Hi all...I hope this is the right place to post this question. For the last 2 yrs I have been slowly getting rid of items left over from my store..now that its all gone I need to get rid of my 'stuff" house hold items etc. and I dont want to take 2 yrs to do it. ( i did flea markets and yard sales) I have some ideas on how I will get rid of it but I am having trouble getting orginized that is my problem I seem to be overwhelmed by it all. Could you all tell me how you went about it. I walk into a room thinking I will get it under control and it just doesnt happen. Getting rid of the house is a lot different than getting rid of the store items. What to do, how to do it, how to live while doing it etc etc. Sure could use some help and avice Thanks so much. Donna aka grammy
igotjam said
10:16 AM Sep 30, 2009
Not sure if what we did will work for you but..... We found a spot for personal pictures (photos only no keepsakes) at a relatives, filled the trailer with what we thought we needed for fulltiming, invited family and friends over to take what they wanted and then went through the house emptying it at goodwill and a rented dumpster til the house was empty.
It was hard to put costly possesions into the dumpster but no one else saw any value in them and the alternative was renting a storage locker. Figure out the rent...it adds up quickly. We figured we could buy new for less than the rent years down the road.
It wasn't fun but we feel so free without STUFF or the need to go back to a particular place to deal with stuff.
grammyNmaggie said
12:11 PM Sep 30, 2009
wow...I sure admire the way you did it...bet it was hard ..I am not sure that would work for me ....but in the end it sure is an option....
please anyone else imput is greatly needed.
thanks
donna
Sandy said
01:05 PM Sep 30, 2009
Donna (Grammy) –
About 9 months before we put our house on the market we slowly went through stuff sorting it into four areas: Stuff going with us, Stuff to Keep/Storage, Stuff to Sell, and Junk. We threw out the “junk” items as we could in our garbage each week. We then put our house on the market (June 2009) and it sold in 3 days, and we needed to be out in 60 days. So we then called our family, friends, and neighbors and had them do a walk through and offer me what they wanted for the items. It worked out great, they were happy for the bargains and we were glad to make them happy and get rid of the stuff. The stuff that know one could use, but we felt had some value ($25.00 and up) we advertised in our local area on “Craig’s list”. My husband also set stuff (lawn chairs, garden tools, coolers, etc…) out in our front yard with a “for sale” sign; between his yard sale and Craig’s list everything was sold within 2 days. The reaming items that were in good condition we took to Goodwill.
Was this hard, not for us because we kept a few items that meant the most to us (family stuff), the rest of it was just “stuff”. I thought I may miss our house or some of that stuff, but like everyone else says you feel free.
Good Luck in your downsizing process –
Sandy
-- Edited by Sandy on Wednesday 30th of September 2009 01:06:32 PM
tumwatergal said
09:46 PM Sep 30, 2009
When it comes time to downsize our most personal possessions the going gets tough. We went F/T in 2008 and prior to listing the house for sale, we got rid of a lot of "stuff" in order to stage our home for open houses, etc. We had 3 garage sales, gave some valuable stuff to relatives who wanted it, gave some to the Goodwill and even went to a local pawn shop with some tools left over from the garage sale. We got a good price at the pawn shop, must to our surprise. We wanted everything gone that wouldn't fit into the RV. We wanted no storage fees by keeping a storage room or pod. Some personal things we could bring with us and hang up on the RV wall and so forth. (photos, etc) This all worked out for us because we didn't feel very emotionally attached to stuff. If you feel emotionally attached to things, your best bet may be to keep a storage room for a few months to see what you miss. Good luck!
brainranger said
06:09 AM Oct 1, 2009
The first thing we did was give to our two children anything they wanted in the house. The rest of the things we put on craigslist and if you have a price far lower than your sentiments will allow, it will all sell.
A few other small items we took to re-sale centers but found that giving the rest to Goodwill and writing it off on your taxes was far greater ahead of the game financially than spending time on flea markets and garage sales. Your time is far more valuable and no one gives you what you think your items are worth.
For six months we rented a storage shed for a few remaining items. I calculated that I could buy all the things in there new, for what I was paying for a year's worth of rental. So we're getting rid of the storage and giving all to Goodwill. We're further ahead financially this way.
