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Post by cindyupnorth on Oct 20, 2019 15:14:36 GMT
Hello everyone! hope everyone is having a good wkend! Mine has been great! weather was so nice up here!
**TALKING POINT** for this wk.. Downsizing-did you? do you need to? want to?
Both my girls have moved out and have their own places now. The oldest dd moved out and took everything she ever owned. Down to her crayons from grade school. It's like she never lived in her room! The youngest one moved out, and it's like she never left. Everything is still there! I also still have a large closet full of toys, and just their growing up stuff. Really 2 closets full. We live in an old farmhouse, and our closets are under the eves, so it's these long narrow closets, and stuff is pushed all the way back in there. We've been in this house for 27 years. My plan for this winter when my youngest has a wk off for the holidays, as she lives the furthest away, is to go thru the closets and they can decide what they want to keep, or store for when they have houses (right now they are in apts), or get rid of.
I also have some sentimental stuff I don't really know what I want to do with? Stuff my grandma made (who has been long gone), or gave me, but is super outdated, and worn from the years. Like crocheted little hats, figurines, etc. lots of knick knackie stuff I'm really not in to, but would feel horribly guilty getting rid of? so what do I do with that?!!
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DEX
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,354
Aug 9, 2014 23:13:22 GMT
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Post by DEX on Oct 20, 2019 15:29:53 GMT
I moved 4 years ago and downsized by at least 50%. I actually asked my kids what they would want and what I could get rid of (think Christmas decor and family heirlooms). Once I realized they didn’t want the 16 piece place setting of my Mom’s China, I felt better getting rid of it and even more stuff. I collected Dickens Village but they weren’t interested in that so I will give it to my niece who collects Dickens. Now, my collection of 14k jewelry is another story. Ha. My DIL has expressed interest in that. I actually gave her a diamond ring recently from my first marriage that I never wore. I figure why wait until I am dead?
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Post by mom2rjcr on Oct 20, 2019 15:38:59 GMT
We are building a new house that is half the size of the house we currently live in. I am looking forward to cleaning out this house and starting outfresh. We have lived in this house for 10 years...the longest DH and I have ever lived somewhere so we have collected a lot of stuff. We have four sons. One is living in Austin and has a few boxes of stuff here. My 24 year old DS moved back home temporarily(I hope!) and has a lot of stuff here. My 19 year old DS is still living at home while he figures out what he wants to do(he was suppose to be in the navy, but couldn't complete boot camp). My 17 year old DS is a senior in high school and wants to go to college locally so he will stay here. The boys don't have a lot of stuff, but I do. I have been trying to Kon Mari my home and that is helping with weeding out what I want and need.
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ddly
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,946
Jul 10, 2014 19:36:28 GMT
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Post by ddly on Oct 20, 2019 15:45:55 GMT
Since my divorce 3 years ago, I have much less stuff. Most of the crap in the house belonged to my ex and what he didn't take, I got rid of gave away. My new dh has some stuff, but it's more contained. He does have several big furniture pieces, including a piano, and when he moved that stuff in, I thought I would have an anxiety attack! LOL It was just me and ds in the house and I had things just the way I liked them with lots of open space. I'm surviving, though, and there is still so much less stuff in the house than with ex.
I'm also not a sentimental saver. Everything has to have a purpose. It's not always easy, but I just don't hold onto something if it will just sit somewhere taking up space and never be used.
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sueg
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,993
Location: Munich
Apr 12, 2016 12:51:01 GMT
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Post by sueg on Oct 20, 2019 15:57:02 GMT
We moved from Australia to Germany nearly 10 years ago now, and downsized from a double story, 5 bedroom house to a 4 room apartment. We also downsized by leaving our 2 sons behind (they were 21 and 22, and both in Uni, but living at home at the time). They each took a lot to set up their houses and we really didn’t bring much with us - I think 30 moving boxes and 4 suitcase - and it is still to much for the space we have.
