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Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-16-2010

Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!


@aprilskies wrote:

@just bee wrote:

@aprilskies wrote:

 

You know, I think retirement is what got me to get really serious about it all. If I am brave enough to pull the trigger when I want to, I want to be sure I have a healthy amount saved for any contingencies and as little debt as I can manage. Of course, it is based on so many things. I have been blessed to have my job and am super grateful but I have been doing the same one for a very very long time and a change is long overdue. Trying to keep my focus on the prize. 


@aprilskies

 

What motivates me is this nagging thought that one day I may have to sell the house and relocate.  There's no way I'll be able to move everything in this house.  The cost of moving the books alone would break me.

 

I picture myself in a studio apartment.  What will I keep when it's time to part with fifty years of stuff?


 

Yea, exactly, it is time to switch up the focus.  I would like to move next year. My move would not break me though.  I have really downsized dramatically over the last 10 years but more so over the last 4, and I really want to continue to declutter as much as I can. I still have too much and it kinda makes me crazy. It always has but now I just dont want to manage things. I always told myself, well when I move into a bigger place, it wont be so bad, but really now, even if I move into a bigger place, I dont want to deal with it.  It is funny how the mindset changes.  I declutter here and there and that is how I have been doing it lately.  I would like to do another dramatic one but just can't, lol, what's remaining is all of the really really hard stuff.  Sometimes I feel close on making a decision regarding my collectibles. The truth is, they are now worthless, I dont have kids and my nieces and nephews arent into that kind of stuff and the rest of us are aging as well, so no one would really want all that stuff.  And I am not willing to hold onto it for another 15 years to see if the market turns.    

 

I toy with the idea that when I do eventually move, to just donate all of my furniture and start over fresh with what I want. hahahahha. I doubt I would do that, who wants to start looking, etc, but it is tempting.  I think it is because all of my furniture is mostly dark wood and I am a bit tired of the darkness.  This too will pass. Smiley Happy  

 

As you can see, I have quite a bit rolling around in my head.  That is just the start.

 

Decluttering is hard, it is our stuff, but at some point we have to determine what works.  


My old geezer has been threatening again to do just that--call the auctioneer, get what we can for everything, pack up a few necessities in a U-Haul behind one vehicle and drive west.  Sometimes that sounds great, but if I think about it for too long, I come up with all the practical realities: new doctors, dentists, banks, neighbors--you name it.  We did that once, but it was thirty years ago and even with being thirty years younger, it was tough until we got settled.  Too much work for me, even if the weather is nicer.  (Although all your discussion of Costco salads is very tempting--how I miss that store!)

 

But it does motivate you to get rid of things, big time.  Most of our stuff is old by now and has already been moved cross-country a few times; I don't think it would even stand up to another move anyway.  And like you, we have no one that would be interested in our sentimental stuff--even I don't care about a lot of it anymore, why should anyone else?  

 

If I had a place ready to move into so that I knew what it was like, I could very easily leave most of what I own with no problem.  I couldn't do that thirty years ago, most of what we owned came with us, right down to the calf-pullers.  (We really needed those in suburbia!)  But I am headed to that studio apartment eventually, if I live that long.  Downscaling is a natural process as you age, and we are in one of those stages right now.  Can't do it ourselves anymore, can't get anyone to help, so our only solution is going to be to give it up and get into a lifestyle that we can handle, until we can't handle that anymore.

 

Honored Contributor
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Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!

@geezerette

@aprilskies

 

My mother used to complain that my father could put everything he owned in a shoebox.  When she met my stepfather she didn't want to move into his house because it was filled with both his and his deceased mother's collections.

 

When I moved my mother out here she owned two properties in California and both were filled with "stuff."  My sister stored what wasn't donated or thrown in a dumpster.

 

She and her husband just wanted to empty out the houses and sell the homes as-is as quickly as possible.  Better-half wanted to get my stepfather's house into shape before selling it.  My sister and BIL were adamant.  They practically gave the homes and everything in them away.  I try not to think about it too much because I know they did what they thought was the right thing to do at the time.

 

Last night I had some time to kill so I Googled old neighborhoods.  Places in Chicago, Arizona and California where I'd lived.  My stepfather's bungalow that he bought after WW II in Mountain View, California for less than what I paid for my 1984 AMC/Renault Alliance (stop snickering) has been transformed into a larger building (means everything in the yard that he, his mother and my mother planted is gone) and was last on the market for over 2.2 million dollars.

 

I won't be mentioning this to Better-half.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
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Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!

Speaking of the joys of homeownership...

 

I staggered into the kitchen this morning to make tea and found a note from Better-half on the counter.

 

"F___en h_ll.  Enjoy the kitchen disco tech."

 

Before I attempted to analyze the meaning of this, I focused on the spelling.  The first word seemed to be of German origin and not the usual spelling of a common expletive.  Normally it would be spelled with "ing" and in this case an apostrophe would replace the missing "g."  As for "disco tech," I appreciated the Americanized version of the original "discothèque" and the tip o' the hat to technology.  A pun here, perhaps?

