I can guarantee that a time will come in all of our lives when we will need to downsize our space and our stuff. It may come as a result of retirement and a move to a smaller home. Downsizing while moving may come as a result of new budgetary constraints or the need to take in roommates or adult children returning home. Or, it may come as a result of a change of job and continent.
In 2012 Mel and Marcus, friends of With Time to Spare, had to make a major move from a 3-story townhome with ample storage in Northern Virginia to Hong Kong, into a smaller apartment in a 69-story high-rise with far less storage.
Thus began their downsizing saga.
Mel says, “We sold everything. I’m not really joking here. Since we weren’t sure what conditions we’d be living in once we landed in Hong Kong, we basically only brought our clothes and computers with us. We started over. “ Mel sold, donated, and purged almost all they had in order to downsize for her new reality of life in a small space on another continent.
She allocated plenty of time to do all that this entailed. She credits many of her organizational strategies to Sue and With Time to Spare. Many people benefited from her donations and from her sale. But, Mel and Marcus benefited most of all as they began the new chapter in their life in Hong Kong unfettered by all the stuff they had cast off and left behind.
Mel concludes, “You really learn how much you can live without when you do something that drastic. Sure, it was sad to say good-bye to things we’d had for years, but it was also…refreshing to start with a clean slate.”
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Donating is a great way to downsize while impacting the lives of others. For good ideas on places to donate check out Goodwill or Salvation Army. Another good site is Donation Town.