Downsizing, To Move or Not to Move? That is the Question

When we had to move my mother-in-law out of the house she and her husband purchased to be near us, we were almost overwhelmed. OK, we were. After my father-in-law died, we thought my mother-in-law was grieving because of her actions. She had dementia. Anyway, the first step for her was independent living which did not last long and then it was assisted living so fewer pieces of furniture and art work went with her. We could hardly make ourselves go into the house and work every day. Finally, we had friends come help us and choose anything they wanted after we selected a few items. It was great to see them go home with things they could use. Then we rented a storage unit for almost everything else, but only after we had a local thrift shop come and get loads of stuff. They are a wonderful shop and use the money to help people get back on their feet by giving them a place to stay and also teaching budgeting skills. We brought too much home with us. We are still working on that, but made room for more stuff by giving away things from Nana. We had a set of dishes from Nana with a 12-piece place setting with every bowl and serving piece imaginable. We decided to give all of that to a couple who loved old-fashioned dishes with pink roses rimmed in gold. That eliminated lots of boxes. Then we decided to give Nana's silver ware to the same couple. We had not used any of it and were so happy this couple wanted everything. The final step in the in-laws' house was a call to 1.800.gotjunk. Two nice young men showed up with a truck and cleaned out the basement and the garage. They told my husband they try to recycle everything. There were lots of good tools and so much more. Since we still had art work on the walls, my husband asked the young men if they would like to select a piece. They did and we removed the rest. A friend helped us clean and the house sold within a week. What a relief! Now it is time for the two of us to get serious about all the stuff we no longer need. We have no children so nobody wants anything. We might check with our friends again, but most of them are full up, also. What a long post. We are struggling! @joybringer1

Hi my name is dave and I read your post and I'm so happy you had the support to get thru the house. The reason for the reply if not to personal your last sentence says your struggling could you explain that to me? You and your husband sound like everything is going okay and mom is in a better place for her. Keep positive thoughts good things will happen dave

Not a quality issue, there's a name but I cant think of it now manufactures (predetermined obsolescence) cant make any money with equipment lasting that long have a great day dave

We are struggling because we still have too much stuff. It is difficult to let some things go. Yes, we are okay and my mother-in-law died in January. She was ready to go and I am thankful she does not have to go through the pandemic. We are continuing to box stuff and take to the thrift shop. Some days we do a good job and others, we just read and relax. Life is good! @joybringer1

Would the term be "planned obsolescence"? We have had our refrigerator for 25 years - pretty good I think - the first one lasted for 22 before the compressor went out. There is a part available for this one, but at $80 plus labor and all the other things that need to be fixed at this age, it just seems like time to "pull the plug" on this faithful beast. And we are carefully replacing each appliance with Energy Star rated ones - our utility bills keep going down, and we are consuming less gas & electricity. Whenever we replace something, the technicians are usually amazed at how long my husband's TLC has kept it going - we were the last in our 1972-3 neighborhood to replace furnace & AC in 2018.
On a happier note, we just learned that our original, 48 year old deep freeze is still purring along with its third owner and her kids. She was thrilled to get it when our daughters were finished with it 2 years ago.
Sue

@sueinmn They really do not make appliances like they used to. There is one very popular manufacturer, I'm not sure if I am allowed to mention the brand so I won't, and every appliance we have had from that brand has been a dud. We have a smaller refrigerator in our basement though that we bought from a neighbor in 1981 or 1982. At that point it was 20 years old, we just use it for overflow which we have a lot of recently since we do not go to the stores and have to think ahead getting everything delivered. That refrigerator is still humming along. It's not frost-free of course so we do have to occasionally defrost it but that's no big deal.

I hope your new fridge works for a long time for you. I think they figure something like 8 - 10 years for a refrigerator these days. We have been in this house since 1988 and had to replace the refrigerator at least twice and we need a new one before next summer. It cannot keep up with summer heat.
JK

@sueinmn They really do not make appliances like they used to. There is one very popular manufacturer, I'm not sure if I am allowed to mention the brand so I won't, and every appliance we have had from that brand has been a dud. We have a smaller refrigerator in our basement though that we bought from a neighbor in 1981 or 1982. At that point it was 20 years old, we just use it for overflow which we have a lot of recently since we do not go to the stores and have to think ahead getting everything delivered. That refrigerator is still humming along. It's not frost-free of course so we do have to occasionally defrost it but that's no big deal.

I hope your new fridge works for a long time for you. I think they figure something like 8 - 10 years for a refrigerator these days. We have been in this house since 1988 and had to replace the refrigerator at least twice and we need a new one before next summer. It cannot keep up with summer heat.
JK

I was fortunate to find exactly the refrigerator I was seeking - it's predeccessor has lasted 25 years with a small repair, I realize I won't see that again, but this one still has an excellent reputation. In addition it is US made and parts are readily available - the dealer is 1 mile from me and his own technicians do the repairs if it is something my handy husband or son-in-law don't want to tackle. For now, we are turning the old one on and off at 2 hour intervals so it doesn't freeze everything solid!
Sue

I was fortunate to find exactly the refrigerator I was seeking - it's predeccessor has lasted 25 years with a small repair, I realize I won't see that again, but this one still has an excellent reputation. In addition it is US made and parts are readily available - the dealer is 1 mile from me and his own technicians do the repairs if it is something my handy husband or son-in-law don't want to tackle. For now, we are turning the old one on and off at 2 hour intervals so it doesn't freeze everything solid!
Sue