peaceandjoy

It really is a great feeling, isn't it? I took a super size bag of odds and ends to a guild meeting this past week. Odd blocks from projects I lost interest in, some fabrics that I no longer love, flimsy's that I enjoyed making but won't use... Almost all of it was gone before the meeting started. People were happy to have it, and I was happy to have it gone. It gave me a little bit of breathing room.

tranum

I recall reading about a lady who had a garage full of her 3 grown children’s things and it had been there for years. No room to park her car inside (really?). One day she fell on an icy driveway then gave the kids a deadline to get it cleared out. One took a few things and I recall one didn’t come at all. She had someone haul everything away that was left.

I also keep a donation box in the closet and when it’s full, off it goes.

Notwendy

I’ve been thinking about all the stuff my spouse and I have accumulated over time. We have large collections of books (we met at a used bookstore!), albums, comic books, pop culture stuff (we collect 1950-1970 era tv spy memorabilia among other things), etc.

Oh, and lots of fabric and various mid century sewing machines. 🙀

We have no children and don’t really have anyone that might want our collections (though some items are quite valuable).

I hate to burden my sisters/BILs if we pass before them (and they also have their own collections/hobbies and no children).

We’ve been looking at a combo of Marie Kondo and Swedish Death Cleaning (https://www.realhomes.com/advice/swedish-death-cleaning) to make things more manageable. I hate the thought of everything just being tossed, but don’t want to obligate someone to deal with things that meant something to us but might not be someone else’s cup of tea.

We should probably pre-arrange some contacts that know the value of our collections and can sell items family/friends may not know how to handle so they can receive cash instead of boxes of items they feel obligated to keep in some manner. Possibly anything not wanted by family/friends can be donated to fund charities we support.

I look in dread at my childhood home and the decades of accumulated stuff that we’ll have to deal with in the future and don’t want to replicate the issue for others.

The pack rat gene runs very strong in our family.

Anyone else in this boat? Any tips?

ibex94

I went to an estate sale this past weekend. No one had died but they were moving and chose to downsize. They hired folks to handle all the pricing and advertising. They put HIGH prices on everything (like only $5 below what you could buy things from in the stores for tools and flowerpots etc.) I saw nothing under $10. Someone stood in every room watching to make sure that nothing was stolen. The family made a fortune and they managed to downsize at the same time. The sale was held from 9 - 2 pm on Friday and Saturday.

I bought nothing as nothing was there that I needed for the prices they were asking. But this may be an option for you.

Another option is to find an estate auction company near you. The auctioneers for estate sales don't ask prices that are ordinarily high for the starting bid, but they will also take the small stuff, box it together and start the bidding at $5 so they will take everything. You pay a 15% commission to them for what is sold in my part of the world. The buyer pays 15%, too. Some auctioneers will run the auction from the property so no transportation issues are involved.

Good luck!!

MaryKa

I will be moving by the end of October--not certain just yet to where. But I know I want a 3-bedroom house, so I can have my brother come and have his privacy. I will also give him the Master Bedroom. He served this country most of his adult life and now prefers to have some alone time. That he will get.