Ah, progress!
That’s how I would describe my downsizing activities of the last week as I continue to build momentum in my family’s quest to get rid of the things that have crept into our house but are no longer needed.
For one thing, our balance sheet is now in the black after receiving payment for the lot of CDs we shipped to SecondSpin a couple of weeks ago. Buoyed by that success (That included reimbursement for our shipping costs), a second box of CDs is headed their way.
We also gained ground on our chaotic stash of family photos that has been building over the past 14 years. We last organized our photos into albums in 1996 so we were due. Truth be known, we pretty much abandoned paper prints after switching to digital around 5 years ago so we were primarily dealing with 1996-2006 photos, plus a few strays we’ve adopted from other people.
We’ve now neatly tucked (and identified!) our 4x6 prints into archival quality albums designed for that size and are working on a plan to display the dozens that remain – of all different sizes from all different eras. Some will be scanned, some will be saved in some sort of album, the rest will be given away (as will be the duplicate and unwanted 4x6s).
The next task is to take some of Linda’s best and most fashionable clothes to a local consignment shop. This will be a first for us so we hope it’s worth the effort.
We’ve set Friday, July 9, as the tentative date for a garage sale where I hope to sell some of my LPs, CDs and cassettes, plus some nice stereo equipment that was replaced in a recent upgrade. The upgraded equipment takes up less space and is better designed for the high definition era.
That’s how I would describe my downsizing activities of the last week as I continue to build momentum in my family’s quest to get rid of the things that have crept into our house but are no longer needed.
For one thing, our balance sheet is now in the black after receiving payment for the lot of CDs we shipped to SecondSpin a couple of weeks ago. Buoyed by that success (That included reimbursement for our shipping costs), a second box of CDs is headed their way.
We also gained ground on our chaotic stash of family photos that has been building over the past 14 years. We last organized our photos into albums in 1996 so we were due. Truth be known, we pretty much abandoned paper prints after switching to digital around 5 years ago so we were primarily dealing with 1996-2006 photos, plus a few strays we’ve adopted from other people.
We’ve now neatly tucked (and identified!) our 4x6 prints into archival quality albums designed for that size and are working on a plan to display the dozens that remain – of all different sizes from all different eras. Some will be scanned, some will be saved in some sort of album, the rest will be given away (as will be the duplicate and unwanted 4x6s).
The next task is to take some of Linda’s best and most fashionable clothes to a local consignment shop. This will be a first for us so we hope it’s worth the effort.
We’ve set Friday, July 9, as the tentative date for a garage sale where I hope to sell some of my LPs, CDs and cassettes, plus some nice stereo equipment that was replaced in a recent upgrade. The upgraded equipment takes up less space and is better designed for the high definition era.
Tip of the week: Nora Dunn of Wise Bread has some helpful ideas in her aptly named article, “How to Get Rid of All Your Crap.”
Larry Lehmer is a professional personal historian and chief legacy planner at When Words Matter, Ltd., who connects generations through their stories. To learn more, visit his web site, send him an e-mail or follow him on Twitter.
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