The only thing we're packing is photos, and putting any old family videos on DVD.
Hope this helps.
tigerlilly108 said
11:29 AM Oct 1, 2009
Another excellent way to "get rid of stuff" is to donate to your local Women's Abuse Center. The women who are starting their lives anew usually are starting from scratch with children and love to have some of your "stuff" and it's a tax deduction for a very good cause. Peace at Home without Battery!
Happytrails said
04:30 PM Oct 1, 2009
We actually just went through the purging process. The first thing we did was decide what items we wanted to keep in storage and what we wanted to take with us on the road. Then we asked our son what, of the things left, he wanted. Armed with this information we knew what we needed to get rid of. We went through room by room and pulled things out that we thought would be good items for a yard sale. Then we had the yard sale. What we did not sell we gave away or donated. As we pulled things for the yard sale we threw away the things that were simply junk. While the house was on the market we kept it "decorated" and furnished. As soon as we had a contract we rented a climate controlled storage bin and put the things in it that we wanted to keep. We helped our son move his items to his apartment and then we did another throw away of junk. I think all in all we had two yard sales. When we purchased the motorhome (which was close to our move out date) we moved the things into the motorhome we wanted to keep.
With this all said - I found out very quickly that 1) I kept too much stuff in the storage bin and will purge that again when we get back in November and 2) I kept too much stuff in the motorhome. I think a lot of folks have to purge again once they are on the road. I am in the process of doing that during these first few months on the road.
It's all a learning curve. Good luck!!! Don't forget to enjoy the moment(s).
two travelers said
06:01 PM Oct 1, 2009
I often have to go through this with my patients when they sell their home to move into an Assisted Living or Nursing Home... I ask the family to take pictures of the things they treasured.. Sometime what looks like stuff is real a treasure to someone else...I than help my patients make a photo album so they can have their stuff with them .. So if you have something someone calls stuff and you call it a treasure snap a picture..
I know as we are clearing our house to put it on the market.. I am finding little treasures here and there.. I don't want to keep them but I have snapped a few pictures.. my kids hand made rocking horse, a hand thrown flower pot my son made me 20 years ago in pottery class when he was 16, my daughter's hockey stick..and today I found one of my grandson's old nukies.. I did not take a picture of it but I did carry it around all day before I put it in the trash... I am sure some of the stuff that I am still hanging on to today will be less important to me in 2 months and my piles will get smaller.... Now ask my husband about clearing out the tools in the garage and you will hear how they are "GOOD STUFF" you can't just give them away to anyone...I told him I would take a picture of all his tools before we move out..LOL patti
princess tonya said
11:03 AM Oct 2, 2009
We're doing this still. We've been doing it for about two months, and now that the house is under contract we have to do the rest. We only have about a month to get it all done and out of the house. I found that getting rid of my clothes was the hardest. :) But I haven't started getting rid of my three year old's stuff yet. The eight year old's was kinda easy because he isn't too attached to most of his toys. He has about three that he could never part with, but my three year old is a girl and she is attached to absolutely everything. She has about 30 babydolls and thinks of them as real babies. She loves her stuffed animals, tea party sets, even a little but catcher from the dollar store is like gold to her. We've already had three garage sales and now we're going to be puting our stuff on Craigslist and asking people we know if they know of anyone who needs anything we are getting rid of. I would say to keep your necesseties until it's time to go. Some things will seem necessary to keep at first, but as you go you realize that it's really not that important after all.
Good Luck. It's not easy, but it is worth it.
becg said
03:41 PM Jul 22, 2013
We are less than a month from taking possession of our RV. We plan to leave here on our maiden voyage, for one month, as soon as possible. I am terrified! I was shocked at how attached I was to 'things'. I cried a river over getting rid of books I haven't touched in years. We are poised to do our clothes next, then the kitchen. I look at all the stuff we really think we need to take with us, then I look at the pictures of the storage space in the RV...it just won't ever fit!
One of my biggest challenges has been agreeing with my partner that it's time to buy the RV and get on with life, from a wheelchair! I never would have thought I'd agree to buy a house I'd never even walked through, but I did! We are having a lift device installed, but it won't be available to use until a week or so before we start packing our things into it! My partner is in the process of making drawers and cabinets to the specs of the RV, but out of poster paper, to help me visualize the space we actually have for storage.
