well i am starting to get ready for my new adventure next year trying to start cleaning out one room at a time i figured it will take this long to get the job done and sell the house so i am starting to use one of everything one plate spoon knife and spoon and a bowl if needed trying to get use to the minimal life again .it is interesting what stuff i just keep laying around the big 3 bedroom house i own most of the furniture will be donated to a group of vet-urns .and this winter i am going to work on cleaning out my garage and go through my late wifes stuff and getting the stuff gone .
getting started early
- Thread starter SoulRaven
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wagoneer
Well-known member
I would not forget the guest place setting as "one never knows"
i am working on one room at a time .so next week i am going to start on the three bedrooms on the second floor . how i got is that i bought the house off of a estate with all of the last owners stuff in it her estate just did not want to deal with it. so now i am dealing with it so actually going through her stuff my late wifes stuff and my collection of more stuff one thing about it i think about it now before i buy more stuff than i need at the the store including thrift stores unless i can use it in the van i think before i get it and if i can use for more thing and now i keep a list of stuff i need for the van .and that list is getting is getting smaller .
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Tussah
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I'm on the ten year plan to get ready. Since I inherited pack rat genes from both sides of my family, I think I'm going to need all of it to downsize enough for my van adventure. At least, it's a lot easier on me emotionally. I have several cardboard boxes sitting on the hearth in my living room, and every time I see something I don't need, I throw it in the box. When the boxes are full, I take them over to Goodwill.
Knowing what my goal is definitely helps me avoid making new purchases. Now I always ask myself if the new purchase moves me toward my van adventure goal or away from it, before buying anything. When my daughter moves out in a couple of years, we will work together to set her up with everything she will want for her new household, and that will be an excellent time for me to clear out lots of things. I've already promised her all of the baking tools and equipment.
One of the things I've been doing is going through my bookshelves, and reading down books so that I can get rid of them. I only just discovered that my library (Greater Phoenix Digital Library) has a great collection of ebooks I can borrow through my Amazon kindle account for free. It made me realize that real physical books are going the way of the dodo. Out go the cookbooks, out go the travel books, out go the detective novels!
Personally, I've never had any success selling things on Craig's List, and garage sales are an enormous amount of work for what I've ever gotten out of them. But I do often find friends or co-workers who want the things I need to clear out (one man's trash, etc. etc....) so I'm glad I have enough time to do this at a more leisurely pace.
For those in a bigger hurry to clear out and get moving, I will share a past experience. Back in 1998, I sold my house and put nearly everything I owned into a storage warehouse. My young daughter and I lived in a studio apartment for a few months before packing our bags and moving to China. My stuff ended up in storage of six years before we were settled enough to reclaim it. During those six years, the only things that I missed were my family photos, and I had nearly forgotten what I even had in the rest of those boxes.
Needless to say, when I did unpack, a lot of the stuff in those boxes was immediately sold or given away. I was happy to reclaim the rest of it, but none of it was essential to my life or happiness. If I had to pick up and leave quickly, I would do the downsizing in reverse, and just pick out what I needed, knowing that everything else could be left behind and not really missed.
Lisa
Knowing what my goal is definitely helps me avoid making new purchases. Now I always ask myself if the new purchase moves me toward my van adventure goal or away from it, before buying anything. When my daughter moves out in a couple of years, we will work together to set her up with everything she will want for her new household, and that will be an excellent time for me to clear out lots of things. I've already promised her all of the baking tools and equipment.
One of the things I've been doing is going through my bookshelves, and reading down books so that I can get rid of them. I only just discovered that my library (Greater Phoenix Digital Library) has a great collection of ebooks I can borrow through my Amazon kindle account for free. It made me realize that real physical books are going the way of the dodo. Out go the cookbooks, out go the travel books, out go the detective novels!
Personally, I've never had any success selling things on Craig's List, and garage sales are an enormous amount of work for what I've ever gotten out of them. But I do often find friends or co-workers who want the things I need to clear out (one man's trash, etc. etc....) so I'm glad I have enough time to do this at a more leisurely pace.
For those in a bigger hurry to clear out and get moving, I will share a past experience. Back in 1998, I sold my house and put nearly everything I owned into a storage warehouse. My young daughter and I lived in a studio apartment for a few months before packing our bags and moving to China. My stuff ended up in storage of six years before we were settled enough to reclaim it. During those six years, the only things that I missed were my family photos, and I had nearly forgotten what I even had in the rest of those boxes.
Needless to say, when I did unpack, a lot of the stuff in those boxes was immediately sold or given away. I was happy to reclaim the rest of it, but none of it was essential to my life or happiness. If I had to pick up and leave quickly, I would do the downsizing in reverse, and just pick out what I needed, knowing that everything else could be left behind and not really missed.
Lisa
WheelEstate USA
Well-known member
Its all just stuff and if you ever hang up the keys there is always more stuff out there.
I have heard too many stories about stored stuff gone bad and years of wasted money spent.
I have heard too many stories about stored stuff gone bad and years of wasted money spent.
well i am working on sorting through stuff and most of it is going to the trash i go through the stuff ind i think of my mom is a major packrat she lives in a 2 bedroom apartment with blue tubs stacked to the ceiling i am glad that i do not have that much stuff .i am glad i still live somewhat light i am just messy and disorganized . but less stuff will help with that and living in a smaller place will help to .
Headache
Well-known member
Good luck! It took me many years to finally get through my moms things, not so much with my dad's as he and I started preparing for it in the year before he died. I've downsized quite a bit but what I have left was for a 300-500 sq ft glorified shed. Now I'm not sure I even want to do that!
Good to know another SD handler out there. My first and last that I trained was 15 when I put him down. I haven't found a good candidate yet for round 2.
Good to know another SD handler out there. My first and last that I trained was 15 when I put him down. I haven't found a good candidate yet for round 2.
