We have all spent the last twenty years living with the adage that “bigger is better”. Bigger houses, bigger meals, big box stores..are you seeing a trend. As a result we have over spent, over bought…we have amassed great quantities of stuff! We became conditioned to having lots of overhead and plenty of debt. Those days are over. We are embarking on a new era, where downsizing is de rigueur. Despite popular belief, downsizing doesn’t have to be a drag. The truth is it’s as liberating as losing those last 10 lbs or making that final car payment. There is an incredible lightness of being attached to detaching. Once you can wrap your head around the idea that ‘having less allows more’, you’ll be on your way to whittled down bliss.
The ‘having less allows more’ philosophy is really very simple. The less stuff you have the less responsibility, expense and maintenance required. For example, if you give up the extra car you save on gas, insurance and upkeep. Lose the fridge in the garage and you’ve saved 20% on your electricity bill. Limit yourself to one closet and you will find yourself buying less clothing. One computer means only one DSL hook-up, one television translates to less electricity and one toaster – well who needs more than one toaster anyway. It all trickles down to less out of pocket, less accountability, a lighter load and less stress!
Once you make the mental commitment to downsize the challenge is where to begin. It can be daunting to think about how and where to start the process and we all know that getting rid of things you’ve been collecting for years can trigger a variety of emotions.
Here’s a pain free guide to get you started.
The best way to ease into the downsizing process is to face your neatest room first. Use the keep, sell, and toss system, outlined below. Have everyone in the family get involved, that way each person can weigh in on what stays and what goes. If the majority agrees to get rid of something, dump it. If it is an item that is really difficult to part with, put it in a maybe pile and come back to it later. Then if everyone agrees it’s time to round file it a second time – you’ve got to face the good riddance factor.
Here is the system:
Keep – the items you just can’t live without.
Sell – the items you don’t want anymore but you could sell and make some extra cash.
Toss – the items that your whole crew agrees have seen there better days. It’s out!
Pair down the items in each room in a logical order, right to left or left to right. Start with one piece of furniture in the room and everything in or on it. Finish this spot all at once. If you move from one piece of furniture to the next without finishing the whole process in the first location, you will feel overwhelmed and messy. That can cross you over into “never gonna finish” territory and that is worse than not starting the process in the first place!
Pace yourself. Limit your downsizing time commitment to two hours a day that way you won’t feel rushed, it’s less stressful, and you will make better choices. Focus on one area at a time, that way you will feel accomplished. Trying to complete a whole room in one fell swoop could leave you feeling inundated. Sometimes trying to part with things you’ve lived with for a long time can be very emotional, don’t rush through the process.
Don’t try and multi-task through downsizing, focus on each and every item you touch so you can make a fair evaluation in your keep, sell, and toss piles. While you are sorting or purging through your keepsakes take time to read old letters, reminisce over old photos or collectables. Make the whole project as enjoyable as possible.
Even if everyone says to get rid of something you love, hang on to if it is really really important to you. Put it in a pile that can be further downsized at a later date. You may find that things you held onto in the first go round aren’t really as important, as you thought, when you go back for round two.
Think about the possibility of passing on special items to family members now. If you know that your son or daughter or grandchildren would love a piece of jewelry or curio, go ahead and give it to them. It’s much more fun to see family enjoy the item now than when you are gone. O yeah, that’s right, you can’t enjoy anything when you are gone..share it now! I love sharing my things with my daughters – we both get to enjoy special pieces and it’s a wonderful way to bond with your kids.
Definitely dump out on the items that you NEVER use. For example, get rid of the lime juicer you bought in Mexico thinking you were going to make authentic Margarita’s every night..and you haven’t. You will never miss it.
It’s time for your adult children to take full possession of their entire 4th grade art collection – or not. They may not want it and you’ll wonder why you’ve been holding on to it all this time. for no good reason.
Sit down with all your family members and decide together who will inherit what items now. It’s such a grown up thing to do and will save the nasty he said/she said, after you are gone. Everyone was there, everyone had choices and the dividing up of the family treasures is done.
Be sure that everyone you want to have something gets something, especially if it’s something meaningful to that person.
You will find that as you go through each room the downsizing will become easier and your decision making keener. Go back to your maybe pile as well as the first room after you’ve finished every other room in your house and downsize even more.
Take it day by day, don’t rush through the process, acknowledge that it is a process. After a while you will begin to see exactly how “having less allows more”.
Your grass is green.
Hi, Everything dynamic and very positively!