Downsizing/Getting Rid of 80+ Years of Stuff

[JoJo]

My parents sold their farmhouse and some of the other buildings/sheds.  They are in the process of moving into some sort of senior housing.  Parent's health is quite bad so they won't be doing much of the work.  We are 3 siblings and we all will be involved in some manner although one has already stated she wants nothing to do with selling items and we can't use their truck.

My parents aren't as bad as hoarders you see on TV, but they have a lot of stuff - collections, old dishes, furniture, wall hangings, clothes, etc.  They never threw anything away, so some of the sheds and garages have wore out mattresses, aluminum cans, christmas decorations, sleds, used motor oil, lots of tools my dad used once and forgot about it.  The stuff in the shed is covered in dust, grime.  They also have problems with mice and rats so lots of droppings and mouse nests which I understand can be bad for your health. 

I'm assuming the house will be bulldozed, as it was purchased for commercial development.  Luckily we have a few months to get everything resolved, as closing isn't until July and we have a couple months after that.

What would you do in this situation?  Here are some thoughts, other questions.

I'd like to ask the real estate agent if we need to remove, dispose of everything, especially if things will be bulldozed.  I'm guessing we may be required to remove the toxic things.

To get rid of stuff that may have some value, here are some of the things we considered:
* garage sale - I hate these, lots of work for little $.  However, it might be worth to put everything out, don't put prices on things, and try to get rid as much as we can in a couple days shot. 
* auction - they don't have many things worth real money. When aunt and uncle did this a few years ago it was lots of work for little $ and was pretty emotionally rough to see all their stuff go for pennies.  My parents even overpaid for some items that weren't being bid on to be nice.
* ebay or fb marketplace.  Already one sibling said she doesn't want to do the work for this.  I said then we should pay the person(s) would do the work (pictures, listing, meeting buyers) but I don't know what's reasonable rate - fixed amount or percentage?
* have someone from consignment or flea market come in an see if there's anything they would buy.  I don't know how this works or where we might find this. 
* Anything that we don't deem is worth much might just go to charity. 
* Get a big dumpster and trash stuff. 
**** Any thoughts on this, best practices or something that might work good?  They really don't have many things of value.  The furniture is pretty old. 

I'm retired and been nomadic for a couple years and using their house for storage so I have the same problem with my stuff.  I'm gonna try to downsize as much as I can to minimize storage costs.  Both siblings are still working full time.   

Would appreciate any advice you have to go about this.  I have some free time in the next month, I'm hoping that I don't have to stick around all summer. 

[Greystache]

I saw a TV show about a company that will come and clean out a house or garage. For compensation, they get to keep anything of value that they find. Maybe you can find such a company in your area?

[NotJen]

I don't know how the consignment thing works either, but it seems like a good first step to try to contact some of these places in your area and see if that could be an easy solution for the stuff of value.

When I sold some of my xBF's things on eBay/Facebook, I requested 25% of the sales.  He balked at this figure, but I wouldn't do it for less - it's a lot of work.

Here is what I would do:
1 - **IF** someone wants to take the time to do it, list some of the higher-value, easy to sell things on Facebook Marketplace.
2 - Set a date for a garage sale - anything not sold by this date and anything not worth listing goes in the garage sale.  (Hopefully you can coordinate a date that all the siblings can help with this step.)
3 - Coordinate with a charity that will come pick up anything not sold at the garage sale the next day.
4 - Trash anything the charity won't take.  Depending on how much this is, maybe you rent a dumpster, maybe you call a service that hauls junk.

When I was downsizing, I would put a few large items that weren't worthy of donating on the curb each week before the large-item trash pickup would come around.  They were ALWAYS taken before the trucks came.  Even mattresses that had been out in the rain (ewww, and I was sad because I wanted to see the claw pick them up!).  I don't know if you can put large items on the curb in your area, but might be something to consider.

My area also had a great household hazardous waste disposal facility - just fill up your trunk, drive to the facility, they unload it, and you're done.  Great for motor oil, paint, old cleaners, electronics, etc.

[Morning Glory]

Tools and farm equipment sell really easily on fb market place, as do building materials and some odds and ends like canning jars. Furniture is worth a try but you won't get much. Don't neglect scrap metal, we had a few hundred dollars worth just lying around. 

