# moving to retire, advice requested



## 4570 (Aug 2, 2009)

Good day.
This is my 1st post here.

We are retiring this summer and moving to another province.
We are in our mid and early 50's.
And moving to a similar sized house.

Our big challenge is to de clutter/unload stuff.
Our parents taught us to save everything. Hence the clutter. 
Being frugal got us into an early retirement. But now I get bogged down with the thought of getting rid of a book I have not read, a shirt never worn, or a tool not used in 10 years.

I anxiously await your thoughts and experiences...

thanks


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I am a total clutter person, but advice would be to sell it. If you know you are not using it, then that space costs you money indirectly. 

Donate it if you can't sell it.


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## rikk (May 28, 2012)

Just this weekend drove by a "house contents sale" ... lotsa people milling about, I didn't go in, have my own share of stuff to get rid of ... but the idea is, I think, put a price tag on everything, and the seller and a few friends accompany prospective buyers through the house, selling as they go. I'm thinking when we relocate (wife retires in 2 years), we might just do something like that, and donate the leftovers. Beats hauling everything out to the laneway for a "garage sale" I think.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

4570 said:


> * Our parents* taught us to save everything. *Hence the clutter. *


I think is this and similar posts too much emphasis is put on the parents, and the parents are way too often used as an excuse, the truth is the clutter is there not because of your parents but because you are hoarding everything.

Don't have any experiences but apparently in many cases letting go and taking control of the stuff (as oppose to stuff controlling you ) feels quite liberating and empowering.

Good luck ;-)


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

Just dump it. If you haven't read it or used it in the last year then it goes into a maybe throw out/sell pile. Ask yourself if you truly believe you will use it over the next 2 years. If no throw it out or sell it.

If you haven't used it or read it, whatever, in the last 3 years, don't even think about it. Get rid of it.

If you can replace it for less then $3 dollars at a dollar store or Walmart (you would be surprised at how many of your items now fall into that list - you can thank China) and you haven't used it in the last year or so, dump it.

Some stuff you can sell on Kijiji but be careful not to overvalue it, like most do. Know that your next option is the garbage and price it accordingly.

Don't forget about donating the stuff to the Salvation Army. Just don't end up taking in a box of junk and coming home with two boxes, like many do.


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

We did something similar. We went from just under 4000 sq feet of finished, furnished home to a 16 X 8 X 8 storage container. We sold our home and travelled for eight months. We are still in rented accommodation until we find what we want-or we may continue renting. The container was delivered to our driveway and we took a week to load it.

We were empty nesters. Some of our furniture was old (we tend to buy higher end product and keep it) and we planned to replace a good deal of it. It was 'larger' furniture that no longer fit into smaller condo's. We had scads of clothing, books, more clothing,etc.

It was hard at first. We started with clothing. Two piles-garbage or give to a not for profit. We must have done it four times, perhaps five before making good progress. The fur coat made it to the last cut and then we said goodbye to it.

We threw things out over a six month period. We gave away a few bedroom sets, sofas, etc. to relatives and people we knew. We make a rule. If people wanted something, they had to pick it up within two weeks-otherwise it would be sent away to a homeless shelter who we had arranged a pickup. We did this several times.

Books went to friends, but mostly to a book sale to help new Canadians read etc. Children's books and school supplies went to our local elementary school. We sold some items on Kijiji...it became our friend. We did three passes on non clothing items. It got easier and we became more ruthless at each pass.

We are so thankful that we did this. We came back, rented a furnished apt for a few months, and then moved into a two bedroom condo. Our storage area is full.
But, we had a repair team doing work on our condo complex. One of the workers had recently lost all of their belongings in the Calgary flood. We still had so much that we were able to give quite a few things-lamps, bedding, pictures, etc. to them.

We had another rule. Items get moved ONCE. They either given to friends, charity, or moved to the garage in preparation for loading the container. There was none of this business of moving an item from one room to another until deciding what to do. This helped...it forced us to make decisions.

Good luck. It really is easy to do. You simply have to get your head around it. This is just stuff. We feel far better off without it.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Homerhomer said:


> I think this and similar posts *too much emphasis is put on the parents, and the parents are way too often used as an excuse,* the truth is the clutter is there not because of your parents but because you are hoarding everything.


Very true because the blame card has become very contagious these days, and not just putting the blame on parents, but nice try 4570. 

I can't stand clutter, but somehow I still find myself decluttering/organizing every few years, ie: donating books/clothes, etc. 

If you get creative, there are ways to make the declutter experience fun, quick & rewarding! I would start by 1st making a list of items that are non-donatable/giftable/vendible, ie: throw away. There are such items in every room!

Happy ER!


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

I would sort your stuff into personal mementos like pictures, awards and special items. Sell, give away everything else! Start over in your new place. I have done this three times: first marriage breakup, family home number 1 and family home number 2 (wife's).

You will feel like a burden has been lifted, even though the prospect at present looks frightening. We now only have things that work in our new life. And the cost of moving was minimal. We even paid to have all the pictures converted to digital. Stops them getting yellow and worn.

We used an advertised contents sale (weekend), and then specific items unsold offered in craigslist and Kijiji. Then we had the Salvation Army. Finally 800GotJunk.

Do not publish a phone number. Make the location directions clear.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

I decluttered several years ago when we sold our home & moved full time into our motor home & now our sailboat.

I had a potlatch and gave everything to our kids,friends and neighbors , and then put a 40 cy disposal bin on my front lawn & finished the job. We rented an 8x8 storage unit for those things that we felt we had to keep, but after paying $55/month for 8 months I gave/threw that crap away as well.

I feel very liberated, you will as well.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Toronto.gal said:


> Very true because the blame card has become very contagious these days, and not just putting the blame on parents, but nice try 4570.  ...


The parents/childhood can set the tendency ... but most people should notice that over time that it's staying that way *because they choose* to stay that way.

Either that .... or they are living an extremely sheltered life with people of similar minds only! :biggrin:


Cheers


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

Start early.

We moved in August. We started downsizing in March. We filled our garbage and re-cycle bins every week.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Eder said:


> We rented an 8x8 storage unit for those things that we felt we had to keep, but after paying $55/month for 8 months I gave/threw that crap away as well.


Most of those storage units are filled with crap that no one wants but someone thought had value. Good for you to finally get rid of it.


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

We are 12 years or so from retirement and I am already thinking of decluttering. Unfortunately with us having a large house, we have a large amount of "stuff" and I find it hinders my ability to keep the house looking nice and tidy. A lot of the "stuff" is my husbands so I can't sort it as I don't know what he uses or what is valuable (ie may be his grandfather's who passed away and he wants to keep it).

I watch videos on how others live in places like Thailand and it puts me to shame, and makes me realize how materialistic we are here. Materials ≠ Happiness. In fact, Materials < = Happiness


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

Frugal people are prone to keeping things in the event that they might be useful one day. However, I think one thing that should be realized is that space also has value. For example, people pay big bucks to add even a small addition to their current residence. Given the cost of square footage - it makes sense not to abuse that value by using up too much square footage as storage space. It just doesn't make sense to store a bunch of items in the event that you might need one of them within the next 5 years. It would make more sense to just pay the couple of bucks to buy that particular item at that time. However, I have to admit that my logic is facing a wall within my own family. :distress:


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## rikk (May 28, 2012)

Outer order contributes to inner calm ...


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

We used freecycle.org to declutter before our move. We didn't want to spend time with garage sales, or trying to sell stuff on kijiji.


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