81. Downsizing Math: The Costs of Staying Put or Moving With Too Much

Deciding whether to downsize comes down to more than how you feel about your house. Most people never add up what it actually costs to stay in their home each year, and just as many never stop to count what it costs to move with more than they need. Running both numbers is what lets you decide your next step with a clear head instead of staying stuck.

Jodi and Heather walk through what staying put actually costs each year, from property taxes and utilities to the maintenance that quietly stacks up over time. Then they turn to the other half of the math, what it costs when a move happens with too much stuff still in tow, from mover fees to storage units that add up for years.

In this episode:

• Why paying off the mortgage doesn't mean the house is free
• How small maintenance costs snowball into bigger repairs
• The property tax math that changes state to state
• Why moving with too much stuff costs you twice
• What storage units really cost you
• A simple daily habit to stay ahead of the sorting

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Transcript

Jodi Rosko 0:01

Welcome back to another episode of the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast with your hosts Jodi Rosko and Heather Fisher. We're talking about all things downsizing, from our own experiences with clients to guest experts. Let's make downsizing easier, one conversation at a time.

Heather Fisher 0:17

Hi, welcome to the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast. Some move out math today.

Jodi Rosko 0:28

This is a heather, this is a heather topic.

Heather Fisher 0:30

Yeah. So we're going to talk today about the cost, um, actually two kinds of math, uh, two sections. Uh, the cost of not moving, and you know, what that might be adding up to without you realizing. And then also the cost of moving with too much stuff. Yeah, I've experienced this one. So I think we see that a lot, actually.

Jodi Rosko 0:53

We act we see both of them a lot. We see that, you know, what people are putting off the moving because they feel overwhelmed, um, or they don't really let go of enough stuff and move move with too much stuff. So let's talk about both of those today. I'm Jodi Rosko.

Heather Fisher 1:08

I'm Heather Fisher. I think that um with so many things in life that there's so much emotion. We're emotional beings, and there's so much emotion around things. And so on a topic like downsizing, there's a lot of emotion um that keeps us stuck where we are, and it's hard to get through, and you know, we give tips on that, and there's ways to process that. Um, but then when you add a layer like a pros and cons list or math or um, you know, any other kind of black and white way of looking at something, you can help yourself look at the emotion a little bit different and see things that may be good decisions that you are having trouble making because you're stuck in the hard or the you love something and you don't like change or um a lot of those emotions, if you're just feeling really stuck in those, sometimes just some um, you know, back to school, some facts, some math, some pros and consum can help make those decisions just a little bit easier to get through the emotion when you know the bottom line.

Jodi Rosko 2:17

Yeah, emotion can cloud your judgment a little bit. And my husband Mark is so good at this, like in our transactions when we're in our you know, real estate transaction, all of that, like he's like, take the emotion out and just you know look at it analytically because that's how his brain works more. Um and a lot of yeah, yes, there's so much emotion in big thing, big changes in your life and all of that. Um so yeah, if you can reduce it sometimes to just more analytical thinking, um, it helps you see it a little bit more clearly.

Heather Fisher 2:46

Yeah, yeah, and then it makes it a little easier to go through the emotions, which we absolutely know, still live alongside all of it.

Jodi Rosko 2:54

Yeah, and feel them. That's okay. You can feel them, but still um if you kind of go through the analytical part, you can look at that path and be like, okay, I know where I'm going, I know why I'm doing it, I know I need to feel these emotions to get through it, but I know why, and I know what that cost is and what that looks like.

Heather Fisher 3:11

So Yeah, yeah, and you know what makes sense to do.

Jodi Rosko 3:14

Yeah, so the average homeowner spends one to four percent um of their home value every year in upkeep. So um, you know, that that can be 18, 8, 8, 8,000 to $15,000 a year um on house related stuff. And some of that stuff is little stuff like your, you know, all your extra utilities and all of the things, you know, but some of it's big stuff that needs to average out, like you might need a new roof.

Heather Fisher 3:40

Or you net, you know, we we we had a we just did one not too long ago about the different things that you might need to replace in the house, like when you're going to Yeah, all of those big ticket items um are on just that life cycle that the replacement's going to come, no matter how much maintenance you've kept up with or not, um they'll just need replaced.

