That is so amazing, I’m trying to get onto the housing ladder at 40. I wish at 55 I will be testifying to similar success..

Thanks so much I was able to find her page and I already leave her a message.

Wonderful plan. I love what you are doing! Mark

What a great story. Thank you for sharing

Thank you for sharing this Linda. Your words give us inspiration to keep creating more relevant content. It helps us as well as we continue to let our lives evolve in this phase of life. Mark and Jody

Same here!

Congratulations. It’s a good feeling for sure.

I agree it is not easy. Take it slow

What a wonderful story to share. Thank you, this will inspire others as well.

Thanks for taking the time to comment!

Hi Ludmila. Yes downsizing can create interesting family dynamics. It’s best for you and your partner/spouse to work on this together. The first step is to make the commitment then work through the steps. Look at previous comments on this video and we posted a link to worksheets that will help you in the process. Feel free to ask more questions. Mark and Jody

First thing is to clean house like company coming. Get rid of the trash Second- take one room of kid gone and clean it out and send stuff kid wants to keep by mail. 3rd-clean attic and give away what will not use in 2 yrs 4th- clean basement and same rule about not use it in 2 yrs out it goes Put stuff on Facebook or craigslist and sell it as you go. Take time. 5th-Work in yard. Start cleaning it up step by step- grass, bushes, shed, fence. 6th- Kitchen. Go thru a few cabinets each day and throw out what have not used or expired of too old. All of this is very emotional. So you may just do a drawer and have to wait a few days to start again. But you are just getting rid of stuff you really dont use or need at this point. 7th. Books, DVD, CDs, old broken furniture, old magazines, old noteboooks. Burn those that have confidential information and throw rest away or give away.Okay to watch everything or read it first. Make take a few months. 8th. Pantry in kitchen or laundry. Just go through it all and just throw away old not used stuff. 9th Closet. Start going thru and get rid of stuff not worn or used in 2 years of plan to not use.-emotional 10th Drawers and ect- go thru them. Throw away what is too small, too large, too old, and ect. Purge. II Second part Now think of you are going on vacation for two months to Tahiti. Get rid of stuff that will not keep for two months or really know will not need it. III Third part Pretend like you will be moving in a year. What size of moving truck or moving company bill do you want? Go back thru steps 1-10 again. Should you bring it to the new place? Is it broken? Is it still useful? Is it in style? Purge for the third time. IV Forth part Now pretend like you are going to sell your house in 5 months. What will you pack and what will you get rid of. Go thru steps 1-10 again and this time clean as you go. Consider painting some of the rooms that have not been painted for ever and hiring a handy man to fix the broken fence or other that has been broken forever. V Fifth. You are now pretty well set. Purged and house looks much better and in better order. The reason you have to do it in stages is due to the emotion of leaving a home or neighborhood you have lived in a long time. Give yourself a year. Then decide if you will move or stay.

Hi Norma. Here is the link to our blog on the same topic. At the end, you can download our worksheet that I think you will find very helpful. retirementtransformed.com/the-emotional-side-of-downsizing/

@Heidi Tate - I can empathize, I had a similar experience and the process is exhausting.

Hi Kathryn. Thanks for weighing in on Heidi's comment. Jody and I are committed to not leave any kind of mess behind. So we are constantly letting go of things in our life we no longer use.

Omg same, my dad passed first, so my sister and I had to purge his, and then we moved my mom into assisted living and had to purge hers. It's so much. Although on the plus side, we have managed to get rid of our storage units and now have everything just in our house and garage. I keep purging more.. I don't want to leave my kids the task of having to do it.

The sentimental things are the hardest for sure. I think we mention taking photos of those things and making an album with the photos in it. It’s a fun project and allows you to sit and take a trip down memory lane when you feel like it. It’s also nice to leave that behind for your loved ones. Keep up the great work!

Wow. What a wonderful life you are building for you and your family. Thank you for sharing this great story.

Thank you Joe. Check out our three part series on getting ready for retirement. We break it down by 5-10 years out, 1-5, then the last year before you step into retirement. Let us know what you think.

Wow. What a great accomplishment!

You're so welcome! Thank you for subscribing

We are glad you found us too.

This is one of our most popular videos and we appreciative you commenting. Jody and I have such an open mind in this area, constantly reassessing and adapting.

Thank you for your thoughts on this video.

Not everyone needs to downsize. It depends on who you have to help you and how rural you might be located.

Hi Thedriftwoodlover, Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and we certainly can relate to being stuck. If you head to our website, we have a blog on this topic and a link to the worksheets we created for this very issue. retirementtransformed.com/the-emotional-side-of-downsizing/ Let us know if they were helpful. Gratefully, Mark and Jody Rollins

Hi Driftwoodlover! Maybe now that you have decluttered, you'd like to stay where you are for a while, and of course, maintain the uncluttered life you created. Do you HAVE to move?

Can you keep up your place yourself and your lifestyle. That may mean just declutter and stay in place. Some people just move up the street or closer to relatives for help as yard work and stairs become unmanageable as get older.

Glad it was helpful! It’s not the easiest topic to discuss or process to get through. But starting the conversation helps. Did you download our checklist or worksheet for downsizing?

Hi Kristi. I’m glad you found this helpful. Purging can be stressful, but also allows some of what you purge to get reused by others. We donated a lot which feels good. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Mark and Jody

It's going to be different for everyone. But as we discuss in the video, we are not going to leave the chore of downsizing to our children. My parents left Jody, me, and the rest of our family the process of emptying out a four bedroom house filled with all of THEIR treasures. It was so difficult do make those decisions for them.

The time is now. There may not be a tomorrow

We are glad you are finding this useful. We plan on more videos on this subject as it’s constantly evolving for us. Happy New Year!

Glad you enjoyed it! Journaling is helpful in so many ways. Good for you for doing it.

It is best to do it and then stop so the emotion can calm down. Then begin again. Do a bit of purge in each area then go back around and purge a bit more.

Except when rent doubles and all the money from the sale of your house that was paid off is used up. Seen this happen to people.

I was thinking the same thing. This went a step further and helped with planning beyond getting rid of things.

Hi Jodi. We are sorry for your loss and understand completely how hard it is to make this purge. Maybe think about what your husband would want you to do. As far as clothes, donating them to a good charity where they are given to someone who needs them is one idea. That way you know that they are being put to some good use. And the things he collected you could hold onto a few of them and keep using them. For instance maybe some favorite kitchen utensils. With the rest of it you could take photos and make a scrap book. Print the photo and write about it and keep the album. Try and find some friends who can help you with this project. We hope this helps. Mark and Jody

The first year of death is hardest. Second year better. You might want to wait till end of second year to start clearing out. Five years to grieve before is really much better.

So true that the poor have fewer options. But anyone can get free boxes and minimize junk & clutter- eve