My wife tends to keep things that she might use one day far in the future. This leaves the masterr bedrrom, and the attic piled up beyond belief. When I retire in a few years, I will systematically go through the house, and pitch, or sell what we haven't used in a few years.

I couldn't get down to one car load, too many guns, and tractors.

I could do it. Sold my two all time favorite cars this year to pay off my house. I miss them but would do it again. My wife and I have both transitioned from the typical American “live for stuff” mentality and are trying to focus more on what really matters and brings happiness. Because stuff doesn’t equal happiness. Once the kids are gone we’ve discussed on multiple occasions the desire to downsize in house, which will probably be hard for her.

Back to the OP, I think an estate sale would be a great avenue to make this happen quickly. What you’re describing is exactly what they do, and they will maximize the value of stuff like that expensive table.

Curt, thanks for sharing your insights. Others as well.

I can't do an estate sale, I would much rather sell what I can on CL and give the rest away to friends an family. The remainder will be donated.

I don't see it as a difficult chore per se, but it is difficult to part with a couple of items I am attached to.

I will get over it.

And I am not selling my cars. Yet.

Thanks for the suggestions above. I am dumping 90% of my clothes this weekend. That's the easy part.

I should have mentioned we just did the purge with my wife's mother.

We moved her to a local care facility as signs of dementia gathered unmistakably.

Standard story: 3,000 sq ft house packed to the gills with "stuff", a good deal of it valuable, some sentimental and lots of ordinary debris. Her 2nd husband was a tool guy so there was also a large garage full of even more "stuff".

It takes A LOT more effort than you first estimate.

My wife set up her Mom's apartment first. Beautiful one bedroom place. We hired packers and movers.

Then the real work got underway. After a month of working weekends we had barely made a dent. My daughter, happily, had accepted a job in NYC and came home early from Scottsdale to help. We had her for six weeks and she worked full time.

She was the difference maker: Set up the garage sales, packers, movers, worked with Habitat and Thrift Stores, dump runs, all the interest from relatives, etc., etc.

Every closet was full of her clothes, many never worn, hundred of shoes, dozens of hats and other accessories: The Thrift Store and the "Vintage Values" store were delighted. Instead of taking books to the local used book store - a great place, he came to us and picked up what he wanted.

We ended up not liquidating a lot of what were once very valuable china sets, formal wear, serving sets, etc., that have fallen out of style. We rent a climate controlled storage room for those type of things.

The punch list goes on my friends.

We experienced all of the same cautionary tales described by others.

Lots of good tips above. You shouldn't have to just give away nice valuable things like the dining room set. Correct marketing will be rewarded.

But on another level you haven't filled in much details of the circumstances of your move. It may turn out that in time momentos of past times in your life will become important to you. Look carefully at some of your treasures before you throw them out.
They may carry irreplaceable memories.

Shipping is not all that expensive and you may find that you end up with enough room to house and enjoy nice things that are full of good memories

Cheers Richard

This^
I spent Superbowl Sunday going through my pictures with my daughter, we are keeping an album or two of the ones she likes. She also wanted the wedding china set and some old spoons I have lying around.:)

Tools, kitchen stuff, stereo, my home gym. That's all I'd miss if I started over from scratch. Over the years I've "fine tuned" my collection of the above to stuff I like and use.

I've bought at garage sales/thrift stores and sold on eBay/Craigslist for many years. It's getting much harder to sell stuff for a reasonable price. Many people are downsizing and selling their own things now, where they used to donate. The result is that prices have gone down on used goods.

I used to regularly buy bikes from Goodwill for $20, tune them up, clean them up, and flip them for $100-$150 the next day. Now Goodwill wants $80 for the same bike, but the used retail price is now $80 because so many people have their own listed now. I miss those days.

Who wants my Carrera....seriously?

It won't be free ;)

I am absolutely serious....some of you know me, some of you know my car :)

One of you birds already has dibs.....

What's the point of getting rid of everything if you are going to replace it?

When my dad died, we had to sell the his house. My parents had been married for over 50 years, and when their parents died, the stuff went to my parents house. They had "stuff" packed in every possible location. The house looked normal, not a horder situation, but every closet and cubby hole was full.

We started throwing away lots of crap, like bank statements and canceled checks from the 1980s, from my grandmother who had been dead for 20 years. Income tax records from the 1960 to date were stacked in there.

The family went through the house and grabbed anything we felt we had to have. The rest was left for an estate sale. We hired a guy to come in, sort everything, price it, and get the permits, and advertise it and do the sale. He got 50% of the sale price, and he earned his half as it was a ton of work.

We all went home and started getting rid of crap we do not need. I have thinned my stuff, but I still have lots to chunk.

My tools are off limits. Just last month I used a tool I have had for 25 years, that I bought for one tack. If I did not have it, I would have had to stop, clean up, and go to the store to buy a 18mm crow foot line wrench. Instead, i just plucked it from its place in the tool box, used it and put it back in place.

I want it! Might not be able to afford it, but I want it!:D. I’ve been dying to get another Porsche.

If that question is for me, I won't be replacing much.

I am going to live somewhere else with someone who that has everything. And does not need more...

Too cryptic? Think of getting married and your new wife has a nice place....

I back up my family photos to 3 different places. Other than the pics, everything else is replaceable. With this mindset, it's a lot easier to get rid of stuff.

One of my employees kept a storage locker for his stuff for 26 years. Motorcycles, bikes, ect. It started at $150 and by the end, was $500. He could have purchased a house with what it cost or just gotten rid of the stuff and been $100K ahead.

Witness protection?:D

She have an attractive sister in similar circumstances?

:D

No, but she does have a single brother.