Jodi Rosko 4:02

Right. And remember the average home contains 300,000 items, so we know why we're overwhelmed and feeling emotional about it. But um but that's you definitely, if you're gonna move to a smaller space, you clearly cannot take all of that. Um and so what is that process? You know, what are we gonna look at math-wise of that? So section one is the math of not moving. So let's talk about not moving, because I think people don't look at it like that that they think there is no cost to not moving. Like they're they think like the status quo is like, okay, we're just gonna stay here, and they don't see the cost because they've been paying the cost the whole time.

Heather Fisher 4:35

Yeah, I think there's a change that happens too. A lot of um clients we meet, and you know, if you've been in that house for a long time, you may have paid off the mortgage. Yeah. And so people feel like they're ahead of the game because they're not making that monthly mortgage payment. And the difference in the math is all of the little things that creep in slowly over time. You don't take them on as one big, you know, maintenance payment, um, but you're adding a lot of things that maybe you did for yourself at one time, and then you start layering in services or other people to come in and do it, and those can all just creep in without realizing it. And you may be spending quite a bit more than you realize per month on your home or maintenance or services related to that.

Jodi Rosko 5:27

Yeah, Mark calls them tiny little cuts, right? Like, so you pay this much here and this much there and this much here, and then it all adds up like the Costco grocery basket, right? You throw a few things in and everything-ways several hundred dollars. $700 for five items like why. Um but it does. It I think each of those things adds up. And when you look at each of them separately, you're like, oh, that's not bad, oh that's not bad, oh that's not bad. But then when you add them all up into one big um number, it's a big number.

Heather Fisher 5:55

Yeah, and they rarely get added all at once. They come in over time um in layers, and so we rarely, if ever, look at that sum total. So that's a little bit about what we'll talk about today. Um, you know, doing that budget audit to see what has crept in and and what's that totaling per year, and is it still the best math for your situation?

Jodi Rosko 6:20

The biggest one of the biggest costs is property taxes. Yeah. And depending on where you are in the country, you know they've gone up and sometimes they've gone up to a point where it's you know hard to stay in the house, which is super frustrating. Um, but the bigger your house is, the more your property taxes are gonna be.

Heather Fisher 6:38

Yeah, and this is really a big um consideration because you don't really have control over the increases or you know, knowing ahead of time how much it will increase, um, depending on, you know, what area you're in, whether they're reassessing every three years or every year, or what that looks like, or um levies being passed that change that. Um you know, you're kind you can put your voting power to work when you can, but you're still at the you know, at the grace of what happens.

Jodi Rosko 7:12

Yeah, I mean we see in in in some bigger properties where we are, it can be twelve thousand dollars, you know, or more. I mean, depending on the size of the property, a year in property taxes. Um different counties are different, you know, all of that. So um so property taxes defin if you are going to a less expensive property or a smaller property um can be a big difference. And and if you go into a different county, it could be a big difference. So you have to kind of look at what that looks like if you're saving money in property taxes, which again, when you're not paying a mortgage, you think, oh, I'm not paying for the house, but you are, because property taxes never go away.

Heather Fisher 7:50

Yeah, or whether your move um is potentially to a community or somewhere where you are not the one responsible for upping any property taxes. Property taxes. Yeah. Right. Um so all part of that equation.

Jodi Rosko 8:03

And we know there are some special places where there aren't property taxes. So that's nice. Uh but it's some states have that, but not ours.

Heather Fisher 8:12

So Yeah, so big concern for us. And if you're listening and it's not, then we're jealous. Yeah, we're jealous.

Jodi Rosko 8:18

And if it's hugely difficult, we're sorry. So we know there's quite the extreme extremes across the country.

Heather Fisher 8:25

Yeah, but just knowing that it is different, um, like you said, in our area, it differs between neighboring counties, but it can also drastically be different state to state. So if you're um considering a move to a warmer location or um near kids or grandkids, that's definitely something to think about on whether that's a a positive difference or you know, a negative hit um depending on where you decide to move.

