Everyone Working on Getting Rid of Lifetime of STUFF

I remember that bit. A place for our stuff. I have been doing a lot of downsizing since I retired, two years ago. Have no plans to get more stuff. LOL.
 
Yes I am. My daughter calls it purging. I brought several boxes this morning to the Salvation Army and I managed to drop it off without going around to the front door and buying more. I'm very proud of myself. I also found a few boxes of toys that belonged to my son. Now the Grand kids will have something to play with at Oma's house that they haven't seen before. Wait until they find out they actually have to push the little cars around without a remote control. Should be interesting.
 

Yes, and finding it to be a monumental task. Who knew it would be so hard? I have a feeling the kids and grandkids will have plenty to keep them busy once we cross the rainbow bridge. Don...
 
Macfan said:
Yes, and finding it to be a monumental task. Who knew it would be so hard? I have a feeling the kids and grandkids will have plenty to keep them busy once we cross the rainbow bridge. Don...
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I agree with you about it being hard?...who knew?... I would never have guessed it would take so long to weed out stuff from drawers and cupboards... everything in my house is in it's rightful place, the house looks very tidy but I find even doing a little bit a day takes ages, there just seems to be sooo much stuff in boxes and closets .. Goodness knows how those hoarders who fill their houses could ever even envisage clearing it out!!
 
Oh Gawd.....I haven't the heart to start on my wife's things and I have a ton of stuff too. When I die my Grandkids will have to worry about it. They inherit it all.
 
I've been getting rid of stuff because who would want my junk anyhow, surely not my in laws. They are all out of state and couldn't lug all of my junk back anyhow. Now, my pets are a different story; looking for someone to care for them when the end is near.
 
We haven't gotten rid of anything; we're not hoarders and this is our home. If the kids don't want any of it they can have it bulldozed. I'm going to enjoy my things until I die and not fret about what comes of it when I'm gone.
 
C'est Moi said:
We haven't gotten rid of anything; we're not hoarders and this is our home. If the kids don't want any of it they can have it bulldozed. I'm going to enjoy my things until I die and not fret about what comes of it when I'm gone.
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Well, I have to say your comment is a FIRST as we've run this post in another forum and everyone is working to get rid of STUFF to not leave the burden to their children and not bulldoze the house. When my father finally passed, my sister and I were both dealing with health issues, she MS and I with Fibro and advancing OA and we were left to get rid of the stuff....I vowed I wouldn't do that to my daughter. I'm doing my best and what's left she'll have them come in and take it all out to wherever all this STUFF ends up...

None of us were hoarders but our stuff begins to choke us. Glad you enjoy it all.
 
jaminhealth said:
Well, I have to say your comment is a FIRST as we've run this post in another forum and everyone is working to get rid of STUFF to not leave the burden to their children and not bulldoze the house. When my father finally passed, my sister and I were both dealing with health issues, she MS and I with Fibro and advancing OA and we were left to get rid of the stuff....I vowed I wouldn't do that to my daughter. I'm doing my best and what's left she'll have them come in and take it all out to wherever all this STUFF ends up...

None of us were hoarders but our stuff begins to choke us. Glad you enjoy it all.
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Bully for you. Do you want a trophy?
 
I am not sentimental about possessions and keep very few, I have a clear out on a regular basis. I have a church pew my mother bought from a monastery sale in 1952 when I was two, she paid £5 for it. It used to sit in the hall of my family home. My father had it valued 35 years go, it was then worth about £2000. I acquired it after my parents were dead, my younger sisters didn't want it. I have no idea what it is worth now, having no interest in finding out. My eldest daughter would like it when I kick the bucket, she is an Anglican Priest so that seems appropriate.
 
I think my daughter is the least sentimental person I know when it comes to possessions... she will hoof something out in an instant when it no longer pleases her or becomes any practical use. I think the difference between her and me is that I had a childhood with nothing... where she had everything I could possibly give her...

In my mind even to this day I think the days of poverty might return for me , even tho' I'm in a much better financial place that in my whole life.. so I do take a long time before deciding to get rid of stuff sometimes...just in case poverty strikes and I can't afford another..

My husband who never went without a thing, laughs at me, but he doesn't understand really...
 
We've been giving 'good stuff' to resale shops and recycling, as much as possible, everything else. We're starting to prepare going from a house to an apartment, so most everything must go.
 
Besides my tools and clothes, I wish I could snap my fingers and have everything vanish from my house. I can't stand how much stuff I've accumulated. Before I got married and had kids, I could move to a new place in a few hours, and be unpacked in less than an hour. I do understand the post about enjoying one's stuff, and not worrying about your heirs spending a good deal of time to clear things out, once you're gone. We spent about a month clearing out my second wife's mother's place when she passed. It really wasn't such a bad experience. I imagine if I don't get rid of the things I have, now, my daughter and her family will clear out my house in a few week's time. Fun for them, I'm sure.
 
retiredtraveler said:
We've been giving 'good stuff' to resale shops and recycling, as much as possible, everything else. We're starting to prepare going from a house to an apartment, so most everything must go.
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How do you feel about moving into an apartment instead of a house ?... is it significantly smaller than what you have now, RT?
 
