Things to consider when downsizing for retirement

Time to get a fresh start – the keys to successful downsizing

Downsizing due to fast home sale, home repossession or because of moving to retirement home is a tedious process, especially if you have lived all or most of your life in the same place. The reason behind this is all the things, which needs to be packed and transferred to the new place. But is everything really necessary to come with you? That’s exactly what downsizing is about. If we really think about what we need and leave all the rest behind, our move will become way more successful, practical and at the end of the day, also cheaper. Downsizing and decluttering also has a positive mental effect on us especially when we move to a new place and plan to start afresh. Hereby we would like to share some of the most important steps as to how to get started.

Make three lists:

The things you can’t live without
The things you would like to throw away
The things you would like to replace

It’s also useful to do a full inventory on what you have, so that you can easily manage all the things you have and decide what to keep and what to throw away.

Additional advice:

the things you forgotten about and only realize you would like to keep them once you find them, are likely not as important otherwise they wouldn’t have become forgotten on the first place.

Start decluttering:

Start packing together all the things you don’t want to keep on the first place. If they fit in trash bags, make sure you have enough of them so that they all fit in. If and when it comes to furniture, there are companies who are specialized on taking away someone’s unwanted things, generally for free, so you can call one and have the unwanted pieces carried away. You won’t believe your eyes, when you finally realize how much is the amount of clutter in a home or even in one single room.

Do a yard sale or garage sale

For all the things you don’t want to keep but think that others may want to use them. This way you will not only have a real fun day, but can even make some pocket money for yourself. As for used clothes, if they are old enough, keep them to a vintage store, who can pay big amounts of money for them. This is also true for all the old garments, such as hats, dresses, shoes which are barely used or look unused can therefore can be sold.

Stick with practical furniture after moving

We generally all have issues with the lack of storage. It’s either because of the lack of space or it’s because we just have too many things to store. But most importantly, it’s because our furniture is not practical enough. Try to focus on furniture that’s also used as a storage place, especially if you are to move to a much smaller place than what you used to have.

Downtizing