Jodi Rosko 8:54

Right, right. Okay. Number two, utilities. So um, you know, the bigger the house, the more it costs to heat it and cool it and um, you know, all of that stuff, gas, electric, sewer, water, all of that stuff um costs more uh when you have more square footage. And um some of sometimes you can try to, you know, block off some areas and not do as much heating and cooling, but a house doesn't do well when you're not taking care of it in that way. So um so you need to make sure that um you are heating and cooling it properly or or it will degrade. And so you can't close it totally off.

Heather Fisher 9:28

Yeah, this is another area where um increases are hard to anticipate how much or when um we all hear in the news and you know in our own pocketbooks when the utility companies are increasing their rates, you don't the only control you have is having less square footage that you need to heat and cool. Right.

Jodi Rosko 9:52

Um Right and that saves, I mean, that saves the planet a little bit too. Honestly, like if you're spending money cooling and heating are areas that you don't even use, um, that's just we don't need to spend that, you know. We just don't need to. So yeah, that can save you some set 17,000 or 1700 to $3,000 a year, maybe more, depending on where you are. And again, um if you're going to a smaller place, it's gonna be less money if you're going to a community. Um that's gonna be wrapped up in the cost that you're you know that you're spending there. So I I think some kind of that sometimes communities sound very expensive and they are, but you also need to like take that math and look look over like what am I paying already that would be in the cost of that.

Heather Fisher 10:37

Yeah, right or not need at all. Right, yeah.

Jodi Rosko 10:40

Right.

Heather Fisher 10:40

Yeah, absolutely. Um, so the third thing to talk about uh routine maintenance and seasonal services. Um, this is where that creep really sets in. The other two are just a natural part of homeownership. Um, but this is where we see you just start layering in what you're paying for um as you find it more difficult to do certain things yourself, to start adding services, or just um enjoy someone else doing it. Right, right.

Jodi Rosko 11:11

Right. I mean you don't get up on the ladder and clean out the gutters anymore, and you know, you don't get up there and wash windows or any of that stuff. Um lawn care, I think, is one of the first things people end up starting to pay for where they just, you know, don't don't want to or don't or aren't able to um do seasonal landscaping cleanup, mulching, mowing, um, you know, all of that tree trimming, all of that stuff, if it's depending on what your property looks like, um, definitely costs, and I'm feeling that one right now on mine. I know all my trees need to be trimmed, and that isn't something that I could even do myself even ever. Like that wasn't something that I could do, but it's a cost that has to happen with the house that I have because we have a lot of trees in the backyard.

Heather Fisher 11:54

Yeah, and this goes back to um the some of these things uh are just built into the cost of home ownership, that whether you avoid them or do them now, you're spending the money somewhere. That money's coming out of a bucket. So if you um are at a place where you're just maybe not keeping all of the seasonal maintenance of the yard up in the same way that you did umce, or you know, weeds are out of control, or the grass is becoming all crabgrass and not treated and all of that, at some point, whether you know, when the home gets sold, that's all addressed in either the price that you get for the house and so less equity coming out of it, or money that needs to be spent to get the home ready to go on the market. So um, you know, being honest with yourself too. Are you already spending this or are you spending it by not doing it out of your further equity or um you know spend having to do a big spend to get the home ready for a sale?

Jodi Rosko 13:04

Yeah, I think um I think that's actually one of the things when we're going through all of this math though that we see is um sometimes we don't we stop doing this stuff, but we don't hire somebody to do it. Yeah. And then we end up with a lot of houses that we see with deferred maintenance, meaning um, you know, they should have had the HVA serviced and cleaned and, you know, whatever, but they didn't, so then maybe it breaks or it's, you know, maybe the the roof starts to leak a little bit, and then that wasn't addressed, so there's some mold in the house. Like we start to see those kind of things happening, and it's all everybody's best intention, like, oh I'll get to that, you know. I that's you know, I see that gutters, you know, full and or whatever, which then can cause water intrusion in the house. So not taking care of it um can cause we've seen lots of damage to houses um that just have deferred maintenance because they didn't it didn't get taken care of. And so if I was gonna say um the bigger math, that's unseen math, um we're we're talking about math we can count like how much does it cost to do the lawn care and how much does it cost, whatever. But I think the biggest unseen math that we um see in this is that it's not done. It used to be done, we aren't paying to have it done, and now um the deferred maintenance is actually causing damage to the house. Not just yes, I didn't spend the money and now you know I'm gonna sell it for less money. That happens, but when on top of that you get water intrusion or leaking or damage, um that costs more.

