There comes a time in everyone’s life where the years have mounted up in numbers…okay, you’re older than you would like to be…, and you realise you need to slow down and rid yourself of things that require constant attention.
And one of the areas that you will look at is downsizing where you live, and reducing your maintenance workload.
And it is damn difficult! We all know that study that says that losing a partner, getting a divorce or moving house are amongst the most stressful experiences to endure – well, throw getting rid of a substantial proportion of your possessions on top of that, and you are within a hop, skip and a jump of the funny farm.
And I think it is that feeling of having to be ruthless as to what to get rid of when it comes to reducing the number of treasured possessions you have, is what really disturbs one. We are, in the main, not meant to deal with an emotion like that, so it takes some rational thinking to ‘fool’ ourselves into accepting the feeling. And, wow, do you have to be ruthless when you are clearing out and downsizing!
If, say, you are moving to a new place which is going to be half the size of your current abode, you will need to get rid of three fifths of your possessions. Woah, what went wrong with the math there? Well, remember the new house layout, its rooms, its cupboards, etc. will be different from your current place, so many of the items that did fit previously probably won’t when moved. And when I speak about items I specifically refer to furniture – a table from a dining room won’t fit, or at least look very out of place, in an open plan kitchen-lounge set-up. And that means that you may have to look at buying new pieces that fits perfectly. And that brings me onto another lousy fact about downsizing.
You may have paid R10, R15, R20,000 for an item in the past – that doesn’t mean that in selling it second-hand that you will reach those prices from a buyer. Rather work on a 20 to 40% margin, and know that it is more likely to be closer to 20%. And realise that certain items are really not saleable; just rather give them to a charity shop in the area. But even then you have to be sensible – a “Euro boys” VHS video set is both likely to raise eyebrows as well as not having a ready market!
One of the biggest conundrums is whether to keep family photos, special event photos, etc. from years past, or to take the opportunity to ditch the lot into the recycling. A trick I discovered using modern technology – scan the old photos, catalogue them into understandable groupings on your computer, back the whole lot onto a flash-drive, and THEN ditch the lot into the recycling. Voila! You still have a record of past misdemeanours, and you have less clutter that needs to be carried over to the new house.
The other area of possessions that, and I don’t care who you are, all of us seem to hold onto is in the hardware, paint and tool collection. Who in their right mind wants a mound of rusty and bent nails, screws, nuts and bolts, and other unidentifiable pieces of metal? Well, apparently, I/we do. Again, have the recycling bag close to hand (that or an iron smelter), and have a merry time working your way through your shelves. And as for the paint! Treat your old place to its final spruce up using up the myriads of remaining dregs, while at the same time marvelling at the number of paint ‘bricks’ that you have in some of the more ancient tins (many of them with prices that you can’t believe ever existed). Tools – we are not going there – just to say that if it looks like it isn’t going to do the job any longer that it was designed for, then recycle. And, as added bonus for going through the drudgery of sorting out your version of a hardware store, when you get to your new place it will be so much easier to find items.
The kitchen seems to attract utensils and crockery that multiply, unobserved, like rabbits, and so this is also an area to focus on. Again, charity shops will welcome with open arms any knife, fork, spoon and plate that has come to the end of its days (well, in your life anyway), though there does seem to be a market for the more traditional crockery (think Royal Albert for example). There are also a number of ‘marketplaces’ online where you can sell your extras, but it is a slow and laborious process, and may be a symptom of the current state of the economy.
A word of caution – hang onto bed linen and towels. Downsizing is also a downscaling, but it does not necessarily mean “Out with old, in with the new”. The monetary benefits that will arise from not being ‘so big’ shouldn’t be wasted on buying products for which there are already adequate, and familiar, items. Oh, and don’t leave your wine stocks behind – that would be a tragedy!
In summing up, downsizing is a stressful, demanding time of one’s life, but is a step one must take when you realize that you have reached a point where a house is too big for you, and you have to move on.
And, not putting too finer point on it, we haven’t even covered the packing!