Tell me again about how you feel so free after you clear everything out. I'm feeling lost without my stuff, and really having a hard time saying good-bye to my old lifestyle. I've committed to doing this, I just need a nudge and a hug! - Peggy
Terry and Jo said
04:36 PM Jul 22, 2013
Peggy,
In our family, I am the pack-rat. I was constantly keeping "something," simply because I "might need" that someday. When Jo sprang the idea that she thought that we could do this lifestyle, I was overjoyed because of my love of photographing nature and wildlife. Once I started looking at things as "things," it became easier to say that I really "didn't need that." The hardest thing for me to "get rid of" was painting done by my mother, who taught herself to paint. All the paintings are with family, so, they aren't really gone. Those things were hard to get rid of for two reasons; one, they were beautiful paintings, and two, it was sentimental as my mother passed away a long time ago.
We did keep a few small paintings and they hang in our fifth wheel. Plus, I did manage to keep some books of two favored authors, but it was actually liberating to get rid of everything else.
I think the hardest to be rid of are the sentimental items, but photos can be scanned and put into image files for one's computers. I've even read where some RV'ers kept their good china dinnerware and now use it instead of the "cheap" stuff. After all, why not use the "special" stuff instead of just storing it.
Keep the faith and you will find it easier to rid yourself of the unnecessary items.
Terry
igotjam said
03:49 PM Jul 23, 2013
Now in year 7 of fulltiming. (glad I didn't store anything because 7 years rent would be a large number) Best thing we ever did was deciding to NOT put anything into storage. For us, storage items would be like a "ball and chain"....but that's just us.
mjlitz said
07:30 PM Jul 23, 2013
Remember it is just "stuff". We have been full timing since October 2012. We had a large house full of "stuff" but there was also things that we could not part with (family heirlooms etc). We did get a small storage unit and it is packed with these things,as we do someday, plan on getting another stick & bricks place, so these things will be used. I only had one time where I lost it and was in tears. That is when my dear honey, said, we are not getting rid of things if they mean something to us. It will go into storage. From then on it was a piece of cake. Getting rid of "stuff" is very liberating. Seeing how little you really need to make your life go round is amazing. When and if the time comes to settle down, you can then start another chapter in your life with new things. I know now, when the time comes to empty the locker, we will wonder why on earth we kept some things.
It is truly a wonderful and amazing adventure you are about to begin. There will be ups and downs but remember, these things also happen in a stick & brick place - now this is your home. Not a day doesn't go by that one of us doesn't say to the other "Life is Good"
Enjoy and you truly meet someone wonderful people on this site.
Take care
Melissa
scrappy said
07:51 PM Jul 23, 2013
When we bought our RV in March, we set it up in the driveway and "moved in".
As we decided we needed things out of the house, we would go get them. After about four weeks, if we had not needed it in the RV, we deemed it unnecessary and it went in the sell it/store it/trash it pile. so far, all we have really wished we would have brought was a spare hose, and we bought one of those scrunchy looking As Seen On TV hoses at walmart.
mjlitz said
01:53 AM Jul 24, 2013
Scrappy: Try the collapsible hose from Camping World. Drain and roll up into nothing.
scrappy said
02:10 AM Jul 24, 2013
The Pocket Hose, As Seen On TV, is a pretty nifty thing. it rolls into a little ball and expands to about 25 feet when filled............and scrunches back down to nothing!
That was all we needed!
Terry and Jo said
05:35 AM Jul 24, 2013
I'm a little uncertain about those types of hoses. Here in the mobile home park where we are, the water pressure is really high, enough so that it was causing leaks at the PEX fittings under all of our faucets. I would hate to see what full water pressure would do to one of those hoses. Let's face it, if they are designed to "retract" when the water is off, will they look like an angioplasty balloon when high water pressure is applied?
Terry
mjlitz said
06:05 AM Jul 24, 2013
The collapsible one has worked great for us. We have it in two lengths. Wouldn't think about the Pocket Hose. It could be a tangled nightmare.
scrappy said
03:18 PM Jul 24, 2013
Im on top of a mountain. The water pressure here is anemic at best. It is just used to fill dog buckets. And it doesn't tangle.
