Not moving on from this blog, but rather moving from where I currently live. My landlord has sold this house to move into a much smaller place in a retirement community. What bothers me the most about this is that the Master Chief will be moving as well, into the same community as the landlord. It's a change that I knew could happen, but I really wasn't expecting it quite this soon. Now I have to get serious about my plans.
Cleaning Up
I've lived here almost five years now, and while I'm reasonably organized, I've collected things that I don't use regularly. Last summer I did something that's been advised on the Internet for a long time: I hung up all my clothes hangers backwards and only turned them around as I wore the clothing. Other that my suit and two sport coats and slacks (which I'm keeping), well over half my closet did not get worn in over six months. I have some really nice shirts that will end up being donated, some of them several years old but hardly worn.
The same thing is happening in my dresser, cleaning out things that I haven't worn or are looking worn out. I have a tall stack of logo tee shirts from various old employers, plus plain white ones I wear under my company polo, and any that show wear are also going out. Underwear and socks are also getting a pruning, but the 'going to donate' stack of socks is not as big as the others, since I keep different socks for all the different shoes and boots I own. Regardless, any socks with a hole, rip or worn and frayed is definitely being tossed out and not donated. I see no reason for someone else to double or triple handle useless items.
Packing Up
I've started de-junking (that's a real word) and pulling out donable clothing, and I've come to a shocking realization regarding exactly how much stuff I actually have. I've collected a black trash bag of disposable things like old catalogs, magazines that I don't need for reference any longer, and the start of the junk clothing purge. The donable clothing so far takes up a black trash bag all by itself, with very little visible results. If I don't end up with 2 or more bags, I'll be shocked.
I have to say this is very difficult for me, since many of these things have some history, mostly good, tied up in them. Convention shirts from several of the great companies I worked for; t-shirts from events and concerts; some leftover clothing from being married.
All of these are being inspected with a microscope and boy, is there stuff to see. One very good thing about all this is that I never had enough wall space to unpack my books here. They're still in totes (12, in fact) which will eliminate the mental and physical drain of packing them up and knocking down my shelves.
Where To Next?
That's still to be determined. As most of you know, the greater San Francisco Bay area has some of the highest prices and scarcest rental stock in the nation. This means that if I rented a place by myself, I would be making a one-way commute of almost 2 hours. Adding the extra gas and wear on my car, that just isn't workable.
I'm looking to friends and asking if they know of anyone who has a room or wants to share a rental. Barring that, there are several very good sites here that have 'Share Rent' and 'Room To Rent' listings. Since I'm now officially old (quiet in the back!), there are places that help seniors find places too!
I have until the end of the month to get out of here, but I've family and friends that will put up with me sofa surfing for a while.
I'll keep everyone posted.
The Takeaway
- It seems that cleaning out my stuff is something I need to do every year. That way I don't have to do such a gigantic job all at once while stressing over everything else.
- Cleaning up should be a normal and scheduled job, just like checking and rotating supplies.
- Nothing was purchased this week, and nothing is planned for next week.
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