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PA, some of those cookbooks bring decent money on ebay, just a thought.
Nice thought but I don't sell on eBay. I have a friend who has 1st dibs. If she says no they go to the library for their shelves or their sale. They do have a table for out of print books.
I can't afford to give them money so I donate books. Thought I was done with sorting books. but just found a shelf of gardening books I'm going through.
I was going to ask your opinion on PAhippo's suggestion. But who know +;...........................//./be the very thing I throw away. Normally we respect each other's space, but at this stage in our lives it occurs to me that if anything happens to him I am seriously stuck with an enormous task that I will not be able to handle. I'm hoping that in the fall we can have a calm discussion. One thing I MAY do is go through all the nearly empty paint and stain cans in the cellar that are probably polluting our house. To get rid of those, though, one has to dry up their contents before dumping. He would see all those cans basking in the sun on the side of our house and secretly bring most of them back in!
This has played on my mind as well. DH and I are both early 60's, not quite at retirement age but looking ahead. I am disabled due to severe arthritis. Without DH I would be in a pickle with all the stuff we had. It could severely limit my options in the future. That much stuff can take on a negative equity if one has to pay to haul it off! Seriously, we found ourselves in that situation now with our recent move. We did get rid of a lot of stuff, and it cost us just to get rid of much of it! Stuff you think has a value simply doesn't. No one wants that old china, crystal, figurines, etc. I tried selling some stuff on Ebay and barely broke even with shipping & handling costs, etc, hardly worth the time. Our garage sale netted about $300. In the end, we were glad to just give stuff away for the hauling. That's when I had helpers, mainly DH, Ds, and a few neighbors. As time goes on your circle of friends becomes less and less able to help with the heavy stuff. The suggestion to just move it out to the alley and someone will pick it up only works if you are physically able to move the stuff!
Even now, with two healthy teens, and DH, we ended up paying for help. I managed to snare some Mexicans who were willing to work for cash to move a great deal of stuff out to the alley, to the storage unit, etc. We also hired a moving company, of course, but they charge top dollar, especially for smaller, local moves to make it worth their time. We paid about $125/hour for a local move. Altogether, I estimate we paid ~ $1000 for all the movers, helpers, etc. We are talking about a cross-town move. We think of this as an interim downsizing. There's still much to prune from our stuff but we ran out of time. Seems that always happens with a move.
Think of downsizing as much a part of your retirement planning as financial planning, IRA, pension, wills, etc. Its often an overlooked aspect of retirement that could compromise your other well-thought out plans.
The great aunt of one of my co-workers passed... she had lived in the same home for 60 years.
The family called several Estate Liquidators and took the highest offer at $4200 with the deal everything goes and the place would be broom swept clean.
It was really easy and from start to finish was less than 2 weeks...
No one in the family had space for anything other than a few momentous...
Her Mission Style furniture from the 1940's, a chrome and porcelain Wedgwood Stove had the most value...
The stove ended up at a antique dealer in Berkeley with a $4,500 price tag...
The same buyer also buys storage lockers and does quite well...
Think of downsizing as much a part of your retirement planning as financial planning, IRA, pension, wills, etc. Its often an overlooked aspect of retirement that could compromise your other well-thought out plans.
When we kids were clearing out my parent's house, we knew they had a lot of antiques, some of which we took, and then a dealer came in and offered us $2000. (in the 1980s) to take everything else. She probably saw one or two items that she knew she'd get her money back for, and then the rest would be gravy. Did we lose money? Sure, but we didn't have a lot of time and energy to pick over everything.
We had the same experience back in the 80's. My Grandfather passed away, leaving behind a house full of vintage/antique stuff. My parents were also in the process of moving, and I lived in another state, so there wasn't much time or resources to meticulously sort through everything. Along came a "junque" dealer who offered $2500 for everything, including hauling off. My Dad immediately accepted the offer, and GF stuff went off. Only problem was, he had money hidden all over the place, in furniture, eat cushions, etc. I was the only one he trusted, an I was the only one who knew the location of....about $100K Unfortunately, it just went out the door! Like I said, I was living in another state, and I wasn't consulted about anything until it was too late. I never told my parents about the lost money. It would only upset them.
Do be careful about getting rid of old people's stuff without a thorough sorting,, if time allows. You never know what you might find. Many older people are hoarders, hide money, jewelry, etc. and forget to tell anyone!
Do be careful about getting rid of old people's stuff without a thorough sorting,, if time allows. You never know what you might find. Many older people are hoarders, hide money, jewelry, etc. and forget to tell anyone!
Yes indeed. My sister's MIL passed away a few years back and her kids found $13,000 in cash tucked in drawers all over the house. A lot of old people do that. Check every drawer, cubby hole and under the cushions before giving furniture away.
I look at this thread for inspiration. Our move to retirement is down the road, but the thought of going through the STUFF we have, is just overwhelming to me. It's hard to explain- it's a big house with lots of storage, and I do "cull" regularly. However, there are still plenty of memory things- kids growing up- thinking about saving and holding on to treasured books etc.
Today, it's not much BUT I am happy to say I got my husband to join me in going through a bunch of boxes and bags we had in our basement- got rid of a big trash bag full of throw away stuff, and got an equally big bag of donation stuff (lots of working but outdated electronics, office supplies, you name it) ready to donate with my next pick up.
I do regularly accumulate clothing, linens, housewares to donate. When I get one of the emails or phone calls from Viet Vets, Lupus Foundation, whatever, I leave the stuff out on our front steps and they pick it up. It's a great convenience.
I have so much more to do, but I am delighted that we did this much.
Having some pretty good action on ebay so will def have some things leaving the house!
Put up my vintage Osterizer blender on ebay. Hardly use it, not worth moving. $1 at a garage sale. Off it goes!
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be the very thing I throw away. Normally we respect each other's space, but at this stage in our lives it occurs to me that if anything happens to him I am seriously stuck with an enormous task that I will not be able to handle. I'm hoping that in the fall we can have a calm discussion. One thing I MAY do is go through all the nearly empty paint and stain cans in the cellar that are probably polluting our house. To get rid of those, though, one has to dry up their contents before dumping. He would see all those cans basking in the sun on the side of our house and secretly bring most of them back in!
Unfortunately, it just went out the door! Like I said, I was living in another state, and I wasn't consulted about anything until it was too late. I never told my parents about the lost money. It would only upset them.