treeguy64 said:
Besides my tools and clothes, I wish I could snap my fingers and have everything vanish from my house. I can't stand how much stuff I've accumulated. Before I got married and had kids, I could move to a new place in a few hours, and be unpacked in less than an hour. I do understand the post about enjoying one's stuff, and not worrying about your heirs spending a good deal of time to clear things out, once you're gone. We spent about a month clearing out my second wife's mother's place when she passed. It really wasn't such a bad experience. I imagine if I don't get rid of the things I have, now, my daughter and her family will clear out my house in a few week's time. Fun for them, I'm sure.
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If you're serious I suppose one way to do it would be to set aside everything you want to keep and just get house clearance people in...and start again with what you've kept!! I want to become a minimalist now, before I get too old to manage it.. my daughter certainly doesn't want anything of mine, nor does she even want all her school certificates and medals, and things from her childhood which I have stored in the attic,. She tells me to throw them out, but I can't help thinking that once I'm gone and she's my age or older, she'll wish she still had them to look back on, so I keep them ..but she says no, she will never want them ....
 
Not a problem for us. We've got plenty of "stuff" but we passed this house on to one of our daughters 25 years ago and we all share the house with she and her family. Been this way for 4 generations and it'll probably be passed down to one of her kids when the time comes. Some of my childhood toys are still boxed in the attic along with stuff that belonged to my parents and grandparents. Things have been weeded out over the years but a lot remains.

Most of our stuff will be here when we go and all of the kids can go through it and toss what they don't want. Some things are ear-marked for certain of the kids and they're all aware of who gets what.

We're just living a couple of generations behind the rest of you. This passing down of the old homestead was common practice for rural families for years and I suppose still continues in some areas.
 
As I am packing up to move to an apartment, I am amazed on how much stuff we still have. Three years ago we sold our house of thirty five years, moved into an apartment which I loved and he hated. Got rid of a ton of stuff. Then, yup he bought a new house, his dream home. A home I’ve learned to love.

Life moves on, due his failing health, we are forced to move. The house goes up for sale in June, I’m packing up now. Wow, where did all this stuff come from? Some of my stuff must have mated with other of my stuff to produce more stuff. I can’t get rid of anything more. But I must.

Once I get into the apartment the stuff that doesn’t fit goes. Sigh. The extra bed for my son, and extra bedroom furniture- gone. He can sleep in a recliner when he comes over. My husband’s collection of beer mugs-gone. He’s keeping the legos. He already got rid of all the clothes he would wear again someday-a couple of months ago. As did I.

A neighbor gets the snowblower, tiller, ladder; while my son wants the yard tools etc. My son and I will split the cost of a storage unit. My beloved yard statues will go into the storage unit, and when I die the trash heap. Downsizing is just a word. Choosing which bits and pieces of your life to keep is hard.
 
retiredtraveler said:
We've been giving 'good stuff' to resale shops and recycling, as much as possible, everything else. We're starting to prepare going from a house to an apartment, so most everything must go.
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I love the giving to those who can use it as we no longer need it. I live in a 700 sf apt for over 25 yrs and could live in less at this time of my life. But it's a sweet apt near the ocean and rents are out of sight anyway, I'm sure less than being owned by a larger house.
 
hollydolly said:
I think my daughter is the least sentimental person I know when it comes to possessions... she will hoof something out in an instant when it no longer pleases her or becomes any practical use. I think the difference between her and me is that I had a childhood with nothing... where she had everything I could possibly give her...

In my mind even to this day I think the days of poverty might return for me , even tho' I'm in a much better financial place that in my whole life.. so I do take a long time before deciding to get rid of stuff sometimes...just in case poverty strikes and I can't afford another..

My husband who never went without a thing, laughs at me, but he doesn't understand really...
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I hear you about the daughter and I call it waste as she was born with plenty, I was born at home after the great depression, so very very opposite beginnings, and then there's my grandkids, oh brother, they have no clue about scrimping, their dad did so well in Calif. real estate and they are his heirs, so again a totally different mindset and up bringing.

When my mom was still alive and I bought her birthday gifts I would buy her something that I would like as I knew it would be mine when she's gone. She enjoyed things and I have nice memories. But I can let go pretty good.
 
Aneeda72 said:
As I am packing up to move to an apartment, I am amazed on how much stuff we still have. Three years ago we sold our house of thirty five years, moved into an apartment which I loved and he hated. Got rid of a ton of stuff. Then, yup he bought a new house, his dream home. A home I’ve learned to love.

Life moves on, due his failing health, we are forced to move. The house goes up for sale in June, I’m packing up now. Wow, where did all this stuff come from? Some of my stuff must have mated with other of my stuff to produce more stuff. I can’t get rid of anything more. But I must.

Once I get into the apartment the stuff that doesn’t fit goes. Sigh. The extra bed for my son, and extra bedroom furniture- gone. He can sleep in a recliner when he comes over. My husband’s collection of beer mugs-gone. He’s keeping the legos. He already got rid of all the clothes he would wear again someday-a couple of months ago. As did I.

A neighbor gets the snowblower, tiller, ladder; while my son wants the yard tools etc. My son and I will split the cost of a storage unit. My beloved yard statues will go into the storage unit, and when I die the trash heap. Downsizing is just a word. Choosing which bits and pieces of your life to keep is hard.
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Just amazing, this American way...and huge capitalism.. I know many countries of the world live with SO MUCH LESS and do live nicely.
 

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