Book
Downsizing / by Ralph R. Roberts & Kathleen Roberts with Joe Kraynak and Kyle Roberts.
Organize, declutter, donate---downsize and simplify your life. Downsizing For Dummies provides you with strategies to downsize your life by moving to a smaller home, decluttering, simplifying your budget, and saving more money. You'll find tips to help decrease your cost of living, lower your home maintenance costs, protect and leverage your assets, and decide whether downsizing is right for you and your family. After downsizing your life, you'll save time on household chores and gain the freedom and flexibility that come with having fewer possessions. What will you do with all the time you save? Downsizing For Dummies will help you understand the benefits of living simply!... This book is for anyone who is ready to live clutter-free and to downsize. It's the perfect Dummies guide for homeowners looking to save money, plus real estate brokers who are working with clients who are downsizing, and designers and builders of new homes who want to stay on top of the downsizing trend.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781119910060
- ISBN: 1119910064
- Physical Description: xiii, 367 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
- Publisher: Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2023]
- Copyright: ©2023
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Additional statements of responsibility from cover. Includes index. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Moving, Household. House cleaning. Older people > Conduct of life. |
Search for related items by series
Available copies
- 3 of 4 copies available at Missouri Evergreen. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Neosho Newton County.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 4 total copies.
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| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neosho Newton - Neosho | 648.5 ROB (Text) | 34162002164539 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Table of Contents
Downsizing for Dummies
| Section | Section Description | Page Number |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 1 | |
| About This Book | 2 | |
| Foolish Assumptions | 2 | |
| Icons Used in This Book | 3 | |
| Beyond the Book | 4 | |
| Where to Go from Here | 4 | |
| Part 1 | Getting Started with Downsizing | 7 |
| Chapter 1 | Downsizing in a Nutshell | 9 |
| Downsizing: Who, What, When, Where, and Why? | 10 | |
| Who? | 10 | |
| What? | 11 | |
| When? | 12 | |
| Where? | 12 | |
| Why? | 13 | |
| Envisioning Your Future | 14 | |
| Navigating a Major Lifestyle Transition | 14 | |
| Getting All Your Ducks in a Row | 16 | |
| Choosing a lifestyle and housing | 16 | |
| Establishing your timeline | 18 | |
| Creating to-do lists | 18 | |
| Drafting a budget | 19 | |
| Protecting and Leveraging Your Assets | 20 | |
| Decluttering Basics | 20 | |
| Moving Out and Moving On | 22 | |
| Addressing your changing priorities | 22 | |
| Selling your home | 23 | |
| Buying a new home | 23 | |
| Exploring other living arrangements | 24 | |
| Our Downsizing Experience | 25 | |
| Chapter 2 | Deciding Whether Downsizing Is Right for You (or Your Parents) | 29 |
| Recognizing Common Reasons People Downsize | 30 | |
| Weighing the Pros and Cons of Downsizing | 32 | |
| Potential benefits of downsizing | 32 | |
| Potential downsizing drawbacks | 33 | |
| Analyzing Your Situation and Mindset | 34 | |
| Examining your situation | 34 | |
| Taking stock of your thoughts and feelings | 36 | |
| Considering Your Loved Ones | 37 | |
| Making sure you're on the same page as your spouse (or siblings) | 38 | |
| Listening to your kids' opinions | 39 | |
| Letting close friends and neighbors in on it | 41 | |
| Making the Tough Call for an Aging Loved One | 42 | |
| Settling a Major Dilemma: To Sell or Not to Sell Your Home | 43 | |
| Chapter 3 | Envisioning Your Future: Lifestyle and Location | 45 |
| Building Your Vision | 46 | |
| Complete our lifestyle questionnaire | 46 | |
| List your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and please-no's | 48 | |
| Build a vision board | 48 | |
| Gather more details in vision folders | 49 | |
| Choosing a Location: Factors to Consider | 51 | |
| Settled or nomadic | 51 | |
| Foreign or domestic | 53 | |
| Terrain | 55 | |
| Climate | 55 | |
| Size/population | 56 | |
| Affordability | 57 | |
| Employment opportunities | 57 | |
| Health care | 58 | |
| Proximity to friends and family | 59 | |
| Activities, entertainment, and restaurants | 59 | |
| Getting around | 60 | |
| Crime rates | 61 | |
| Public amenities and cultural centers | 61 | |
| School system | 62 | |
| Existing property or new construction | 62 | |
| Opting for a Nomadic Existence | 64 | |
| Researching Locations | 65 | |
| Test-Driving a Location or Lifestyle | 65 | |
