Downsizing

Old Dummy

Old Dummy

Who am I? Why am I here?
Location
In the backwoods of NYS
I don’t like being retired. My task now is downsizing, specifically a bunch of musical instruments.

I talked to the shop where I bought most of them, the first was a 5 string banjo in 1976.

He will buy all of them, which makes it easier than selling privately. I have to get them all cleaned up (a big job) then drive there - 50 some miles - next week. I should get a few grand for everything.

But they won’t even make a dent in my mountain of junk.
 

I am still going through my books. Problem is I want to keep all of them. The local library has taken quite a few to sell. Most have gone to Salvation Army. I am keeping the spiritual ones as they feed my soul.
 

We have been getting rid of junk for a few years. We really accumulated a LOT of stuff during our "thriving" years. We just got rid of a BIG one. A 1952 Ford 8n tractor. We farmed with it for 35 years...bought used...and is a major symbol of retirement for us. Now that it is gone, we feel much "lighter", and ready to let our stuff keep flowing away forever. :) This process reminds me of James Taylor's "Moonshadow"

 
Paco Dennis said:
We have been getting rid of junk for a few years. We really accumulated a LOT of stuff during our "thriving" years. We just got rid of a BIG one. A 1952 Ford 8n tractor. We farmed with it for 35 years...bought used...and is a major symbol of retirement for us. Now that it is gone, we feel much "lighter", and ready to let our stuff keep flowing away forever. :) This process reminds me of James Taylor's "Moonshadow"

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Ha, I have a 1951 Ferguson TO2O I have to get rid of also -- basically the same tractor as yours. I bought it in 1977, completely rebuilt the engine in 2001.

I used it mainly for getting logs/firewood out of my woods, and plowing snow.
 
as a nerd type computer nut I have acquired boxes of old sound/video/modem/ethernet cards,surplus ide drive cables, sound cables, memory sticks, cpu's,old 5.25/3.5 floppy disk drives and disks, cd's full of old driver files all of which I had to ditch. most still worked for in home use such as gaming or letter writing.
 
For all men who are used to repairing things, it seems like one of the hardest things to get rid of is all those boxes of bits and pieces that you might need someday. DH has been working on the basement. He always said he’d keep them because there’s room. Now he’s rethinking that. It’s not far to the hardware store.
 
My rule is that if I haven't used it in the last year, it has to go. Of course, there are some things that I hold on to over the year limit. Something to fix or repair an item with or something of sentimental value.

I've got the 1st floor straightened out and I'm going to start on the attic next. Take a large garbage bag upstairs, fill it up, take out what I'd like to donate, and then march the rest out to the curb for garbage pickup. Just a little at a time, but it will get done.
 
Oh yes. Downsizing...that dreaded task! I've been doing it little by little. I have a bag of clothing to donate now...just can't figure out which agency. I'd prefer to use one that doesn't charge for used garments. It's good that the shop where you bought your instruments is going to give you a few thousand for them. You have a mountain of junk but you'll have less "junk" when you clean and sell your instruments. At least that's a good start.
 
I've got gobs of stuff I haven't used in years, and have started selling it on EBAY, Every week I advertise another item, and so far, everything has sold for a decent price. I tried a local "open market" last Summer, but most of the people who go there to buy something want to offer a fraction of what it's worth. With EBAY, I have a "global" market, and there is always someone out there willing to pay a decent price.

Recently, I sold a nice fancy Bowie knife to a buyer in Japan....and even with the shipping costs, I got twice as much as I paid for it 20+ years ago.
 
I was never much of a collector, but when I downsized, I moved from a 3-br house with an art studio and yards to a little 1-br apartment. All the lawn and gardening equipment had to go, and all my art supplies and paintings, plus 2 bedroom sets and the dining room furniture. I sold some of the furniture and gardening equipment (yard sale) and Goodwill came and picked up the rest. To get rid of the art supplies, I called my granddaughter, who was taking art classes in college, and she and several classmates came and helped themselves until it was all gone.

It was easy because I don't get attached to stuff. I do wish I could have kept the art supplies, but there's just no room to paint here, or to store it all.
 
No problem here. Sold my last house and sold some of my things but mostly I gave them to the local Mennonite Central Committee. Good people who do good works. I was glad to see everything go. Don't miss any of it. I now live in an apartment and love it. Can't understand why people are so obsessed with constant shopping and hoarding things. You came into this world with nothing and let me tell you, good brothers and sisters, that's exactly the way you're going to leave.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Oh yes. Downsizing...that dreaded task! I've been doing it little by little. I have a bag of clothing to donate now...just can't figure out which agency. I'd prefer to use one that doesn't charge for used garments. It's good that the shop where you bought your instruments is going to give you a few thousand for them. You have a mountain of junk but you'll have less "junk" when you clean and sell your instruments. At least that's a good start.
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Aside from my 2-hour lunch, I got one more guitar and its case cleaned up today.

