By: Kelly Vandever

Earlier this year, I helped my dad relocate from Florida to be near me. One of our biggest challenges was getting rid of the things that wouldn’t fit into his small apartment. It was overwhelming. I found the same thing when working with some of my older clients. They wanted to sell their homes and got overwhelmed with all the stuff and how to get rid of their things. I started collecting good ideas from I’ve come across or that I’ve learned from my clients when it comes to getting rid of stuff. In the next few posts, I’ll share my top rules of thumb for getting rid of things either for yourself or when helping your aging parents downsize their stuff.   

First Rule of Thumb – #1 – Paper Purge 

 My dad had documentation from when he and mom first got married.  Bank statement from accounts closed in the 60’s or 70’s. Of course, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  I final got rid of my old notes from grad school myself just a few years ago. If you know y...