Garage sales in the country get a lot more interest than those in town. I even had someone offer to buy the landscaping rocks when I was downsizing.

[oldladystache]

After you take the few things you want and sell the few things worth selling, post on Facebook or wherever that everything's free.

It won't take long. The few things remaining can go to the dump.

[Catbert]

I think NotJen has the right order, skipping any steps that seem like too much work.  Check with your local government to see what requirements and resources there are to dispose of hazardous stuff.

The biggest thing is for the siblings to go through the house for items they want whether sentimental or practical reasons.

[Cranky]

There are companies that will do this, but we did it ourselves (twice). Basically we claimed what we wanted, rented a dumpster for true trash, and gave away the rest. It’s a lot of work.

[slappy]

We just did this. It took three dumpsters and a lot of time. Mostly because my SIL wanted to go through things and keep "sentimental" items, like a cassette tape of that time she called into the radio station 30 years ago. We did have a junk company quote us. They quoted $12k. The three dumpsters ended up being about $900 each. So we definitely saved money there. Lots of tools ended up going for free or very cheap because we had no idea what to do with them and nobody wanted to deal with posting on marketplace or craigslist.

[debbie does duncan]

Let sibs know you will be having a garage sale. Let them know at a certain date whatever they have wanted will no longer be around. Then contact any other family members and let them know too. This is in hopes they come by and drag some stuff away. If you do not want anything call around to service groups in your area. They may have a thrift store and a truck and come take some stuff. Other service groups may take all the metal for fundraising for cash. You never know who wants what . Ask at schools and churches. Churches are big for helping those in need with household furnishings. Then have a garage sale and hope people come  along and take the rest of it. Do not fight to hard for the cash....you just want others to take it away. Whatever is left... call a junk yard. The less they haul the less you pay. Pick a date to be done and stop it then. Work on your junk removal too! Good Luck.

[bacchi]

We just did this. It took three dumpsters and a lot of time. Mostly because my SIL wanted to go through things and keep "sentimental" items, like a cassette tape of that time she called into the radio station 30 years ago.

I fear that's how my parents' move is going to go. My little sis is going to drag it out while she looks at every item.


OP: Don't use one of those estate auction companies. They'll get you pennies on the dollar and may even charge you if they don't sell enough. Been there, done that.

[Sibley]

My sister and I did what NotJen listed out when clearing our parent's former house after everything they were keeping was out of the house. Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's doable. Dress appropriately - comfortable, sturdy clothing and shoes, and consider if gloves or a mask are good ideas. Cleaning out a dirty barn or garage I'd lean towards gloves at least.

To be precise, my sister did 97% of the work. I ended up with the parents a mile from me, so she got the better end of the deal.

[billygoatjohnson]

Use google lens. Sell anything of value, burry the rest with the home

[LaineyAZ]

Check with the town and or your waste management service.  Here in Phoenix they will give you a dumpster for a short time for free/very low cost.
 
Of course, only order it right when you need it; otherwise the neighbors will use it to dump their own stuff and you won't get the full use of it.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

For a long time this was my fear.  Luckily for me my surviving parent decided to move across the country while they were still physically able of tackling their own stuff.  I spent three long days helping, along with my spouse and children, and another sibling and their family helped for a full day.  There was the house and three huge storage sheds, a storage unit, and piles of junk and materials everywhere.  Because of the timetable we were spared needing to sell things -- it all came down to 1) things going with which went into one of those pod things, 2) things we wanted to take, 3) things that got donated, and 4) things that went into a dumpster.  Not much got donated, but my spouse running back and forth to thrift stores made my parent feel better about some of the "nicer" things they couldn't take.  One sibling took most of the furniture.

I saw we were lucky because we'd been told in the past how to manage everything in the event of death, in a way that would maximize what my parent thought was the value of all of the stuff.  I made a joke once about calling someone to haul it all off and my parent was horrified, explaining how we would need to sort everything first and then take things to the scrap yard, etc.  I let it go while knowing that I wasn't going to do that, and if my siblings wanted to then I would step away.  The quickly planned moved meant there simply wasn't time.  Heck, the person that bought the house ended up with piles of stuff they had to deal with when time ran out, but they were okay with that.

