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New here, we are downsizing 35 years worth of junk, so that we can move to the Wilmington, Cape Fear area. We went there on a vacation a few years ago, and just fell in love with it. We now live in NEPA, we had been transferred from California by my husbands job. He is now retired, I am not, but have not worked in a couple of years, and am finding it nearly impossible to get a job in my field.
It is an overwhelming task, and it has taken over two years so far, but now we are at the point where we will most probably lose our home to foreclosure unless we sell, and it really isn't that, that is the problem... We just really dislike it here, but the job is SO big. Does anyone have any organizational, motivational suggestions?
I think the question is how to downsize? The Coastal board isn't for that - there is a search function and I found several on downsizing, here is one from the Retirement forum - //www.city-data.com/forum/retir...ownsizing.html
New here, we are downsizing 35 years worth of junk, so that we can move to the Wilmington, Cape Fear area. We went there on a vacation a few years ago, and just fell in love with it. We now live in NEPA, we had been transferred from California by my husbands job. He is now retired, I am not, but have not worked in a couple of years, and am finding it nearly impossible to get a job in my field.
It is an overwhelming task, and it has taken over two years so far, but now we are at the point where we will most probably lose our home to foreclosure unless we sell, and it really isn't that, that is the problem... We just really dislike it here, but the job is SO big. Does anyone have any organizational, motivational suggestions?
Thanks. GB
A bunch of questions for you OP. They are not meant to attack you, just getting information. Maybe answering them will help you clarify your thinking.
TBH OP, if you've been working on this for 2 years you haven't been downsizing. Something else is standing in the way. It could be that you are just frozen with indecision about what you MUST do versus what you WANT to do at this point in time. Dreaming about something you can't have can make you spin your wheels without traction. If you know what you MUST do, chances are you will be able to downsize the stuff fairly well. It's all about priority and necessity being the motivators.
Foreclosure sounds like a pretty big near term problem. What have you done to avoid that? Have you approached your lender to see if you can re-negotiate your mortgage? If you don't want to stay there, talk with a real estate agent about selling your current home before it gets foreclosed. Get a timeline for listing. Preparing, listing, selling and getting out from under it may help motivate you. Moving in to something smaller and deliberately short term may help you get rid of stuff you won't be able to take along. IMHO, doing this will set the rest of the process in motion.
Go through each room in your house with a pad of sticky notes, and label everything that actually is essential to a normal life. If it's not essential, plan to sell, give to family, donate, toss. If you could truly take it to a storage unit because you can live without it temporarily, do you REALLY need to keep it? Make decisions, don't put them off. Chances are your gut response to an item is the right one. If you have to, do it individually so you don't start arguing over keeping or getting rid of something. That will sidetrack you. If you make a "mistake", what's the harm? If it is something you could replace in future, you can replace it in future. If it's something irreplaceable (like a family heirloom) does it have to stay with you or can it go to anther family member? Do one room at a time and take a break. Starting rooms but not finishing them just adds to the confusion and frustration. An old trick for tackling a long list of chores is to put little simpler ones interspersed between bigger more complex ones. Clean out a closet, a bureau, a cupboard. Every time you can cross even a little one off that list it helps keep you going.
Sell the stuff that has value. Sell it for whatever you can easily get and forget about it.
Donate or recycle stuff you don't think you can get money for. Have it hauled off and forget about it.
Don't buy replacements. Learn to live without it at least until you know you have a new place to live.
Last edited by Parnassia; 06-28-2018 at 02:33 AM..
1: anything you (plural) have not used in 3 or more years -- sell or give away.
2: decide on how many bedrooms you will have and which bedroom furniture you need for them, then sell or give away any remaining bedroom furniture.
3: Take a really close look at everything in the garage or storage shed and decide if you really want to move it/keep it.
4: ditto yard furniture, bird baths, bird feeders, hoses etc.
5: now go through the kitchen and bath items and only keep what you really need.
6: ditto clothes.
7: then decide which remaining furniture you really need and sell the rest.
We moved and downsized 2 years ago. It IS tough but necessary.
If you are at risk for foreclosure first try to extend that.
My advice to remove from the house, everything that you will need at your new place (perhaps temporarily rent an apartment in your area to live in) and the most important sentimental items. Call an agency that does estate sales. Step back and let them handle everything. I bet that they can empty the house in a couple of weeks from your first call.
