# Downsizing & Moving Advice



## movieman (Jan 21, 2015)

Greetings,

I am a new forum member.  I've enjoyed reading here recently and have finally found time to register.

My wife and I will be moving to Virginia from New York State in the next several months.  Regardless of advice about "best places to retire" we are going to live near our only son and his family.  We've missed so much with our grand children and have a lot to catch up on.

We close on our smaller home down south next month and will have some prep work to do down there together with the packing and prep up here.  There must be many of you out there like us, who have already made similar moves.  Advice?  Suggestions?  Tips?


Thanks!


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## hollydolly (Jan 21, 2015)

I can't help you with your Query Movieman because I have never downsized, but I'd like to welcome you to the forum..


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## Lady (Jan 21, 2015)

I down sized recently ,I do miss the storage I had before and the extra bedroom ,  Ive just about finished giving away what I no longer need,
a lot went to Charity shops ..

I don't have such a big garden now that's made life a little easier , and its easier keeping the home  clean .I think the running cost are the same 
I fully expected it to have lower bills .

Make a check list of things to do,for moving day, who you have to pay .Cancel any regular orders 
you have to that address.. also let your Bank know your new address..


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## Josiah (Jan 21, 2015)

This is a very good question for this forum. A lot depends on whether or not you have any hording tendencies. Many people do have a problem in this area which is characterized as a major absence of judgement about how much they really need a particular possession. People with this problem need outside help from a family member or preferably from a professional organizer with an assertive personality. If you are not pathological hoarder, you might still hunt up a how to book on downsizing. Basically you are trying to realistically imagine what your new life will be like and what you'll really  need in the way of possessions. Automatically you can eliminate anything which you haven't actually needed in the fairly recent past. It's better to err on the side garage-saleing it rather than keeping it. You will of course make some wrong choices and regret some of the things parted with. A couple of years ago I thought we were were going to relocate to a much smaller condo and so I held a series of garage sales and got rid of a ton of stuff only to have to put my wife in a nursing home and end up staying in our large house. I certainly came to miss some of the things I sold, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Best of luck in Virginia and welcome to the forum.


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## oakapple (Jan 21, 2015)

We have downsized now that there are just the two of us, so much easier, not so many household chores[well there are, but as the house is smaller, less to do.]Just have a medium sized garden now too.We regarded it as a chance to buy new furniture which suited the house, rather than cram in all the old furniture, and sold or gave away a lot of stuff.We made sure to get to know the neighbours near our new home, and enjoyed finding out about new places to visit.We live near all our children too, which is nice, but be aware that your son may have to move [with jobs?] in the future, and we can't follow them around once moved.Don't mentally look back to the past once settled in, look forward to new experiences.Good luck.


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## jujube (Jan 21, 2015)

I did a huge downsizing when I sold my house five years ago and moved into my boyfriend's house.  It was the most "liberating" thing I've ever done.  I learned that I didn't *need* all that crap and I felt like I could fly after it all was gone.  In the course of the next couple of years, I got rid of all my antique furniture and my gigantic Santa Claus collection. Right now, all my "possessions" could fit into the back of a panel truck.  I have a few large packers full of family photographs and that's my next big project.  Get rid of most of them and digitize the rest.  Then I'll be down to what will fit in the back of a SUV - lol.


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## Jackie22 (Jan 21, 2015)

I have been downsizing for the last 4 years, I'm still in the same house (a small house) but it is now a one person house, I gave away many things to the kids, sold some things and as jujube said it is liberating to get rid of it all.


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## Kadee (Jan 21, 2015)

We have just put our home on the market, what a job.... We had to shift all loose stuff for photos to be taken in our home .we have 4 bedroom, lounge, family two bathroom way tooooo much work we have  84 sq Mtrs White floor tiles about the same in carpet to keep clean 
If we sold we plan to pack and store items until we decide on where we will settle from here, we have quite a comfortable caravan we would live in while deciding


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## flowerchild (Jan 22, 2015)

Anyone know how to get the hubs on board with the downsizing??? I'll most likely have to wait and push him into getting rid of his crap at the last minute. Or what'll happen is he'll croak on me and I'll get stuck cleaning it out myself.
At any rate, We will be down downsizing in a few short years.


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## Cookie (Jan 22, 2015)

I have moved countless times and downsized many possessions just this past year - my only suggestion is when packing boxes be sure to label the boxes with category, e.g. kitchen and list items inside the box, - this will make unpacking or storing much much less of a headache.


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## ClassicRockr (Jan 22, 2015)

Downsizing........yep, done it and darn glad we did! Moving........have done that a few times as well and will be doing it again in 3 years when wife retires.


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## Capt Lightning (Jan 22, 2015)

We took early retirement in our mid-50s and actually up-sized!  Well actually, we moved to an area where we could get a bigger house and garden for the same price.  It was a good opportunity to get rid of things that I kept - just in case I found a use for them.

The main issues that I encountered were financial.  When I moved I could get a good income from my savings - not any more, so it means drawing down to preserve a standard of living.  The moral of the story..  make sure that you've your finances in order, because moving can end up costing more than you think.


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## movieman (Jan 22, 2015)

Wow! What a great response with lots of good advice!  Thank You!