My plan is to deal with my own stuff as best I can before the time comes when I must leave my house.  Hopefully that is when I die, but if it is before then I will understand that they can't keep everything and don't have time to get money for it.  My instructions are for my kids to take whatever they want and get rid of whatever they don't want in whatever manner they choose.  Hopefully I will have passed on most of the sentimental stuff by then -- my aunt moved in with her oldest and downsized to the point that when she dies they will be able to clean out her bedroom in an hour.  Knowing one of my kids, they may very well be living here in 50 years with most of the furniture (anything not upholstered).  I have a first cousin once removed who lives in the house their parents lived in for their entire married life, and he didn't see any reason to change up perfectly good furniture.

[snic]

My wife and I just went through this with my mom's apartment. It was a tiny apartment, but crammed to the brim with stuff, so it took an entire week to clear out. The first thing I did was contact a local charity that has a used furniture shop and will pick up items they think they can sell. We then spent a few days sorting through everything else - what to keep, what to donate, what to throw away. Selling almost always takes longer than donating, so unless it's worth the hassle of selling, it's much easier to give stuff away. We hauled a lot of stuff to Goodwill, and some things we posted on Facebook or Craigslist "free" pages - especially larger things we'd need help moving out. We managed to clear everything out this way and it wasn't too painful.

Be sure to get receipts from any charities you donate stuff to for a possible tax deduction.

For hazardous waste, check with the county - they may have a household hazardous waste dropoff location. My mom had some bleach and other cleaners that I didn't want to just pour down the drain, so we took them to the county site and they took it off our hands, no questions asked. Conveniently, they, also had an electronics dropoff dumpster there, so I took my mom's ancient computer (remove the hard disk first!), nonfunctional printer, etc to be recycled there. Of course this was in California so YMMV in less recycle-oriented locales.

[2sk22]

Also consider using Facebook Marketplace to get rid of stuff - it has been quick and easy for me.

[iris lily]

Your sister  who refuses to be involved is the smart one.

Since you’ve already sold the place, you clearly have a deadline by which time you have to be out of the property. You don’t have time for a garage sale or etc.

We’re it me, I would have a local auctioneer come through, point to the things he wants to put in his sale and have him take them. Put out a notice to the community that everything else is free although that could result in a huge log gym/liability with all kinds of people invading the property.

Assuming that the stuff will be bulldoze with the house is maybe a smart idea – find out from the real estate agent how much the place really have to be cleaned out.

This is after you have removed the few pieces of furniture that will go to your parents, new place, family papers, family photographs.

[seattlecyclone]

My grandfather recently passed away and my relatives retained an estate sale company. The company took care of everything and paid my relatives a couple thousand bucks out of the revenue they got. Seems worth a try if there's anything of any value in the house.

[Villanelle]

I'd likely go through and pull out any clearly high-value items to be sold, or anything we wanted for sentimental reasons.  Then I'd probably post on Buy Nothing, Marketplace, and anywhere locals uses that we are having an Unsale.  Come and take whatever you want.  I'd have a dumpster scheduled for the day after the Unsale.

Alternatively, I'd have an estate sale company do it, as long as it was one that didn't have a minimum or anything like that.  yes, you wont' get much for things, but you won't have to do the work, either.  Actually, this is probably the way Id go because it's easiest. 

[Sibley]

For those talking about estate sale companies, that may not be an option. We tried. The companies didn't want to do it. That's why the big garage sale was DIY, because we had no other choice.

[JoJo]

Update:  I found a nearby thrift store that will basically come out and take everything from the house (we don't even need to do the moving) and then they sell everything for very inexpensive in their thrift store.   The owner suggested we sell anything we think is of value, although he may be willing to make an offer.  So I guess I'm gonna list a few things on marketplace and see if it's worth it.  There is also an online auction place that was suggested to me by a local consigner.  There is a city wise garage sale next month but we don't really have a very good location to display things, especially if the weather is bad.  Their garage is tiny and cluttered. 

[Villanelle]

Update:  I found a nearby thrift store that will basically come out and take everything from the house (we don't even need to do the moving) and then they sell everything for very inexpensive in their thrift store.   The owner suggested we sell anything we think is of value, although he may be willing to make an offer.  So I guess I'm gonna list a few things on marketplace and see if it's worth it.  There is also an online auction place that was suggested to me by a local consigner.  There is a city wise garage sale next month but we don't really have a very good location to display things, especially if the weather is bad.  Their garage is tiny and cluttered.

