As you get older, do you find yourself downsizing, decluttering.

MickaC

MickaC

Well-known Member
Location
Manitoba, Canada
I’m posted a little while ago about selling things in order to downsize, getting rid of stuff I don’t use or need.
Sold my king bed, went down to a full/double…..I spend a lot less time making the bed now. 😉.
I mentioned I sold some kitchen items, which was to my foster daughter, I’ve given her so much, that I thought some things could be bought, she said she wanted to buy…..sent the counter top roaster and bullet/ninja stuff with her when she came to look at the stuff…..haven’t been paid yet for those two items yet…..when I was there for supper yesterday, it seemed she thought I gave her the stuff free…..we talked about price before, when she looked at the stuff.
Her sister wanted to buy the two end tables and the coffee table……not letting those go till I’m paid.

I’m doing a lot of going through stuff……do I use it……do I need it……
Feel good about doing this…….for me……it’s time.

Any of you with the same thoughts of doing this.
 

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When you get your head in that frame of mind, it's really liberating to downsize I found out.
And having things stashed away that others could be enjoying is a good feeling too.

In my case, I didn't have a choice in spending time thinking about it, as I had to sell my large house and move to a small apartment.
This was in about a 6-8 month span .. 5 years ago.

I sold all large furniture items ... the rest was given away. It was a great experience. And no regrets since.
 

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Becky1951 said:
I down sized in 2019 from a large 4 bedroom 2 bath house to a 432 sq ft cabin. I can dust, sweep and mop, clean the bathroom and kitchen and be laid back in my recliner within 40 minutes and no rushing through it. Absolutely no regrets.
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When DH & I go camping it's the same thing. Our RV is about 360 sq ft. - I can clean it top to bottom in less than an hour. There's a lot to be said for smaller living quarters.
 
A women who lives on our street had a medical emergency a couple of weeks ago. The Toronto Paramedics had a really hard time just getting into her front door hallway, due to huge piles of "stuff ". They couldn't get their gurney into the house, so they had to carry her out side. A few days later the Toronto City By Law enforcement officers went to the house and did a safety inspection, so did the Toronto Fire Service inspectors. The result was a court order for the house to be cleared to a safe standard. Her 3 adult sons came and spent THREE DAYS taking "stuff " out of it, and putting it into a 40 cubic yard disposal bin. She is not a senior, she is 46 years old. The By Law inspectors will be checking back in 90 days to check the inside condition of the house. JimB.
 
jimintoronto said:
A women who lives on our street had a medical emergency a couple of weeks ago. The Toronto Paramedics had a really hard time just getting into her front door hallway, due to huge piles of "stuff ". They couldn't get their gurney into the house, so they had to carry her out side. A few days later the Toronto City By Law enforcement officers went to the house and did a safety inspection, so did the Toronto Fire Service inspectors. The result was a court order for the house to be cleared to a safe standard. Her 3 adult sons came and spent THREE DAYS taking "stuff " out of it, and putting it into a 40 cubic yard disposal bin. She is not a senior, she is 46 years old. The By Law inspectors will be checking back in 90 days to check the inside condition of the house. JimB.
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Hoarding is a terrible mental illness that brings great shame to those who suffer from it. I hope your neighbor gets mental health support to help her find her way through this. If not, her home will surely revert to the same condition once the inspection pressure is off.

Such a sad and all too common story.
 
StarSong said:
Hoarding is a terrible mental illness that brings great shame to those who suffer from it. I hope your neighbor gets mental health support to help her find her way through this. If not, her home will surely revert to the same condition once the inspection pressure is off.

Such a sad and all too common story.
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There's a TV show called "Hoarders". It's almost disgusting to watch that show and see how some people live.
 
If it’s little things, I set them aside until I have enough to take to a donation centre. If I’m unsure, they still go in this pile. The only thing that I went and pulled out again was a double-sided pill container. DH said he didn’t want it, sure enough it seems he did.

The more I clear out, the better I feel. I wish I had family/grandkids that here who could take some of these things.
 
jimintoronto said:
A women who lives on our street had a medical emergency a couple of weeks ago. The Toronto Paramedics had a really hard time just getting into her front door hallway, due to huge piles of "stuff ". They couldn't get their gurney into the house, so they had to carry her out side. A few days later the Toronto City By Law enforcement officers went to the house and did a safety inspection, so did the Toronto Fire Service inspectors. The result was a court order for the house to be cleared to a safe standard. Her 3 adult sons came and spent THREE DAYS taking "stuff " out of it, and putting it into a 40 cubic yard disposal bin. She is not a senior, she is 46 years old. The By Law inspectors will be checking back in 90 days to check the inside condition of the house. JimB.
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I strongly believe that hoarding is a mental sickness. There is even a TV show about it so there must be a lot of mentally unbalanced here in Canada and the US. Ok, England too for sure!
 
