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Has anyone ever done a relatively major downsizing ...


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of your home (meaning your belongings)? My daughter and I will most likely be moving at the end of July. We have living in the same place for almost 5 years now. I doubt wherever we move we will have nearly as much space as we do here. We are considering greatly reducing the amount of "stuff" we own. Has anyone here ever done that? How did you know what to keep and what to get rid of?

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Yes! We got rid of probably 80% of our possessions, not counting furniture - although we got rid of a lot of that as well.

 

The questions I ask when decluttering:

 

* Do I use this?

* Do I love this?

* Do I have something else that already performs this task?

* How many of this do I really use? (Sheets, towels, clothing)

* Do I want to clean this? ;)

* Can I easily borrow this? (Books!!!)

* Does this fit right now? (clothing)

* Could I preserve a memory without keeping this object? (Take a photo of it!)

* Does this fit my lifestyle now or is it part of an "old me"?

* Will this fit in my living space, both physically and in terms of style, comfort, etc.?

* Does this make me feel sad, guilty, anxious, angry...? (Out it goes!)

 

HTH!

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We got rid of a lot, too. One of the things I asked myself was, "Is this replaceable?" So if we do have more space later on, can I just buy another one?

 

My great-grandmother's furniture, no. The garage sale sofa & chaise that I *loved,* yes. The comp desk that was falling apart anyway? Sure.

 

Some of it, I had to close my eyes for, like ds's baby clothes. For the most part, though, it's actually been a relief. There's so much less to think about.

 

Good luck!

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Yes! We got rid of probably 80% of our possessions, not counting furniture - although we got rid of a lot of that as well.

 

The questions I ask when decluttering:

 

* Do I use this?

* Do I love this?

* Do I have something else that already performs this task?

* How many of this do I really use? (Sheets, towels, clothing)

* Do I want to clean this? ;)

* Can I easily borrow this? (Books!!!)

* Does this fit right now? (clothing)

* Could I preserve a memory without keeping this object? (Take a photo of it!)

* Does this fit my lifestyle now or is it part of an "old me"?

* Will this fit in my living space, both physically and in terms of style, comfort, etc.?

* Does this make me feel sad, guilty, anxious, angry...? (Out it goes!)

 

HTH!

 

Yep. This is the list I would use.

 

Good luck with your move.

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The questions I ask when decluttering:

 

* Do I use this?

* Do I love this?

* Do I have something else that already performs this task?

* How many of this do I really use? (Sheets, towels, clothing)

* Do I want to clean this? ;)

* Can I easily borrow this? (Books!!!)

* Does this fit right now? (clothing)

* Could I preserve a memory without keeping this object? (Take a photo of it!)

* Does this fit my lifestyle now or is it part of an "old me"?

* Will this fit in my living space, both physically and in terms of style, comfort, etc.?

* Does this make me feel sad, guilty, anxious, angry...? (Out it goes!)

 

HTH!

 

I'm keeping this- I'm downsizing right now for a big move & 75% is going. Which is why I've been on this forum as I am cleaning out my computer & finishing any jobs that need to be done on it (I've been chained to my computer for days), simultaneously selling anything on ebay that might actually be worth something. The rest goes to Goodwill & the library. I feel lighter already.

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Another thing to think about...Can I just lose this part of my life right now?

 

Like, for us, it was camping stuff. Realisticly, when I thought about it, we wouldn't be doing any camping for a long time. So dump the stuff associated with it. You can do this with a lot of different parts of your life. Just keep in mind what life will really be like for you now.

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DH and I have talked about doing things differently when we move next. (At some undetermined point in the future.)

 

Usually, we pack things and weed stuff out as we go. Most stuff gets packed.

 

We are considering reversing that--imagining what we want in our new space and packing that, and then hauling the rest of it off. So most stuff would *not* get packed. Of course, this will only really make sense if we change our purchasing habits (which we have started to do).

 

I've seen some lists posted on simple living forums--what is the least amount of stuff you need for your kitchen, for example--to help get you thinking

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