Declutter Faster, Get Rid of Your Stuff Now | Downsizing for Full-Time Travel and Retirement

[@morrowcleveland]

You don't own the stuff; the stuff owns you. Amen! I love that! 🙂

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you so much! It's true! We hear so often that people's stuff is holding them back. What a shame! -Judy

[@dianamartin9558]

Speaking of sentimental items…. I gave my daughter my hope chest in May. I had had it for 38 years. It was always at the foot of my bed. It was to be given to my granddaughter. Well she says “ trying to declutter, do you care if I get rid of it or what do you want me to do with it?” Items we find sentimental, others don’t. I said “get rid of it”…. We can’t expect family to keep our stuff. I’m moving on and enjoying our new adventure. Stuff doesn’t own me! Great video 👍

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Diana, Thanks so much for sharing this. You are right that sentimental items to us do not hold the same pull to other generations of family members. When we left Houston many years ago, a cousin took my rocking chair that was in the nursery for our three children. She mentioned it again recently that she took it thinking my daughter would want it for herself someday. It was such a sweet gesture, but my daughter let us all know unconditionally that she has zero interest in it. And that's perfectly fine. We love hearing this detachment from stuff. Thank you for watching! We need to plan a meetup soon when we have a moment to breathe before leaving Tirana. -Judy

[@janiekcarney5482]

I’ve only had two garage sales. It too so many hours to label everything. I was getting rid of children’s clothes and toys that were almost new. After that phase I just take things to the curb with a sign that says FREE. People driving by would take to all. I live in a college town and students are always needing stuff when they have move here with the clothes on their back.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi @janiekcarney5482, I've never been a fan of garage sales. They are so much work! I think the method you landed on is the best way! It also puts good karma into the universe, and I truly believe that it comes back to you in ways you can't even imagine. There's so much more to be gained than a few extra dollars in your pocket. Good for you for learning that valuable lesson. Great suggestion! -Judy

[@GlobetrotterGranny]

LOVED this episode. It was speaking to me loudly!!!! Absolutely adorable blooper! More of those!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

We love hearing this, Rebecca! Unless we get a huge demand for it, we're not sure if people want or need more of our downsizing series, but we are so glad to hear this episode resonated with you. And we always will put in a good blooper if we have one! -Judy

[@CherIOrange]

Thank you so much for this encouragement!!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

HI @CherIOrange, Thank you so much for watching. I see in another comment you left that you want to keep a home base, but we still think the rest of our downsizing series would be helpful for you. Here's a link to it if you're interested. Our ideas for downsizing sentimental items might be particularly useful. -Judy 🎥 Downsizing for Retirement or Full-Time Travel Series: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF2xRusfMEQvN-5LZZqdnQIf

[@elizaC3024]

Please keep this series coming. It has been so very helpful. I am dealing with the sentimental stuff, a bit at a time. I listed all of the collectibles that were in my China cabinet. I listed the items at a intially a reasonable price, with my sentimental attached thought in mind. Then I began after a month of nothing selling to lower those prices and as some sold, I researched prices that were selling and lowered my prices. I am going through the garage/pole barn now. 😮Whew its a lot. We closed a farm, and retired to our cabin, due to health reasons, it was fast, no sorting, load and go. Now is sorting. We sold high value electronics, for solar first. Next we sold poultry farm supplies. Now collectibles and more household items.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thanks for watching, Eliza, and for letting us know that this series has been helpful. We truly appreciate your feedback, and as a result, we will be doing an episode on Tuesday regarding sentimental items, so we hope it makes your process a tiny bit easier! -Judy

[@sherrlynntreanor-v3w]

Oh boy so hard w/certain things, but yep already getting the big stuff first check

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Good for you! We did NOT give ourselves enough time. We were very lucky to have such a wonderful property manager in our apartment who helped us! 📝 Happy On-The-Road Anniversary to Us: findingginamarie.com/articles/happy-on-the-road-anniversary-to-us?rq=anniversary

[@mcbrineart]

