What have you done to downsize?

peavey: I dispose off old books, things that I do not use for more than six months --clothes, shoes, etc. I try to avoid buying new things unless they are essentially required.

I have adopted the same philosophy of giving away all that I do not use and also try to have only what I absolutely need. I find that by changing some habits, there are many things that I do not need. It takes less time when cleaning.

Well a lot of times it does take going thru things and giving away, throwing away or selling off your excess. Stuff you are no longer wanting or needing around the house. Also buying shelves, or cabinets to store some of your excess stuff is a Big help as well. Anymore it is so easy to accumulate so much stuff especially in the area I have my Computer in that it takes constant reorganization skills for sure.

i go through my clothes at least once every 6 months and get rid of stuff - it may be only one or two items, that i havent worn in some time. i also have a garage sale every year.

I just stopped buying needless junk period. That's how I downsize. I've never been a person to accumulate a lot of stuff (except for clothes) ha ha. I have enough clothes to last me the rest of my life so this year I made a vow not to buy any clothes. I pretty much stuck with it except for a few pieces. Plus I am broke and not working a full time job at the moment so not having the money to buy stuff because you have to watch every time helps.

Hi, Peavey! This is an amasing topics, it's eternal and this discussion will continue for years! It seems that dowsizing is important for many people. As to me, when I can get rid of something, I feel relieved and happy. I care about my books but I like to throw away stuff and clothes that are too old to wear. We don't need many things in our daily lives and the house looks better with more empty space around you.

i am a hobby of reading books and after reading,it gets accumulated on my shelf.the first i did was i sold many of the books and my house does look a bit neat now.(i had a huge collection)

i have downsized all my life, i never keep junk around, in fact i cannot stand pack rats, even though i rummage thru garage sales and recycles. I never save stuff, i sell it. space is too preciuos to pile up things.

We have been very active doing just that the last few weeks. We have thrown so much stuff out. We had collected over the years and we still have more to go. We are thinking of building a home to retire in. We dont need this big home anymore.

I grew up in a small house. I lived for a time in a little larger house, two stories, but when I left home, my father bought a nice big house, but me? No. I mean here I am in a three bed room house with a basement. Oh the bedrooms, the master bedroom has only enough room for a queen sized bed, walking room around, a treadmill, and a dresser. The other bedrooms are only suited for childen and you want me to downsize? I do not intend to. I am sick and tired of trying to find a place to store my books and since I am a writer, I do not intend to get rid of them. I need to upsize.

I down sized alot this past summer when I moved but I can see I still have more to go - I'm planning to go through cloths this next week and let go of some of the 'I might wear it someday" cloths - I have my favorites and tend to wear pretty much the same things regularly but do have some nice cloths that someone else might enjoy and use right now. I think I also need to let go of nick-nacks, those things that seem to do nothing but collect dust. What I've let go of so far are a lot of books I'll never read again and a ton of bedding and dishes I never use such as 10 sets of twin bed sheets and we haven't had a twin bed in the house in 5 years.

It seems that it's a unniversal problem.In order to downsize our stuff.we'd better not buy some needless things.and we should buy some durable,high-class,necessry furnitures and commodities.Towards some old and useless stuff,i will put them away.In face,not the more,the better.but the more exquisite,the better.

I helped my mom downsize this year...actually alot of people helped her. With my dad passing away last year (he was one of those guys that we might need it later or i can fix it we have to keep it) and quitting farming there was alot of stuff to get rid of..go through etc. I think it worked out be about 8 out buildings...plus a bout 3 graineries that had stuff in to go through...as well as the house at moms house. then there was the quansit and the one building at my place. We rented a 3 tonne dumpster which we happened to fill three times.... hauled away scrap metal, took things to recycling or the salvation army. I had a garage sale...then in june my mom had an auction sale as well. Since we had to go through all of that stuff...i honestly stand in the store and go do i seriously need this...is it just a want or it will be nice to have...or do i need it. will i use it more than once. lately...that answer is hmmm i guess i dont.

How about expenditure downsizing? I have that trouble since I have limited resources of cash so I have to cut off those unwanted bills. Since I will be back to college this coming week and I have to see to it that I will be spending my salary alone to fund my degree.

I've been decluttering recently - getting rid of broken items or things i cant repair, passing items on to other people. The other thing i've done is make a rule that if i buy something new like a top or pants or dishes something old has to go. It seems to be working. I'm also trying for next month to only buy groceries and gas..the necessities. To see if that helps both my budget and my clutter issues.