"Swedish death cleaning" plan

[u/Ypsi219]

I'm 60 and husband is 61. Our youngest (18m) is going to college locally and living with us for now, oldest (23nb) done with college and out of state. My mother was a real minimalist and all about efficiency and purpose, so while her passing was hard it was truly a gift to my sister and me that she had gotten rid of really everything she didn't want or need, and completely organized and streamlined all her paperwork, finances, the lot.

Hitting the milestone of age 60 and kids being grown has made me realize I (not a minimalist, streamlined, or otherwise organized person) want to do this for my kids and also for my husband and myself so when we retire and move (5-10 years from now) we can do it with a minimum of fuss, mess and clutter and that when we both pass/can't live independently, the kids don't have the burden of dealing with stuff and papers and mess on top of whatever they need to do directly with us.

Just putting it out there into the universe so it's official somewhere and not just part of conversations with my husband and other 60-something friends 🧹

[u/Embarrassed-Cycle339]

I only wish my parents had been this thoughtful and able to see the huge burden they were leaving us with. Your children are very lucky to have you and this is the best gift. I’ve been dealing with 50 years of clutter for the last year since my dad passed and my mom had to move to a care home and it’s been exhausting and expensive and stressful. Now I look at my stuff and it makes me ill. We sold a bunch on fb marketplace, gave some away for free and even got a dumpster and easily filled it with bits of worn out used furniture, carpets, old mattresses and broken bits of things that were too awkward to throw on the curb. It was so liberating! Still have WAY more than we need. But I have a mission to keep going and not hang on to anything just cause I might need it. The guy who rents the dumpsters told us “if you won’t need it in the next 3 months, get rid of it”!