BruceandTrisha said
04:26 PM Aug 20, 2013
Getting rid of all the "stuff" was a huge task, but so worthwhile for us. We did it five years ago when we decided to live in a tent for the summer ... as our first step to signal to the Universe that we were serious about fulltime RVing. We knew we had to make a new space for our new life - and all the stuff just didn't fit. After that summer, we were offered the job as camphosts - so we got our camper and planted our flag by the Missouri River.
Now, after four years of workamping in one place - we are getting rid of the stuff we've accumulated in these past four years - because TA DA! we're pulling up stakes and leaving Missouri in November! Heading to the open road on a never-ending roadtrip.
Downsizing is kinda like life ... you have to let go of the things that hold you back, that take your time and energy away from you. Here's to freedom!
Grams said
05:24 PM Nov 1, 2013
Staging the house started the ball rolling for me. I declutter and found that I had most photos on a pc, so trashed the paper copies (they are backed up on a memory stick). I packed up all cabinets and under sinks, etc. and just left boxes in the same spot, so I could find things. I got rid of extra linens, etc. by donating or passing on to my daughter.
My most difficult room was my kitchen. I did try down sizing my kitchen by moving things I used into two drawers in my kitchen. I ended up packing two totes of "extras" for storage in the pass-thru ... haven't been into the totes yet, but we have only been living in the RV for 6 weeks.
Clothing was sorted as seasons passed. I read once that you should turn all your hangers backwards and as something went back into the closet it was placed correctly so you know what you are wearing. We tooks lots of items to a resale shop.
As holidays passed, I asked my daughter what decorations she wanted and donated the rest. You are not going to get rich on holiday decorations at a garage sale.
When the house sold, we moved what we wanted to keep to the RV, daughter took what she wanted, stored some artwork with family, sold all my furniture on Facebook to friends, had two garage sales, trashed the junk and donated the rest. Hubby did store some things with his brother that he was unable to part with. Not me, I don't have the attachment to "stuff" that he does.
The Restless Youngs said
11:34 PM Nov 1, 2013
We're in the very initial stages of purging-- "pre" putting the house on the market at this point. In an effort to get hubby (and me) motivated to do this daunting task, we've started a competetion to see who can purge the most and ultimately who has the bigger "kitty" of $$ in the end. Of course, he really likes the idea of us "working together" but somehow I have a feeling that this will keep things moving faster (and might keep work distributed evenly as well!!). In the end, he has a classic car to sell, so I think I'll be losing this competition, but I'm hoping it will make this not so fun task a little more entertaining.
Lucky Mike said
11:53 PM Nov 1, 2013
Marriage is a 50/50.......you sell the car first and you will be points ahead or in the dog house......but if you find a buyer you should get a finders fee..(on paper of course!!!
Can you tell I like to start trouble in jest every now and then!!!!!
The Restless Youngs said
04:59 AM Nov 2, 2013
So funny Mike.....I'm right there with you and have been researching places I can post it!!
Camper Chronicles said
04:03 PM Nov 17, 2013
Nice to read all about folks are handling this. We got the kids together and gave them first pick. Lots if laughter and some tears. Overall it was a great family moment. For the youngest we promised to store things for her for two years then she was on her own. The other two are older and more settled. Next step two garage sales...one pre house sale another post house sale and lots of donating in between. Giving blankets to the homeless shelter felt really good. Make sure you track the deductions...with this kind of volume it adds up. I used a price sheet from the Goodwill site. The hardest was the books. When the kids were going through them I actually had to leave the room. But overall I was gratified that the kids wanted so much of our stuff.
