My mom and I live in a big rented house. We have to downsize to a smaller rented apartment. There is no storage in these places. I also have to share a washer and dryer the everyone uses. What did you do when you had to move to a smaller elderly apartment?
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You need to sell or donate any items you havent used in the last year. Start getting rid of things as soon as possible. When you get to the new place it would be best to have a schedule of who uses the washer and dryer.
Downsizing is a multi step process. I work through these steps with many of my clients. The short version is:
You need to decide what to keep, sell, give to family and friends, donate, trash and recycle.
Keep what you need for the new place.
Sell what you don't need...If you have a number of large pieces of furniture and a lot of general household items , you may want to have a professional estate sale company come in and run a sale for you. Some sell everything from canned goods from your pantry to cars from your garage. Many of these services have long wait lists so you need to start planning at least 6 months in advance to get on their schedule. If you are game, you could run your own sale and keep all the profits.
Let your family take first choice before the sale.
Shred and recycle old paperwork like bills, and such. Typically you only need 10 years of taxes, 7 years of medical and three years of the rest. Recycle unneeded bottles, empty canned goods that have gone bad and recyle cans. Recycle all magazines, newspaper and such.
Trash broken items that are beyond repair and not recyclable.
If you do a sale and there are items left, find a reputable charity and dinate the items. Be sure to get a tax receipt if you itemize your taxes.
Once you move you may need to do another round of paring down if you don't have enough room.
As for the laundry situation, most places have a schedule and you will need to see how they work it. You can always negotiate or trade days with neighbors if they are willing or find a clean, safe neighborhood laundromat where you can go at your leisure.
Wishing you a peaceful and painless process.
You did not say how long before you move , but you should start sorting right away, even pack in boxes what you know you will need when you move . If you have family who live close by ask what all they would like. Things that you know you can not take, try to sell some items and the rest donate to a local thrift shop, its called "down-sizing" .
As for the washer/dryer bit, find out if there are any set rules as to when you can use them.
I am sure it will be hard at first, try to get to know your neighbors, and see if they have any suggestions.
Good luck !!
How much stuff do you have in the "big rented house" that you already know you cannot take with you? Is there a lot of furniture? If there is furniture that should be the on your first "to do" list.
Are the items all in your rented home items you need, or collected overtime?
I would sort with each item and decide whether the item is needed, why is it needed?
If it is, keep it in the pile of "to bring items"
If not, see if the item is sellable? To donate? To give away to family/friends/neighbors or someone who may want or need it. Or is it completely trash
From there sort again with the "to bring items" and think where they will go in the new apartment, is there a purpose & will it fit?
We learned I have (inoperable) matastesized cancer and the shock of it included an immediate necessity to move, and I mean fast. Even as sick as I am, I immediately started looking at downsizing ideas, and I hope some of these might help you.
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