There is Value Beyond Money

When downsizing your home, or your parent's or loved ones, the emotional connections to those things there can be a heavier load that carrying them out.

So often we have so many memories and emotions attached to some of those things that it creates a conundrum of what to do with them. What if they don't fit into your new space, or that of any of your family member's? Many people punt at this point and delay making a decision by renting a storage unit to put them. Maybe because it was Mom's favorite....... or that dining set was so expensive new, surely the prices will come back on them.... so, let's store it.

My own mom chose this route, the contents of her storage unit collectively is probably worth about a month's rent there. It has been there for five years and had to be moved from one storage facility to another when one was taken over by nearby development growth, so there is a move cost in it as well. You can tie up thousands in storage rent, and if it isn't climate controlled any valuable furniture becomes less so the longer it sits there.

Let me offer an alternative. We just helped two different clients with two different needs accomplish their goals. One was the sibling in charge of getting mom's house cleaned out to sell, we did an online auction, bundling several items together and some standing on their own and in the end, everything was out of the house, and others paid to come take them home. Another was a client who was moving out of state, had no immediate family, and needed to downsize to fit into her new home. She had some beautiful antiques that had special family memories for her that wouldn't fit in her new life but had deep heart strings attached. For instance, an antique French bedroom set her great grandmother bought in France in the 1800's, and two chairs from the estate of a governor of NY during the Civil War where another grandmother worked, in fact, that grandmother embroidered the seat in one of those chairs. We did an auction and she got to meet the new owners, a couple of them who had driven two hours one way to pick the pieces up. They shared stories, and she was so happy to see these things she loved going to a new home that loved them as well and was able to pass along their history.

In both stories, the client got what they were looking for. One was able to clean out a house with other people offsetting the costs, and another was able to pass on the love she had for and memories to new homes and feel good about it rather than sad and regretful.

Jim Morgan | Caring Transitions Indy North | 317-610-7458 | jmorgan@caringtransitions.com

https://www.caringtransitionsindy.com/