to read. One of the hobbies I plan to take into retirement is my knitting. (My favorite thing: Project Linus National Headquarters - Home) Knitting needles don't take up a lot of space!!

One of the things that has been hardest to let go of is the exercise equipment. The truth is that it's old and we hardly use it. We have a treadmill, stationary bike, and 2 large weight benches. Selling it makes it feel like we are admitting we really don't exercise! But we have decided to chuck it all except a few individual dumbbells. That will be a huge dent. The truth is, we'd rather go for long walks than anything. Shoes don't take up much space (especially when we throw away the 12 or so extra pairs of old running/walking shoes that are too broken down to be supportive, but seemed too good to toss).

It's just amazing how much stuff we have, even though we are not all that materialistic compare to the average person. But we're making progress!!

CJ

 

[W2R]

But then there are books (his and mine). I think we'll donate a lot to the library and then borrow whatever we want to read.

Ah, yes - - then there are the books! I have been working on that this week.

Boxes of books owned, and year:

36 boxes: 1975
85 boxes: 1999
40 boxes: 2002
20 boxes: as of last weekend, have been working on culling!
10 boxes: Goal for ER and moving to Missouri in 2009-2010

In the 21st century, we can get so much information on the internet, or online, that I really feel I can reduce the albatross of 85 boxes of books that I felt I needed to keep, just a few years ago.

 

[cj]

Wow, that's quite a stash of books! We also had the question, what do we do with a set of early 1980's Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedias The information is out of date, and who needs the books when you have the internet?? I called the library & asked if they knew what we could do with them. They said they would take them as a donation, probably to put on the "for sale" shelf.

CJ

 

[happy2bretired]

Have an auction.

 

[happy2bretired]

Then have a second one the next day.

Oh it feels good to unload stuff!

 

[Gumby]

..

 

[Achiever51]

When I was a kid, I read my parents' entire F&W encyclopedia set over the course of a year and a half...along with a children's dictionary (at the time no one told me that they were for reference; I thought you were supposed to read them!!)

While it is not the same as holding a book on your lap, I do find myself randomly surfing the 'net many days...I'll click on one site and then follow links to something else. Fascinating...

 

[HFWR]

Look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls...

 

[cj]

Gumby & Achiever51 - send me your address & I'll mail 'em to you!!

 

[youbet]

The hobbies are what bring you pleasure so why downsize them until you can't do them anymore?

Good point! In fact, DW and I were sitting in a Mexican restaurant Sunday evening waiting for dinner to arrive and I brought the subject up. I told her I was wondering if there was any way she could sort of "compress" the space her quilting "stuff" consumes. I'll spare you the details of her response, but you can imagine. Then she asked when I was going to get rid of most of my ham radio equipment so we'd have more space.......... It really wasn't a pretty discussion. I quickly ordered a couple more Negra Modello's. Shots of tequilla might have been more appropriate!

From TromboneAl:

"Hobby that requires stuff and takes space: Collecting vintage cars.

Hobby that takes less space: Watching TV"

Good point TA!

In the end, we concluded that we have some opportunities to enjoy our hobbies more space efficiently, but we're not interested in giving them up. Watching other folks kayak on TV just wouldn't be the same as being outside doing it ourselves!

As my reward for bringing the subject up, I received several assignments.

1. Move the kayak storage rack on the north wall of the garage higher so DW doesn't bump her head when getting out of her car.
2. Pick up and spread a load of mulch on DW's rose beds.
3. Move the vintage Collins 75S3-B HF receiver from the dining room table where I plopped it upon returning from an electronic swap fest several months ago.......
4. Free up about two kilobux cash to get her a nifty new quilting bench in lieu of the folding tables she uses now. (Will take less space )
5. Get a new attitude about household chores. For example, grass mowing, painting/decorating, car repairs, bill paying, etc., are my hobbies and are not to be considered chores!

Sometimes it might be better to just let things go and not bring them up for discussion.