"Minimalism" the draconian way to downsize? - Downsizing Step 6

Today, Brian Lehrer - NPR show in WNYC - covered the topic of minimalism.  To hear the Brian Lehrer's 15 minute show click here

So interesting for me in my downsizing saga  to hear this show on the Minimalist way of living.  These "minimalists" are touring with their book "Everything that remains" a memoir on their  conversion to minimalism.   (click here for their blog)  

The one thought that stayed with me after hearing this interview is the importance of figuring out what adds value to our lives or brings us joy.  Basically we should evaluate all of our belongings with that lens  -  so that we keep stuff that serves a purpose or brings us joy.  The authors recommend that this should be re-evaluated every so often because what we value today may change tomorrow.  

Another thought that "rang the bell" is that I may be an organized hoarder.  I tend to have a lovely uncluttered home on the outside and but  I certainly keep tons of other stuff neatly put away out of sight.     Net, these  "just in case" items are the ones that need to go independent of "sunk costs".   I have certainly come to terms with this as I sold things like the elliptical machine on craigslist  for a fraction of the original price and am getting ready for the tag sale which will certainly have rock  bottom prices.

Perfect show at a perfect time for me!

love, love my books - Downsizing Step 5

A friend asked me a couple of days ago how I was doing with my downsizing task and then proceeded to say  "and how does it make you feel?"  in that therapist tone that makes you cry.  I thought about it and realized that downsizing our book collection is by far the biggest source of stress & sense of loss during this process.   Books are special to a family of readers.  How can I sift through hundreds of books representing so many years of collective reading all around the house?    Thankfully we have partially shifted our reading to our kindles/tablets in the past couple of years but still, its overwhelming.

It's funny to talk about this to my pragmatic friends who say  "are you planning to read these again?". If the answer is no - there you go.   I don't even mention this to our daughter ( who's out in college and the biggest hoarder of books ) because her answer is always "I want to keep it".  So for now, we won't touch her bookcase but the rest is up for grabs because we will be limited to books that fit in the bookcases in the apartment.  It will make zero sense to pay for a pricey storage to keep books for secula seculorum so it is time to let go.

So here were my baby steps:

• first was to start with the recipe books - I counted 30 and use none to be honest  because I google all my recipes nowadays - yet, after extensive deliberation I couldn't part of 12 of my recipe books - that will have to be on round 2!   
• then I ran into our high school guidance counselor who told me that they could use gently used SAT/AP test books --  we got dozens of those!  
• finally I heard of a Children's Book Drive for underserved children in Harlem/Bronx- so I quickly collected & delivered a box full of preteen/teen books  that I am sure no one will miss.  Still, I managed to keep some classics & favorites like To Kill a Mockingbird, Nicholas, Harry Potter & Unfortunate events series.  These seemed to precious to pass on- yet!

And now I wonder - how will I tackle the next step?  What will be my criteria to sort through the hundreds of books in our bookcases/attic/garage?   Any suggestions for criteria other than "are you planning to read it again" are welcomed!

My closet, here we go -- Downsizing Step 4

I finally took the courage to face my closet.  It took half a day to go through because I had to try out everything!  Now that I have lost weight I am not too sure of my size but this exercise proved that I am back to the size I used to be "most recently".   However,  because the sky is the limit,  I saved a couple of  aspirational items (a size smaller) to see if I can fit in at a later date -- not a good downsizing decision but a great motivational decision!

Some items are hard to give away because of the cost although any good accountant would say - the heck with the sunk costs!   Nevertheless, I have a pair of nice Brazilian leather pants (too small) and an Austrian wool jacket (too big) that should have some residual value.    Would a concession store work? I have never used one though I know there's one in town.

So 3 giant trash bags of clothes & a box of recyclable hangers to give away later,  the closet still looks full!   How is that possible?

Downsizing Step 1

Today, I decided to face the monumental task of downsizing our 3900 square foot home.  We are hoping to purchase an apartment in New York City (NYC)  that at best will be 1,500 square feet and will have little storage and no external storage - at least for now because there's a waiting list for the storage bins in the building.. that's it - no garage, no attic, no extra closet space.  So this means war.  War against STUFF that we have collected, and trekked in all of our moves but that must  now decide if any of it is worth taking the precious real estate in NYC.  

With the looming empty nest, there are so many questions to deal with  - so many mementos and items with sentimental value.   I must have saved boxes of pre-school & elementary  artwork - what do we do with that?  Not to speak of the hundreds of photo albums and family videos - do we digitize all of these?!  Oh, boy - it's exhausting just to think of it - no wonder I procrastinated.

So today I decided to start with the obvious.  Start with the stuff that hasn't been used in years -- the ping pong table and elliptical machine ads are out on craigslist/fb.  I also contacted a "professional organizer" to seek out advice - we shall see...

I also found this group -  the free cycle network (https://www.freecycle.org/)  where people in neighboring areas give and receive STUFF for free!  A wonderful communal idea - why not try it?   I haven't offered anything yet, but I responded to one WANT ad - for a group who needed memory games for a Senior center in the Bronx.  Within a few hours, I had found someone at my door ready to take 2 huge bags  filled with board games, balls, weight training equipment - STUFF  that had been sitting around for years and these seniors will start using tomorrow - bravo!  It's a baby step, but it's a start. Here we go!