Heather Fisher 14:36

Yeah, and it can feel like small things, but even simple things like no longer routinely changing your furnace filters because it's in the basement and that's harder, or uh checking the salt in your water softener and letting that, you know, just dry up and not be replaced, all of those things can snowball into much bigger maintenance problems because those mechanicals aren't being just taken care of regularly on the smallest parts of it.

Jodi Rosko 15:05

Yeah, for sure. And gutter cleaning, water intrusion, if the gutters are full and the water's going somewhere, it shouldn't go like towards the foundation or whatever. Water intrusion water causes the most damage. Water is just the worst. And so um some of those things that don't seem like, oh, I'm not gonna get the gutters cleaned this year, I can't get up there, so whatever, and it just kind of rolls on and you don't realize that it's been a few years since that's happened because you used to do it and you you know aren't hiring someone to do it. Um, just be careful that you're watching what's happening with the house. Especially um people close off rooms and kind of don't go in them anymore. Like, oh wait, the roof is leaking there. Yeah. Um and we when we that happens a lot when we go to people's houses because they ha maybe haven't been upstairs in a couple years, or honestly, like, or you know, not in those guest bedrooms that no one's using. And we'll we'll be walking through every room and then we'll look at the ceiling like, oh, what's that? And they're like, What? I didn't know that was happening. And so um I get that, I mean, but because it happens so often to us. Um, but that's something when your homeownership is really important to make sure you're walking through the house, you know, once a month, every room, just kind of making sure everything's buttoned up and and not, you know, causing damage that then will cause bigger damage.

Heather Fisher 16:26

Yeah, and when just that that checking and staying on top of it is starting to feel overwhelming, that's what we're talking about is that conversation of am I ready for you know something a little easier to maintain?

Jodi Rosko 16:41

Yeah, so um so we were just talking about gutter cleaning window, you know, all of the in exterior home maintenance stuff. Um then there's interior home maintenance, right? You you know, maybe um somebody needs to help clean the house because again, things just like if if you don't go in there, things happen on houses that you're not using. Yeah, yeah. Um and so you you know, you're gonna want somebody to go in and clean, even if that even if you aren't going upstairs, maybe the cleaning person doesn't clean the spare rooms every time, but you know, once a month they go in there and dust and make sure that you know everything looks good.

Heather Fisher 17:17

Yeah, absolutely. And I mean that's a cost that can really add up. A weekly cleaning um, you know, could be a hundred and twenty to a hundred and eighty per visit. That's a few thousand dollars a year if you're just doing a bi-weekly housekeeping. Um and looking at that, we know that um that's another place where um the expense can creep up. There's wonderful services that can um outside of just regular housekeeping, if you're just needing some extra daily care, there's wonderful in-home um services where people can come for four hours a week and do, you know, the to-do list or do all of that. But if you're seeing the amount of time creeping up that you're needing more and more assistance with someone coming to the home, um, we know that 24-hour in-home care is the most expensive form of senior living care. Um so just kind of looking long-term down the road, isn't my path to keep layering on more and more, or should I make a change now to eliminate some of these needs?

Jodi Rosko 18:32

Or if you're in a really big house and you might just need a little help, you can downsize to a much smaller house. Maybe a bunch of these um costs can go away, and that can give you somebody in your smaller house to come in, you know, a couple hours a day to help you with something in an interim time if that's what you want. Um, there's just choices around the math. So once you know the math, then you can make better choices about what you're doing with the money. Yeah, yeah. So all combined in the cost of um, you know, not uh moving, um, that can be uh, you know, uh ten to twenty thousand dollars a year, honestly, like depending on how big your house is and what all you're needing to do, um, which is uh over a hundred thousand dollars in ten years, you know, all it could be almost up to two hundred thousand dollars in ten years. And so um as we said, just it just adds up. So and it's okay if you're comfortable and it's all working and you want to spend that money, just know that's what you're doing. Just know where it is and where it's going and what that looks like. Um so and then there's some hidden costs of uh, you know, uh uh safety and uh uh uh risk risk of fall if you have stairs. Um the stress of you know not uh having taken care of all the things and having all that room um means that you have all that room to store lots of stuff um that you probably know that you need to handle and that emotionally weighs on you. Um and so uh there's there's some level of uh uh emotional uh you know, not monetary, you know, but emotional cost.