In Sweden it is a cultural tradition for elderly people to get rid of all of their stuff in advance of death: it's actually called "Swedish Death Cleaning." It's considered part of your obligation to your survivors. https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/what-swedish-death-cleaning-should-you-be-doing-it-ncna816511

I wuz thinkin' mebbe 20K....but ya gotta keep her more than six months....sorry Matt....next ;)!

This is the key. Like dieting, or working out, or saving money, you have to change your mindset 180 deg. or it won't work. You need to desire not to want 'stuff' anymore and see 'stuff' - whether it be a cool vintage car or real estate, or a business to keep the hamster wheel spinning - as a burden (not saying that is a good, bad, right, or wrong mindset, BTW). For me, I sort of woke up one day and said 'I don't want ANY of this stuff anymore!' And now it's gone :D

....with a nice place?

I find this funny. A few weeks ago I used a crows foot wrench that I had for 20+ years and never used. I have nearly thrown the set out several times and the only reason I did not is, they take up very little space.

I basically need to wait until I retire to get around to eliminating un needed items. I still have a 19 year old college student living in the bedroom that has the attic access, and neither one of has the spare hours required to do this properly until we no longer leave the house for 10 hours every day.

I would like to streamline to be able to move with less effort to Southern Kentucky as a retrement plan.

When it's all done and said, please update this thread with your thoughts. Every person I've ever talked to or read about who has done this says it takes 5 times more effort/time than was originally imagined. You might be the exception though, which would be great :cool:

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/19092608.jpg

Just tryin' to keep OWP outta the Cars For Sale forum....nuthin' more..nuthin' less ;)

I'll even sweeten the deal with a couple of houses....virtually FREE...no "thank you" will be necessary :)

I have very few things anyone would call 'nice'. I have a lot of 'junk'. More 'frat house' than 'real house'.

The vast majority could/should go in a dumpster, I suspect that is the reason why the few nice things I have matter to me.

Even my tools are 'Harbor Freight'.

Still can't believe you did all that Curt. Good on you. I don't have a lot of stuff, but have acquired some neat Porsche and aviation things over the years. I am methodically going through it and cleaning house. Parts, lit, parachutes, etc. My dad, on the other hand.... Wow, just can't get rid of anything and hates change. I recycled much of his "stored" and obsolete electronics recently and it was like I cut off his arm when I asked to toss this 20 year old computer tower and 25 lb. CRT. Don't throw that away, I might need it. When was the last time you used it? 20 years ago. Done.

62 here. Most recent divorce 10 years ago. Apartment. Nice for me.

Briefly mentioned in another thread but here is the full story. Forgive length.

2nd bedroom for me has always been the hanging on to stuff room. A few passages of kids living with me, I now have their hanging on to stuff in the same room.

Nothing exciting in there. Ranges from Porsche manuals to Noritake china brought back from Korea in '57 for my Mom. That's the high end. Model cars, slide film from when kids were growing up, all 40 reels. Then just stuff.

Daughter took her tv last fall when she moved into her own crib. My 12 year old Sony is working but on the floor. Heavy as a beast.

Things looked spartan at best. It's not minimalist, just wrong.

Paid a lady pal to come in and clean the place and provide warmth given what I have, and purge the "stuff" except for identified keepers.

Spent five hours with her making a plan and her doing baseline prep (like a general clean and her helping me hang the TV and model car show case).

This is the result in short of day one.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1549483489.jpg

Here is the spare room after day two, the purge. I set her free. I have only been tripping over the stuff for five years. Too embarrassed to show before pics of this room.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1549483897.jpg

Next wave is wall hangings which I have plenty of. Just on the floor in closets.

Nice to come home now.

We need to hold a big ol' Pelican yard sale...everything is FREE (buyer pays s&h)...mine yard contains two freakin houses....buyer beware ;)

Let's move this crap outta here boyz...

Theadore, you're fooking wierd. I brush my teeth using the hose out in the front yard. My way of copying you while you brush yours in your marble fountain while wanking.

I used to think I needed 6-7 fun cars (and watches, and cameras, and guns, and ....) and, in hindsight, I did need them back then. These days my passion for cars and the rest is as strong as ever, I just don't have a desire to own them or drive them anymore. But I'd be happy to ride in yours anytime :D

I didnt intend on it but the hobbies I've picked up all seem to come with lots of other stuff. Woodworking equipment, wood stock, tool boxes, sails, rigging, more tools, air compressor... Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing with all this stuff. Then other times I'm deep in a project and loving life working, making or fixing stuff. I wonder if you get to a point where the stuff runs you, do you just get bored and want to move on?

you may owe me a new shirt if I can't get the coffee stains out after reading the above. So, which hockey team will be your new local team?

Methinks so....and when you NEVER get rid of stuff along the way....

Who wants my Carrera ;)?

I'd never turn down the opportunity but methinks it'd be a bit out of my price range. Or I'd have to dump some cars and parts...

I'm not retired but have a timeline in place. Have been saving and storing for too long. I'm not a packrat or hoarder but don't want to make the heirs deal with too much. I recently developed a plan to reduce the stuff without going with the nuclear option. Each weekend, I look for something to throw out or give away (Goodwill and Habitat have seen a lot of me). Sometimes its just one or two things, sometimes more. Bit by bit I'm thinning things out.

Ha, same here. I had a ton of fun in mine, something else I wish I'd hung onto. I was looking at Sprites this morning, a Carrera would be a nice upgrade.

That's the way to do it. Start with the low hanging fruit. The stuff that doesn't take any decision making to give away or throw out. It gets easier the more you do it.

I hereby proclaim 2019 to be: PPOT "The year of the Purge"...

Get yer low hangin' Carreras here ;)

Dawgs don't count...I think I'm gonna get a new poopy in 9 weeks :)