Another guitar, its case, and an amp to go. The shop won't be open to the public til next Wednesday so I got plenty of time.
 
Old Dummy said:
I don’t like being retired. My task now is downsizing, specifically a bunch of musical instruments.

I talked to the shop where I bought most of them, the first was a 5 string banjo in 1976.

He will buy all of them, which makes it easier than selling privately. I have to get them all cleaned up (a big job) then drive there - 50 some miles - next week. I should get a few grand for everything.

But they won’t even make a dent in my mountain of junk.
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Well I got $2,050 for my instruments. He went through each one, noting what I might ask if I put them on Craig's List "as is." Then he noted various things that needed to be done to each one -- he has to do that because he warranties every used instrument he sells -- and offered his price. I didn't even hesitate; I just wanted to get rid of them.

He took the business over when his father died in 1976, and I've known and dealt with him since. Super-straight, nice guy, not the kind of person that is even capable of screwing anyone.

Last weekend a buddy helped me put in a dry well (I can't do much digging with these arthritic hands). He didn't want any money so I gave him a 2-man 6' crosscut saw, and a 4' one-man crosscut saw. They were originally my paternal grandfather's, who was born in 1870, so the saws may be well over 100 years old. I got them from my dad.

I learned as a 15 year-old how to use the 2-man, when Dad and I cut down several dead Elm trees in our lawn (Dutch Elm disease). The biggest was at least 3' in diameter. Old Pops laid that thing right down where he wanted. It wasn't his first day at the races.

Downside: My mountain of junk doesn't look any smaller than it did last week. :(
 
Packerjohn said:
No problem here. Sold my last house and sold some of my things but mostly I gave them to the local Mennonite Central Committee. Good people who do good works. I was glad to see everything go. Don't miss any of it. I now live in an apartment and love it. Can't understand why people are so obsessed with constant shopping and hoarding things. You came into this world with nothing and let me tell you, good brothers and sisters, that's exactly the way you're going to leave.
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yep and if you lived your life with nothing in between bith & death , what a miserable life that would be....:D
 
Old Dummy said:
I don’t like being retired. My task now is downsizing, specifically a bunch of musical instruments.

I talked to the shop where I bought most of them, the first was a 5 string banjo in 1976.

He will buy all of them, which makes it easier than selling privately. I have to get them all cleaned up (a big job) then drive there - 50 some miles - next week. I should get a few grand for everything.

But they won’t even make a dent in my mountain of junk.
Click to expand...
Good for you Old Dummy .. feels good when you get rid of things and down size , less clutter and less to dust I say .. also bring in a bit of extra funds for you.. its all the go here people selling their junk as they say one persons junk is anothers treasures well not junk really who wants to buy junk but its nice to have nice things you love isn`t it .. thanks for sharing your post.. :)
 
We retired from work.. had a nice home but too much work and didn`t need such a large home so we bought a relocatable home I guess what you would call over there a mobile home but ours doesn`t move we just live on the land and pay rent for the land in a nice village park .. home is comfy and the cash we had from the home we travelled everywhere we needed to go .. so glad I did as now I wouldn`t be able to do it with the way my legs are and my neuropathy problems with pain.. have been to 10 countries all up and even had a few nights bed and breakfast in a Castle in England we loved every bit of it even if it took most of our cash it was worth it .. we manage now with less and as Packerjohn says we leave with nothing so having lots of memories is precious ..and doing Genealogy has helped me pass a lot of time..
 
I did some major downsizing 4 years ago, when I sold our family home of 2200 sq. ft., and moved into an 800 sq. ft. apartment.

It was almost a full year dedicated to the process. I did get a lot of help from my daughter and SIL who live nearby.
SIL had total say over the yard equipment, garage and backyard shed ... all totally packed full.
He and my son, who lives out of state, split up the power tools and expensive things in the garage.
And my daughter is great at selling household furnishings.. She seems to enjoy that.
She sold/emptied out 7 rooms in about 3-4 months.

And everything of value (books, jewelry, etc.) that I wasn't going to sell, was split up between my 3 kids before the move.
I kept 'little things' that I love and bring happy memories ....my apartment is adorned with them.
 
Actually I am trying to Upsize. Bigger apartment and more stuff. It is difficult for me to sell things. No one wants them and It is not worth putting it on eBay or amazon
 
Victor said:
Actually I am trying to Upsize. Bigger apartment and more stuff. It is difficult for me to sell things. No one wants them and It is not worth putting it on eBay or amazon
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Take them to the Charity shop....it's amazing how many people will buy the same stuff there that they won't buy on FB or Ebay..., only thing is you won't get any money for them but at least you'll be helping a charity
 
Next on my retirement agenda is not downsizing, but maintenance. In the past couple of years my creek has eaten away at the bank and is only about 12 or so feet away from my house now. Not good, got to get the bank built back up.

You can see the first tree leaning over, the underside has eroded away. It's a nice shag bark hickory; I'd like to save it but don't know if we can.


IMG_0625.JPG
 

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