I want to get into all our closets and do a major clean out, but am currently hampered by knee problems. Maybe once that is fixed, I’ll get it done.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Oct 20, 2019 16:03:22 GMT
Nope, not here. With a 9yo in the house I have no plans of downsizing anytime soon. I need my space, LOL. Our first house started out with less finished square footage than our apartment had (800), we finished off the 1/2 story attic into living space and completely remodeled the room and stairway underneath gutting it all the way down to the lath which added maybe another 600 FSF of usable space. It still wasn’t enough room for the three of us plus three pets. We moved seven years ago into our current house which is roughly 3600 FSF. It’s BLISS having so much storage space after having virtually none, and it will be hard to ever convince me to want to move into anything smaller. Even if/when our one kid moves out, I still don’t think this house will feel too big. I do need to go through some stuff stuff in the closets and get rid of some things we likely won’t ever really use. We still have some boxes in the various closets that have never been unpacked in the seven years we’ve been here. Some of that stuff can probably just go away and other things might get used if they were more accessible and now that our DD is older (assorted games, framed photos and artwork, etc.). Just don’t ever tell my DH to hang artwork! He will pound nails in EVERY wall and hang stuff up everywhere. He hung up something like six big framed prints on the walls in a single 12x16 room. And a giant 9’ long stuffed sailfish. Yeah, I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to be done.
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Post by Patter on Oct 20, 2019 16:04:25 GMT
Nope. I like big houses as do my parents. My parents just upsized from 4,400 to 4,700 two years ago. I don't ever want to move again. The only issue I have with this house are all of the stairs but I will install one of the chairs/lifts before I would move. LOL!
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Post by cindyupnorth on Oct 20, 2019 16:10:01 GMT
We moved from Australia to Germany nearly 10 years ago now, and downsized from a double story, 5 bedroom house to a 4 room apartment. We also downsized by leaving our 2 sons behind (they were 21 and 22, and both in Uni, but living at home at the time). They each took a lot to set up their houses and we really didn’t bring much with us - I think 30 moving boxes and 4 suitcase - and it is still to much for the space we have. I want to get into all our closets and do a major clean out, but am currently hampered by knee problems. Maybe once that is fixed, I’ll get it done. OMG. I can't imagine! going from your house to an apt!
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Post by cindyupnorth on Oct 20, 2019 16:13:55 GMT
Nope. I like big houses as do my parents. My parents just upsized from 4,400 to 4,700 two years ago. I don't ever want to move again. The only issue I have with this house are all of the stairs but I will install one of the chairs/lifts before I would move. LOL Yea, I don't plan on ever moving from this house. I love it. It's fairly big. 4 bedrooms, 2 bath. I want my girls to always feel welcome and come home for the holidays. I know a lot of older couples sell their big homes though, and move in to smaller. I always wonder how they will have their kids come for the holidays? but maybe it's not a big deal, and the stay in hotels? or live nearby also.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 23, 2024 21:42:23 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2019 16:14:23 GMT
We've just bought our first house so we won't be moving for a while, I'd like a bigger house next time.
I'm not a sentimental keeper, I'd have no qualms about getting rid of the things you mentioned. I see no sense in keeping stuff just for the sake of it.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 23, 2024 21:42:23 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2019 16:29:36 GMT
Repeating myself from other threads: sold our house on 5.6 acres and sold/donated all our stuff to move into a 38' RV and travel full-time. We hit the one-year mark in Sept. No kids, and I already lived far from my family, but we "moved" from his home state. Do not miss all the stuff one little bit and was just thinking this morning that I have even more I could get rid of. Streamlining, even long before we took off, has brought such peace to my life, not to mention the time and money savings.
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Post by cindyupnorth on Oct 20, 2019 16:46:28 GMT
I'm not a sentimental keeper, I'd have no qualms about getting rid of the things you mentioned. I see no sense in keeping stuff just for the sake of it. Well, I don't really feel like I would keep it for the sake of it. But yes, sentimental, because my grandma's hands made it. Is that just for the sake of it? I'm not sure. I was thinking I could just take a picture of it, but then I'm like, but you can't touch it. but do I need to? so, see how conflicted I am?! LOL
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sueg
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,993
Location: Munich
Apr 12, 2016 12:51:01 GMT
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Post by sueg on Oct 20, 2019 16:56:12 GMT
We moved from Australia to Germany nearly 10 years ago now, and downsized from a double story, 5 bedroom house to a 4 room apartment. We also downsized by leaving our 2 sons behind (they were 21 and 22, and both in Uni, but living at home at the time). They each took a lot to set up their houses and we really didn’t bring much with us - I think 30 moving boxes and 4 suitcase - and it is still to much for the space we have. I want to get into all our closets and do a major clean out, but am currently hampered by knee problems. Maybe once that is fixed, I’ll get it done. OMG. I can't imagine! going from your house to an apt! Given everything else - moving half way around the world, to a country where we didn’t speak the language, leaving family and friends and for me, my job, behind - going into an apartment was just one more change. I actually like it now - much less to clean, and there are only the 2 of us, except when family visits - and will likely move into an apartment when we go back home.
