Tips needed for moving/major downsizing

OOTBubby

Mon, May 19 2014, 10:41 am

We have recently sold our home where we have lived for over 33 years and within 8 weeks or so will be moving to a much, much smaller home in the same city. Our children are all married.

Our present home is huge; 11 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, huge kitchen, living room, dining room and family room. Huge finished basement. 2.5 car garage. Lots of storage. Stuff accumulated through almost 40 years of marriage. B"H my kids have taken all of their stuff so I don't have to deal with that (other than sefarim belonging to 1 married son living in Israel, but I can handle that).

First of all, it looks as if we will be moving into a rental home initially probably for around a year (nothing available to buy in the area we want meeting our needs). The rental home will probably be 3 bedrooms, other rooms on the small side, limited storage. The home we eventually hope to go to would be somewhat bigger than the rental, but not any where near our existing home's size.

Obviously we have to get rid of a A LOT of stuff. We are working on that. Getting the kids to take what they want, throwing out a lot, giving a way a lot more to our local gemach. We are separating things that we do want to keep but won't have room for in the rental home, and that will go in storage (either in the home depending which one we wind up with or in rented storage). We are really trying to get it down to a reasonable amount to take with us.

Other than the obvious of get rid of anything you don't use; can't use, etc., what other tips or suggestions do you have for me to make this as painfree as possible?

imasinger

Mon, May 19 2014, 10:53 am

BTDT! After divorce, the kids and I moved to a much smaller place. Slightly different exercise than the later in life move, but still some similarities.

Read inspiring books, articles, or blogs about the advantages of ridding yourself of clutter. That will help keep your focus on new beginnngs, rather than mourning for too long on what has passed.

Among other ideas, they mention taking pictures of items with sentimental value. You can then decide if the picture satisfies your desire to remember the object and occasion, or if you still need that object.

Take it one room at a time. The whole job is enormous, but if, like with cleaning for Pesach, you chip away a it a little at a time, it isn't so overwhelming.

Treat yourself when you accomplish certain objectives.

Consider hiring someone to help. I found a college student who had great ideas and worked very hard to get the job done. If they drive, they can take away bags to be donated, hus freeing up workspace more quickly.

This will be easier once you find your downsized home. I hope something becomes available soon!

kollel wife

Mon, May 19 2014, 10:59 am

Try to look at this as an opportunity. To start fresh, rid yourself of so much clutter. I personally would enjoy it. Even in the kitchen there are so many small gadgets or containers you hardly use. If you can afford to, you can replace some things with new, nice fresh ones, which will make getting rid of the old easier.

The same would be true with clothing. Can you streamline your wardrobe to the things you really like, and maybe buy one or two tops or skirts to round out your wardrobe. You have the opportunity to start fresh.

You can give away to many who will appreciate furniture (Freebay in Lakewood) or sell on craigslist. You can do this systematically, not all at once, by deciding what you'd like to keep and what should go.

Enjoy your new clutter free life!!

cbsmommy

Mon, May 19 2014, 6:23 pm

There is already a lot of good advice about how to tackle things. Here is another idea.

Take pictures of sentimental items that you want to keep, but aren't sure if you'll have the room for them, and so realistically, they'll have to go.

Because getting rid of things that have sentimental meaning can be really, emotionally, hard.

For example, if you have been saving a box with "Chaya's kindergarden projects" or, "Aliza's high school box" take a picture of the contents (if Chaya and Aliza don't want them) and then throw them out. This helps you feel better about getting rid of "memories", like that vase from that-time-you-went-to-Alaska, or a mug from when-you-did-that-roadtrip-while-Benjy-was-five. Yes, you'll then have an album labelled "things we collected", but an album is much smaller then 15 random mugs, 20 random high school sweatshirts, etc.

Also while giving things away is wonderful, perhaps consider also "selling" them to the community through a local Facebook group. This would allow people that aren't in need of using a gemach, cannot afford new, but that still are interested in solid furniture, a chance to buy what they need for their homes. Anything that doesn't "sell" (and you can ask for more or less money for an item depending on your circumstances) you can then give away.

We furnished our house with the combination of an old woman that was downsizing, and a couple that was divorced and moving out of state. We were too "wealthy" to utilize some of our neighborhood gemachs (and honestly, we had too much pride to do so), but we couldn't afford one new dining room chair, let alone the whole table. We found out about the sales (including my wonderful, amazing, deep freezer) because someone posted on Facebook and listed bookshelves, changing tables, lamps, small appliances, etc on the list of things that were "to-go".