Heather Fisher 20:09

Yeah, that decision fatigue on you know so much to manage, we see that come up. And if you are not spending the dollars on some of these things, but you're um you know, having your adult kids help you with it, just that emotional and um strain, just making sure everybody's on the same page and knows what needs done and that um you know that that's working out to to good math. Um you know, if people are stepping in and helping you.

Jodi Rosko 20:40

Yeah, yeah, but so um that's the cost of not moving. Um let's call let's talk about the cost of moving with too much stuff. Uh we see this a lot too. Um and we see this when um people don't spend the time up front to think about uh where they're going, what that could look like. Um a lot of times we see this when we're moving in crisis instead of you know having uh you know we talk about starting early, getting dreamy about what you want to to be um uh what you want that next future to look like. And a lot of the stuff that you have doesn't fit into that next picture. And if you have a good visual picture of what that is, then it makes it easier to let go of the stuff because you can see like, oh, it doesn't fit into that picture. But if you haven't spent the time to do that and you end up having to move quickly, or you're just you know, haven't spent the time to really uh think about what you need or not need, then we end up with people who just move stuff because they own it, and so then they move it. Like own it, box it, move it, right?

Heather Fisher 21:46

I think we see people all the time underestimate how long it takes to truly go through and downsize your stuff, and it's possible to do it in A crisis move, it's possible to do it in just a you know move that's more of a whim or whatever. But the successful stories are people who are thinking about this a few years back and they're just over time getting themselves ready for that future plan with their stuff, so that that's much easier. But what we usually see instead of that ideal path is we meet people and they say, Oh, I'm not thinking about downsizing for two or three years, and they're talking about the actual logistical move. And so because they've given themselves that timeline of two or three years down the road, they're not taking any steps until it's like, okay, now we're ready, or now we're at the top of the waiting list, and it still takes time, even if you're ready. The process that is the least stressful takes time.

Jodi Rosko 23:02

Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, so f physically, um movers cost, you know, 120 to 180, you know, dollars an hour, maybe a little bit more, and every 10 to 15 boxes adds, you know, 45 minutes or so. Like every and or they're doing it by the pound, and then you know, yeah, everything weighs a lot more than you think it weighs. Yeah. Stuff weighs a lot. Yeah. Um, and so you're literally spending money to move things that when you get there, you may or may not want or may or may not fit. And I think that's the other thing people underestimate. They definitely underestimate how much stuff is in their house. Yeah. Because they look around, and I did this myself. Like, look around and you're like, oh, it's not that much stuff because it's all put away neatly, like whatever. But when you start pulling stuff out of your cabinets or out of your storage area in your basement, the amount of stuff that was in my storage area in my basement that was tucked away in there, and once you start actually taking it out, I was shocked at how much stuff that was.

Heather Fisher 24:03

Yeah, and if you're on that timeline, your option is the moving company saying, I think we're gonna need to bring an extra truck over here. Yeah, and cost you money. Here's what that cost is because you're up against that, like, hey, we're moving. We have to be out of here next week or whatever that looks like. Or you forgot there's stuff in the attic.

Jodi Rosko 24:26

Did that. I did all the things. Yeah, yeah. Just ask me how I know. Um, yeah, I did all of the things that we're uh we're telling you not to do because we've done them. Um and so and and we ended up m moving quickly, which is crazy because you know, this is our job, and we just rarely we saw lots of houses and we all all of a sudden saw one, we're like, oh, this one is what we've been looking for. And so sometimes it happens like that. You don't think that you are going to move, and then you are, and then you don't have the time. So that's why we're saying if you're even thinking about it all, just start getting ready, just start going through that stuff. And even if you don't move for a while, it'll feel so good to be free of it.