Man, it's tough. So true that the more you let go of, the easier it becomes. Only try to sell items over a certain amount. Over the pandemic, we staged and sold two houses, eventually got rid of 95% of our stuff including all our furniture and anything that could not fit in a suitcase and moved overseas. We lived in an apartment for a couple of years (surprising how many things you can stuff in there, even with your youngest son also living there) before we left and worked on sorting through what remained after the sale of our properties. We initially had a storage unit in the basement of the building but soon got rid of that. At the end we sent truckloads of furniture and home decor to Habitat to Humanity. My biggest problem was my art and supplies for making art. And there are still some photos and a bunch of letters to go through. We all need to do this before we get too old to be able to!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Doing all that during the pandemic had to be extra challenging. We moved apartments during that time and unfortunately we weren't able to donate things like towels or bedding or even books. It was a horrible feeling to throw some of those things away versus putting them to good use. And yes, even small apartments can hold way too much stuff! For some of the sentimental things, I didn't even bother to look through them. I knew that I had enjoyed them the first time I experienced them but I just didn't have the bandwidth to spend that much time on them. If someday, you still want to pursue some of your artistic ventures, you can buy new materials specifically geared to what you want to do versus repurchasing everything you had previously. I hope that you feel a huge sense of freedom from how much lighter your load is these days! Do you have any regrets at all? -Judy

[@mcbrineart]

@@FindingGinaMarie Totally understand about running out of bandwidth! I am so impressed that you decided to just discard without looking, I probably should do the same with a huge pile of letters which are currently still in North America. Like you both said in the video, it gets increasingly easier to let go, perhaps partly out of exhaustion and decision fatigue. The freedom is better than anything, so no regrets :)

[@FindingGinaMarie]

@@mcbrineart No regrets is awesome, and I'm so glad you have that! -Judy

[@mcbrineart]

@@FindingGinaMarie well, there was one pair of jeans I keep thinking about lol but I feel like all the sacrifices were worth it :)

[@FindingGinaMarie]

@@mcbrineart That's not a bad tradeoff at all! And it's possible that were you to have those jeans back, they might not actually live up to the hype of your memory of them! -Judy

[@sbkpilot1]

Great video and agree with everything! I just went through this process of downsizing to a 46L backpack for full time travel. It was hard getting rid of 20+ years of accumulated stuff, 50% of those items were just collecting dust and not even being actively used, exactly what you mentioned - I "may" need it someday or I paid good money for it so I can't get rid of it. This exercise however has taught me a lot. Now that everything has been either sold, donated or gifted away next time I set up a home base I will never buy anything that I am not certain to use often.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Congratulations on all your hard work! We feel the same as you regarding what a home base will look like in the future. So much different than if we had shifted to Europe as expats where it would have been more of the same, which we did not want to do. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! -Judy

[@catherine8332]

Thank you guys. I feel like you made this vid just for me. I am in the middle of downsizing and thought I was unsentimental. But my trips down memory lane take up time!! Thanks again. Great advice again.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Catherine, thank you SO much for letting us know this video is helpful. We are contemplating doing a video about the hard stuff (sentimental things). Is that something that would be helpful/interesting? -Judy

[@catherine8332]

@@FindingGinaMarie maybe. I’m no expert but I do enjoy my KZbin time 🤣 and I think the Swedish death cleaning thing has been DONE. I’m not being silly…I think an updated packing video is in order. They are addictive and the good ones like yours are actually very helpful. A new one from you guys would be interesting to see what’s changed and if you have more or even less stuff now Plus I would love a “quicker” 😁 life story vid from you guys. I’m so interested about Gina Marie but honestly your earliest long form videos where you guys just talk…are long. 🤣 I think with your updated editing skills you could make a really interesting 20 minute video about this fascinating story. Also my hubby is Italian American and we talk about the dual citizenship thing. Maybe a vid on how you started that process then let it go. (Very common. Very frustrating process.) Anyway those are my amateur but big-fan ideas for y’all. Mostly I just love watching where you guys have been. So fun!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

