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.

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

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.

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).

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.

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

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: Try the collapsible hose from Camping World. Drain and roll up into nothing.

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.

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.

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!!!!!

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.

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.