Those sales after a holiday, such as Christmas, Halloween, and Easter, offer up irresistible deals. Up to 75% off! How can you pass up that cute Santa or that new goblin yard decoration? They are so cute!!! You buy a few sacks full of things and take them home. Since the holiday is over, you stuff them (still in the sack) in a closet for next year. This routine happens after every holiday, year after year. Before you know it, your closets are stuffed in every crook and crevice with these bargains.
This past weekend, my sister and I sorted through 2.5 closets and a few cabinets of Mom’s. We had a pile of shopping bags that was 8 feet wide and 3 feet tall. Mom oohed and aahed over almost every item, but she made the hard choice to let go of 90% of those purchases. After about 3 hours of this sorting process, it began to hit her how out of control her buying had been. She had never pulled it all out and looked at the quantity of items. The amount of money that she had spent was also starting to hit her. $20 here and $50 there. It adds up to a great deal of money. Money that she can use now for her expensive long term care.
My sister and I spent two solid days pulling out things from these 3 closets, two china cabinets, shelving in laundry room, and the shop. I filled up the back of the pickup truck twice with trash. All of these purchases, many of which are still brand new with the price tags still attached, will be sold in a Seasoned Life Event Sale in June. They filled up the counter spaces in the shop. It truly looks like a retail store! The hard thing to grasp is that all these items were new purchases. We haven’t even started on her storeroom that contains bins after bins of the Christmas decorations she used year after year! These will be the things of which she has the most emotional attachment. She has to reduce “the keep” holiday items to 5 bins.
The next hard thing to grasp is that these are just holiday items. We have not even started on household items, such as china, glassware, decorative pieces, and clothing. I have so far spent over 40 hours sorting and cleaning out spaces in her home. Most of this has been the most cluttered areas, such as the closets and shop. I am guessing that it will take over 100 more hours to finish clearing out the house completely. Some of that time will require professional movers and other family members to pitch in. My body is aching and bruised, but I will keep going. It has to be done.
Hopefully, all of this information will set off a light bulb or warning light to other seasoned life people who need to downsize. Do not put this type of burden on your loved ones! I do this for a living. They do not. The task is too overwhelming and time consuming for the average person. They will tend to take the easier downsizing path, which includes, hauling it off to the junkyard, donating it, or selling it off for cheap in a garage or estate sale. Future blogs will take you through the Seasoned Life Transitions process and show you what we do and the results.