I've been to plenty of estate sales where the stuff was just left in the house.  In the kitchen, everything as taken out of cabinets, and was covering the counters, and there were extra tables set up around the house for stuff, but most items were left in-place.  No need to move it all to the garage or lawn, unless there is stuff in the house you don't want accessed or stolen (in which case you could lock one room or the garage, and move items to be saved there. 

[mistymoney]

I don't know how the consignment thing works either, but it seems like a good first step to try to contact some of these places in your area and see if that could be an easy solution for the stuff of value.

When I sold some of my xBF's things on eBay/Facebook, I requested 25% of the sales.  He balked at this figure, but I wouldn't do it for less - it's a lot of work.

Here is what I would do:
1 - **IF** someone wants to take the time to do it, list some of the higher-value, easy to sell things on Facebook Marketplace.
2 - Set a date for a garage sale - anything not sold by this date and anything not worth listing goes in the garage sale.  (Hopefully you can coordinate a date that all the siblings can help with this step.)
3 - Coordinate with a charity that will come pick up anything not sold at the garage sale the next day.
4 - Trash anything the charity won't take.  Depending on how much this is, maybe you rent a dumpster, maybe you call a service that hauls junk.

When I was downsizing, I would put a few large items that weren't worthy of donating on the curb each week before the large-item trash pickup would come around.  They were ALWAYS taken before the trucks came.  Even mattresses that had been out in the rain (ewww, and I was sad because I wanted to see the claw pick them up!).  I don't know if you can put large items on the curb in your area, but might be something to consider.

My area also had a great household hazardous waste disposal facility - just fill up your trunk, drive to the facility, they unload it, and you're done.  Great for motor oil, paint, old cleaners, electronics, etc.

I'm sad someone was that desperate :(

[draco44]

My sympathies JoJo on you needing to take on a project like this. I and two other relative cleared a big family home like this and it was a lot. That's great about your connection with the local thrift shop, and I liked the advice others are giving, especially NotJen's comment. In my family's case we did intensive garbage and recycling removal ourselves for about two weeks plus hiring one dumpster from 1-800-Got-Junk, pulled sentimental items we wanted to keep, gave away a few super specialty items to hobby associations that would appreciate them, then held an estate sale with an agent who donated whatever didn't sell to charity. Aside from the comments already made, I would add that one thing my family did that was nice was stopping every now and then to eat together in the home a few last times when we needed a break. We made some final happy, not-stressful memories in the house and for me that made the transition to selling the property feel easier.

[Cassie]

I have cleaned out 4 houses and it’s a lot of work. I did a combination of online advertising, garage sales and putting it out for free in front of the house. Somethings had to go to the dump. I have never had a thrift store being willing to take it all so that’s very lucky.

[mike16]

How rural is this farmhouse?

I am a big proponent of FB Marketplace and have sold stuff extensively on there. Including entire moves, where I essentially sold everything and just moved the "essentials". I have also used Craigslist, but prefer FB Marketplace.

The reason I ask how rural the location, is FB Marketplace is geographically dependent. If you are near a decent sized metropolitan area, you will get vastly more interest from buyers.

Definitely list the stuff of value on FB (> a few hundred dollars). If you want to get rid of it quick, just put a decent price and someone will come by within a couple of hours. Or you can just list it high if you are not in a rush and drop the price as time goes on.

Anything not worth much, list for free and you will be shocked at the hoards of people that show up for things that you probably consider worthless. I notice as soon as I list something for free, there is SIGNIFICANT interest.

Another tip, is whenever someone comes by, mention that you are willing to part with anything else they see. There are a lot of people on FB Marketplace that I sense are either hoarders themselves or buy stuff they think they can resell for more.

Personally I love the system. People pay you to move stuff you don't want. The only annoying part is sometimes dealing with people, but that can be mitigated for the most part.

Happy to provide more tips for selling on FB.

[JoJo]

Ugh, this last 2 weeks has been a nightmare - dad in and out of ICU and surgeries, mom picking an assisted living but wanting WAY too much furniture, a million to do items while visiting the hospital daily which is over half an hour drive away (and mom can't drive).  Then mom wants to have everyone at the house one last time for mothers day, so get distracted for a couple days preparing for that, cleaning and cooking.  On top of this we're trying to set up banking, billing, etc just in case dad doesn't survive this. 

