Downsizing

Downsized just over 3 years ago in our late 50s. Got rid of loads but had a really good look at CDs and Books and DVDs. Any not read, watched or listened too in last few years went to charity shops and our local primary who were very glad of all our reference books.Those I couldn't bear to part with are either on a small rack by the TV or a shelf in the bedroom. The rest are stored in the loft in plastic storage boxes. I have a list of those downstairs so any I want can be easily got at. The decision is that in 5 years any not looked at, read or listened to will be gotten rid of. Its hearbreaking to rid yourself of treasured items but its also very cathartic. We are very happy in our new little home and its so much easier to maintain!

When approaching retirement, thoughts need to turn to how will I cope aged 80yrs+. Will I be able to walk to shops and bus stop? Will the garden be too much for me? Will I be able to cope with the stairs? (Stannah wouldn't be able to sort out my stairs!)
Who knows if the village shop will be there, or that one bus route still function?
And if the house/garden was the right size for a family of 4 or more, is it the right size for a couple?

Funny how some have that view Nannyxthree. We have seen it as a chance to get rid of stuff to ensure we do not put our children through what we went through with our parents. Nothing worse than going through a loved ones things when they are either dead or too ill to care. Desperately sad not to know who is in the photo or who that vase belonged to. Far better to sort it out, pass it on or send to shop or charity. Its a bit exhausting but its cathartic and a chance to justify a change of colour scheme for new home and buy a few smaller bits of furniture to fit in....every cloud etc.

My OH says my need to declutter is morbid, but we also need to consider that one of us could soon have health issues which would make sorting out more difficult.

I did this 18months ago as I was moving to a 2 bed flat from a 4bed house with a garage. The garage was full of things from my previous house. I thought it was going to be hard, but once I started, I found it quite easy. My children’s rocking horse went to someone I knew and so did my unmade dolls house. I kept the Lego for my Grandson and even some of my craft books were given away. The only thing I regretted was my faithful sewing machine that needed repair , my new one ,though lighter, is no where near as good.
Once you get a place to live it will become easier.

I'm downsizing from a large five bedroom house to a three bed apartment. My husband died fifteen month's ago and I know we should have downsized a lot earlier. Now it's all up to me to decide what to keep and what not to. For me it's an emotional decision because a lot of my possessions we bought together. I doing my best and sending what I can to charity shops. I wish we had moved earlier so don't leave it too late if you want to move because it's best to do it together.

A friend once told to think of parting with cherished items to a charity shop as making a generous donation to a good cause. I find this helpful.

I ruthlessly culled my 50 year old cookery book collection.....turned out to be surprisingly easy. Many of the best recipes have been committed to memory over the years and there are some books I have never used. These days if a recipe is more than a few lines long then I don't do it. I also found that there are much quicker and easier ways of preparing old favourites and I now use just my Fay Ripley and Delia Smith cookery books and I kept my Katy Stewart and my Margarita Patten as reference books. The rest went off to charity shops and I have never missed them.

I'm a huge fan of digital! Have managed to scan about half the family photos and improved the colours at the same time (seventies prints from Boots have not lasted well). I've kept the odd posh studio print but the rest have been binned with no regrets. I pay a fairly minimal amount to keep my photos in a Flickr account which means I can access them from anywhere and send them to friends and relatives when appropriate. And of course a digital photo frame is fun - mine will display 2,000 photos.

I also made the decision to dump books which were available in electronic format - again, no regrets. As avid bookreaders and serial movers late DH and I were overwhelmed by our vast library. I would much rather Amazon stored the information than I did. And of course I can download any book I want at any time as long as I have a connection. I do keep

I started copying my CDs back in 2000AD! So I have about 15,000 tracks in various music folders which are also backed up onto a couple of hard drives. I kept the discs in case of copyright issues but junked the cases long ago. I don't use iPhones but there is an app which allows me to since my Android phone with my music files so I can carry most of my playlists with me. Nowadays I buy all my music as downloads so it just gets added to the existing collection.

Now if only there were a way to digitise my wardrobe and my crafting materials ...

