Downsizing - any tips

[PicaK]

Selling family home and downsizing to much smaller one. It makes sense but is with heavy heart. Tho I'm starting to see some small flashes that a life without so much stuff might have upsides.
Any hints or tips about getting rid of stuff are welcome

Smaller property, should equal smaller bills which is good under the current climate

Declutter before moving
Keep
Sell
Charity shop
Take to rubbish

You will have your freedom

We downsized
And it was brilliant
But I had to get rid of so so much stufff
And it is freeing..

I will actually be downsizing again after a separation and I am looking forward to having a few boxes worth of stuff!!
It's liberating..

I'm going to downsize. I have 3 rooms that are totally unused and it's pointless having them. We have loads of crap to get rid of that we have accumulated over the years and made cleaning hard! I'm taking stuff to charity shops or selling on eBay. Other stuff is taken to the tip. I want an easy house to look after and plan on having the essentials and no rubbish in my new house to make things easier. I'll spend my money on travel instead!
I have a friend who bought a two bedroomed house (new build) in Colchester as her kids had both left home and she'd been divorced years earlier. She was living in a 4 bed in Leeds. Sold it and moved south to where her daughter was moving to and got rid of all her furniture. She has furnished her new place with eBay buys (look new) and the whole house looks amazing and clutter free! She is also very happy!

Thanks guys. I've been feeling sad but there is a lightness that comes with letting go of stuff

Divorced and moved with downsizing last year in middle of manic stamp duty rush
my advice is related to place you buy. Be careful as it’s still a buyers market. We sold family home and I couldn’t find places wanted easily. I was getting very anxious and in the end had to go over my budget . Fine as I could absorb that from savings ( I’m retired and no mortgage) . But then loads of stuff came out on survey. Negotiated a discount on that for some of it. A bit painful but, yes based on trade quotes I got still manageable if not ideal.
but my building works are only just starting 1 year later. The costs have tripled to an extortionate amount that is leaving me in a vulnerable position in the future with little savings left. The stress of builders letting me down, pulling out, delaying etc has been relentless. I feel like I haven’t stopped since making the decision to divorce 18 months ago.

my advice would be to find a home that does not need work for next few years until all this trade labour shortage and supply chain issues has calmed down. Buy something you can walk into. Don’t overstretch at all in todays climate. Make sure when you sell you say to your buyer they have to be flexible in allowing you time to find your new property- make that a condition of sale. Take your time so you can wait for right property or at least nearly right property

i will add that my house purchase and ensuing stress was far worse than the divorce process

I love my new house because it is all mine! De-cluttering was very cathartic. I found things that hadn't been looked at for years and without the move wouldn't have been touched for even longer. My children all helped, lots of trips to the tip, a boot sale and charity shops all helped. I've thoroughly enjoyed getting my new home as I want it and it's so much cosier than the big house. Good luck!

Like a PP, I love my little house, which is all mine, and he's never stepped a foot inside.

I only got my clothes, books, some photos and personal possessions from the house (long story, but exh made it impossible to get anything else). So I've started completely from scratch and it feels awesome! To tide me over I got bits and pieces from charity shops and charity furniture shops, so am forever grateful to people who donated decent, usable things to them.

My local British Heart Foundation will collect furniture, if you have any to donate. I've moved house since and have been able to pay it forward.

Good luck!

I sold as much as I could and bought replacements from marketplace, it was good to start fresh. I went to the tip and to the charity shops every day with a bag for each, I also donated a lot of furniture/clothes to a womens refuge. It’s such a good feeling knowing he hasn’t set foot in my home, and there’s very little from our joint home.

Oh me too - my kids have now moved out, half the house isn’t used, so I’m looking to downsize after we sort our finances. The only thing puts me off about maybe buying a flat is the service charge and ground rent 😖

My stbxh has left so much crap here, the garage is full of his detritus, I’d like to get a big skip and throw it all in there. The furniture neither of us can take could be sold on eBay or something or donated to charity - It will be liberating to finally live somewhere without all his clutter around me and finally be in charge of my own life

I downsized this year and wish it could be the liberating experience that others have found. Instead I found I was having to make choices about my belongings that I'd collected over a long time. Moving to a house with very little storage didn't help and I must admit to feeling resentful. I got rid of lots of stuff before I moved through various channels, charity, the tip etc... but still found I brought too much with me. This weekend I am going through my shed contents again to whittle away more and guess that will be an ongoing process for a while yet. I do agree with @EmilyBolton that the house buying process was far far worse than the divorce. I have never known the house market quite so frantic. I think two months on and I am still recovering.