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Post by scrapmaven on Oct 20, 2019 17:42:29 GMT
We're in the same house that we've been in for many years and we plan to retire here. It's not a huge home, but perfect for us. We have been slowly clearing out stuff we don't need or use anymore. They say that you spend the first 50 years accumulating things and the next 50 years getting rid of it. I concur.
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momto4kiddos
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,151
Jun 26, 2014 11:45:15 GMT
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Post by momto4kiddos on Oct 20, 2019 18:02:16 GMT
Repeating myself from other threads: sold our house on 5.6 acres and sold/donated all our stuff to move into a 38' RV and travel full-time. We hit the one-year mark in Sept. No kids, and I already lived far from my family, but we "moved" from his home state. Do not miss all the stuff one little bit and was just thinking this morning that I have even more I could get rid of. Streamlining, even long before we took off, has brought such peace to my life, not to mention the time and money savings. This sounds very cool!! As for me...we will need to downsize, probably within the next couple of years! We have 4 kids in their 20's who are all home saving for their own houses. When they move out our house will be too big for us (and the taxes are killer.) My goal is to be ready to move when they start moving. We've been in our house for 30 years so there's a lot in it. Last Winter we pulled the entire attic down into the house over several weekends and I sorted, donated, got rid of and organized what we were to keep. It's all stored neatly away downstairs now. We did part of the basement over the summer and will keep going as time allows. We'll have enough to do to list the house without sorting through preschool toys we kept for some reason, lol. The idea of the move makes me nervous, I hate change for one. The other biggie is that for whatever reason smaller homes seem to be priced much more expensively than i'd have thought. Our house which is pretty large will certainly go for more, but less than you'd think if you compare the prices. And I feel like I want a one floor kind of oversized ranch which don't seem plentiful either. Recently my Aunt NEEDED to move in order to be on a one floor due to mobility issues so i'm hoping to move once and be set for old age
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Post by ntsf on Oct 20, 2019 19:19:38 GMT
due to taxes and the cost of housing, it makes sense to us to stay in the same house we have had for 36 yrs. we have views, close transportation, close stores, etc. we only have 1600 square feet. working at clearing out more stuff. our 30 yr dd still lives with us (does not work.. has autism). so it is cozy.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Oct 20, 2019 19:31:09 GMT
We upsized I think. The townhouse we bought is technically 200 sqft smaller but I have 800 sqft of storage where all my stuff can go. We have two storage areas one is called the Wine Room and the other is Elannah’s Storage. They are awesome. We got rid of a lot of stuff when we moved. I called my cleaning lady team and they came and took everything I didn’t need. There were about 30 bone china tea cups and saucers and they were squealing. They took everything as they are from an immigrant community and can distribute the stuff to friends. They took furniture and “stuff”. They were just awesome and they left thinking they got a great deal. They took my stress with them. They don’t see it that way so it’s win win.
I have more stuff to get rid of but one day at a time.
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Post by malibou on Oct 20, 2019 20:14:54 GMT
When we bought our little house we thought it was a starter home. We made a plan as to when we would buy a larger home and were in the process of looking when I was diagnosed with cancer. We decided it was too risky to move while I might be dying. We are still in our same small 1800 square ft house and we will likely never move. It totally works for us.
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J u l e e
Drama Llama
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Jun 28, 2014 2:50:47 GMT
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Post by J u l e e on Oct 20, 2019 22:36:02 GMT
I want a much smaller home. We've lived here for 17 years. I don't have anything to go through - I am not a keeper and I sort through the things we have constantly. I don't have any collections or take anything handed down to me that I don't want. But I have physical limitations that have made it harder to manage this large house. Even with help who took care of the kitchen and bathrooms, I struggled to keep up with the rest of the everyday cleaning. Then our housekeeper retired and it is clear that I don't want to have to worry about taking care of everything that needs to be done. Also, I'm 53 and still active. I want to be out doing things and not spending my weekends cleaning a house.