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## Sunny (Jan 22, 2015)

Seven years ago, my late husband and I downsized a lot and moved back to Maryland after enjoying 18 wonderful years in Washington State. We decided it was time to live near one of our children, who were scattered all over the country, and Maryland was familiar to us, having lived here for many years.

What I didn't anticipate was the need to downsize a second time!  After my husband died nearly 5 years ago, I just stayed in my too-big apartment, mainly out of laziness. I finally decided that the time has come to get rid of a lot of stuff that I absolutely don't need, so I'm in the process of moving a second time. "Stuff" has a way of cluttering up our lives, and that doesn't end after we think we are through downsizing!

I'm happily living in Leisure World, a community for active seniors. So I'm moving to a smaller apartment, still in Leisure World. I'm getting rid of lots of books, furniture I don't need, etc. I've sold a lot of the books over Amazon, and my son has carried many cartons to the local library as donations. It's a huge job, better done earlier than later.


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## Bullie76 (Jan 23, 2015)

The emotional side is the hardest part of downsizing. My mother passed away a couple of years ago and I decided to move into her house. Getting rid of lots of her stuff was tough, but you have to do it to make the space work. And I had to dump some of my things too before the move. That wasn't as tough as I never married or had children so no emotional ties to things I accumulated. 

When push comes to shove, it will get done. Moving is not fun, but it will simply be a memory one day.


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## Rocky (Jan 23, 2015)

Interesting to read that many have moved/downsized in order to be closer to their children/families.  I did that as well.  I still miss Tucson [ Arizona ] desperately.  I loved the mountains.  But I am in Austin [ Texas ] and have moved once again ... this time to an apartment half the size of what I'd had.  It was an eye-opener!  6 carloads of "stuff" to Good Will.  And I have only missed a couple things, things I probably should've hung onto. 

I miss the storage.  But I don't miss all the "stuff" that I didn't need anyway.


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## rporter610 (Jan 27, 2015)

I decided to move to a smaller place in another state four years ago.  My realtor said that to sell my home, I had to "declutter" it, meaning put away or give away about half of the furniture, most of the knickknacks, and the items I had hanging on the walls.  I worked hard to do that, wondering "How will I live without my things?"  But after doing it, I loved the more open, clean feeling that the house had.  Unfortunately, after four years of listing my home for sale each spring, I am still here.  Last summer I decided to just grin and bear it.  If I am not meant to move, then I won't be moving.  I'll just have to enjoy my life in this place.  But every month I get rid of something:  a pile of clothes I don't wear any more, a box of books, serving dishes that are unused now that I don't entertain any more.  This summer I hope to get rid of the machines and equipment in my wood shop.  That will be a huge job, but a huge relief when it is done.  Downsizing and getting rid of cherished possessions is never easy, but the results can be positive.  Good luck to everyone!


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## Kath (Mar 22, 2015)

I haven't been in this discussion before but when I read the first message from Movieman I was interested because I moved FROM Virginia to Pennsylvania whereas his family is moving TO Virginia - and our moves were focused on the same thing which is moving closer to kids and grandkids.  It's been seven years since we moved here and it has been a giant roller coaster ride.  I thought we were downsizing but actually we bought a house roughly the same size.  We gave away or sold a ton of stuff, except my husband kept 90 percent of his woodworking equipment and I kept all the books I'd accumulated since who-knows-when.  We discovered our new home was short on storage space so we had to have more storage built and a room for my husband's workshop.  Ka-Ching!!  Well, as luck (bad) would have it, my husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and Congestive Heart Failure just 2 years after the move.  He's in hospice now but still thinks often about his beloved workshop.  There is no way to foretell what the future will bring, but it's best to be as prepared as possible for pitfalls that may occur.


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## ronaldj (Mar 22, 2015)

we are not moving but we have been getting rid of stuff we no longer need or want...so the kids will not have to do that...our children five of them all live less than an hour away so we stay in touch regular...in fact three of five were here today or yesterday and talked to one of the others on the phone both days.....


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## drifter (Mar 26, 2015)

Give yourself time to dispose of what you want to get rid of. Mark your boxes so weeks or months later you'll know what's in them. If possible prepare your new home to move in to. Then move. I've been in a new location fours years now and last week we unpacked the last box of stuff. My house is so small and so filled with stuff, if we bring anything more in, something has to go out. My stereo stuff sat in the garage in boxes so long I forgot I had it. No joke. Having said all that, let me wish you good luck. The only thing I still miss are my books. I simply don't have room for books. Now instead of owning books i get them at the library or on Kindle.


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## movieman (Mar 26, 2015)

Thanks for the good advice, drifter.  I'm pretty anal so I am carefully marking (and numbering) boxes as I pack them.  I've spent one week in our new home painting and am going back again soon for another week to continue.  I've got a painter doing high stuff also.  then we have deliveries, carpet, etc. to be there for.  Kindle is awesome, isn't it?  But I know what you mean. It's a comfort just seeing a book sitting on a shelf!  Good Luck to you too!


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## Kathy G in MI (Apr 18, 2015)

Stuff can be your friend, but don't move it only to have to get rid of it for lack of space! I learned that the hard way.


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