Doing the house up, downsizing, old age prep

pollypenny

OH won't part with anything!

The garage is a problem, mainly because of his tools: he has everyone from the time he was an apprentice. Many are imperial and could make a bit for scrap, they weigh a lot.

[Deleted User]

I did paperwork yesterday and that was very tough going, bending over a table. I have a big shredder and it filled 2 big baskets plus I ended up with backache. What was hardest for me, when organising for probate, was the sorting of paperwork and I knew what was what, so I became determined to use a very simple filing system going forward. Well. it is done and is all in a neat zip-up document case which has pockets and rings for poly pockets. I have also put my updated simple will in there and I have told my children where I will be keeping it

My expanding file with a handle will now just contain everyday documents like car reg, birth certs, utility bills and so on. It was much harder to find the very important papers in a hurry, when they were in there, even though I had labelled the various compartments

My own wardrobe is more of a problem, I have dozens of items of clothing that are good and that fit me. I went through it last year and gave lots away then. I am trying not to buy anything more and am just making a few more things from home spun yarn, so that reduces the yarn I have in my stash. I have started to make very fine yarn when I spin, as that will take me a lot longer to knit, I love my spinning and that will keep my hobby going. In the meantime I will have to learn to wear other items from the wardrobe

My gardening stores are another big problem. I have far too much of everything, however they are out of sight and would not be hard for the next generation to sort

So far I am getting there and have defined areas, so future sorting would be a lot easier. The small drawers were the worst and the boxes of stuff, into which things had been dumped. Little by little, boxes are sorted and labelled

JB9302

Mum passed away last weekend aged 89 yrs , I have been sorting her flat out this week and filled 20 bin bags with clothes (many with tags) , 10 Large storage boxes of trinkets etc to charity shop and 3 trips to the tip with general rubbish .
Just the furniture/appliances to go this week as need it emptied (council flat) asap .
Spose living alone she never bothered to get rid of stuff:)

kpwll

Just wanted to pass my sympathies to you for your loss.

Gingernutty

hostertlady wrote: »

how do hoarders de-clutter?


i suppose you have to be in the right frame of mind to get rid of stuff that you have kept for many years 'just in case'


how do you do it?
x

There are threads on the Old Style Forum

A series started by Jo Jo The Tightfisted

2015 - No Clutter to be Seen

The KonMarie Method inspired by a book by a Japanese lady

Make Do, Mend and Minimize has some useful info

and there's the NOT BUYING IT thread.

HTH.

[Deleted User]

another point is how to replace things that break down or wear out. My wonderful magimix steamer gave up the ghost yesterday and the whole thing is very big and takes up a lot of cupboard room. Ok, I want to carry on steaming but this time I am going to get just an ordinary bamboo steamer and will use that on top of one of my pans. I only read good things about these bamboo steamers, that are also very cheap

I am getting a new kitchen and have thought long and hard about appliances and am getting the very best that I can as this will be my last new kitchen and will add value to my house. After my dh died, I found I was suddenly cooking for one so have, just in time, added a small combination oven and this will be built in, above the much bigger oven. I have no intention of giving up my sourdough boule making, so also need the big oven but an additional small multi purpose oven makes sense, for me

I had the hospice shop tax info yesterday and am very happy to see that I have helped raise quite a good amount for the charity, makes me feel good about giving so much stuff away

Some things are quite hard to give away eg my porkert hand mincer that helps so much when I make hm seville orange marmalade but realistically, am I going to make this marmalade now that there is only me? I have talked myself into it and it is going into my hospice shopping bag today. What on earth is the point of hanging onto stuff like this, just because I once bought it and it is nice but it is in the back of a base unit and someone else might as well get the benefit. See, it isn`t that easy to get rid of stuff everytime

hostertlady

Gingernutty wrote: »

There are threads on the Old Style Forum

A series started by Jo Jo The Tightfisted

2015 - No Clutter to be Seen

The KonMarie Method inspired by a book by a Japanese lady

Make Do, Mend and Minimize has some useful info

and there's the NOT BUYING IT thread.

HTH.

thanks for going to the trouble ginger nutty
x

mavisangelica

lessonlearned wrote: »

Some great ideas there, forgot about higher sockets, definitely makes life easier and safer.

My dad aged 89 struggles with low sockets.

Remote control sockets could be a solution for hard to reach sockets and/or switching lamps on and off. Places such as Clas Ohlson or, I think, Ikea sell them.

I have gone the whole hog and changed my light switches and some sockets to LightwaveRF which also means that they can be programmed to come on and off. Or if you forget to unplug something, you can switch it off remotely.

lessonlearned

Yes my son is "gadget man" and we've discussed all sorts of ideas we can incorporate to make my life easier when Im really old and decrepit....:rotfl:

I think Good electronic solutions can help overcome a lot of issues.

Arthurian

Re shredding paperwork. I have thrown out my shredder. It takes too much time and causes backache - and uses electricity. Best solution is to find someone with an open fire and ask to use it for half an hour, or else soak the paperwork in a bucket of water for a couple of hours, then take handfuls of soaked paper and squeeze it into balls, then throw into bin. When it dries out in the bin it will not be decipherable.