Downsizing And Decluttering

Over the last few years I've undergone gradually a process of downsizing and Decluttering.

Moving Home

I've moved home twice in the last few years, from a rented house to a flat and then from the flat to my mum's house and each time I've reduced my possessions. Trashing all manor of pointless junk I've kept each time. It's not easy letting go of things but when you don't use something it's rarely worth keeping.

What I Did When I Moved

I looked at the big things I didn't need to take first like a fridge and freezer when I moved in with mum because mum had bought me a new fridge and she already had a freezer. I used to have three guitars, I didn't need three and so two went. I removed all the disks I had from packaging like CDs, DVDs, games and stored them more sensibly. I threw out clothes and shoes I never wore and did threw out ornaments that did not hold any sentimental value. Anything I didn't really need I disposed of or gave away to charity unless it had some kind of sentimental value. It was not easy to trash things and I did not throw enough because working out what you may or may not use is not easy.

When Mum Died

When my mother died I acquired a load more things, well all mums possessions. Most of the things mum had I did not need and I would say eighty percent of mums things were either trashed or given away to charity. Some things were so hard to throw away and this has took me a year and eight months to complete. Mum had collected so much junk in her lifetime from ornaments to clothes and so many thousand of pounds worth of stuff were thrown away. Mums freezer I now own like all mums furniture but I've had to throw away lots of it. Mums fridge was thrown away and her favourite armchair and of course her bed. This gave me room to move back in some of the things I had kept safe in the garage after I had moved into mums house.

The Importance Of Decluttering

When mum died I realised how unimportant things were and how collecting piles of ornaments, gadgets, souvenirs and other pointless things were. Mum had kept old clothes on the off-chance she might wear them and had also got into a routine of buying new clothes all the time - most of these she never wore. Mum also had a large collection of shoes and again most she never wore. Mum collected ornaments which did nothing but collect dust. Mum left a lot of gravy - enough for a lifetime if they didn't go out of date. I was left a lifetime supply of sandwich bags and bin bags, of course I'll keep these because they are useful. I was left many unless items though and had to get rid of all the clutter. It is so important from a mental health and a space point of view to get rid of all the junk. The hardest things to get rid of were mums artwork, so many paintings but what use would I have for so many of them - I've kept a couple of sentimental ones and that is all. Furniture was thrown or given away to charity, so many fancy draws and other storage containers which mum appeared to collect. Gradually the house bagen to loot better and appeared to grow in size. I moved some of things out of my own bedroom and eventually things looked a lot better and less messy. The removal of junk is always going to be a good thing for anybody when I comes to mental health. My ex housemate kept so many stupid things like cuddly toys, especially meerkats which took so much space up and collected dust as well as so much crazy shit. She was not right in the head in keeping so much rubbish.

Downsizing

Because mum's house is only half owned by me it is up for sale now and I am going, hopefully to move into a small home so I need to think more about what I need and what I do not need. Because I am single and getting older I don't need a big house or lots of space. Because I know that it's literally stupid to keep pointless things that are useless or that mean nothing to a me then I am going further with my decluttering and going for a major downsize.

I've already viewed the property I want but need to sell the house first but now I know what my potential new home might be I can plan accordingly. My nana when she died left me some furniture but one item I have no real need for so that will have to go. I have a big sofa which I barely sit on so I don't really need a sofa just for myself so I will get rid of that and buy a small armchair or something to replace it so I will be cutting down on space. I have a big freezer but i do not need a big one so again I will buy a small one. My potential new home has some good storage space so I wont need some of my draws. I have a single bed and that's all I need but I may throw away some of my bedding that I don't need, I've already thrown away lots of old bath towels as mum left me loads of new towels and I won't need many just for myself. Some of the things I thought I may use like old CDs,DVDs and games that I kept I may throw as i don't use them as everything is mostly online now. I still have some clothes I don't wear which I should throw away now as I've bought new clothes this last couple of years. So i need to make a smaller space work and surely you must get the picture by now - I need to reduce things and not add to them.

The Advantages Of Downsizing

My potential new home will be cheaper to warm up, cheaper to maintain and be my own little space. Keeping a three bedroom house warm and bright is more expensive and the council tax band is higher and so my new home will have cheaper bills all round and have a cheaper council tax to pay. Like having a small car because it's common sense to have a small car which is cheaper to run, less bad for the environment and does exactly the same thing as a big car does unless you have a big family consisting of something like two adults and four kids. I will hopefully be living in a nice quiet place with none of the daily problems like traffic and noise pollution. Noise and pollution is bad for your health. If you are single or even in a relationship downsizing makes sense especially with the ability to have cheaper bills and a more clutter free lifestyle. Anyway thanks for reading.