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Post by Linda on Oct 20, 2019 23:02:57 GMT
I would like to downsize but we still have 1.5 kids at home (DD13 fulltime and DD19 on holidays/summers) and I don't see DH wanting to downsize - we're hoping to build or buy a house in the future but he's looking at a similar square footage - he wants space for his collections and stuff.
As far as stuff goes - I've been decluttering for probably 10 years now and I'm not sure I've managed to make much of a dent - for every bag that leaves, DH seems to bring in 2 more. So I guess MY stuff has been downsized (and kids stuff as they outgrow it) - although there's always more that can go. I'll just keep plugging away at it.
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Post by scrappintoee on Oct 20, 2019 23:04:47 GMT
I also have some sentimental stuff I don't really know what I want to do with? Stuff my grandma made (who has been long gone), or gave me, but is super outdated, and worn from the years. Like crocheted little hats, figurines, etc. lots of knick knackie stuff I'm really not in to, but would feel horribly guilty getting rid of? so what do I do with that?!! I can SO relate to sentimentality !!! We've been doing A LOT of purging and everything is either going to a homeless shelter or Goodwill. I haven't read any other replies, AND you may have already thought of this., but take PHOTOS of them so you'll always remember them. Someday, I'd like to make some scrapbook pages about the items that are very meaningful to me. But at the very least, at least I'll have piks. Some items, I also wrote a little bit about the who/ what/ where/ why on a sheet of paper that's included in the photo so none of the details will be forgotten. I love to capture all the info, just like I always liked to journal a lot in my scrapbook pages. I always think of someone in the future reading about it, and I WISH some of my family members had done the same. For example, I have my Mom's handkerchiefs with her initials embroidered on them, beautiful photos of her taken by my Dad where she's wearing a special necklace, etc. --I'd LOVE to know the story behind them, etc.
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AllieC
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,052
Jul 4, 2014 6:57:02 GMT
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Post by AllieC on Oct 20, 2019 23:32:21 GMT
We have just moved into our newly built downsize house. We went for a 4 bedrooms, 2 bathroom, 2 living area plus pool to a 3/2/1 (no pool) and are loving it. There are only the 2 of us and we didn't use half the house. The other consideration was that my husband was retiring and our old house was 20 years old and was going to need a lot of things replaced in the next few years. This way we will have no significant spending for many years and have a much easier house to live in, clean and maintain.
We have one living area but have TV's in 2 bedrooms if we want to watch different programs. We have the weather to spend significant time outside eating/relaxing for probably 9 months of the year so the outdoor area with eating area/couches/tv will be used a lot as a second living space.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Oct 20, 2019 23:55:28 GMT
We are in our forever home. It's the largest home we've lived in, but not a large house by American standards. It's about 1800 sq ft and our basement is unfinished. It's just me, DH and DS lives with us. 20 years ago I would have gone for a bigger house. However, now that we are close to retirement, I'm really glad I don't have a big house to heat, cool, and especially clean. It would be a lot of wasted space for us. We basically use the same two rooms, kitchen and living room. We don't have family that needs to be accommodated and I won't have grandchildren either.
I'm also at the point that I am constantly reevaluating what I really need in my house. The older I get the less I want to deal with things that I either don't love or don't use. We traveled most of our lives so we have a lot of souvenirs from around the world. Those are the things that I'm not sure how to pare down.
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Post by lisae on Oct 21, 2019 0:13:55 GMT
I would like to live somewhere that it wasn't a 15-20 mile drive to a decent restaurant, any hospital, somewhere to shop, etc. However we will not be moving as my mother lives nearby and hopes to stay in her own home as long as possible.
If we eventually move, I doubt we would have less than the 1,600 heated square feet that we have now but we would likely not have a full basement or an outside storage building so I would need to have less stuff to store. One of the other main reasons I would move is to have less land to keep up. It's lovely and quiet here but the cost of that is a huge yard. DH does most of the yard work but I know he won't want to do that or be able to do that forever.
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,170
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Oct 21, 2019 2:57:40 GMT
I’m not planning to move any time soon, but I know that I will likely want to downsize at some point.
There were people asking just weeks after my husband died what I was going to do about the house. They weren’t necessarily asking me, but a close relative. His response was the same as mine: Live in it. I do not want to make a quick decision or an irreversible one. Yes, it’s a big house for one person; it was a big house for two (four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, living room, family room, dining room, loft, etc.). And my husband did most all the yard work, even when he was on chemo.
