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When we were househunting 2 years ago, I was amazed at the number of older people (let's say 60-65) who had their giant houses packed to the brim with stuff. It gave me the heaves just looking at it.
There was one house that we liked and the couple wanted a FOUR month closing date so they could go through all of their stuff. We passed.
Anyway, it was a good lesson to me to purge purge purge. Never let it get like that.
I have an offer in on just such a house... packed to the brim... I don't mean you cannot walk but living space is fully furnished with tons of figurines... basement, shop, garage almost to the ceilings...
He passed away quickly from pancreatic cancer and she is at age 86 in severe depression because she is house rich and cash poor but cannot bear to part with anything.
I did offer 3 months no rent "Rent Back"... the Broker said mine is the only offer she is considering...
Plus anything left I would be free to "Enjoy"... notice I did not say dispose of.
She almost had a breakdown because prospective buyers said out loud what a mess... or filled with junk...
Could be why I have been fortunate acquiring property?
When we were househunting 2 years ago, I was amazed at the number of older people (let's say 60-65) who had their giant houses packed to the brim with stuff. It gave me the heaves just looking at it.
There was one house that we liked and the couple wanted a FOUR month closing date so they could go through all of their stuff. We passed.
Anyway, it was a good lesson to me to purge purge purge. Never let it get like that.
That is what made me a minimalist, I run a storage and I have no belongings but my mother and my step father are hoarders, she has like 3 big storages filled with crap, and then 300 miles away she has 3 storages. My grandmother was a hoarder and we had to fill up about ten of those huge drop off containers to clear it all out......My grandmother and my grandfather spent 50 years doing nothing but going up and down Surfside beach hunting everything they could find. She had a plan where she was going to sell shells, imagine the shells she picked up over 50 years Dang I miss my grandparents!!
I live in a one bedroom apartment, but I'm in the process of getting rid of everything that's not being used, because I want to move to a studio.
I've steadily been getting rid of things, and I'm not done yet. Anything that's left when I get ready to move, will be donated. My lease is up next May, and I plan to look for a cheaper place to live.
Call Salvation Army and have them meet you a the storage unit. Anything they will not take, haul to the dump.
Used furniture has almost no value. It is not worth selling. By the time you are done with all the hassle, you will get about 30 cents an hour for your time. You undoubtedly have already paid many times its value in storage fees and you have no end in sight. If you finally get a place, it will not be worth shipping the stuff to your new location anyway, and it may never happen.
You've spent over three grand and counting so far but don't want to get rid of stuff because that money will then have been wasted. Well, that's kind of true. But. If you don't get rid of it now, you'll only spend more money. It's called "throwing good money after bad". Bite the bullet and ditch everything if it will help you save for a downpayment on a new place.
OP, I'm also in my late 50s and have done a lot of downsizing and moving over the years.
You've gotten some excellent advice.
My final suggestions:
1. If you have a therapist that helps with hoarding issues, schedule one session with him or her. Show him/her this thread and discuss your feelings. I agree that there is/are larger issue(s) going on. Once you get clearer about them you will be better able to look at your situation more objectively.
2. If you don't have someone in the real world to talk to, do the math: look at what the stuff is worth, vs. replacement vs. storage.
I'm NOT saying "get rid of everything," but consider why you are paying top dollar. There is a huge difference between storing your grandmother's handmade dresser, which you want to use when you get settled, vs. an MDF dresser from Value City, which you like, but can be easily replaced at a later time!
Also, "Stuff" is not people! If you are keeping some things because they belonged to a dead person you loved, bring that up with the therapist. Take some photos of the stuff and then let it go. Keep the photos to remind you, not the stuff itself. Photos can be stored digitally, so no storage lockers are involved.
3. It is good to plan ahead but also try to live in the moment. At the very least, have only one small storage locker, not far from where you currently live. When you move, take that stuff with you.
I really hope that you are able to take some of the advice on this thread to heart. You are holding yourself back from renting a decent apartment with all of the money you are spending to store stuff, and if you can't see that or can't move forward from being "stuck" that's where a session or two with a therapist might help.
As for me, when I do the math on things like this, I let the numbers indicate my course of action. Yes, it hurts at the time to let stuff go, but after many years of dumping things, I can honestly tell you that once it's gone, it's generally easy to move on, and unless it was granny's homemade dresser, you can always re-buy it at a future time.
And lastly, as for the argument, "I've kept it this long . . ." -- sorry, that's crap. Live in the moment and again go back whether the item is one-of-a-kind or something mass-marketed that can be replaced. Remember the saying, "Don't throw good money after bad."
Keep your eyes on the prize: a great apartment in a great area where you can have a career and friends. Eliminate anything that is keeping you from this goal.
Basically, everything in the above post^
I also hope OP you come back and read the additional posts and contemplate your choices. Forgive me if I missed your age but how old are you? ETA: Nevermind, I see that you are 30. I am curious what you do for a living and am a bit confused on where exactly (what city) you are relocating to...? You said you put your stuff in storage to travel...are you going to be doing much more of that again in the near future? Or are you looking to actually settle down in the next city for a while?
Anyways, people simply cannot make sense of why you don't have money to save to move out/live on your own when you're paying $260 a month for stuff to sit somewhere.
It doesn't make sense when you have the choice of not paying for that stuff to sit somewhere instead, and just buy the things you need when you actually need them. Not wanting to start over just simply isn't a good enough reason...when you don't have the money to move out you don't have the money to pay for stuff to sit somewhere either. What that means is you can't afford the luxury to pay storage fees - which means you start over like anyone else would.
What would you do if you had all of the money you used to pay storage fees in the bank account right now? You'd move out...right? And you'd start over with new stuff right? My guess is yes and yes. It's just hard understanding why you wouldn't go that route as opposed to delaying your move out and causing what seems to be unnecessary stress by having to devote brain power, time and money to all of these things you've had sitting in storage all of this time.
Best of luck to you.
Last edited by southkakkatlantan; 07-26-2018 at 06:03 PM..
You've spent over three grand and counting so far but don't want to get rid of stuff because that money will then have been wasted. Well, that's kind of true. But. If you don't get rid of it now, you'll only spend more money. It's called "throwing good money after bad". Bite the bullet and ditch everything if it will help you save for a downpayment on a new place.
Which makes no sense as the money would not have been wasted "because" she gets rid of the stuff.
The money has already been wastedbecause she's been paying to let stuff sit in storage.
Solution: To stop wasting money, let the stuff go.
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Dang I miss my grandparents!!
