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

A few weeks ago I felt positively claustrophobic in my kitchen what with doodads and thingamabobs and just too much stuff in general. My cabinets don't go all the way to the ceiling so there's a lot of space to display stuff. It turned into mostly clutter. I packed up what wasn't really meaningful or too sentimental. I ended up with two big boxes that I taped shut and stuck in a corner.

Then I waited until yesterday to see if there was anything that I missed having or seeing. There wasn't. Never missed a thing. So when DD was making a trip to Goodwill yesterday, I put my boxes in her car and donated them along with her stuff.

Not sorry!
 
Every now and then I go through my wardrobe and chuck out clothing I don't fit in to anymore, mostly they are too big for me. Donated to goodwill. Now I am going through my crockery cupboards and have decided to donate my lovely dinner set. It's 12 piece with large soup servers, cups saucers dinner plates and bread and butter plates. My boys don't want them as they have lovely roses on them. Hang on, I've decided to split it up and only donate it as a 6 piece dinner set, you never know I might be asked to have Christmas at my place this year.
 
You guys are wonderful in your endeavors to donate and recycle things and I do try. I do.

But, excess "stuff" lying around with no place to be, collecting dust, having to be lived around, is let's say, hard for me.

So, I donate when I can, e.g., the giant clothes donation bin just around the block, giving things to neighbors (mostly my husband does that), Market Place.

However, there are things and times when all I want is this "stuff" out of my freaking house/life and I don't care if the world implodes because I threw away a toaster oven.

I am infamous in our family for throwing things away, such that when something goes missing, everyone automatically looks at me. Which is a bit unfair. Sheesh.

My middle daughter once quipped, "If an appliance in this house hasn't been used in three days... it's afraid." 😟 🙃 She also joked about a scenario wherein she could see me chasing the garbage truck down the street, brandishing a sandwich press and shouting, "Wait, I don't use this!"

Eh, it's possible there's a reason everyone looks at me when something goes missing.
 
Yes, we decluttered when we downsized. We donated what we no longer used or had room for.
Every year since, I review my belongings. If I have not used something within a year, I give it away! There are quite a few takers 😉. Our daughter and son in law are first on the list, followed by a few of my neighbors, and finally a few great organizations around here that can use it!
 
This table I just posted that sold this morning……is the one I got when my plans were to move to Victoria Landing, a 55+ community.
Had sold my big dining table back in December…..so…..when I decided to move to a standard apartment…..I wanted a big table again.
So a couple weeks ago, got this one.B1AAC8D6-FD6C-4906-8029-1F7ACA0E878E.jpeg
 
a) Everything I have not used or worn for 10 years is a candidate for discarding.

b) I am unable to throw away everything at the first round.

c) It takes several rounds to go through my stuff, and every time the pile gets smaller.

d) Sentimental value is the worst offender in preventing stuff to be tossed, no matter how useless it is.

e) I am still trying to convince my family and friends not to buy me anything longer unless I can eat it.

f) I have boxes of negative film and photos. Just ridiculous how much. I'll leave it till my 90's to clean up that pile although I have to be careful because my children want to save even duplicate pictures.

g) I started 5 years ago to discard useless stuff. I am 87 now and give myself 13 more years to whittle down belongings to 3 suitcases. My intention is to prevent my family from having to do it after I am in heaven. At my age, I have the time to do it; at their age, they won’t have that time.

Bottom line: I am slowly letting things go that were once so important to me. Slowly getting rid of stuff is also a way of saying "good bye" to, and making peace with my life; it's a transition; preparing myself for life in heaven where I don't need all that junk.
 
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I started actually about 3 years ago. Large house that we don’t need any longer but hubby is still attached to it. Lol. 43 years of things. Attic is now empty. Two of 4 bedrooms closet and drawers empty. Family room and garage. We had a dumpster here 3 years ago because we were residing the home so tons of things that couldn’t be donated tossed. The things we save. Lol. I’ve just been diagnosed with a medical issue so it’s slowed down but I’m still plugging away at it. Retired in January so plenty of time to do it now.
 
