As I've gotten older I've wanted to live smaller. I just had too much stuff and a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath house felt too big for just one person. And, I wanted to live more sustainably with less carbon footprint and, if possible, travel a little.
So, as I said in my last post, I had the opportunity to make the leap. But I had no idea how hard it would be to downsize in an organized and timely matter.
I started by selling a lot of my furniture and electronics. That was an adventure all on its own! I had one young lady who wanted to buy my 60" flat screen TV. She showed up by herself with a little 4-door sedan and asked me if I thought the TV would fit into the backseat. Not even close. She didn't get the TV. Other people would make an appointment and then show up hours late or not at all. Everyone tried to get a lower price.
Then I began sorting things that should go to my kids or Goodwill, or the local women's shelter.
My son got an entire truckload of things he either left at my house or could use. A mere 1200-mile round trip to deliver to him. The women's shelter got eleven boxes of office clothing.
Goodwill was 4 trips and a lot of sweat.
And suddenly I had two weeks to finish and get moved.
I hired a junk hauler, a cleaning company, and a guy who does power washing. Of course, I had to coordinate all the appointments so they wouldn't conflict. And, I ended up staying in a hotel for three days to get it all done. But I did get it done. Including the final five fully full bags of shredded documents, I had kept for who knows how long or why.
One of my friends got the 95 hangers I had accumulated.
As massive a task as it was I am so glad I did it. I'm safely situated in my tiny trailer home in the Arizona Mohave desert and loving every minute. Here is what the outside of my home looks like for now. But there will be lots of changes over the next couple of years.
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