Talk of The Villages Florida - How did you downsize??

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If it is something valuable, memorable to you, then take a picture of it. Then get rid of it.

Once we got married we never had a need to throw anything away

As newlyweds in 1985 we moved right into a house. My wife and I are sorta pack rats and my wife loves to shop. If it was on sale so much much the better.. she would buy 4 years worth of holiday paper plates etc at 80% off after the holiday pointing out how it will save us next year. Slightly used clothes, pocket books etc we'd save them to reuse at the right moment.

And so it went until we were up in New Hampshire camping last summer and I mentioned to her that with the kids long gone out of the house that we should downsize and get ready for the next adventure.

So after we got home, I went to Home Depot and bought a large box of the 42 gallon 3 mil thick trash bags. From that point on I got to work in the garage attic and then the basement sorting thru everything and filling up and disposing about 3 to 6 bags a week. I told her not to worry and put aside many of her treasures as if I got caught throwing them away (or giving them to Good Will) without permission there was H*LL to pay.

Anyways it took from Sept to the week before the closing in May to get thru it all.

She stil loves me but the tension was high at several points... anyways when my friends ask me how I did it, I tell them to just get started now and do a little each week. Start in one area and slowly work through the entire house (and hide any questionable treasures at the bottom of the bag as you fill it up ;) )

Quote:

Originally Posted by dotti105 (Post 695376)

As we look around our house we realize that most of what we have, we will not want to take with us when we move to the villages.

I don't mind cleaning out closets, the garage, giving away, donating and throwing away things no longer needed.

BUT, how do I get rid of valuables? Like sterling flatware, trays etc, china, crystal, a mink jacket I wore twice and will never wear again, valuable antique furniture etc.??

I don't want to just give them away, I'd like to sell them to individuals who would find them valuable. But how do you find buyers, and how do you find out the true value of these types of things?

I'm sure many of you had to face these situations too.

Please post and let us newbies know what you got rid of, how you did it, and what you wish you had gotten rid of, that perhaps you didn't?

Thanks in Advance!!!!

Pack it all up, and ship it to your children, or younger cousins, thats what I did

I found getting rid of almost everything strangely liberating.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patty55 (Post 695799)

Old tools can be worth serious money.

On ebay go into the completed listings, you can see the starting bid and what it actually sold for. I've found with ebay it's all about condition and researching the piece. I've sold china, but found it's better to break down the set, sometimes people need to replace just one piece, not the whole set, packing and shipping an entire set is a killer and the heavier it is the more likely it will break. Ebay shoppers need to know the manufacturer and pattern name. replacements.com can help research. Ebayers love a good story.

The neighbor across the street from me owned one of those "We buy/sell silver, coins and gold" places. I sold him sterling pieces that had dings.

I had never ending yard sales, sent stuff to a country auction type place (this was in upstate NY). IIRC the auction place only charged me 15%.

We have not yet started on garage attic. I tell my Lovely Lady we need a garage sale a week, but she keeps putting it off. When we moved to this house, my Mother had just past, so we had to epty her house, took a lot with us. St, Vincent de Paul came and took excess furniture to people who needed it. The person taking it was good friend of ours and a Brother Knight. Thought Habit for Humanity would want building material, but they only want uopened boxes, I would take anything in their business.
Speaking of Mink Jacket, tried to give to my Mother's niece's only fit one who would not take it, so stayed in cellar, now gave to Realtor.

We downsized by leaving behind just two large items. Our two grown adult sons still living at home. (Failure to Launch!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patty55 (Post 696036)

I found getting rid of almost everything strangely liberating.

We are packing what we will ship to TV now. Down to 2 of each (plates, bowls, cups, etc) and life is so much easier by not having to sort through drawers and cabinets to find what you need. Time is also valuable, so unless it will sell for a lot, it goes in the donate or trash pile. Lots of items are just not worth the time it takes to market them when you are trying to move. Word to the wise; start the thinning out process as soon as you even think you are going to retire in a different location. Packing, sorting and fixing takes more time than you think.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougB (Post 696063)

We downsized by leaving behind just two large items. Our two grown adult sons still living at home. (Failure to Launch!)

Moving to TV will do it!! You made me LOL!:pepper2:

We moved into 50% less space here so Craigslist was a great tool for us to sell our excess stuff. The unusual thing we found was that most people bought what they came to look at but also bought other things while they were at our house. The things that didn't sell went to Goodwill and other charities.