Well, not moving till next summer, but it is on my mind pretty much all the time.  As I go about my daily tasks/living in my current house I ponder which items we own now will make the move and which are or will be no longer useful.

We will be moving from a single family, 3-bedroom rambler type home to a townhouse.  On the surface, that sounds like we are downsizing.  However, in this case, I think we will actually be gaining living space.  BUT, we lose a basement!

Do you know how much stuff you can accumulate in a basement over 22 years?

 And, you know what – actually, it’s more like 52 years accumulation.  Though we’ve been in our current house for 22 years, I know for a fact, some of the items have been moved to three different homes.

It’s been so easy over the years to “just put it in the basement” when an item is no longer needed or wanted in our living space.  How much easier it would be now as we cull through our belongings if we would have actually gotten rid of stuff along the way instead of being too lazy to deal with it or hanging onto it “just in case” we or our kids or our grand kids ever would need it.

I’m grateful that we have several months to work on discarding things.  Here’s the process we will use as we determine what we will actually move next summer.  For each item we will ask ourselves - Is this something:

• we still use/need
• we still love
• we still think of as having sentimental value (heirlooms, perhaps)

If the answer is no, then the item can be:

• donated, if it would be usable to someone or,
• sold, if it isn’t usable to us but might be to someone, AND IF, we have the energy (or the technology know how) to find a buyer through the internet (Craig’s List, Facebook Marketplace, neighborhood website, etc.), or, heaven forbid, a garage sale which sounds like way too much work!
• recycled, if it isn’t usable but is recyclable material
•  tossed in the garbage, if it has no value – I anticipate a dumpster being in our driveway for awhile next summer.

I have already started this process.  The hardest items to deal with are those that have been gifted to us.  I feel guilty getting rid of those things – like I’m not grateful for the gift.

It also is overwhelming to deal with some of the sentimental keepsakes.  They have meaning to no one else so will just become trash after we’re gone.  Examples:  cheerleading letters earned in high school, charms on a charm bracelet that were significant to high school and young adult life, scrapbooks full of newspaper clippings, cards, ticket stubs, etc. from teen years.    How do we toss the stuff that we felt was significant enough to save?

Uffda, this is hard work! 

I’d like to be on the other side and already living in our new space.  I know we’ll get there, but I could use any suggestions anyone has on how to prepare for the move.  Feel free to offer advice in the comments section below.