Moving & Files
Apr. 5th, 2016 11:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indigo_rose99Building our new house is moving forward. Paperwork is signed, the foundation is outlined in red string, this is really happening.
T&I have been variously terrified about the many things about this house and property that are Not Covered By the Construction Loan. And there is a lot. The hanger, from top to bottom, is not covered. And the stupid thing is coming in far over even T's budget. Plus the bank construction loan doesn't even cover the full cost the builder is charging us! And we are not even counting window coverings, the new riding mower T wants to attempt to cut the new 4.1 acre lot, book cases, couches or the move itself. *sigh* So I broke down and started doing the math. Every time I tried to do the math previously, every source of numbers was slippery. "Well, here is a number, but that will change if..." Gah! So I just Put Numbers Down. And we can do it. Barely. If these numbers slip, the neighbors may be getting a good view of me walking through the house inappropriately attired for several years. *sigh*
But this all means we are thinking a lot about our current possessions. What do we have to move, and what will it take? Right now the move itself is mostly going to be us doing it in our current vehicles. T is thinking about renting a Uhaul one weekend and moving the big stuff with friends. Hey, the money went in to the house. We are left with what we can afford.*sigh*
We have lived in this house since 1999. When we moved in, we had So Much Space!!! And now... Predictably, we don't. Since 1999, we have each lost a parent, he has lost a grandparent, and I've lost 2 grandparents and a brother. Each of those losses came with the addition of large family furniture to our house.
Just looking around my office gives me the moving heeby-jeebies. I have SIX 6-foot-tall bookshelves, two full size filing cabinets (9 drawers, including the small 2-drawer one), and a large corner desk. Even if we assume that I've been paring down the books and files for years... this is a LOT.
Paring down my brother's 9 file boxes to 2 file boxes makes me think that I really don't NEED 9 full drawers full of files. Why do I have so many?! I shredded 2 file boxes (mostly not from the drawers in my office, sadly) worth of my own files back in January. Perhaps I can do more? ....What can I transfer from paper to soft copy?
T&I have been variously terrified about the many things about this house and property that are Not Covered By the Construction Loan. And there is a lot. The hanger, from top to bottom, is not covered. And the stupid thing is coming in far over even T's budget. Plus the bank construction loan doesn't even cover the full cost the builder is charging us! And we are not even counting window coverings, the new riding mower T wants to attempt to cut the new 4.1 acre lot, book cases, couches or the move itself. *sigh* So I broke down and started doing the math. Every time I tried to do the math previously, every source of numbers was slippery. "Well, here is a number, but that will change if..." Gah! So I just Put Numbers Down. And we can do it. Barely. If these numbers slip, the neighbors may be getting a good view of me walking through the house inappropriately attired for several years. *sigh*
But this all means we are thinking a lot about our current possessions. What do we have to move, and what will it take? Right now the move itself is mostly going to be us doing it in our current vehicles. T is thinking about renting a Uhaul one weekend and moving the big stuff with friends. Hey, the money went in to the house. We are left with what we can afford.*sigh*
We have lived in this house since 1999. When we moved in, we had So Much Space!!! And now... Predictably, we don't. Since 1999, we have each lost a parent, he has lost a grandparent, and I've lost 2 grandparents and a brother. Each of those losses came with the addition of large family furniture to our house.
Just looking around my office gives me the moving heeby-jeebies. I have SIX 6-foot-tall bookshelves, two full size filing cabinets (9 drawers, including the small 2-drawer one), and a large corner desk. Even if we assume that I've been paring down the books and files for years... this is a LOT.
Paring down my brother's 9 file boxes to 2 file boxes makes me think that I really don't NEED 9 full drawers full of files. Why do I have so many?! I shredded 2 file boxes (mostly not from the drawers in my office, sadly) worth of my own files back in January. Perhaps I can do more? ....What can I transfer from paper to soft copy?
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Date: 2016-04-07 02:01 am (UTC)Of course you still have to make exceptions for things you do need or want occasionally like stuff for job interviews, weddings, funerals, cold weather/snow, and formal thingies. But seeing in black-and-white that you've never used something (throughout the entire period) can be helpful.
Another strategy is thinking whether you would re-buy the thing if it got lost. Similarly, many people find that they like getting rid of lots of stuff, knowing that they'll have to re-buy some of it (but no telling what). And they find that the small amount of money they re-spend is worth all the extra space they have which lets them organize better and they can find everything. Especially things that are cheap and/or common are less risky to toss.
And sometimes it's good to realize that a thing was great for the person you used to be but not for your current (or probably future) self. But first you have to be cool with not being the same person anymore. Like am I a person that will never be my old size or never roller skate or never use my sewing machine? I don't know.
Note: I am much better at the theory than the practice of de-cluttering. Also, bookshelves are handy for lots of things, not just books. We have some in pretty much every room of the house. Almost every wall of the house.