My wife and I did it recently. But we didn't have to. We simply decided to jump off the American Dream hamster wheel. The huge house, business, car collection, vintage watches and cameras, a 3000-sq ft shop full of equipment/tools, 90% of clothes, guns (except personal defense), all home furnishings, etc. and - most importantly - my snow shovel, snow blower, -50F Baffin Bay boots and all winter outerwear :cool: It was extremely time-consuming (even giving stuff away is time-consuming!) and took the better part of 4-years to pull it off. There were many times, the frustration level was so high I wanted to just hire an estate sale company to sell it all and send me check, no matter how small. We look back with disbelief and say 'how did we accumulate all that crap? And why!'

Sounds like an estate sale company might be the way to go for you. I've been to several sales where people have been transferred across country or overseas and just walked away from their homes with food still in the refrigerator. One was a surgeon who built a new house across town. He just decided he'd buy all new stuff and left it all!

Curt,
Can you share the resources you used to sell the stuff and also to donate? What lessons did you learn, i.e. advice to others?

Dan

A lighter and an insurance policy. Done.


Kidding.

This may sound like an exaggeration but it is the absolute truth.

In my divorce I was left with the change in my pocket, the clothes on my back and a huge mortgage on a dream that went nightmare. Went hungry until the next paycheck.

I discovered there is nothing in this world I can’t live without (except my kids, of course). Since then, I’ve virtually given away many, many thousands of dollars in cars, property, whatever (I gave away a 911 to a Pelican, in fact, and have never, ever heard a word of thanks from him, either).

Funny thing is how much more I’ve gotten than I could ever have give away. It’s like a violation of a law of physics that you canna change, Cap’n!

Easier life by far.

Wow....I promise to thank anyone who gives me a 911 ;). I know you're not gonna divulge (classy), but is that bird still around :(?

Yep.

Whoa! What a gift. And I’m glad you landed on your feet bud.

Full disclosure:

It wasn’t free as in ‘no charge’. I showed him the real Fuchs with hand painted center caps and appropriate rubber with zero as in ‘0’ miles to match, he finally said, ‘I’ll take it’. Car needed engine (cam bolt went loose) but there was more in just wheels and rubber than he paid for the entire car.

Point is, I discovered long ago stuff is just stuff. I hardly buy anything now and sell even less.

Reducing your clutter is easiest done when there's no deadline, of course.

I need to do some of this and am not going to put any pressure on myself.

I give myself a 4 year window to do it at a comfortable pace.

Almost all of my stuff carries value - just have to find the right way to process so it's not wasted.

There's a way to do it - the key is not being pressured by a timetable.

Went from farm/barn/8 acres to 2.5 single story no basement. 2 large dumpsters and we still have too much stuff.

You guys would hate me. I'm organized to the point of OCD, and a minimalist. I can close my eyes and inventory every single item in my garage, ManCave, closets, and office....down to each tool in each drawer and the nut, bolt, and fastener compartments.

A friend challenged me on this about two years ago and lost. I cant tell you exactly how many 2" drywall screws are in the slot, but I can tell you if is half full or 1/4 full.

I keep NOTHING I don't think I'll use at least once every couple years.

Sick I know. My wife thinks I should be on Prozac. Shes the opposite and I have have two drawers shes not allowed to open...and I keep my ManCave locked!

Of course, the house, the business, and the cars are a different animal and were sold via the usual means. Selling the rest involved many garage/moving sales and CL adverts - nothing magic, just lots of work/time. Luckily, we had my large shop to store everything and stage these sales. At one Fri-Sat only sale, we did quite well and the leftovers were going to be donated to thrift stores (but that in itself can be a lot of work). So we advertised for Sunday noon-to-2 everything is FREE. People would walk into the shop and ask where the free stuff was. "Ummm, everything in here is free. Take what you want" Saved us from boxing up and transporting lots of stuff. And many thrift stores today are very, very picky about what they will take.

A lot of smaller,more valuable stuff was sold on ebay. Some was given away to relatives (that turned out to be surprising difficult. i.e., hey I've got a nearly new Weber stainless steel gas grill you can have for free. I'll even deliver it! Reply from 5 different relatives: I don't really need one.") It can be very difficult to give good stuff away for free!

To be clear, we weren't hoarders by any stretch of the imagination. The 'stuff' was typical of almost any large household of 30 years or so.

If I were to do it again, I'd hire an estate sale company and just get rid of everything at once. Wouldn't get nearly the money, but less headaches by far. Although the can of gas and a lighter method was considered more than once ...

Carlin had it right a long time ago:

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I want to do this so bad!! I will soon. I fantasize about it.


I have one more kid to finish HS and college then I am downsizing my entire life.

Working on cars is no longer something I enjoy, I loved it years ago, now it is a chore. I have a classic mini pickup in my garage sitting on jack stands for 2 years and counting as a testimony to that.

I am ready to sell all the cars, tools and stuff, downsize to a small place downtown, (or tiny home on acreage) buy a motorhome and wander around the country with no agenda.


After the 3 hurricanes hit me in 2004 / 2005 I have been thinking, once the kids are out I want to be setup so I do not care if a storm is coming towards me.

And you could have at least washed it, geez. But thanks anywho. :cool:

I have a tough time getting rid of tools.
Even if I haven't used them in years, I might need them again....

1990C4S: I have a lot of respect to anyone that can voluntarily do what you are proposing. I don't think I could.

I guess it is a reminder that one day we ALL will leave EVERYTHING behind when we leave this life.

I don't hate you for this, Craig.....I applaud and give you much respect.

I hope I'm not one of those people who are so jealous of something they don't have that they develop feelings of hatred. :rolleyes:

Check out my post above and you'll see I have everything in proper context. :p

Interesting thread. I see this kind of cleansing in my future. I can imagine it would be pretty tough. Good luck.

I am looking forward to read each and every post here, but first I would like to say it's a philosophy to purposefully get rid of stuff. A noble, difficult task probably.. I never did it personally but know a few who have. I also known people who have LOST everything in a fire but that is totally different, more like torture, damn near drove them crazy.
Personally I would love to shed about 50% of my stuff... I think its going to take awhile, though. I think I could get it down to:
1/2 the books & clothes I now own.
I could live with two or three bicycles that would be down from 7.
Two cars (instead of 4.. easiest thing)
I would really need to keep ALL the tools (which is a lot)

... oh yeah and my sailboat... damn.. and the dingy.. double damn!