Have you ever had to de-clutter a house? Five rooms, three bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, no attic no basement. Recommendations re process, companies, etc.? Thanks. State Specific Question About: OHIO (OH)

We went through it a couple of years ago when we were remodeling our house. We had 30 years worth of our stuff plus piles of inherited stuff from both of our parents. Went through room by room closet by closet putting the "keepers" in a box first then what was left went into the get rid of boxes. Some of the closets had stuff that hadn't seen daylight in 20 years, almost all of it went away.

We intentionally tried to get rid of half at that point. Once the remodel was over we did the same thing in reverse. Pull something out of the box and decided to get rid of more, probably another 1/4 of the stuff. The first room was the hardest, once we made it past the first we were tired of dealing with it and it went much quicker.

Thanks for reminding me of what I will be doing after this November. Hubby is not very organized and we usually have 2, 4, 6 of everything (hand tools, wet dry vacs, socket wrenches)

And all his diagrams and manuals from hvac equipment (its all online today)

As I am getting older I think about this more and more.

I think that when we are gone out stuff is divided into 4 piles. Pile 1 is what the kids or relatives want- the actual real things that are just too much to part with. Pile 2 is what they will sell. Pile 3 is what goes to charity. Pile 4 goes to the dump.

What is sad to me is when I go to the thrift stores and see the mementos, the things I realize that kids and friends gave to the parents for birthdays and Christmas presents now just sitting on a shelf , often for 25 cents. These things meant something to both the parents and to those who gave it to them. Now they mean nothing, only a quarter to the store. It's very sad to me.

I've lived in my home a long time- over 40 years. I raised my family here. It is a 3900 sq foot house and it was full.

Last year I wanted/needed to do some work on one level. It needed to be completely empty for the work. I obtained a POD for the driveway. I packed up stuff (neatly and organized) at first. I got rid of a lot. Such as book shelves. I got rid of a lot of stuff - you know, the books from before internet about health, household tips, financial tips, etc. I got rid of A LOT of children's books although not all. I kept many because some were my favorites and some because I have grandchildren. Same thing with knick knack shelves, office, walk in closet, etc. As I was working through, my organization in packing got less and less efficient ... because I was sick of it.

Eventually the work was completed and I started bringing stuff back in. I did the same in reverse. Items had been in the pod for months and I hadn't used or needed them so I down sized again.

Do I want it? Do I need it? Do I use it? If I didn't have it would I go out and buy one just like it?

Is it worth the bother of packing it to move it? Is it worth the cost to move it or store it?

I do keep stuff my heirs won't want because I enjoy it myself.

I have a whole bunch of stuff that normal people wouldn't be keeping because it is stuff I use for the rentals.