Pecos said:
I am downsizing, and while we don't have clutter, it is still not that easy.
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the trouble is downsizing needs a lot of energy.. ..really it's a job for the young..., but if you can manage to do it or get help to do it, you will have a lot lifted from your shoulders..

I have an attic which is pretty packed with stuff, almost all of it boxed but the boxes are etremely heavy and my estranged o/h was the one who put everything up there ... It's impossible for me to bring them down, I never expected not to have my husband around to do it .. ..so I'm going to have to call in a loft clearance company, not to junk the stuff, but just to bring it all down for me to sort through and donate or sell... and then I'll keep the loft space empty except for luggage...
 
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I totally downsized about 6 years ago. It was easy but that's probably because I lived alone and I never argue with myself.

I was in a house with 3 bedrooms + a bonus room. I took almost everything but my bed out onto the driveway. What didn't sell, I gave away. What I couldn't give away, I tossed out. It was gone in 3 days.

I only regret getting rid of all my art supplies and paintings. I should have kept at least one painting. And some days I'd love to be able to just sit and paint for a few hours or so. I wouldn't be on this computer so much. It's probably for the best, though, because I'd have to stress over getting paint on the wall and the floor, and this is a rental. I'd have to cordon off an area and cover the whole thing with tarps, like a kill-room or something.

But I do miss painting.
 
19 yrs ago I downsized from a large house to a 1 bedroom apartment. My son and daughter-in-law took as much as they wanted, and since I really had no time or experience selling things, most were just given away to anyone who wanted them and would cart it away. The local goodwill, salvation army took a lot of the bedroom furniture and other things. The attic & basement seemed to have turned into a storage space for a lot of years before it reached the curbside garbage.

I'll be moving again early next year, and I have already started discarding, giving away things that I would not want to pay to move. It's much easier now after I have had 2 experiences emptying out homes of deceased family members. I try to live a somewhat (not severe) minimalist existence.
 
I've been slowly divesting my house of things I've accumulated but can't seem to find the energy (or is it interest?) to speed up the process. I don't want to be doing this the rest of my life and at the rate I'm going, it will take me that long. So I am going to set a deadline of 12 months from now to get it all done. Any $ I make from selling this stuff will go into a travel fund :)
 
I to am trying to do this, as I live in a studio
Which, means small, and the clutter has become not to nice to see. Energy, is the key along with strength to take downstairs to the trash area room.
Doing laundry and catalogs galore with junk mail is over the top.
I had a handle on it last inspection.
Seems I'm back to the boxes from Amazon filled with remnants from that long closet of accumulations of seven years here. Hoarding is what it is.
Suffering from lack of daughter ostracizing and the death of my youngest 33 yrs young to cancer.
And her son as she was a single mom who I sent money monthly to support them for four years since he was born.
Yet his obstacizing father keeps him away from me. Have not seen him since his father left here to his home state 5 hours away
Sorry about taking over the thread. Yes, I have been trying to downsize in this tiny place since she passed away 2016.
Think I should be done by now! Sure, Reliving the ostracizing when I try to send gifts and messages and letters. It's so much unbalance from pass tragic events.
 
as i get older i have downsized a great deal
have some more to do but anyone that had to clear out a home where people saved everything knows get control of it before you leave a mess for someone else.
What makes me giggle a bit is the enormous ...... explosion of self storage units .... neighbors moved in had so much stuff they went and rented a unit people all over the united states at least paying to store items they no longer use or want but will not get rid of .... wish i had invested in that business
 
The only room that I can say has been reviewed and lightened is my kitchen. It isn't large so I have to be prudent about what I have stored in the cabinets and drawers. Now that I think about it, there are probably a few things I could get rid of but for the most part, that room is done as is the living room. The buggers are the bedrooms and part of the basement. It's like diving into cold water. I don't want to do it. But in this case, I have to. :oops:
 
Autumn72 said:
I to am trying to do this, as I live in a studio
Which, means small, and the clutter has become not to nice to see. Energy, is the key along with strength to take downstairs to the trash area room.
Doing laundry and catalogs galore with junk mail is over the top.
I had a handle on it last inspection.
Seems I'm back to the boxes from Amazon filled with remnants from that long closet of accumulations of seven years here. Hoarding is what it is.
Suffering from lack of daughter ostracizing and the death of my youngest 33 yrs young to cancer.
And her son as she was a single mom who I sent money monthly to support them for four years since he was born.
Yet his obstacizing father keeps him away from me. Have not seen him since his father left here to his home state 5 hours away
Sorry about taking over the thread. Yes, I have been trying to downsize in this tiny place since she passed away 2016.
Think I should be done by now! Sure, Reliving the ostracizing when I try to send gifts and messages and letters. It's so much unbalance from pass tragic events.
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My heart is with you @Autumn72. That's a lot to handle both emotionally and physically.
 

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