I will be retiring at the end of this school year, so I want to wait to see how much I want to do in the future. I’ve done more yard stuff and gardening than I ever did before, and there is some pleasure in the gardening especially. My nephew has done the mowing and trimming and fertilizing and I’ll have to figure that out since I can’t expect him to continue that indefinitely. I am okay with hiring people or services to do some things.
With my nephew's help, I’ve been getting things done that needed to be, like a new front door, new shutters and outside lighting, etc.
Vince and I had this house built and we moved in almost twenty years ago. We chose everything together and it’s very much what we wanted. I also love the neighborhood and the neighbors, who have been there for us and now for me. I have thought that I might choose to move into one of the detached condos behind us, in the future. For right now, I’ll stay and see how things go once I’m retired. We had put in a stair lift shortly before Vince died, so that will make it easier for me to stay in the house longer if I choose.
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Post by chedanemi on Oct 21, 2019 13:54:57 GMT
We moved about the same time our girls were leaving the nest, so it was a perfect time to downsize for us. I'm not much of a "keep it for sentimental reasons" type of person, so it's easy for me to get rid of stuff. I've sold lots of rarely used small appliances, decor items and shoes/clothing on FB Buy, Sell & Trade pages. I don't do knickknacks, so there's no clutter anywhere in our house. I'm very much a minimalist in my decorating style. I do a lot of crafts (knit, crochet, sew, scrapbook), so I'm using up my supplies by knitting or sewing things for our local hospital and nursing home too. My stashes have decreased dramatically, and I hope to have them mostly gone in the next year or so. I keep telling my girls by the time I die, they shouldn't have too much to go through! They think I'm being morbid, but one day they'll probably appreciate not having to go through a tote of yarn or fabric and decide what to do with it!!
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kibblesandbits
Pearl Clutcher
At the corner of Awesome and Bombdiggity
Posts: 3,305
Aug 13, 2016 13:47:39 GMT
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Post by kibblesandbits on Oct 21, 2019 14:04:08 GMT
We upsized rather than downsized. We're at 6,800 SF now, with over 70 acres, ponds, creeks, and a swimming pool. Our house is the place to be on the weekends, so I'm very glad we have the space.
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cakediva
Drama Llama
Making the world a sweeter place one cake at a time!
Posts: 7,400
Location: Fergus, Ontario
Jun 26, 2014 11:53:40 GMT
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Post by cakediva on Oct 21, 2019 15:02:28 GMT
No plans to downsize here.
Both girls are out on their own, and DS is doing a second round of Grade 12 this year, so he is only with us for another year before heading to college.
But if we sold and downsized, our mortgage would be the same or higher, and we'd have less space, so why bother?
Our home will be the home everybody comes to for holiday celebrations. We have space for the kids to spend the weekend when they come visit as well.
This is basically our retirement fund. One day it will be too much for us and we will sell and invest the money and get an apartment somewhere. But for now, we are planning to keep adding equity and make it ours.
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Post by smalltowngirlie on Oct 21, 2019 15:12:38 GMT
We downsized a couple years ago. I like the house we live in, but wish the basement was more finished than it is. I like space to work on my crafts and don't really have that.
When we moved we purged a lot, but after 3 years there are boxes we have yet to open so I need to go through them and purge those as well. We are talking retirement and I am not waiting until then to go through everything. Our plans are to do extended traveling in a Class B or C, can't remember what class motor home, towing our jeep behind. SO at that point it will be bare bones minimum. I look forward to that time of our life.
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Post by fredfreddy44 on Oct 21, 2019 15:19:28 GMT
We haven't downsized much but do continually go through stuff that used to be important, but isn't later on. Three years ago we went through everything in our house, had a garage sale, and made $600. In the corner of the attic was about 30 boxes of "important" outgrown items of our 3 kids. They had a blast going though the boxes and mostly saying "WHY did I think that was important when I was six?" A lot was thrown out and a lot sold. At the same time we told our then 24 yo dd she had to taking everything left. She had 15 or so boxes in the attic. Only the American Girls are left here.
I can't downsize a ton because there is a generation older than us with 4.5 houses worth of stuff. Both sets of parents are alive and healthy but gosh they have lots of stuff.
Some day dh and I want to move to a smaller house but for now we still have one at home and one that will probably move back in for a year or two after college to get a leg up in the expensive Bay Area.
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