Many single persons, retirees and even families today are downsizing their homes to save money on utilities, to conserve energy or to reduce the amount of time spent cleaning and maintaining a house. One drawback to downsizing is that you may not know what to do with all your stuff! if this sounds like you, consider a few tips to cleaning out your home so you can more easily transition to your new, simpler lifestyle and smaller space.
Reduce by a fourth
If you hesitate to part with too many items when downsizing, start by reducing by a fourth. Get rid of one fourth of your wardrobe, one fourth of the kid's toys, one fourth of your sporting goods and so on. A fourth can be a sizeable amount for many people when it comes to getting rid of items without making you feel as if you're getting rid of far too many of your possessions!
Once you reduce your possessions by a fourth, you may feel a sense of accomplishment and realise you don't miss those items as much as you assumed. You can then reduce your possessions even more after that, if needed.
Sell your items
Rather than thinking of your items as precious possessions, think of them as cash! If you can resell any of the items you don't really need and rarely use, the money you make can be motivation enough to part with them. You can have a tag sale in your own yard if allowed in your area and also use the internet for larger items and those of higher value.
Use a skip bin
No doubt there are many items you have that are simply not in good condition so they can't be resold or even donated, but you don't want to put them out with your everyday trash. If so, hire skip bins. This can allow you to toss out large and bulky furniture items, old clothes that can't be salvaged, broken toys and appliances, and anything else that isn't appropriate for a standard rubbish bin. You can even get smaller skip bins on wheels for easy use indoors or a large bin that will hold all those old furniture pieces and broken items you never got around to repairing. Having the skip bin rental company take the bin away will also cut down on the temptation to pull those items back from the trash once you've made the decision to part with them, making it easier to stick with your decision to downsize.
