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[jlkz]

@sarahpanda 

Congratulations on the new house !

We sold a very large vacation house last summer.  It took us long weekends of packing stuff up and bringing it home to be further divided: outright donation to thrift shop or friends, " free " sign on front lawn, keep at main house after reorganizing shelves to accommodate at either main house or shore house.

Best decision on our part: get see-through plastic bins with lids that you can lift once loaded ( the biggest aren't the best because you can overfill them ) and large scraps of paper with magic markers to be able to see what's in them from any direction.

If you can donate / sell / give away from the house you are selling, that makes it a little easier. When someone stopped by to look at one item, we added a " free " item or two.   If you can make the donate / give away decision with designated bins at the sold house, it will be easier in the long run.

Be ruthless in making your keep / don't keep decisions !

A word of caution: all that climbing, lifting, twisting can bring on something called " iliotibial " stretch syndrome.  There is nothing that can be done for it over 6-8 weeks of pain ( mine lasted 8-10 ).  If you Google it, it means the quadricep muscle from the hip is stretched and causes pain at the kneecap area.  Bending over to load / unload the dishwasher can be excruciating !  Even just leaning over to pick up a dropped item will be painful.  My doctor suggested squatting...hard to do.

[AuntG]

We had about thirty people over for Christmas and so many people expressed a desire for their homes to be as clutter free as ours. My only advice was to declutter when you are ready. Told them the most difficult part for me was parting with all my Barbie junk and glassware of my parents. When the younger generation had no the desire for my dishes, I just donated them. 

My January 1 purge consisted of a battery operated snow globe that no longer works and a magazine rack that had a Christmas theme painted on it. I figured it wasn't worth storing it. I'll use our regular magazine rack all year long now.

[homedecor1]

I finally did it!!!! I decorated lightly for the holiday this year and it was really just enough...

I put everything away and everyday things back in their place under 2 hours😊😊

I had 6 storage containers full of holiday decor with things that I've had over 20 years🤦‍♀️.  I purged it to 3 containers (1 is just garland, candle rings and stands, 1 is tree decorations, 1 misc. decor), 1 wreath and 1 tree bag.

I was surprised how quickly the trash bag filled up! 

Tomorrow my plan is take the nicer things to the donation center, put some things for sale on marketplace and start putting together community yard sale things.

I'm off to a good 2023 if I stay focused on the goal -- declutter and purge.

Thank you for starting the 2023 thread @rnmom and good advice given here from those who have accomplished decluttering!  

Happy New Year🍾

[rnmom]

@amyb - Thanks for the tip about the Declutter Calendar, I subscribed and will get it downloaded soon so I can follow along if I want to. I'm always looking for ideas and inspiration!

[rnmom]

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@sarahpanda wrote:

I  purchased another house and I have the daunting task of unloading this one...22 years of ''life'' here, not to mention many years of life in a prior house that was moved here. !  I have no idea how to begin.  It will be such an undertaking that I'm now second guessing myself as to if the other house should have been purchased in the first place. It will likely take me at least 6 months to get moved ...have mercy !!

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@sarahpanda - There are a couple of great ladies who post here who have moved within the last few years, I'm sure they can give you some excellent suggestions.

All I can recommend is to try to not get overwhelmed, just take one space at a time and make piles for obvious trash, donations and keep to be moved to the new house. Be ruthless, only keeping items that you think you will use and love in your new space. I wouldn't go thru the time and money to move items that have no use to you. 

Best of luck to you, moving is definitely a big job!

[rnmom]

@Roscoe the Rascal - I will also work on the inside over the next few months when it's cold and I'll hit the garage and hubby will work on his pole barn again in the spring when it warms up. I try to do seasonal purges too, it just makes sense to me. 

[rnmom]

@pupwhipped - I am so glad that you are here and are joining in! Yes, even the little things count, so take the victory even in a small eyelid primer!

I find that for me, sometimes tossing or donating the first item is the hardest. After that it seems to get easier. Maybe it will be for you too. Now that you tossed one thing, look for something else to either toss or donate. And then annother and then another. You might just find that it gets easier if you keep going so there isn't so much anguish with decluttering. 

Welcome!

[rnmom]

@FindingMyJoy - I am so glad that you have joined in! I used to follow Flylady years ago too! I hope that you post often, welcome!

[rnmom]

@KathyM23 - I look forward to you posting more often on this thread, thanks for joining in!

[rnmom]

I didn't get a change to welcome each individual but I just want to say welcome to everyone, both new and old posters to this thread! I am truly looking forward to reading about everyone's journey!