Heather Fisher 25:05

Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 25:05

You know, either way, it's there's no downside to it.

Heather Fisher 25:09

Yeah, no downside at all. And I mean, we have had clients, um, you know, there are services, if you're just overwhelmed with that sorting and packing and decision making, there are amazing companies um that can come and do that side by side with you uh in different levels of involvement. Um, but what we've seen, which I don't want to see for for others, is that there's a little bit of sticker shock of like, oh, I have to pay this, you know, per hour for this help, but then you still get mired down in the I don't want to let go of anything. So you're that math is like a multiplication at that point because you're paying for the service of someone helping you, but you're still delaying the decisions. So you're paying for the movers to move it and the pat the hours of packing by taking too much, and then you are you know unpacking and you're still overwhelmed, and so you're just paying over and over for those delayed decisions. So we can't say enough that making that decision early on and just being really thoughtful about what serves your next phase and only taking those things can save you that money and that math in multiple steps.

Jodi Rosko 26:38

Yeah, I mean when I um moved, I moved here from um from California when I was in my early 20s. And I didn't think I was young, I didn't think like what's my life gonna be like there, like all of those things. And when I got here, like there was so much stuff I didn't want, which I had just literally paid to move it across the country, which is a lot of money. And like I it's a different style here, you know, I'm gonna have a different like lifestyle here, all of it, like so much. So if you're thinking I'm gonna move to a different uh state, um, does that style of your furniture even fit in, you know, if you're in the Midwest, does it fit in Florida or Arizona or you know, somewhere warm? Like, does are you just gonna want something totally different? In are you moving to a place where they sell the houses furnished? You know, like you're not even gonna need some of that stuff. So so really start thinking about what that's gonna look like so that you can make better decisions. Again, decisions are easier to make, we talk about this too, when there are parameters around them. Just an open-ended, like, do I want this or not is the hardest decision to make, right? When you put parameters around them, um, they're easier, which is why we want you to have that dreamy, like, what's that gonna look like? And I'm gonna have, you know, I have four bedrooms right now, I'm going to have two bedrooms. That means I can't take two bedrooms worth of stuff. So which are my favorite? What am I doing? Like all of that.

Heather Fisher 27:54

I think it's super important when you're deciding, you know, do I want to keep this? That you're not deciding on the do I like this? Emotionally. But do I want to keep this, taking that a step further and envisioning, even if you don't aren't to the point where you specifically know the layout of your next place, just thinking about where specifically will it go and what will it be used for, and how will it be displayed or honored in your next space. So you're not just taking a box of you know, your mom's stuff that you've inherited. You're like, I want to have a wall where I hang this picture, and you're just kind of visualizing, again, if you don't know exactly your next space yet, you can still do that with that parameter of I definitely, you know, want to have one tool bench, you know, one workbench in my future house, and you're kind of picturing what that will look like, and you're not just taking everything and then having to compensate on the other end by finding space for things. You've already envisioned that.

Jodi Rosko 29:08

Just like the other uh the cost of not moving has hidden costs that I think are bigger. Um, the cost of moving too much has hidden costs that I think are bigger. And so what we see, um not just the physical cost of moving too much, what we see is um people feel claustrophobic in their new house, they feel overcrowded, they feel like maybe they didn't even make the right decision, which is not the case. What they did was they just brought too much stuff and now they I mean we have literally had clients who could were were make, you know, walking around in little boxes, you know, the boxes were just little paths because they just did they had unpacked into the space that they had, and then they still had all of these boxes because um they there wasn't enough room to unpack more. And so then they had to spend time either well, some of them m were just living like that, which makes me sad, like that isn't what you know the goal of downsizing at all. Um, or they had to spend time now sorting through it after you've spent the money to move it. Um and and so you can't get away from it. So that's if if if you're at a place where you have to make a quick move, okay, do that, you know, yeah fill the garage if that's what you need to do and do box you know day at a time and get rid of it, and you know, it is what it is. But if you have the extra time early, spend it getting ready.

