Downsize and Clear the Clutter
Downsizing for a 55+ Move
An efficient and practical step to simplify the move into our 55+ community and enjoy a lifestyle of freedom.
Delta Hawaii welcomes you to our 55+ community. As you prepare to move into one of our apartments or manufactured homes here in Pittsburg, California, you might consider applying a few downsizing techniques to make the process more effective with minimal stress. What could be worse than living with a bunch of boxes that you’ve never unpacked? They sit there stacked because there’s nowhere to put them. Most likely, you’ve forgotten what’s in them.
The following tips will be useful whether you are planning the move or have already done so. It’s never too late to simplify your life by downsizing. It’s all about clearing the clutter which is truly the way to a fresh start.
3 Tips to Help you Downsize
Tip #1 – Comparing where you are to where you are going
Your Existing Space: You can make a simple pencil sketch of the rooms in your current home, which includes attic, basement and garage, and if you have an outdoor shed, include it. (It all needs to go somewhere so it all counts.) If you prefer, you can make a detailed list of each room.
Your New Space: Make a simple pencil sketch of the rooms in your new downsized home. Or make a detailed list if you prefer.
Compare: How will all the items in the current drawing/list fit into the downsized one? Your sketch/list should immediately convey the key areas to focus on.
Think of it this way: For example, you have 4 bedroom 3 bath with a full-size basement, attic, and 2-car garage. You are moving into a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom manufactured home at Delta Hawaii, but you’re not going to have a basement, attic, garage, or extra bathroom. Something’s gotta go. One logical place to start removing items is the extra bathroom since bathrooms do not typically house sentimental items. Now look at the bedrooms that are not moving with you and decide what you want to take and what you can do without– bed, dressers, and so on, room by room.
Tip #2 – A powerfully effective question to ask yourself
Imagine some tragic happening that caused you to lose everything?
- What specifically would you want to replace?
- What items would be the most near and dear?
- What if you could only replace a small number of key things, what would they be?
- What are the most important things to you?
- What items haven’t you even looked at in some time?
- What items make you smile when you see them and which do not?
- What things could you live without?
Keep in mind as Americans we do have an abundance. When you see an industry such as off-site storage companies burgeoning all over the country, you get the point about just how much stuff we have and don’t use, and pay to store.
Tip #3 – Making space for your lifestyle
Of all your belongings what are you better off keeping as opposed to selling and having additional money? Which will benefit you? Of course, there are many ways to remove these items. The “Tag or Garage Sale,” is a standard way to sell. What can you donate to a cause that would benefit others? Handing items down to family is always a great gesture. What about those items that remain broken and you’ve never gotten around to repairing them?
Downsizing is a process.
You’re not alone here. Many residents of Delta Hawaii’s 55+ apartments and land-lease manufactured homes have gone through the process of downsizing. Some people have a harder time doing so than others. However, there is absolutely no doubt that downsizing is preferable once you begin working it. Your life is about to become much more enjoyable.