More Tales of Downsizing… and the Household Negotiations Involved

Special Thanks to the author SW Hubbard (Susan) for this article, which was originally published on JungleRedWriters.com. It is the latest in our Downsizing/Decluttering/Ridding Out Series.

February 22, 2023 — The writer Lucy Burdette asked SW if we are drawn to our profession because of our disposition, or does our disposition morph after years in the same profession? And more particularly, how does that relate to domestic relations chez Hubbard, now that you are both mostly retired?

SW Hubbard: As with any chicken-or-egg question, the answer is a little of both.

Most nurses are naturally compassionate, and I’ve never yet met a happy-go-lucky lawyer unconcerned with details.

But spending many years in one profession changes the way you view your personal life, and the skills you use in the office tend to come home with you to be rolled out on the home front.

Take my husband.

December 11, 2022 — One of the best pieces of advice we have heard is to think about downsizing in retirement. Finding a smaller, lower maintenance place to retire can unlock equity in your home so you can maintain a great lifestyle with less income. It can also simplify your life. Less maintenance and yard work, smaller utility bills, lower property taxes, and more time to enjoy retirement, are just some of the benefits. But downsizing is not always quite as easy as it seems. Here we outline some of the costs and headaches that many people do not consider when they start the downsizing process.

Costs to fix up your home for sale. Either you or the buyer might decide to make costly improvements before the sale, such as radon mitigation, roofing, HVAC, structural, etc. These expenses can cost a lot more than you imagined when you put the home on the market.

By Barbara Ross and Bill Carito
October , 2018 —

I recently calculated that my husband and I, either solo or with other family members, have emptied eight houses in the last ten years. Like many people our age, this has included helping elderly parents downsize from big old homes, emptying their second homes, and finally, emptying their downsized homes when they were gone.

The spring/summer of 2017 was the trifecta. We cleaned out my mother-in-law’s chock-a-block full apartment following her death, helped our son and his family move from Connecticut to Virginia, and moved ourselves from Somerville, Massachusetts to our dream retirement home in Portland, Maine.

One task remained
We bought my mother-in-law’s big, beautiful Victorian sea captain’s house on the harbor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine from her in 2004 in a transaction so complex, I took to calling it “Momitrage.” As a part of the whole deal, she moved into a lovely (more…)

August 6, 2018 — In addition to death and taxes, you can add one more to the list of things you can’t avoid. Whether you call it decluttering, ridding out, or downsizing – the job has to be done, sooner or later. Sooner…. if you plan on moving to a different home in retirement. Later… even if you die without emptying out your basement, attic, garage, overflowing closets, and countless drawers – your children or heirs are going to have the thankless task of getting rid of everything you managed to hoard all these years. And the job is even harder if you plan on moving to a tiny home, boat, or RV.

Last year we surveyed our Members to find out how they are doing at downsizing. The answer is (more…)

June 5, 2013 — We surveyed our members last week, asking them for future article and survey ideas. It wasn’t much of a surprise to see downsizing and moving right up there near the top of the list, since we’ve noticed baby boomers love to share their downsizing travails and experiences. To answer that need we’ve prepared this article, which will be a companion piece to “12 Steps to Successful Downsizing“, which we also just wrote. This article will report on the experiences of 3 baby boomers who just went through the downsizing process.

A Really Big Move for Sandy –
Newly retired Sandy and his wife had had just about enough (more…)