Heather Fisher 30:31

Yeah, absolutely. The the next thing we'll talk about is um the storage costs, the temporary expense. And I think we see people do this a lot of times too, that they delay that decision from their house that they're in. They're like, Well, I'll just get a storage unit and I'll decide later. And then they have their new space, which probably wasn't organized in a great way between the storage unit and the new house. And so you're constantly like, where is the thing I actually and then you're paying simply because you didn't make that decision. There are times when a storage unit is a needed step. Logistically, you may need to be out of one place and not another, or that it's not a never a thing, but if you're just simply using it because you haven't made that decision, you are paying, you know, two or three times. You're moving it from original house to the storage unit, you're moving it from the storage unit to wherever it is finally landing after you make the decision and you're handling it uh two or three times and redeciding two or three or four times. And when we talk about decision fatigue and how many decisions we have just in our normal lives, and then how many more decisions are layered on in a move, if you're also taking all of those decisions and making it two or three times, it's exhausting.

Jodi Rosko 32:13

Right. And storage units are out of sight, out of mind. Yeah, they are not like, you know, they're not something that's right in your face where you're like, oh, I need to deal with that stuff because like it's sitting in my living room, this box, and I don't want to look at it anymore. It's like, oh, I need to go over there and deal with that stuff. And it just it's um such an easy thing to put off. And then you've spent four years, five years, ten years paying for your storage unit, which is thousands of dollars.

Heather Fisher 32:43

Yes. I mean, we did that, and um, you know, I I'm pr pretty pretty good on the mindset of downsizing, and I and I still got caught in that trap between our moves, and it's expensive, and it's a whole lot harder to get it done later. I mean, it is no fun, guys, to be out in a storage unit parking lot when it's hot or when it's cold. When it's cold, when it's raining, when it's anything, and you're not just moving it in and unpacking it into a closet, you like, well, I have to load it in my car and I have to take two trips and I have to, you know, do all this to get that storage unit empty. And if the load is going from that to a donation center, like that is painful on your pocketbook.

Jodi Rosko 33:34

Because you just pay to keep it to donate it.

Heather Fisher 33:37

Yeah, and so anything you can do to minimize the amount of just rehandling things so many times will really save you in this math we're talking about.

Jodi Rosko 33:47

Yep, yep. So yeah, we're talking thousands of dollars. Um we're talking thousands of dollars if you need bigger trucks and more boxes. We're talking thousands of dollars if you keep it in a storage unit. Again, if you are just that's what you need to do, but you then you need to be really strict with yourself around getting through it and getting, you know, not just letting it go over there to live because um unless it's climate controlled, which costs even more, it things degrade in storage units. It's not a great place to keep things forever. Right. Um, and so um you're gonna end up paying for stuff that if you have left it there five or ten years, it's not gonna be good anymore anyway. Yeah. So um so yes, don't don't do that. Um furniture. When you when you when you get to a smaller place, um your big furniture that was in your big house may not fit. Um and so don't pay to move it um if it isn't gonna fit there. And it's okay to buy some new things and spend, you know, a little bit of money. I would much rather spend the money on something new that's gonna fit the space and feel great versus spending money to move it and then realize that it doesn't fit there and then have to get rid of it and then have to buy something new, right? We're just trying not to double up on all the things.

Heather Fisher 35:02

I feel like we um meet so many people, um whether it's generational or personality based, of well, it's still good, why would I get new? Um, but it's such a great time when to to just put that mindset on of yes, it's still good and someone can use it that really has the need and the space for it, and it's okay to get a little bit new.

Jodi Rosko 35:29

Yeah, new chapter, new chapter, maybe um maybe a few new things. Maybe you've sat in that same chair forever and um you love it, um, or maybe you've sat in that same chair and it's always been a little uncomfortable and it's time to let that one go and you know, move move on to the next thing. But um I think that's the that's the other thing. People miss they don't realize how much less things that you will need in a smaller space. Let's talk about like Christmas stuff, right? If you have a big house for or holiday, any kind of holiday stuff. Um, I think people are very sentimental about their holiday stuff and um you know have all this stuff, but then when you get to a smaller space, you don't even have the space to put that stuff all out everywhere. So again, what's that gonna look like? Each each of those things need their need their time for you to look through it, pick what's really special.