 

And just before I began to tackle the meaning of this cryptic note -- keep in mind I haven't yet had my tea -- I felt a grand mal seizure coming on.  Suddenly I was aware of the strobe lights over my head.

 

We took the world's greatest dog to Home Depot yesterday to buy new bulbs for the kitchen fixture.  Better-half attempted to replace the bulbs in the middle of the night.  Something is amiss.  Pulsating light does not work for me.

 

Light bulbs used to be much less complicated.  They would burn out and be replaced.  A few simple twists and voilà!  Let there be light.  And there was light.  And it was good.

 

It wasn't pulsating.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
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Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!

Oh, that's right -- this is supposed to be Mindful March.  In an effort to restart the day, I just dragged Better-half outside to see this morning's sunrise.  Spectacular!

 

At some point today I'll need to get out and start work on the front yard.  The city is greening up and it's warmed to 67 degrees this weekend.  Hoping I can get something done before the wind starts up.

 

Had a skunk in the yard last night.  I'm toying with the idea of drafting the Great Southwest American Novel: Skunks in the City.  Maybe a screenplay.  We'll see how the yardwork goes.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
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Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!

@just bee I can relate to so much of your posts,you gave me a good laugh this morning. We can never let out dogs in the backyard at night,they'll be skunked for sure. They were skunked last Fall in the daylight.

We've been planning to downsize and move to the southern part of Illinois from the Chicago burbs. We talk talk talk,and do nothing. Someday..sigh. 

Trees are the lungs of the Earth
Esteemed Contributor
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Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!

@geezerette@aprilskies I can really empathize with you both.  I don't have alot of "stuff" but DH does.  I think "stuff"takes away ones freedom to a certain extent. We're seriously going to try to move this year.  Our house is relatively clutter free with his stuff tucked away out of sight. Wish us luck.

Trees are the lungs of the Earth
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Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!


@MoJoV wrote:

@just bee I can relate to so much of your posts,you gave me a good laugh this morning. We can never let out dogs in the backyard at night,they'll be skunked for sure. They were skunked last Fall in the daylight.

We've been planning to downsize and move to the southern part of Illinois from the Chicago burbs. We talk talk talk,and do nothing. Someday..sigh. 


@MoJoV

 

These things must be done delicately...

 

Moving is hard.  Unless, of course, you're one of those people who travels light.  I've known people who get bored easily and just pick up and move on a whim.  And I've known people who make major investments in a move -- a big move -- and then quickly realize it was an error.

 

I like the idea of a new city, a new state.  But I also like some stability in my life.  This is the longest I've ever been at one address.  I hang on to old-fashioned notions.  Some people will buy a house, sell it, then move on to the next.  I have bought one house.  To me it's like finding your soulmate.  This house (I named our brick house Jack -- it's a Cubs thing) is THE ONE.  I'm married to it.  Part of me expects to die in this house.

 

Then I think the whole concept of living in the same house forever is antiquated and impractical.  But I'm often antiquated and impractical in these matters.

 

And why is it every time I see your name I break into song?

 

Skylark, have you anything to say to me?
Won't you tell me where my love can be?
Is there a meadow in the mist
where someone's waiting to be kissed?

Skylark, have you seen a valley green with spring
where my heart can go a journeying
over the shadows and the rain
to a blossom covered lane?

See what I mean?
~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
Honored Contributor
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Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!


@MoJoV wrote:

@geezerette@aprilskies I can really empathize with you both.  I don't have alot of "stuff" but DH does.  I think "stuff"takes away ones freedom to a certain extent. We're seriously going to try to move this year.  Our house is relatively clutter free with his stuff tucked away out of sight. Wish us luck.


Yes.  It's because we are imprisoned by the "stuff."  It limits options.  When we limit our options, we limit our freedom.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
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Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!

I realize this is a beauty forum so every now and then I'm compelled to post something related to the topic.

 

Here goes.

 

What's going on with eyebrows?  Suddenly every woman reminds me of Groucho Marx.

 

Groucho

 

I feel like I need to pull out my Sharpie and get to work.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~
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Re: ComPact 2017 -- Mindful March!

So every time Better-half puts together an Amazon order he asks if there's anything he can add to it to pad it.  I usually tell him I don't need anything (this is true) but this time I said, if he needed to, he could add some Salux cloths to the order.  I pointed them out; he looked skeptical.

 

Salux

Well, three of them showed up (pink, yellow and blue) and I just showered with one.  I'd been putting off ordering these for years.

 

Why?

 

This thing really did polish my skin.  Better than the body Buf-Puf I've been using.  I thought the scalp brushes Better-half ordered a few weeks ago were exciting, but this is as good as the reviewers claim.

 

And we now have working bulbs in the kitchen fixture.  And new non-yellowing plastic panels to "enlighten" the area. 

 

I have achieved middle class Nirvana.

~My philosophy: Dogs are God's most perfect creatures. Angels, here on Earth, who teach us to be better human beings.~