Seniors planning to move into a smaller home should begin reducing their possessions early, start small, and get someone to provide an objective eye, says 91原创鈥檚 Keith Macdonald.
Macdonald is a realtor who specializes in senior clients, most of whom are planning to downsize. He also gives workshops for seniors on downsizing.
鈥淚 deal mostly with seniors because I am one of them,鈥� the 75-year-old Brookswood resident remarked.
It can be a struggle to decide what to keep and what to eliminate, Macdonald has found.
His first experience with downsizing was helping his parents move, about 10 years ago.
Macdonald, who took up a career in real estate after retiring from his job at the Vancouver airport authority, remembers his mother was disappointed to give up her well-made solid maple furniture.
It is not unusual to find there is no place for some treasured possessions, he has discovered.
鈥淵ou and your husband saved to buy all this stuff, and nobody wants it.鈥�
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Tea sets, carefully collected over many years, are another possession people often find hard to give up, Macdonald observed.
鈥淓verything that you own has a story,鈥� he told the 91原创 Advance Times.
鈥淲hen you think of getting rid of something, you think you鈥檙e getting rid of the memory. It鈥檚 more psychological than anything else.鈥�
Often, downsizing is forced on the surviving spouse when their partner passes, leaving them to wonder 鈥渉ow am I going to do this all by myself?鈥� Macdonald commented.
His advice is to get some help.
Macdonald often works with businesses that help seniors to cull possessions, and if a professional organizer isn鈥檛 to their taste, there is always family.
鈥淚f you鈥檝e got kids handy, get them in,鈥� he suggested.
鈥淵ou need somebody to say 鈥榤om, when did you wear that last?鈥欌��
Macdonald recommended a three-box approach to help sort possessions, one 鈥渒eep it鈥� box, one 鈥済ive it away,鈥� and one 鈥渢hrow it away.鈥�
Whatever approach, don鈥檛 try to avoid a reckoning by getting a storage locker, he warned.
鈥淓ight years later, you鈥檝e forgotten what you have there, and you鈥檝e spent $100 a month.鈥�
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Macdonald knows that getting rid of possessions that are still useful can be very hard for thrifty-minded people of his generation.
鈥淚鈥檓 afraid if I鈥檓 going to throw something away, it鈥檚 going to be something I need later.鈥�
Start early and start small, he advises.
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鈥淧ick an easy room.鈥�
He suggests culling the closet.
鈥淕o home, take everything in the closet and turn the hangars around.鈥�
Every time clothing gets worn, replace it with the hangar turned back.
鈥淎t the end of six months or a year, everything that isn鈥檛 turned around, donate.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not unique,鈥� Macdonald assured seniors struggling with downsizing.
鈥淚f you walk into my home, you鈥檙e going to see the same stuff.鈥�
He confessed that he has been hanging on to old textbooks that he thinks he might, one day, re-read, but hasn鈥檛 got around to it yet.
鈥淢y wife says, when are you going to take your own advice?鈥� he laughed..
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