There are very few things that seem worth to list, I'm going to try a few.  After they move out, I'm going to take a month to organize and deal with the outdoors stuff, then have a big garage sale, just have people make offer on stuff, then have the thrift store pick up the remainder. 

[jeninco]

Ugh, this last 2 weeks has been a nightmare - dad in and out of ICU and surgeries, mom picking an assisted living but wanting WAY too much furniture, a million to do items while visiting the hospital daily which is over half an hour drive away (and mom can't drive).  Then mom wants to have everyone at the house one last time for mothers day, so get distracted for a couple days preparing for that, cleaning and cooking.  On top of this we're trying to set up banking, billing, etc just in case dad doesn't survive this. 

There are very few things that seem worth to list, I'm going to try a few.  After they move out, I'm going to take a month to organize and deal with the outdoors stuff, then have a big garage sale, just have people make offer on stuff, then have the thrift store pick up the remainder.

I'm sorry it's so much, and that a lot of the burden is falling on you. Good to hear that you have what sounds like a work-able concrete plan!
If your mom moves to assisted living with too much stuff, it can be gotten rid of more gradually.  This has to be incredibly stressful for her, too!

[Sibley]

Use the chaos to your advantage. "Mom, we don't have time to arrange to move everything all at once. So, to start with, we're going to move the bed, a dresser and a chair, plus the suitcase of your clothes. Then once things calm down a bit we'll move over the rest of what you need. I know its inconvenient, but it's all we can manage right now. Which chair is most comfortable for you?"

This gets truly the bare minimum moved. Once she's in, she'll realize that she doesn't have room for all the furniture and also will have some period of time to adjust not having everything, with the hope of getting more of the stuff soon. Then you actually do move more over, but it'll be a more reasonable amount of things.

[JoJo]

Use the chaos to your advantage. "Mom, we don't have time to arrange to move everything all at once. So, to start with, we're going to move the bed, a dresser and a chair, plus the suitcase of your clothes. Then once things calm down a bit we'll move over the rest of what you need. I know its inconvenient, but it's all we can manage right now. Which chair is most comfortable for you?"

This gets truly the bare minimum moved. Once she's in, she'll realize that she doesn't have room for all the furniture and also will have some period of time to adjust not having everything, with the hope of getting more of the stuff soon. Then you actually do move more over, but it'll be a more reasonable amount of things.

This might work.  My brother has a pick up truck and a couple sons, we could have the movers take the couple truly heavy large items and leave the "maybes" behind.  Since the house is a tear down that won't happen for awhiile, we've been given some extra time

[Sibley]

Use the chaos to your advantage. "Mom, we don't have time to arrange to move everything all at once. So, to start with, we're going to move the bed, a dresser and a chair, plus the suitcase of your clothes. Then once things calm down a bit we'll move over the rest of what you need. I know its inconvenient, but it's all we can manage right now. Which chair is most comfortable for you?"

This gets truly the bare minimum moved. Once she's in, she'll realize that she doesn't have room for all the furniture and also will have some period of time to adjust not having everything, with the hope of getting more of the stuff soon. Then you actually do move more over, but it'll be a more reasonable amount of things.

This might work.  My brother has a pick up truck and a couple sons, we could have the movers take the couple truly heavy large items and leave the "maybes" behind.  Since the house is a tear down that won't happen for awhiile, we've been given some extra time

I would do it backwards, though depends on the size of the furniture going at first obviously. If brother + sons can't take it, then leave it for now. Save the movers for later. I mean it - bare minimum. It should like a college dorm room before all the stuff is in. Bed, chair, table, dresser, clothes. Functional but minimal and "cold". Then take a load of stuff over after a few days, which might be more of the firm "needs" but focus on some of the comforts - pictures, etc so it feels "warm". Then a week later get the movers (if needed) and finish.

Emotionally you're going for mildly uncomfortable without her things (while being physically ok) but knowing things are coming soon so can cope, then relief because more stuff came over and these fill a lot of the emotional gap, then satisfied even though she knows a lot didn't come over but is now comfortable. You're tricking her emotionally, while also leaving her emotionally satisfied.

It also has the advantage of hopefully stretching out the process so it is logistically easier on you.

[JoJo]

Update on what's going on, life is looking up a bit but it's been a lot of hard work.  I can't imagine how we would have done all of this if I still had a day job. 

