For the past couple years I've been living in an apartment with rent about as much as a single paycheck, and with an upcoming rent hike it will be WELL over one paycheck at $980 per month (plus utilities). So I started looking into apartments and letting family and friends know I was looking for cheaper rent. Luckily enough, my sister's friend has a basement apartment she's willing to rent to me for $400 plus utilities, cutting my living expenses by more than 50%. I'll be a little further from work, but I plan to bike commute so I'll reduce gas costs as well. Overall, very excited for the move!
Of course, this basement apartment will be smaller than my current apartment, so I had to go through and downsize the amount of stuff I keep around. I have a really hard time letting things go, so I applied a rule: Any box that moved in with me which I haven't opened since then will get only a cursory glance for truly important items (handmade gifts, pictures, truly nostalgic items, etc) and everything else inside will be donated or thrown out without further questioning. At first, I was hesitant, but once I got going it started feeling better and better. So far I've gotten rid of more than half the junk that cluttered my closets and such and plenty of it will be making its way to new homes. I figure if I'm not using the stuff, hopefully someone else will, and that's a far better use of anything.
Needless to say, this all makes me feel very badass (especially the downsizing/de-cluttering, which is a huge personal step for me) and I just had to share.