MrsG said
11:09 AM Jan 19, 2014
It sure sounds like I'm right on track with all of my ideas for purging and getting the ball rolling for Full-timing. Hello, my name is Lori, and I'm a PACK RAT!! I wouldn't say "hoarder", but pack rat for sure! Since making the decision to full-time, I've been going around the house making lists of what I need/want and what will fit in a fiver and what is necessary. I can't believe all of the "things" around here that we really won't need. Last summer we had to evacuate our home due to a brush fire being dangerously close. This REALLY brings you quickly to determine what is most important in your life. My dear hubby is absolutely AMAZED that this whole idea of getting rid of everything and heading out in a very small square footage of home is my idea. But I'm serious about it! Time to get busy! Thank you all for your additional ideas that I hadn't come up with yet. Looking forward to all of the great information and ideas and experiences that you all post on here. - - Lori
manycats said
06:23 PM Jan 19, 2014
Can you guess what my husband wants to keep? His workshop/storage shed. He doesn't mind getting rid of house, furniture, or anything in it but the building and his tools and materials are keepers. We may have to buy or rent a piece of land to move it there. Of course I won't mind if some of my "stuff" gets stored there too but I don't think there's any room left i it....and, we're not talking about a garden shed, it's almost as big as a mobile home.
Wildrose Acres said
12:36 PM Apr 21, 2014
We spent three months sorting, purging, etc. We took two trailerloads to our son's storage space. I sent some things with my brother to Nebraska to keep for us. We had our auction two weeks ago. We got rid of the lion's share of the stuff, but we still have the house and a number of tubs of things we either didn't get a chance to go through or didn't want to sell. Some will be trashed or consolidated. Some we will have to pack with us until we find a family member's house to stash the stuff. We are living in the motorhome, but use the house for the bathroom and doing dishes. That saves us having to deal with the water in the motorhome while we are sitting here. Today is truly the first day we've had to relax, but with those tubs in the house I don't dare sit too long.
We had a showing of our house last week, but heard nothing. Oh well, it will sell eventually.
Sure could use some help and avice
Thanks so much.
Donna aka grammy
Donna (Grammy) –
About 9 months before we put our house on the market we slowly went through stuff sorting it into four areas: Stuff going with us, Stuff to Keep/Storage, Stuff to Sell, and Junk. We threw out the “junk” items as we could in our garbage each week. We then put our house on the market (June 2009) and it sold in 3 days, and we needed to be out in 60 days. So we then called our family, friends, and neighbors and had them do a walk through and offer me what they wanted for the items. It worked out great, they were happy for the bargains and we were glad to make them happy and get rid of the stuff. The stuff that know one could use, but we felt had some value ($25.00 and up) we advertised in our local area on “Craig’s list”. My husband also set stuff (lawn chairs, garden tools, coolers, etc…) out in our front yard with a “for sale” sign; between his yard sale and Craig’s list everything was sold within 2 days. The reaming items that were in good condition we took to Goodwill.
Was this hard, not for us because we kept a few items that meant the most to us (family stuff), the rest of it was just “stuff”. I thought I may miss our house or some of that stuff, but like everyone else says you feel free.
Good Luck in your downsizing process –
Sandy
-- Edited by Sandy on Wednesday 30th of September 2009 01:06:32 PM
But I haven't started getting rid of my three year old's stuff yet. The eight year old's was kinda easy because he isn't too attached to most of his toys. He has about three that he could never part with, but my three year old is a girl and she is attached to absolutely everything. She has about 30 babydolls and thinks of them as real babies. She loves her stuffed animals, tea party sets, even a little but catcher from the dollar store is like gold to her.
We've already had three garage sales and now we're going to be puting our stuff on Craigslist and asking people we know if they know of anyone who needs anything we are getting rid of.
I would say to keep your necesseties until it's time to go. Some things will seem necessary to keep at first, but as you go you realize that it's really not that important after all.
Good Luck. It's not easy, but it is worth it.
One of my biggest challenges has been agreeing with my partner that it's time to buy the RV and get on with life, from a wheelchair! I never would have thought I'd agree to buy a house I'd never even walked through, but I did! We are having a lift device installed, but it won't be available to use until a week or so before we start packing our things into it! My partner is in the process of making drawers and cabinets to the specs of the RV, but out of poster paper, to help me visualize the space we actually have for storage.
Tell me again about how you feel so free after you clear everything out. I'm feeling lost without my stuff, and really having a hard time saying good-bye to my old lifestyle. I've committed to doing this, I just need a nudge and a hug! - Peggy
Peggy,
In our family, I am the pack-rat. I was constantly keeping "something," simply because I "might need" that someday. When Jo sprang the idea that she thought that we could do this lifestyle, I was overjoyed because of my love of photographing nature and wildlife. Once I started looking at things as "things," it became easier to say that I really "didn't need that." The hardest thing for me to "get rid of" was painting done by my mother, who taught herself to paint. All the paintings are with family, so, they aren't really gone. Those things were hard to get rid of for two reasons; one, they were beautiful paintings, and two, it was sentimental as my mother passed away a long time ago.