Don't rush to move and give yourself time to go through everything. There are so many places to get rid of stuff these days (and so many places to buy second hand stuff, if you decide you've got rid of something you think you shouldn't have!) Offer stuff to family and friends, sell on ebay or gumtree or car boot sales, give away on freecycle or to charity shops. But do it in your own time. At the end of the day although we all love our own stuff and clutter remember it's people and memories that matter more

Bite the bullet....if you haven’t used something for a year or more, I don’t think you’ll miss it.

We moved five years ago not exactly downsized but there isnt as much storage space, consequently we still have removal boxes untouched in the garage,I cant bear to start clearing them and throwing out, it will be an emotional task.Good luck Paddyann

DH doesn't like to get rid of anything so I told him to think about what DS will face when we die. I think that has motivated him and changed his mindset.

omg I shouldn't be reading this thread - it's given me this huge urge to go through all my stuff again, and I really can't right now as I have just got the place tidy ready for guests :%

We downsized two years ago and I found the whole thing quite cathartic. I would recommend you start the ‘clear out’ sooner rather than later as it does take a while. I would open files and books, start looking through and the next thing I knew the whole day had gone! Keep in your mind that you are saving someo else the task of clearing out your rubbish. Good luck, it’s been an incredibly positive move for us.

After having to clear out inlaws house a few years ago, when they died, I was determined to have a huge clearout of my own house. I don't want to put my children through the emotional wringer when having to sort through and bin personal items when we die. My inlaws had saved literally every greeting card they had ever exchanged, letters to each other, travel documents from memorable holidays It felt so awful shoving them in the recycling bin and added to our sadness really. So I attacked my stash of 'crap' in my home with gusto. So much had been stored for so long it was musty and starting to mould anyway. After the initial feeling of sadness that it had all gone, it was replaced with a wonderful feeling of freedom! I did keep a few very special items but not many! Be ruthless!

Another vote for Marie Kondo, I found it life changing. Audio book or look on youtube, makes it enjoyable and fun.

We downsized a few years ago, best decision we ever made. Parting with furniture/books etc had to be done, but I felt quite relieved that I undertook to get rid instead of the children having to do so in years to come.

Hi - I found Joshua Becker's book The More of Less (finding the life you want under everything you own) really helpful. An easy read, so practical well worth checking out.

We never upsized so no need to downsize!! Got to keep possessions in check anyway due to lack of storage... It's an ongoing challenge though!

Nannytopsy although its self explanatory I still looked up "Swedish death cleaning" as it sounds so harsh!
Its all rather sad too, as we live our lives collecting things, being given lovely gifts, enjoying the comfort or our "stuff" then when we get older we spend all of our time getting rid of it. What was the point?

We've been clearing out a lot lately but mainly things that our AC have left behind and are never going to come and remove! We found a bag of old pillows, some very elderly dated curtains, a box of gifts from a long gone and forgotten about ex and an awful lot more of their junk in our loft. No idea why they put it in there except maybe it was easier than going to the dump. All gone. Felt good

Decide first which things you really, really want to keep.
For us it was DH's collection of cookery books, my books on my academic subjects, novels we couldn't imagine doing without, cds and a few gramophone records, my dolls and teddies.

Next we went through the Christmas decorations and kept all the old things that had sentimental value and got rid of the rest.

About 8 pieces of furniture were kept, the rest recycled. Bikes went, DH's tools, my sewing machine remained. Clothes were sorted, anything we didn't visualize using again went if respectable enough to charity, the rest in the bin, minus buttons or anything else that could be reused.

Allow yourselves to keep the things that have real significance, but anything that doesn't really matter goes.

Photos are the only thing I would never get rid of, the rest i can always find online recipe's, books hate clutter sadly OH doesn't mind it ?

Marie Kondo has written a brilliant book that can be used for downsizing. I used it when I moved to my narrow boat. Well worth reading. It really helped me.

I've realised how much my "poverty mentality" gets in the way of letting go of stuff (I was brought up when money was tight). I always worry about not being able to afford to replace things in the future. The way I've got around it is to clear out and store things, double wrapped, in our garage - put a note in my diary (say for 6 months time) and then see if I've gone out there to get anything! The answer is always NO so the whole container goes to the nearest charity shop. (The trick is to NEVER open the container before you give it away). Works for me.