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Downsizing, To Move or Not to Move? That is the Question
Aging Well | Last Active: Mar 23 9:13pm | Replies (473)Comment receiving replies
Yes, it's time - I started last year with a single shed, which needed an "emergency" cleanout because a stray cat sneaked in & died there ugh. I followed up by cleaning and organizing my potting supplies in one place. Since then, I have been cleaning out, literally, one drawer or shelf at a time. I have finished dresser, vanity, desk, pantry and one bookshelf. There are 3 big boxes of donations ready to go the thrift store & transitional shelter.
Now I am about to tackle the extensive array of kitchenware, bakeware & dishes shelved in the laundry room & the local food pantry/free store will take the donations. I'll pass on the wide array of vases, baskets, catering tablecloths, punch bowls, trays, etc to the next generation for large gatherings, or give it away. Next will be the large cabinet of picture frames & framing supplies - my hands no longer can cut mats, etc... My downfall will be my sewing room, but I do try to do a little purging there each year, so hopefully, one bin at a time, I'll be able to manage this over a few weeks.
I have asked my husband to do the same to no avail - he'll take things from one spot, say "I don't need this" and put it somewhere else "just in case." He still has college chemistry textbooks from the 1960's, his idea of purging is to tell me which of my things I don't need.
How do people stay motivated? I do well for a week or two, then find myself letting it slide.
Sue
Replies to "Yes, it's time - I started last year with a single shed, which needed an "emergency"..."
Hi Sue,
I’ve been cleaning out drawers, cabinets, closets in spare time for months now.
Donation center picks up everything so far.
I have 2 shredders going with papers no longer needed. It takes time and energy. Everything Ive donated, I do not miss.
Us Americans have so much, I feel somebody else could use what I no longer need.
As for your husband saving college books from the 1960s, I’m afraid I’m guilty of the same thing. I did save 2 of my bacteriologist books from med school, and it took time to toss out many research papers.
How many books is he holding onto?
It sounds like you have a lot of things.
Take care,
Funcountess
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Hi, everybody
I have been in my new, one bedroom plus den condo for over more than 18 months now and absolutely love it. Downsizing was a huge job because I had let things accumulate in my house that I didn't need or use or that didn't even belong to me. (One of the lessons that I have tried to pass on to my children is that, just because something comes from the family home, it isn't a sacred relic. It's just an old potato masher. I had things from my mother's house for no other reason than that they came from my mother's house and I gave them space for decades.)
My husband was even worse but once the purchase of the new condo was started, then we both felt pressured to get serious. Luckily, we had a long time while the new place was being built so we could chip away, a bit at a time. I kept reminding myself that, by working at it every day, I was avoiding the huge scramble at the end. I have more than one friend who has called me from their new "downsized" location to tell me that they were surrounded by moving boxes with no space or ability to unpack them because they had brought along way too much STUFF.
Every time I had to move an article to reach something else, I considered when I had last used that particular thing and, if it was more than a week or two, it went into a box. Each week I took a carload to a donation centre and I would think to myself that I now had that much extra space in my house. It still amazes me that I could remove possibly 40 - 50 carloads of things from my house and my house still didn't look empty. Why on earth was I keeping all those things that I clearly didn't use or need? (Full disclosure: I think twice since moving I have had to replace something that I gave away. One thing was my box grater. I kept a smaller one for the sake of space but it was not very satisfactory so I went out and bought a regular box grater. Can't recall what the second thing was.)
One of the obstacles we faced, that frequently made me feel overwhelmed, was the need to recycle and keep as much as possible from ending up in landfill. It would be so much simpler to just call a junk removal company, which we did have to do for a small percentage of our stuff, but we didn't want to just abandon everything to the garbage dump. Having to make those decisions and research what was the best thing to do with various items makes the job much, much bigger.
Don't give up. You are avoiding a huge crisis situation by doing the work now, more slowly, with the luxury of time.