Lexi said:
I started actually about 3 years ago. Large house that we don’t need any longer but hubby is still attached to it. Lol. 43 years of things. Attic is now empty. Two of 4 bedrooms closet and drawers empty. Family room and garage. We had a dumpster here 3 years ago because we were residing the home so tons of things that couldn’t be donated tossed. The things we save. Lol. I’ve just been diagnosed with a medical issue so it’s slowed down but I’m still plugging away at it. Retired in January so plenty of time to do it now.
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Oh, I wish I could say the same!
 
packleader said:
a) Everything I have not used or worn for 10 years is a candidate for discarding.

b) I am unable to throw away everything at the first round.

c) It takes several rounds to go through my stuff, and every time the pile gets smaller.

d) Sentimental value is the worst offender in preventing stuff to be tossed, no matter how useless it is.

e) I am still trying to convince my family and friends not to buy me anything longer unless I can eat it.

f) I have boxes of negative film and photos. Just ridiculous how much. I'll leave it till my 90's to clean up that pile although I have to be careful because my children want to save even duplicate pictures.

g) I started 5 years ago to discard useless stuff. I am 87 now and give myself 13 more years to whittle down belongings to 3 suitcases. My intention is to prevent my family from having to do it after I am in heaven. At my age, I have the time to do it; at their age, they won’t have that time.

Bottom line: I am slowly letting things go that were once so important to me. Slowly getting rid of stuff is also a way of saying "good bye" to, and making peace with my life; it's a transition; preparing myself for life in heaven where I don't need all that junk.
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Wish my wife was the same, and perhaps me. Everything ten years old in this house still has the price tag on it.
 
packleader said:
a) Everything I have not used or worn for 10 years is a candidate for discarding.

b) I am unable to throw away everything at the first round.

c) It takes several rounds to go through my stuff, and every time the pile gets smaller.

d) Sentimental value is the worst offender in preventing stuff to be tossed, no matter how useless it is.

e) I am still trying to convince my family and friends not to buy me anything longer unless I can eat it.

f) I have boxes of negative film and photos. Just ridiculous how much. I'll leave it till my 90's to clean up that pile although I have to be careful because my children want to save even duplicate pictures.

g) I started 5 years ago to discard useless stuff. I am 87 now and give myself 13 more years to whittle down belongings to 3 suitcases. My intention is to prevent my family from having to do it after I am in heaven. At my age, I have the time to do it; at their age, they won’t have that time.

Bottom line: I am slowly letting things go that were once so important to me. Slowly getting rid of stuff is also a way of saying "good bye" to, and making peace with my life; it's a transition; preparing myself for life in heaven where I don't need all that junk.
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These are excellent guidelines on how to downsize possessions. Not there yet personally, but it's very useful food for thought.

DH & I emptied my mother's and his parents' homes when they passed. Not an easy undertaking but we tripped back through happy memories and stories of childhood while going through their things. It also helped us process their deaths. Plus we received inheritances from both sides so did no complaining.

If our children wind up doing the same for our home and possessions I believe they will consider it a labor of love, and an often enjoyable walk through the time capsule of their lives. Unless something dire happens to the economy or DH and me, our children's inheritances should more than compensate them for their efforts and the mitzvah of closing out our lives.
 
Downsizing for me is natural (and even exciting) since I'm a minimalist. I live by the 6-month-rule...if I'm not using it in the next 6 months, it's gone. One of my favorite fantasies is to imagine me throwing some useless obsolete item in a black hole in outer space.
 
This has been an ongoing process for me. I don't have a difficult time getting rid of things that are mine but it's the sentimental stuff that stalls me. My parents are both deceased as is one of my siblings and I have BOXES upon BOXES of their stuff in the basement.
 
Leann said:
This has been an ongoing process for me. I don't have a difficult time getting rid of things that are mine but it's the sentimental stuff that stalls me. My parents are both deceased as is one of my siblings and I have BOXES upon BOXES of their stuff in the basement.
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DH and I went through those things one box at a time. Sometimes we did one a week, sometimes a few a day. Stuff we didn't want was offered it to family who might be interested. If they declined, the things were donated or trashed.

Photographs are kind of a weird thing. For decades now people have taken so many photos, but when the generation passes almost nobody wants them. Sure, some descendants might choose a handful, but not numerous boxes of albums,slides, or 8 and 16mm home movies of summer bbqs, family vacations, weddings of distant relatives, etc.

Some friends have been deeply into scrapbooking for years now. No exaggeration, they each have over 30 (beautiful) scrapbooks loaded with photos, clippings and all manner of things. I look at the shelves of these books that cost a fortune to put together and can't help but wonder who, if anyone, will want them one day.

My children (close to 40 years old) have each taken a handful of photos from their childhoods. That's it. They don't want any more. Makes sense - I only kept a handful of photos from my own childhood.

Most of my parents' and inlaws' photos and home movies were trashed. None of our siblings were interested. We felt guilty tossing them, but there was no point in storing them.
 
Count me in as one who doesn’t want those scrapbooking masterpieces. My daughters tried to send me those big pages. I requested that they just send the digital version so I could print the sizes I want.
 

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