DOWNSIZING, DE-CLUTTERING and DONATING

Three D’s that can not only make your home more livable and function better but it can also be a godsend to other people.

People downsize for a variety of reasons – economics, the house is too big after the kids leave or a spouse dies, they want to spend less time cleaning a big space or yard, they want a different lifestyle.

Downsizing can also be “freeing” – both financially and emotionally. If you have less space (or things) you have more time for yourself and time to pursue other activities (hobbies, volunteering, school….).

Do you really need a 3,500 square foot house if you live alone? Do you really want to spend all of that time cleaning rooms you never use? And what about the mortgage? Wouldn’t you rather spend that money elsewhere? Like your retirement?

Downsizing is not a “bad” thing. It doesn’t mean that you are “poor”. The word should actually be changed to “right sizing”. What was “right” ten (10) years ago might not be “right” for your today.

If you always wanted to live in the city and be a part of the hustle and bustle and in the center of all of the culture….maybe now is the time. If your kids are grown and you don’t need a four (4) bedroom house in the suburbs why stay?

Change is hard. But once you jump in and “right size” you might wonder why it took you so long.


De-cluttering. Not only will you gain space you never knew you had in your home but you will be able to find things more easily. Saving you time and money. Think about the repercussions of not being able to find things. What happens when you can’t find your keys and are late for work? You could possible be fired.

What if you are running late for your child’s play rehearsal because you can’t remember where you left your purse? You are probably screaming at your kids, running around the house looking for your purse and they are crying because you’re yelling at them. Whose fault is it that you can’t find your purse?

De-cluttering brings about “order”. It reduces stress – because now everything has a place and you aren’t searching for things.

Do you really need to keep bits and pieces of toys that you can’t find? Do you really need to keep toys that don’t work? Or your children have outgrown? Do you really need to keep clothes from when you were 20 something ? Really ? Like you actually believe they will come back into style? Before you’re 50 ?

LET GO! It’s a hard concept for most people. It’s mostly psychology with a bit of nostalgia thrown in. What if you “need” (insert whatever you are keeping). What if ?

Now take a deep breath and say to yourself “I can live without (insert whatever you are keeping) “. Put it into a garbage pile or a donate pile and move on. Don’t think about it too long or you might try to fish it out.

Soon you will have de-cluttered an entire room and when you look around you will have so much more space you might think you’re in the wrong house!

Donating. Not only are you “recycling” your household items and helping people that don’t have the money to buy new things, but you are also getting a tax write-off. Be sure to keep a list of exactly what you donate, date, amount, value and where donated. Be sure to get a receipt for your taxes.

We keep a “donate box” in the garage and make it a habit to go through our closets and cupboards every few months to get rid of things that we’ve outgrown or haven’t used in a long time.

Then when the box gets full we drive down to a donation center and drop off our box.

It makes us feel good that we aren’t just throwing things out that others can use.



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