How to Downsize Without Losing Your Mind

Many empty nest couples ponder the idea of downsizing. As appealing as the idea may seem, the overwhelming immensity of the task can keep many couples from ever taking the first step. So, how can you — from a practical standpoint — get past the hurdle and actually downsize without losing your mind?

My husband and I downsized by half this year. I’ll be the first to admit that we probably would have procrastinated for years if T had not taken a job in California. A move was imminent, and so we decided to seize the opportunity and go for it. Our particulars made the daunting task seem insurmountable at times. We moved from a sprawling 3,400 square foot home on over an acre of land to a 1,700 square foot mid-century cottage with very little closet space.

Our big Texas home.

Our big, Texas hill country lot.

How could we possibly manage to dispose of more than half the stuff we had accumulated during 27 years of marriage? Drawers, closets, cabinets and the entire garage were chock full of STUFF — some easy to part with; others highly sentimental. One thing we knew for sure is that it wouldn’t fit in this!

Itty bitty California cottage on postage stamp lot.

Not only did we survive; we even made $7,500 in the process! Here are six tips to downsize without losing your mind.

1. Don’t give it all away when you can make thousands of dollars!
Had my dear husband had his way, we would have given it all away. That would have taken dozens of trips to Goodwill, and we wouldn’t have earned $7,500 in the process. Not only did I successfully sell the large majority of what had to go, but we didn’t even make ONE trip to Goodwill. Seriously!

I sold some of our stuff in two garage sales. The huge majority I sold on a Facebook online garage sale. If you live in a decent-sized city, you’ll probably be able to find one in your area. The premise is easy. You ask to join the group. They add you to the group. You start posting your stuff you want to sell. It appears on the news feed of every person in the Facebook group.

We made most of our money on the nice items such as an expensive sofa, a Pottery Barn entertainment center, a lovely dining room table, washer and dryer, riding lawn mower and designer clothing. Then came the  profit from all the junk (that I didn’t have to cart to Goodwill). Seriously, folks, people will buy ANYTHING! Like these plastic shelves we purchased in 1997.

File cabinets from 1990.

Just beautiful, aren’t they? Sold for $5 each.

Then there were all the pots full of dead plants that I knew the movers wouldn’t touch. Only two or three of the pots were even decent. I advertised that they must all sell together, and I made $35. I threw in the lovely green plastic watering can as a bonus. 🙂

A few of these pots were literally falling apart. But someone wanted them anyway!

And this… An entertainment center my son made in the 9th grade. It never made it out of our garage because it didn’t fit in our new house. I sold it for $40.

Yes, I profited from a piece of furniture made in 2006 by my then 9th grader.

Okay… you get the idea. Why cart off all your junk when people will come and get it AND pay you to take it! And here’s a garage sale tip. We knew the movers wouldn’t take all our old paint, pesticides and garden products. So I put all the cans of paint in a box and labeled it “can of paint, $5.” I did the exact same thing with garden products and pesticides. T thought I was crazy, but those boxes were the first things to sell!

2) Time to give your grown kids their childhood treasures.
At first my kids were shocked that I was giving them all their tchotchkes, hand-made creations, awards, trophies, report cards and artwork from throughout the years. But remember what my new house looks like? There REALLY wasn’t any room to put it all. One of my sons is married and the other is about to be. I told them it would be best to take it now and save what they want. Then I didn’t have to feel guilty about having to ditch some of it. This even included the “valuable” Pokemon cards and rare Beanie Babies! (We did have a brief scuttle over who would get the proceeds if the one REALLY rare Beanie Baby actually sold for $1,000 on eBay, like a few others apparently had).

One of Trevor’s box of treasures, now at his home in Lubbock.

3) Keep the family stuff. Get rid of the rest. You won’t miss it!
My big, Texas house had room after room of furniture. And I loved most of it. But I couldn’t keep it all. We gave both our kids lots of stuff. My oldest and his wife got my grandmother’s bedroom furniture and a china cabinet that was my mom’s. My younger son got a room full of den furniture. My sister took a treasured antique desk. I didn’t sell a single sentimental piece of furniture I had inherited or been given by family. That meant parting with a few things I REALLY loved. I don’t miss them now, I promise.

4) Donate to organizations that will pick up from your home.
I was incredibly blessed that someone from the Christian school my kids had attended came over to get everything I couldn’t sell and couldn’t take. The school has a big garage sale each year, and they were glad to take my stuff!

5) Be ruthless when deciding which possessions must go.
You are going to come across so many things that tug at your heart. Or things that you can certainly use “someday.”  I’m speaking mostly of those items that live in closets and the garage. The things you’ve been moving to each progressively larger home over the past 25 years. It’s time to say goodbye. Someday has never arrived, and now it’s time somebody else gets to treasure these things. If it’s a bit sentimental, photograph it. If you want, you can even make a memory book with all those pictures. Just think… one little hard back, printed book from Shutterfly to hold the memories instead of an entire corner of the garage.

6) Try to have fun during the process.
I admit, it was overwhelming at times, but there was also an abundance of laughter and fun. Dear friends came, one at a time, and helped me sort through mountains of possessions. They also helped me determine what to keep and what should go. I cherish those afternoons with my gal pals. The week before the movers came, T and I were in high gear. I was up late, late at night marking and listing items to sell. We were both delirious, but our growing wad of cash after a few days of doing this put big smiles on our faces. 🙂

That, my friends, is how to downsize without losing your mind. I look back now with happy memories of the purging process. Now we live in a clutter-free little home. And we love it!

xoxo,

GET INSTANT ACCESS TO MY
LIBRARY OF FREE PRINTABLE
BLOGGING TOOLS, EBOOKS &
GOODIES FOR YOUR HOME!

Sign up to get FREE printables available only for subscribers!

Don't forget to check your inbox! We'll never send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.