We did keep a few small paintings and they hang in our fifth wheel. Plus, I did manage to keep some books of two favored authors, but it was actually liberating to get rid of everything else.
I think the hardest to be rid of are the sentimental items, but photos can be scanned and put into image files for one's computers. I've even read where some RV'ers kept their good china dinnerware and now use it instead of the "cheap" stuff. After all, why not use the "special" stuff instead of just storing it.
Keep the faith and you will find it easier to rid yourself of the unnecessary items.
Terry
It is truly a wonderful and amazing adventure you are about to begin. There will be ups and downs but remember, these things also happen in a stick & brick place - now this is your home. Not a day doesn't go by that one of us doesn't say to the other "Life is Good"
Enjoy and you truly meet someone wonderful people on this site.
Take care
Melissa
When we bought our RV in March, we set it up in the driveway and "moved in".
As we decided we needed things out of the house, we would go get them. After about four weeks, if we had not needed it in the RV, we deemed it unnecessary and it went in the sell it/store it/trash it pile. so far, all we have really wished we would have brought was a spare hose, and we bought one of those scrunchy looking As Seen On TV hoses at walmart.
The Pocket Hose, As Seen On TV, is a pretty nifty thing. it rolls into a little ball and expands to about 25 feet when filled............and scrunches back down to nothing!
That was all we needed!
I'm a little uncertain about those types of hoses. Here in the mobile home park where we are, the water pressure is really high, enough so that it was causing leaks at the PEX fittings under all of our faucets. I would hate to see what full water pressure would do to one of those hoses. Let's face it, if they are designed to "retract" when the water is off, will they look like an angioplasty balloon when high water pressure is applied?
Terry
Im on top of a mountain. The water pressure here is anemic at best. It is just used to fill dog buckets. And it doesn't tangle.
Now, after four years of workamping in one place - we are getting rid of the stuff we've accumulated in these past four years - because TA DA! we're pulling up stakes and leaving Missouri in November! Heading to the open road on a never-ending roadtrip.
Downsizing is kinda like life ... you have to let go of the things that hold you back, that take your time and energy away from you. Here's to freedom!
My most difficult room was my kitchen. I did try down sizing my kitchen by moving things I used into two drawers in my kitchen. I ended up packing two totes of "extras" for storage in the pass-thru ... haven't been into the totes yet, but we have only been living in the RV for 6 weeks.
Clothing was sorted as seasons passed. I read once that you should turn all your hangers backwards and as something went back into the closet it was placed correctly so you know what you are wearing. We tooks lots of items to a resale shop.
As holidays passed, I asked my daughter what decorations she wanted and donated the rest. You are not going to get rich on holiday decorations at a garage sale.
When the house sold, we moved what we wanted to keep to the RV, daughter took what she wanted, stored some artwork with family, sold all my furniture on Facebook to friends, had two garage sales, trashed the junk and donated the rest. Hubby did store some things with his brother that he was unable to part with. Not me, I don't have the attachment to "stuff" that he does.
Can you tell I like to start trouble in jest every now and then!!!!!
It sure sounds like I'm right on track with all of my ideas for purging and getting the ball rolling for Full-timing.
Hello, my name is Lori, and I'm a PACK RAT!! I wouldn't say "hoarder", but pack rat for sure!
Since making the decision to full-time, I've been going around the house making lists of what I need/want and what will fit in a fiver and what is necessary. I can't believe all of the "things" around here that we really won't need.
Last summer we had to evacuate our home due to a brush fire being dangerously close. This REALLY brings you quickly to determine what is most important in your life.
My dear hubby is absolutely AMAZED that this whole idea of getting rid of everything and heading out in a very small square footage of home is my idea. But I'm serious about it!
Time to get busy!
Thank you all for your additional ideas that I hadn't come up with yet.
Looking forward to all of the great information and ideas and experiences that you all post on here.
- - Lori
We had a showing of our house last week, but heard nothing. Oh well, it will sell eventually.