Clear the Clutter and “Stuff” in Your Life!

Written by Sue Ronnenkamp

Still not ready to make your later-life move? If so, there is still lots you can do in preparation for the day you are ready to move on from your current home.

I always tell people that it is never too early to begin the sorting and clearing process since this is such a time consuming process. Here are several suggestions for things that can be done far in advance of any later-life move – things that you will be so glad you took care of early rather than waiting until the last minute to do. How do I know? Because the items discussed below are all things which often bog people down in the midst of making a later life move. Anything you can do to tackle these items now will be like money and time in the bank down the road:

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Start shredding old financial and tax records

Most of my older adult clients typically have piles and boxes full of old financial and tax records stored somewhere in their homes. These are items that are best shredded before they are disposed of – a task that can be very time consuming in the midst of everything else that needs to be done in preparation for a later life move.

Before making any decision on what to keep or discard, check with your accountant and/or lawyer to find out which papers they advise keeping for legal and tax purposes. Anything that needs to be saved should be compiled, boxed and clearly labeled for storage.

As for the remaining papers, records and documents, most should be shredded before they are discarded. The exception to this would be records that are so extremely old and outdated that they can be safely thrown away with other garbage. For the papers and documents that need to be shredded, you may be able to do this yourself with your own shredder, if time and energy permit. Just pace yourself and don’t try to do this job in one sitting. For large quantities of documents and papers, see if there is a local resource for volume shredding of documents since this is often the most efficient way to handle this task.

The key is not to be forced to rush through the sorting and decision-making on what to keep and what to shred and toss. Get this job done early and stay on top of it as you move forward. You’ll be very relieved this work is behind you when the time comes to make your move.

Clean/clear your garage

This is another job best done far in advance of making a later-life move. And it’s a job best done during a nice season of the year when you won’t suffocate or freeze doing this work. That’s why it’s so wonderful to get the garage taken care of early because you will be able to choose the timing for this job. Garages tend to be a dumping ground for lots of stuff in a typical household and usually entail a significant amount of work to clean and clear.

Another bit of advice: Get some help with this if you can because it’s a big one. Don’t think about keeping things that might come in handy at some point – be realistic and only keep those things you know you absolutely will use. For the rest, donate items that are still of use but have little monetary value. If there are things that could be sold, you might want to consider holding on to these until you have other items you are ready to sell from inside your house as well. As for trash, dispose of everything that you can in your regular garbage pickup. For hazardous waste items and large rubbish, read on to the following two items.

Large rubbish disposal

In some situations you will not be able to use your regular garbage service for all the trash disposal needed after cleaning and clearing your garage. This generally happens when you have a garage full of bulky items: old tires, wood, old yard equipment, old appliances, rolled fencing, old carpeting, etc. There are several ways you can handle the disposal of these items:

One is to watch for your city’s garbage service to offer bulky collection services. In my market, this is offered free of charge 2-3 times a year and is a great value if you have bulky items for disposal. If you don’t know if this service is available, call your city garbage service and find out.

If this option is not available to you, is there a friend or family member with a truck and a strong back who might be willing to haul these items to the city dump for you? If so, take advantage of their assistance!

You can also call a hauling service to pick up your items and take them to the dump for you. There is a charge for this service and the charge can be considerable if you have a significant amount of items for disposal. This is the primary reason I encourage people to get this job done early since time gives you more disposal options. In most cases, when I am clearing out a garage for clients, I have to use a hauling service because I am under the gun to get everything done quickly. Plan ahead and get your large rubbish disposed of early and you may very well save money as well as worry about this big job.

Get rid of hazardous waste

Hazardous and home chemical waste (e.g., paint, some chemical cleaners, old auto supplies) needs to be collected and disposed of properly.

First, check your city’s guidelines for hazardous waste. Labels on newer home chemicals and cleaning supplies may also provide information about safe disposal.

Next, check your home and garage for hazardous waste items that you are ready to dispose of at this time. If you find something that you can’t identify, add it to the hazardous waste pile and let the experts decide how to handle it.

Finally, check with your city garbage service about hazardous waste collection. There is home pickup available for residents 65 years and older in my market, and may be in your market as well. If not, most cities have one or more local drop-off sites for hazardous waste. Again, take care of this sooner rather than later and you’ll be glad you did.

Donate your old clothes

At least once or twice a year (spring and/or fall are best for this), go through your closet and pull out any clothes and shoes that are old, worn out or that don’t fit any more. If the item still has some life left in it, donate it to your charity of choice. If the item is stained, damaged or completely worn out, throw it out with your trash. Clothing doesn’t last forever and needs to be gone through on a regular basis. Again, this is a time and energy consuming project that many older adults struggle with when it is put off or not touched or thought about until this task is prompted by a later life move.

Clothing, like material possessions, should be simplified as one gets older. Keep only the items of clothing you know you will wear in the coming year and let go of the items that no longer fit you or your lifestyle at this stage of your life.

Sort through old pictures

Last but not least, start sorting through old family pictures as soon as possible. This is a great winter or rainy day project and one that is best started far in advance of a later-life move. This job is just too time consuming to even think of doing in the midst of planning and preparing for a move.

In most cases, when I have a client with lots of old family pictures, all I can do is recommend that we box the photos until after the move when they will hopefully have the time and energy to sort through these boxes. There is just too much preparation work that needs to be taken care of that I can’t risk using my client’s energy and time for this task. A recent example of this was a client of mine who ended up with ten file boxes full of photos that she needed to sort through. This was a task she was not looking forward to tackling after getting through her move and the clearing of her house.

Be very discriminate with this sorting process.

Eliminate all the pictures that will hold little interest for others - like scenery pictures taken on vacation, or pictures of people you worked with 30 years ago.

Keep your favorite pictures of loved ones and also think about passing on pictures to those who will greatly appreciate them - like your siblings or your children or grandchildren.

This is also a fun project to share with family members. For the pictures you decide to keep or pass on, make sure that every photo is labeled. Photos are often part of the legacy you will pass on to your family and future generations – but they are meaningless if the subject, time and place of the photo are not identified.

Again, anything you can do ahead of time to start the sorting and clearing of the accumulated “stuff” of your lifetime will help immensely when the time comes to make your later-life move. Do at least some of this work while you have the time, energy and flexibility for this work. Get started on this now – you’ll be glad you did!