Wanted: Tips on Downsizing/Moving

BeinDeb

I've officially retired, sold my Home of almost 25 years, and am in the process of a major Life change, move, & downsize. Packing, giving away, donating, and throwing stuff away has become my current way of Life. Mostly, I stay confused. I'm sure there's alot of y'all out there who have been on this road. Any tips? Advice? Help!

spiderlashes5000

Congrats!
What are your goals now?
Jeepy just did the downsizing thing; she's prbly be fun to talk to about this.

PerriP

OH! Congratulations!!!

I don't have much to offer here except to say this sounds awesome. I do read a blog about minimalism 5 Life-Giving Truths From Years of Living with Less

I would recommend that you get rid of EASY first - anything that's been sitting in a cupboard or a box for 6 months or more - just ditch it - don't bother going through it to see if there is that ONE THING you might need. If you needed it, you'd have gone looking for it by now. My parents moved (at ages 67 and 69) to Texas to be near me and 3 years later there are still boxes EVERYWHERE because mom needs to "look in them" to see what is there. And what happens is, she gets in a box, gets wrapped up in memories, only a portion gets tossed (she has all of our children's books - i'm the youngest at 46) or donated. It's easier not to look. Just do

Please keep us posted on this exciting adventure

spiderlashes5000

I stumbled upon this book a while back. Kind of interesting - remove anything that doesn't "spark joy." The author does huge workshops on this. She is so successful she is booked up for years with consultations, no longer taking on new clients.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

BeinDeb

Thank y'all. The Goats have all gone to new, loving Homes. I had kept my old milk Goat (She always preferred humans to her own kind. Yup. She was spoiled rotten), but she finally died in her sleep a couple of months ago at the ripe old age of 19. My Horses (2...both rescues) will be adopted by the new owners who have promised to let them live out their lives here on the Blessed Hill.

This is very hard. It's so hard to figure out what to keep and what to get rid of, especially since I'm not certain where I'll end up. I was going to live by my Daughter in a lovely 2 story, one bedroom cabin, So, I thought I knew exactly how much room I'd have. But in the midst of all of this, her husband got the news that he has to transfer to another state. In the meantime, she's pregnant ( numb. 3 / due mid-June) and is facing selling their home, and then moving, and they want them to do it NOW! She needs me up there asap. I'll be putting most of my stuff in storage until this mess sorts itself out, so space will be very limited.

Maybe what I should ask those of you who have downsized, or moved...what, if anything did you regret getting rid of? I'm sure there was something. Maybe share your experience? There are things I cannot bear to part with under any circumstances. Those were easy and few. But some things I'm see-sawing on and just can't decide.

jeepcurlygurl

Sorry I just saw this so I'm a bit late.
First of all good luck with your life change! Change of any kind is hard but it's even harder when you have to get rid of things and can't figure out what to keep and what to get rid of.

I have moved many times, started over from the ground up 3 times, and just did a major downsize last year. I sold my good sized 3 story townhouse with tons of storage and am now living in a tiny 500ish square foot condo with virtually no storage. I don't like clutter so I really did get rid of a lot of 'stuff'. But I love my collections (rocks, spheres, pottery, favorite books, mementos, family things) so I got a bunch of deep, sturdy shelf units and use them to display all my things. I also use them for clothes and other things. I kept only my very favorite books including cookbooks. I probably only have about 50 books now but they are my very favorite ones. I have baskets in some of the cubbies to hold things I don't want displayed (cd's, office stuff, chargers and other electronic paraphernalia, etc). I used the same accent colors throughout my condo so the rooms flow together.

As for regretting getting rid of things, there will probably always be things you regret not having after they are gone. It happens to me after every move or even after my twice yearly clean out. But I get over it and move on. Hopefully you will be happy with the special things you keep.
I hope things get settled for you soon.

PS I'm sorry that your old goat died and that you have to get rid of your other animals. That would be hard.

BeinDeb

Thanks Jeepy. It will/is hard. They were my sanity in my crazy work world. But I'm sure the Grandkids will help fill the void. And I will be taking Murphy & Gus (Dorkie & Min. Schnauzer) with me. Both were rescues, and I am their forever Home.

I had to laugh when you mentioned the books...I pretty much have my own library! Paring them down is taking days. I have made piles of them...keep for sure, do you really have to have these, what about these, and maybe I can part with these. Every day I go through them, shuffle them around, and put a couple in the part with pile. I currently live in a 3 story house, so you can imagine...

The other hard part is all of my artsy/crafty supplies. I know, I know, I can always get more, but I had such plans!! Lol.

This is a cross country move, so it is imperative I pare down to the necessities only. As it's still not certain where we're going, I'm limiting everything to what will fit in a 10x10 storage building. Easier said than done!

spiderlashes5000

You're a really great mother to uproot yourself like this to help out your daughter. What a sacrifice!:love7:

BeinDeb

Thank you. It goes both ways. With Mother's Day on the horizon, I consider it "giving back." My Mom moved to be near me to care for my kids so they wouldn't have to go to daycare, long ago and far away. It just feels right.

Therese1

I was going to suggest the same book as Spider. I haven't actually read the book, but I have seen write-ups summarizing Kondo's method online, and it looked interesting. You could probably just google for more information and then follow the tips that you find online.

MorrisonFan91

hi, Being-Deb .

Hope new living place brings good things for you!!

spiderlashes5000

I would never want to get rid of anything related to any of my hobbies or interests. I also never get rid of books. Or photographs. I don't care about greeting cards, tho. I kept one or two especially cute outfits and several especially cute toys from when each of my kids were babies, and that has been sufficient.

Over the past 25 years, I regret getting rid of four articles of clothing. Oh gosh, how I regret it!

But I have moved A LOT over the past 26 yrs since graduating high school and moving to Ohio (about 15 times), and I have gotten rid of TONS of stuff. Most of it, I have never given a second thought to.

TeenieCurl

spiderlashes5000 wrote: »

I stumbled upon this book a while back. Kind of interesting - remove anything that doesn't "spark joy." The author does huge workshops on this. She is so successful she is booked up for years with consultations, no longer taking on new clients.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

Highly recommend this book! Getting ready to move and trying to get rid of stuff that we've held onto for a while for no good reason. Some of the simple advice in this book is so helpful. Of course, there are few things I know I won't do - standing things up in the drawer or empty my purse every day - but some of the other things, like how to treat your warranty manuals and such for instance is very useful.