Many baby boomers are willing to downsize their home in order to lower their retirement costs. Moving to a less expensive house can simplify your life, get your expenses under control and help you live out your life in financial security.
But whether you’re contemplating renting a two-bedroom condo in the city, or buying a one-story rancher in the sun belt, preparing to live in a smaller place brings up a challenge: How do you get rid of all the stuff you’ve accumulated over the years? Here are seven tips to start decluttering or finish the job.
[Read: 9 Benefits of Decluttering Your Home Before You Die.]
1. Get motivated. Sometimes you need a reason to downsize, other than some vague feeling that you should clean out the basement. Maybe your daughter is moving back home and you have to make room for her, or you’re putting the house on the market in order to move to Florida or Arizona. Having a deadline is a powerful motivator to set things in motion. If you don’t have an official move date, then set your own deadline, such as a birthday or the end of the year.
2. Step off the keep-up-with-the-Joneses treadmill. Many of us have our self-esteem wrapped up in owning the latest thing or the most toys. But by this point in our lives we should be beyond such superficial comparisons. It’s not what you have that’s important, it’s what you do. The books you shelve in your bookcase don’t matter as much as the books you’ve actually read. Besides, if you really want to impress your friends, display one or two special items that reflect your interests — an expensive painting, a shiny new bicycle, a special family heirloom — instead of warehousing a garage full of junk.
3. Make a plan. Start making lists and schedules. Come up with an order for doing things, and decide who is responsible for what tasks. Who will clean out the garage by what date? Identify charities that will accept your donations or hold a tag sale to make some extra cash. Determine a strategy for disposing of your children’s old textbooks, papers and sports equipment, and decide who is going to negotiate with them about what they’re going to take and what they’re going to allow you to dispose of. Be proactive with the kids. Don’t wait for them to claim things. Give them one chance, and then get rid of it.
[See: The Best Places to Retire in 2018.]
4. Save only what matters to you. Take a positive approach. Don’t look at it like you’re getting rid of everything that won’t fit. Instead, think in terms of saving what is important and what you will actually use in your new life. If an item doesn’t bring you joy and satisfaction, then let someone else have it so they can appreciate it to its fullest. Your goal is a smaller but more valuable collection of belongings.
5. Get more decisive. It’s entirely possible you can’t cut to the bone on the first go-round. Sometimes decluttering goes in stages. As you proceed through the process, recognize how much energy organizing and disposing of all your stuff takes out of you. You will begin to realize that what seemed indispensable two months ago now just seems like extra baggage. You’ll become more practical, develop a thicker skin and start moving through your piles more quickly.
6. Rent a storage unit. Make no mistake, downsizing is a lot of work, and emotional issues may hold you up. If you just can’t find a way to get down to the level you need, then rent a storage unit and put the overflow in there. After a few months of paying the fees, go back and take another look. You’ll have a fresh eye on things and can probably complete the job at that point.
[See: 10 Classic (and Unique) Retirement Gift Ideas.]
7. Enjoy the new you. Whether you’re moving across town, across the country or not moving at all, you shouldn’t let your future life be weighed down by past commitments or former obligations. The key to downsizing is to stop living for other people and start living the life you’ve always dreamed of, right now. It means shedding everything that has become a burden and keeping the things that are important to you. Getting rid of all that clutter is a liberating experience that points us toward a less stressful and more rewarding lifestyle.
Tom Sightings is the author of “You Only Retire Once” and blogs at Sightings at 60.
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7 Tricks for Downsizing Your Clutter originally appeared on usnews.com
