Downsizing is really emotional

lookstraightahead

I've downsized and for me it's great. I realised that I don't want "things" around me - in fact I'm on a bit of a minimalist journey (not brilliant at it but getting there 😄). I'm doing this with lots of aspects of my life eg time, money, stuff etc. 

my parents are in their eighties and are still asking me to move my things out of their garage 🤣. I don't even know what's in there - obviously things I don't want myself! 

As I've  moved house we no longer have designated kids rooms, just spare rooms when they stay.

Change is good and for me anyway, decluttering is a positive experience. 

I personally would spend some time researching things you might think are worth something and sell them if you think the value might be worth your time to list them etc. 

HRH_MUngo

We downsized from a three-bed Victorian house with a cellar to a small two-bed bungalow with no storage space whatsoever.

I found downsizing liberating.  We did all the things mentioned here (EBay, charity shops, freecycle, left outside). Some of the furniture and all the white goods we left behind in the house as the buyers were moving from a furnished flat and hadn't got much (we asked them if they wanted it before leaving it).

Our son had already taken most of his stuff (at our insistence!), anything else we gave him seven days and then chucked it.

We are not sentimental about furniture and decorations and happily threw away those that we could not dispose of in any other way.

I haven't anything to add to the other good advice, except to say, don't stress about stuff, it IS only stuff, after all.

One quite humorous anecdote.  My husband was moving his multi-gym from the cellar, to put outside in case anyone wanted it.  He moved one piece of equipment, then went back for another.  When he came back with the next piece, the first piece had gone.  It must have been all of a minute since he had put it out.  He looked up and down the road, couldn't see anyone with it; it had disappeared into thin air.  The same happened with the second piece too, we were stymied as to where they had gone.  Anyway, he hung around with the third piece and it was our next-door-but-one neighbour who had taken it, and because he lived so close, he had time to get back to his house before my husband came back.  He took all the gym equipment and all the wooden  garden furniture .

lookstraightahead

HRH_MUngo said:

We downsized from a three-bed Victorian house with a cellar to a small two-bed bungalow with no storage space whatsoever.

I found downsizing liberating.  We did all the things mentioned here (EBay, charity shops, freecycle, left outside). Some of the furniture and all the white goods we left behind in the house as the buyers were moving from a furnished flat and hadn't got much (we asked them if they wanted it before leaving it).

Our son had already taken most of his stuff (at our insistence!), anything else we gave him seven days and then chucked it.

We are not sentimental about furniture and decorations and happily threw away those that we could not dispose of in any other way.

I haven't anything to add to the other good advice, except to say, don't stress about stuff, it IS only stuff, after all.

I think this is key. I see stuff a bit like having my head full of worries, thoughts etc all going round, cluttering up my brain. 

powerspowers

My mum brought all my stuff to my new house and I was mortified- why would I want all this crap cluttering up my nice house… that made the penny drop in a way that her nagging me didn’t! Although there was also stuff like 1st birthday cards and baby teeth 🤢 that I didn’t ask her to keep. She couldn’t throw them away because she had kept them for so long, but I had no issues with getting rid once they were here! 

lookstraightahead

powerspowers said:

My mum brought all my stuff to my new house and I was mortified- why would I want all this crap cluttering up my nice house… that made the penny drop in a way that her nagging me didn’t! Although there was also stuff like 1st birthday cards and baby teeth 🤢 that I didn’t ask her to keep. She couldn’t throw them away because she had kept them for so long, but I had no issues with getting rid once they were here! 

🤣🤣🤣 this sounds like my daughter. As she says, she has a scar on her leg from learning to ride a bike, she doesn't need the bike to remind her of those happy days 😂

silvercar

GDB2222 said:

youth_leader said:

I put my late little dog's huge wicker Ikea 'barking' chair out on my drive tonight - very glad to report it's gone!  

I dismantled an old metal computer desk. Do scrap metal dealers still come round and pick up stuff like that, if it’s left out? 

Round here people put stuff at the end of their driveway with a ‘help yourself’ note on it. Best to put out on bin day, not sure if the bin men notify their mates or return themselves, but it is the best day for getting rid.