Senior Downsizing

No matter what your current living situation happens to be, if you are moving to a smaller home, a retirement community, or into nearby family residences, you’ll need to start with a good downsizing plan. It all starts with a simple inventory list of the items that you are going to depart with. These can obviously include furniture, appliances, décor, and unwanted junk that need to be listed in these ‘name tag’ categories.

Once you have an inventory list, you can then mark each item by each side on your list with just three priorities which include- (Keep – Donate – Discard). Obviously, some items can go right away to immediate family members while others are on the list you'll want to keep for yourself including heirlooms and keepsakes. If it's easier, make photos from a smartphone device or digital camera to create a better inventory to work from.

Sorting your inventory items is the easy part but the hardest part is deciding where these items will eventually go. After many years of owning these items, it’s only natural that we grow attached to them. But the simple matter of what needs to be kept versus what is sentimental is the hardest choice. If an item has value or importance, you’ll find the right choice where it needs to go or not.

Just be honest about selecting items that are considered outdated or no longer useful in this modern world. These items should always be recycled so that they will be useful in a different way and won't end up somewhere in a landfill. You may also have vintage items that have value but are not used anymore that you want to discard. Perhaps these items are best sold to collectors who are searching for them and will pay a good price in return.

If you’ve taken steps already to give away items to close family or sell off select items to private collectors, what is leftover is a great choice for donation. Even if it’s old or broken, these items can be salvaged through recycling likewise, so nothing is left to waste. Luckily, there are many local charities in Phoenix that all accept donations including clothing, furniture, and even pet supplies. They also gladly provide tax deductions that can be written off just as easily.

Local donation centers including Goodwill and Salvation Army are great choices, or you can contact many more that are all listed as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations for tax deductible donations. Animal shelters also accept pet supplies and equipment if you have recently given up a pet or animal.

The next step is a logical solution since it can be difficult to transport donation items that aren't so easy to transport yourself. Even with friends or family, this process feels like it takes forever since pick-up trucks or vans only hold so much per trip. This is why hiring a removal service (such as AZ Junk Removal), to take care of jobs that can be completed with same-day service. This helps make a smooth transition for downsizing faster and easier and always includes flat rates.

With our talented and friendly staff, bulky and heavy items can be taken away with care and transported to donation centers or disposed of properly. Either way, you can rest better without the need for involving family members to cleanout your home.

It's a big job for anyone who is moving so why would it be any more distressing when it comes to downsizing process? But for those who have taken these simplified steps into action, you have one more task that is vitally important - Celebrate. There's no better time to consider the joy of life by celebrating a major transition. We all go through life changes and often many folks even change professions or trades twice or more in a lifetime.

But this new part of your life is absolutely worth celebrating after any added stress or in-depth ordeal of downsizing. And having a new space giving you a fresh start without all of the excess baggage is providing you with a new opportunity to live actively without all of the previous weight you've carried for years.