I also know someone who sold the house that he lived in for 50 plus years completely filled (even the refrigerator and cupboards). He was moving to a nursing home and his wife and only child were dead. He packed one suitcase with his clothes and a few photographs and left everything behind. He did not get a great price for the house, but it was completed very quickly.
Hi Everyone,
New here, we are downsizing 35 years worth of junk, so that we can move to the Wilmington
Quick background: I had 17 years' worth, plus way too much from several estates, including my mom and step father. I successfully downsized to two relo cubes and what fit into my car.
Rules:
1. The most important thing is to cut down to X (determine your goal. One POD? For me it was two relo cubes). Let NOTHING stand in your way.
2. When questions/concerns come up: we can't get rid of this! It was Aunt Sara's. I paid X for this. It's going. Or, this is perfectly good . . . SEE RULE #1.
3. Take photos of things, like that dresser of Aunt Sara's and then let it go.
4. Most of what you have is junk. If you truly feel it's worth something, pay for an appraiser, but in most cases it is junk and not worth doing an estate sale. Repeat over and over: This is junk that is keeping me from a better life. If it isn't junk, then get the estate people in ASAP, but after working on a number of projects like this, in general it's mostly JUNK.
5. Don't be afraid to hire some help. Junk King is a good company.
Here's how I did it:
Step 1: I quickly went through and put the "valuables" (several pocket watches and cameras) in a lock box and then my valuables (passports, etc) in a toolbox. I hid both in the car and locked it.
Step 2: I set aside an empty box for "genealogy stuff" (photos), plus a box for stuff that wasn't mine and needed to get returned.
Step 3: I ordered a 20 yard dumpster. In Columbus, OH, Frog dumpsters does recycling, so I went that way. If you don't have that, just get whatever dumpster will fit in your driveway.
Step 4: I bought contractor trash bags and several rolling plastic trash cans from Lowe's or Home Depot. Plus I stopped at the store and got water, cola, snacks.
Step 5: I hired helpers and told them they could keep stuff for a reduction in fees. I also told them any loose photos they found went into the empty genealogy box (I knew there were loose photos). I wasn't worried about them stealing anything because my valuables were locked up.
Step 6: We went through one room at a time, top to bottom, clockwise, as fast as we could. I DID NOT try to clean anything at that point. It was load the dumpster time. I did occasionally stop to photograph some of the furniture, and then out it went. It took me about 12 hours over two days with 2 - 3 helpers (who weren't that good! better helpers would've make this work go faster).
Step 7: I didn't have many drawers full of things, but if I did, I would've emptied those into plastic see-through bins for later sorting. The first goal is the fill the dumpster and clean space.
Step 8: Fill the dumpster. Fill the dumpster. Fill the dumpster. Get another one if you fill the first one.
Once the house is nearly empty, then you can clean and get into "fine sorting" if you dumped the contents of drawers into plastic boxes. Again, do this quickly, and maybe set a limit of one copy box of things you will keep. For me, it was photos, which I later scanned and uploaded to genealogy sites. Then I tossed out the photos.
Step 9: Since you have a long distance move, give it a day or two, and then try to get rid 1/4 to 1/2 of what you have kept from the first large purge. That should get you down to your goal: one POD or whatever.
I'm not going to lie! This process will hurt. You will likely cry, get angry, feel guilty. At these times, go back to RULE #1 and stay focused on your goal. Good snacks help. Bribe yourself with a steak dinner if you need to.
More Emotional help: promise yourself $100 or whatever is reasonable to re-buy anything you threw away and shouldn't have. Then just let everything go.
After I did all that, as I recall, I needed to re-buy a crepe pan, two books, and something else, but this was under $50. That's dang good for filling two dumpsters! Also, it's been 5 years now, and I honestly don't miss any of the stuff I threw out.
This is what I did and what I have helped others to do. I hope it helps you! Good luck and keep us posted.
Added: I know there are several who will chide me for being wasteful, but if time is a problem, you really don't have time for selling stuff. This is where if you have a dumpster company that does recycling, it's a blessing because they will pass stuff on. You can occasionally call organizations like Sally Army (Salvation Army, Goodwill), but when I moved, NONE of them wanted to come out and look at my stuff, nor were the women's shelters interested, and I wasted almost a week calling these sorts of organizations and waiting for a return call.
He did not get a great price for the house, but it was completed very quickly.
I was on a team that cleaned out a house like that. Having been an emotional wreck from trying to sort out my mom's stuff (and finally having to hire a stranger to do it), I totally understand why he walked out with just a suitcase.
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