Heather Fisher 36:22

I think if you're listening and you're um you know looking for a strategy to put this into action, um again, it's visualizing that next space, whether you know all the room measurements or you're just envisioning, you know, oh well, I'll have less bedrooms, less whatever. And shopping your current house with the purpose of decorating and utilizing your next one instead of looking at every item in your current house and trying to judge whether you like it and want to keep it. Like really be purposeful. Maybe there's a smaller dresser, um, you know, in a bedroom that you're not gonna have at the next house that would be great, you know, storage for tablecloths in your new dining room that's smaller than the current hutch you have. I mean, there's a lot of ways to to repurpose and um use things you already have, but but choosing them for the purpose of where am I putting this, where am I envisioning, and what am I using it for makes it fit that next phase of life so much better than just like, well, I just love all these things, so I'll keep them, but then you have no space to use or enjoy them.

Jodi Rosko 37:37

Yeah, yeah. So you want to make sure um the next space that you have is comfortable and um it doesn't feel um like it's closing in on you with all of your stuff. And you know, if if you look at the time that it takes to go through stuff, you think in your mind it's gonna take um longer sometimes than it does. Um it does all take time, it adds up just like everything. But like if you have a pile of stuff in the corner, you can probably get through that pile in like 15 or 20 minutes. And that pile might have sat in the corner for you know five years. Um, or your closet. Like, I mean, maybe it takes eight hours to get through your closet, but like that is so much better than moving all these clothes that don't fit you anymore and all of those things. So, like, just make yourself a habit, like we say, make yourself a habit 15 minutes a day, you know, get through it. Sometimes that'll turn into half an hour or two hours, and sometimes that 15 minutes will feel like three hours on itself. But you know, you'll get your start, you know, get that momentum and get that habit and get that going. So, um, okay, so we don't want you to spend physical dollars, obviously, moving things. That's the gist of what we're talking about.

Heather Fisher 38:43

Well, and furniture, uh, you know, talking about that, that it's large and heavy. So those are the losing items.

Jodi Rosko 38:50

Yeah, a losing lose.

Heather Fisher 38:51

Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 38:52

Okay, so um, so we're just gonna talk about that, you know, your practical tools. Do do a monthly check on how much money you're spending um on your t utilities, on your house, kind of, you know, back to the first section, look at what that is, the cost of of not moving, what is that? And then how can that relate to the next place that you're going? And what if that place sounds expensive, is it based on what you're already spending when you add up every single thing? Um, and then on the second one, make sure you're going through things and you're really only moving the things that you want, not only because you don't want to spend the money um with a mover, but you don't want to get to the next place and have your furniture not fit, have all of these boxes that you don't have place to store things. Like you that's just not fun when you get there and it doesn't feel good. Like the whole idea is that you're moving to have a fresh start and feel amazing. And if you do that, when you get there, it doesn't feel amazing. It feels still overwhelming.

Heather Fisher 39:48

Yeah, that's where we get all of the responses of I wish I had done this sooner. Yeah. Because it does feel amazing and lighter and easier.

Jodi Rosko 39:56

And you can hire people to help you with it. If if really sorting and all of that stuff isn't something you you can do, you can hire people. If you want to reach out to us at downsizing roadmap um backslash or dot com, just reach out to us. Um we have a guide that can help you, backslash guide. Um, downsizingroadmap.com backslash guide, and it can help you kind of get started with that. Or if you have questions, um, you can reach out to us too, backslash helps.

Heather Fisher 40:23

Yeah, awesome. Well, we will be back next week with another episode, and uh good luck with all your math problems.

Jodi Rosko 40:29

Yep, she loves the math. Yes, I do. I do. Talk to you next time.

Heather Fisher 40:32

Bye-bye. Thanks for joining us on the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who might need a little downsizing inspiration. Have questions or ideas for future episodes? Reach out to us on our website, www.downsizingroadmap.com. Until next time, let's keep simplifying and moving forward.