Sold about $1500 of stuff on FB marketplace - antique toy tractors and an old anvil were the two big sellers. 

Sold about $800 by word of mouth - a couple farmers we knew came over and bought some stuff. 

We worked really hard to get the Estate Sale up by this Father's day weekend.  My hometown was having a small town festival with community-wide garage sales so it caused us to hurry up and get it ready.  Thank goodness my brother helped.  He pretty much single handedly cleaned out the garage and breezeway and organized tools & such for selling.  My sister helped much with the indoor stuff.  We basically had stuff spread all over the house - 3 stories of stuff.   Didn't price anything and told people to make us fair offers because the funds were going to a mission school in Africa my parents support.  Advertised purely by FB marketplace & road sign (busy road).  Probably had 300 people over 2 days.  Took in $2300 which is more than I thought we'd get.  It was hard seeing all our old stuff sold.  Dad's in the nursing home but we went out to get him and he sat in the ATV to talk to some people he knew at the sale.  I hated the "pickers"... the pros that lowballed us on the most valuable stuff in the first hour of the sale.  I really should have shoo'ed them away.  We almost accidently sold several gold rings my mom had left behind to a guy that put them in a box and covered with costume jewlery and offered $5.  Needless to say he was pretty pissed when I discovered it and didn't sell to him.  I'm pretty sure another guy got at least 1 other real jewlery that I missed (he bought a little box of pins of $5, now think he was hiding something).  guess we're lucky they didn't just pocket the rings and leave. 

I'd say we've sold about 40% of the "stuff" that remained after we threw away a bunch of garbage/broken stuff hoarded by the parents and 20% of the furniture.  The thrift store that was tentatively planning to pick stuff up will not be getting it (stuff is too picked over and their store is too full right now).  Free curb alert is a bit tricky (due the the busy road and speed limit here), so I'm seriously thinking about having a close-out sale next weekend... One day only open at 8 am and fill a box or buy a piece of furniture for $5 for the first 3 hours, then everything free after that until I close the doors.  That way I can get the people to haul the stuff out of the house (rather than me dragging to the curb or driving to thrift stores that are all over 20 miles away), and it would be constrained to a single day/few hours.  Anything that isn't taken for free would then clearly be trash. 

No one offered anything for the appliances the day of the sale but I already listed a freezer on FB marketplace today and have 2 prospective buyers ... will be doing this as well with the oven, microwave, and washer and dryer. 

Mom has moved to the assisted living and actually quite likes it.   Dad is in the nursing home.  Hoping to get him into assisted living within the next 2 months or we're looking at monthly living expenses of $20,000 combined for the both of them.  If he can get over to the assisted living will be in the range of $6,000-9,000 depending how much individualized care he needs. 

Now I'm switching to the paperwork - got a bunch of stuff to get in order before I set out traveling again. 

[Sibley]

I'm glad its going well. It is rough. I'm not surprised that your mom is liking the assisted living. It's quite common for people to be very resistant, but once they're actually there to come to like it. The relief of getting the practical help they need plus having the ability to have a social life again makes a huge impact.

[Poundwise]

That's great progress! When emptying my parents' house, I had a lot of luck with posting on craigslist free... surprising number of takers for things like a clean garbage can filled with half-used bottles of cleaning solution, mops, etc. I also posted a photo of their garden shed and said that everything in it would go to a person who could empty it by end of day.  Within three hours, a guy with a pickup truck rolled up, took all their old lumber, sprinklers, gasoline cans, rakes, etc., and rolled away.

I didn't even have to hire a dumpster... I got internet scavengers to take everything.

[JoJo]

Had one more day of sale where I said 8-11am fill a box for $5, and everything free after that.  As people entered I said "Everything is free, take as much as you want.  But if you'd like to give me a couple dollars so I can get a beer after this I'll accept it" and I made $400!  :D

Still a lot of stuff even though some people drove off with carloads full of stuff.  Got rid of several cabinets and a card table and chairs.    A guy pulled in a day later and took another truckload of stuff and said he'll come back for more.  I've taken a full car load of stuff to savers and another load of books to the local library.  Starting to put a dent in it.  In a bit I will list the furniture for free on FB marketplace and buy nothing groups. 

Finally feel like I'm over the hump!  going camping next weekend, made plans for a week in mid-July and starting to think about the fall. 

[AMandM]

Wow, congrats on seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!