@@catherine8332 Thank you so much for giving us this feedback. It's super helpful. We love your episode ideas and are already thinking about how we can incorporate them. We appreciate you and your support very much! -Judy

[@FindingGinaMarie]

@@catherine8332 Just wanted you to know that our most recent packing video was done specifically because you requested it! Thanks so much! 🎥 Avoid Airline Carry-On Fees | What We Pack for World Travel 2024: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5qznHt8a8-tjdE

[@catherine8332]

@@FindingGinaMarie wow thanks 🙏 I did feel like it was just for me 😁 and I bought 2 wool and items from your reco and link. I think you guys are terrific and look forward to watching more. We’ll be in Europe next month and I will incorporate your ideas into my packing. Stay safe and wonderful!

[@araminta5356]

Thank you for all the tips. The quick wins idea is very helpful.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you so much for watching and for your comment! W're wondering whether people have an interest in us talking about how to deal with sentimental items. Is that something you'd be interested in? -Judy

[@tessajetta8146]

I have clothes I want to give to consignment but i have no energy

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Tessa, What part of the process is draining you? Do you have the clothes already sorted, or is it figuring out which items to consign that is bogging you down? Or is it finding the right consignment shop or is it taking them there? Do you need to give them to a consignment store? Could you just donate the items, even if they're expensive? Would the relief of having those items out of your life be worth the freedom of having it all behind you versus the effort that's giving you trouble? A donation center often can come to your home, saving you time from even having to load up your car. Figure out the pain point and that will make it easier to address and resolve. Give yourself grace and make it easy on yourself. Those items are sunk costs and you don't deserve to be weighed down by them. Good luck! -Judy

[@natarajaniyer2443]

Hello - how do you carry cash to these countries you visit. I know credit cards work in several places - but not in all places. One cannot carry more than 10k in USD in and out of US. I know you will need cash in several places. Do the ATMs work in south east asia ?

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi @natarajaniyer2443, We don't typically bring cash anywhere, except for what we have leftover from one country to the next (which we try not to do too often). We'll get some when we think we'll need it. It was challenging to deal with cash in Argentina because their economy right now is very messed up. But with that exception, countries that use cash typically have plenty of ATMs. How much we get at a time depends on whether we primarily need cash for tips or if we need it to actually pay for things. We had no trouble with ATMs in SE Asia. In fact Cambodia dispensed US dollars. If you're able, Charles Schwab has a checking account that offers reimbursement of all your non-network ATM fees, which can save you money, and additionally, they offer a lower percentage exchange fee than Chase. We only push a small amount of money into that account at a time, but it does help to offset some costs. Thanks for watching! -Judy

[@natarajaniyer2443]

@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you for the detailed reply. I wish you the best in this and future years. Remember health comes first. Wealth is secondary.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you, and we wholeheartedly agree. We talk about those things in a few of our videos that I've linked below. Happy New Year! -Judy 🎥 Health versus Wealth: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJLZgnp8l72UaKs 🎥 Life is Short...An Emotional Pause: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5qod3uwZryKfqs 🎥 How we thought unconventionally to retire early: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqXcmWeEjdeVnNU 🎥 Our approach to Money and Budgeting as Retired Full-Time Travelers: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWjRYqxnn9SbatU

[@LisaShear-fb6nd]

What is the meaning behind your channel’s name?

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Lisa, We recently wrote an article about it and we'll probably do an updated video about it. We have a "Finding Family" series when we first started our channel in more of a podcast-type format. I'll like the article, which will give the info in a nutshell, and if you're ambitious, you can get to know us better through that 10-episode playlist! Thanks so much for asking-Judy 📝 Why Our Channel is Called "Finding Gina Marie": findingginamarie.com/articles/why-the-name-finding-gina-marie 🎥 Finding Family intro videos: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF1QI_-Q6b-zspHSRhbyiu6_

[@enriquesanchez2001]

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you so much for watching, Enrique! We appreciate you! -Judy