Whether downsizing to go full-time in an RV, retiring, or downsizing to a smaller home or RV, what are some of the things you might want to consider getting rid of?
Kitchen gadgets and equipment
When we sold our house, I was amazed that I had managed to squeeze so many unused electrical kitchen appliances into a closet. Lined up on the kitchen counter to sell were a waffle iron, a stand mixer, a hand mixer, a food dehydrator, a food processor, a bread machine, a big chopper and mini chopper, a blender, a coffee bean grinder, a spice grinder, an extra microwave and a coffee pot, just in case.
That is not counting all the Bundt, cupcake, loaf, krumkake and other pans hidden under the corner counter. It was time to simplify and keep only a few items and only those we needed. How had I accumulated 10 Betty Crocker soup ladles?
Kids’ drawings
I had saved all (and I mean all!) of my kids’ and grandkids’ scratchings and drawings. I divided them and sent most to the kids who drew them for their memories. The others were taken out of frames along with a myriad of photos and selectively kept.
Photos
All photos were scanned and put on a hard drive. The advantage is being able to see them whenever and wherever I want and print them when I want. I’ll admit, I couldn’t quite toss the photo albums but I could pass them on to my son.
Mementos and knick-knacks
I have too many mementos and too many knick-knacks. I kept only those that I had strong emotional ties to and that would fit into a small Rubbermaid container. The rest of the mementos I tossed or boxed and sent to the kids, where they languish in their basement!
TVs, printers, computers
What had made me hang onto useless old printers and computers? They aren’t used, aren’t working, and if I can no longer pick up the old tube TV, who needs it? Turns out not many people. I turned in the TV to Best Buy for a small price and the rest went to electronics recycling centers, again for a small donation.
Downsizing all those books
I love books, I read books, I cherish books. Which is why I had shelf after shelf of books. Those were the hardest things to let go of. I donated them or sold them to used bookstores to help ease the pain. Now I am in the habit of reading a book and passing it along. Truth is, I seldom reread books anyway. I just like them.
I sold or donated all the cookbooks I had done the food photography for, so, unfortunately, I am now buying them back on eBay, Amazon or Etsy. At least the price has gone way down from the publishing date.
Old, outdated, uncomfortable and scarred furniture
Truth is, I never liked my mom’s Ethan Allen colonial octagon end table anyway! Thankfully, my younger sister did. I gave away as much as my family would haul away, and sold the majority of the rest. My husband didn’t want any more antiques or used, broken-down, sentimental stuff anyway.
Papers
I talked to my financial advisors and shredded everything that I didn’t or wouldn’t need again. That opened up five file drawers! It pained me to shred the copy of my first payroll check from Montgomery Ward, but I got over it. I had instruction manuals for items that were dead and gone 20 years ago!
I started shredding, then moved to burning, and then finally caved and went to UPS and had them shred the rest for a nominal fee. Some banks also offer free shredding, but my timing was off.
Downsizing clothes… so many clothes!
Clothes were the biggest hurdle of all. I should be ashamed to admit that I had 65 suit jackets for work when I retired. My husband’s collection of shoes spanned several decades. When I took my favorite business suits to a consignment shop, they kindly accepted them but did mention they were a bit dated and couldn’t sell most of them, which they didn’t.
Dated was a keyword for the rest of the clothes, too. We wouldn’t need warm coats anymore. It saddened my heart to donate my two FAKE fur coats, pea coats, long coats, wool coats, down coats and numerous warm jackets. It’s Minnesota—I had a jacket or coat for every 10-degree temperature change!
Once I sorted all the closets of clothes, I put them into piles: get rid of, maybe, and keep. Then I went through again and if hadn’t worn something in a year, it went. Bags of socks, mittens, scarves, and gloves went, too.
Luggage
I guess I liked bags and luggage a lot, too. Through the years I had accumulated more than my fair share. I kept two large, two medium, one small and a couple of fabric tote bags. I have not needed more.
Holiday ornaments
I kept only the very special holiday ornaments. Every year I bought one or two new ornaments and marked the date on them. Some are from places we visited while RVing and they are especially dear. I settled on keeping just one box of ornaments. The rest went.
Items I truly disliked
This was my chance to be selective! Anything I didn’t absolutely love was on the chopping block. Yeah, I finally got rid of the vase that had been moving from cupboard to cupboard for years!
Simply wonderful
Truth is, I have only missed my desk and wicker porch furniture—all of which there is no room for. Minimalist living is easier and it always leaves room for a little shopping here and there.
RELATED
- Time to downsize? Here’s how to find a smaller RV that works best for you
- Tip: Different ways to get rid of all that “stuff” to downsize
- Moving from a “house RV” to an “apartment RV.” How do we downsize?
##FT2.67
We used an Estate Sale to get rid of our stuff. Our kids did not want anything. The Estate Sale process was great and allowed us to get rid of stuff without the hard decisions of pricing and selling.
I was teaching at a university when we downsized into our RV. I invited all my grad students and newly minted professor friends to stop by and take anything they wanted. As long as THEY hauled it off, it was free. I helped lots of young people furnish their lives, and I didn’t have to deal with it. The rest was donated to a shelter. I know I could have made a bit of money by selling the stuff, but we were in a time crunch, and our personal time and energy was worth more than what we could have made.
We had already downsized from a house to an apartment but it was still amazing to see how much we accumulated in that small amount of time and space. Most we gave to the kids, the rest we donated to the local thrift store. They even hauled it away. We do have some things in storage in a corner at my daughter’s house – she has an outbuilding we use and we pay her for that. Every time we stop, we go through and downsize a bit more. It’s a process. 😉
I had 15 garage sales, donated the rest to the persons who I hired to repair, paint and clean my house before putting on the market. I trashed about 15 binders full of Memory albums and kept only a smallish box of pictures/momentos. Family heirlooms to my niece since I do not have any children. It was an emotionally filled purge, but in the end, very liberating. I just did not know I was going to go through that at an earlier age of 55 as I had originally thought I would go through it in my later years around age 80 or so. 2 years later still no regrets.
For all versions of mementos, take photos and then create a printed photo album. It isn’t the memento that’s important, it’s the memory. And a photo book is a great way to occasionally trigger these memories. Is much better than a box in a basement!
Another big reason to downsize sooner rather than later… We inherited my in-laws’ home this year. My wife had been trying to clean out some of the paper stacks before her mother’s death. But now we have the full picture. We can’t just rent a commercial dumpster. In today’s world, too much of the paper had information valuable to criminals. Not long into the sorting we found tax returns & documents back to the 1950’s. About 2 months ago, we found they didn’t do anything with papers from their parents’ homes other than put the boxes in their home. We have been dealing with paper back to the 1920’s. And interleaved was paper that could be simply trashed.
Good stuff; thank you, Nanci. Full-timer, part-timer, or sometimer, everyone can benefit from reading this review of how you drastically downsized. Thank you!