| Chapter 4 | Laying the Groundwork | 67 |
| Developing a Positive Mindset | 68 | |
| Consulting with Family Members (or Not) | 69 | |
| Teaming up with your partner | 69 | |
| Deciding how much input you want and from whom | 70 | |
| Getting everyone else on the same page | 73 | |
| Tabulating Your Net Worth and Monthly Income | 74 | |
| Distinguishing between Essentials and Extras | 76 | |
| Drawing Up Preliminary Plans | 77 | |
| Drafting a budget | 77 | |
| Creating a packing list | 79 | |
| Making a to-do list | 79 | |
| Scheduling activities | 80 | |
| Delegating duties | 81 | |
| Chapter 5 | Rallying the Troops | 83 |
| Tapping Your Family for Help | 84 | |
| Knowing the type of help family members can provide | 84 | |
| Recognizing the type of help you don't want | 85 | |
| Getting a Little Help from Your Friends | 85 | |
| Hiring Professionals | 86 | |
| A financial advisor | 87 | |
| A certified public accountant | 87 | |
| Attorneys | 88 | |
| Appraisers | 89 | |
| Real estate agents | 89 | |
| A bank, mortgage company, or loan officer | 90 | |
| A title company | 91 | |
| A home inspector or builder | 91 | |
| Downsizing pros | 92 | |
| Movers | 92 | |
| An interior designer | 92 | |
| Health-care professionals | 93 | |
| Delegating and Coordinating with Team Members | 94 | |
| Motivating Your Crew | 95 | |
| Helping a Loved One Downsize | 95 | |
| Just talk about it | 96 | |
| Ease the transition | 97 | |
| Start downsizing the least-used areas | 98 | |
| Provide emotional support | 98 | |
| Make it fun | 99 | |
| Part 2 | Protecting and Leveraging Your Assets | 101 |
| Chapter 6 | Getting a Handle on Your Finances | 103 |
| Calculating Your Net Worth | 104 | |
| Gauging Your Cash Flow | 107 | |
| Tabulating your monthly and annual income | 108 | |
| Estimating your monthly and annual expenses | 110 | |
| Calculating your cash flow | 112 | |
| Leveraging the power of debt to help finance your dreams | 112 | |
| Accounting for Medical Insurance and Health-care Costs | 113 | |
| Planning to Live on a Fixed Income | 116 | |
| Exploring ways to trim expenses | 117 | |
| Exploring ways to generate additional income | 121 | |
| Chapter 7 | Planning Your Estate | 125 |
| Getting up to Speed on Estate Planning Basics | 126 | |
| Step 1: Preparing Your Will(s) | 127 | |
| Writing a simple will | 129 | |
| Writing a joint will | 130 | |
| Writinga living will | 131 | |
| Knowing when to use a testamentary trust will | 132 | |
| Step 2: Keeping Your Valuable Assets Out of Probate | 132 | |
| Steering clear of probate without a trust | 133 | |
| Using a trust to protect your assets | 135 | |
| Deciding how to take title when buying property | 137 | |
| Step 3: Creating a Power of Attorney | 139 | |
| Step 4: Ensuring You Have Some Control over Medical Decisions | 141 | |
| Step 5: Planning Your Business Succession | 141 | |
| Step 6: Buying Life Insurance (or Not) | 142 | |
| Step 7: Documenting Your End-of-Life Plan | 143 | |
| Step 8: Gathering and Organizing Essential Documents | 144 | |
| Step 9: Completing an Estate Planning Checklist | 145 | |
| Chapter 8 | Using Your Home to Generate Income | 149 |
| Leasing Your Home (or a Part of It) | 150 | |
| Taking on the role of landlord | 151 | |
| Using a property management company | 152 | |
| Running your own bed and breakfast | 153 | |
| Selling Your Home | 154 | |
| Borrowing Against Your Home to Cash Out Equity | 155 | |
| Making the Most of a Reverse Mortgage | 157 | |
| Part 3 | Decluttering: Sell It, Give It Away, or Trash It | 161 |
| Chapter 9 | Sorting Your Belongings | 163 |
| Mastering Decluttering Basics | 164 | |
| Stop Cluttering | 166 | |
| Decluttering One Room at a Time | 167 | |
| Bedrooms | 167 | |
| Bathrooms | 170 | |
| Kitchen | 171 | |
| Living room | 172 | |
| Office | 173 | |
| Laundry room | 174 | |
| Garage/shed | 176 | |
| Sorting Your Stuff into Six Categories | 178 | |
| Keep | 179 | |
| Store | 179 | |
| Sell | 180 | |
| Give away | 181 | |
| Donate | 181 | |
| Toss | 182 | |
| Chapter 10 | Digitizing Photos, Videos, and Documentation | 183 |
| Exploring Your Digital Storage Options | 184 | |
| Internal drives | 185 | |
| External drives | 185 | |
| Cloud storage | 186 | |
| Social media storage | 188 | |
| Photo processor storage | 189 | |
| Eliminating Unnecessary Documents, Photos, and Videos | 189 | |
| Downsizing your document collection | 189 | |
| Deciding which photos to keep | 191 | |
| Paring down your video collection | 192 | |
| Scanning Photos and Documents | 192 | |
| Do it yourself | 192 | |
| Hire it out | 194 | |
| Transforming Photos into Memorabilia | 195 | |
| Digitizing Your Video Collection | 196 | |
| Do it yourself | 196 | |
| Hire a pro | 197 | |
| Chapter 11 | Selling Stuff You No Longer Want or Need | 199 |
| Finding Out How Much Something Is Worth | 200 | |
| Exploring Ways to Sell Your Belongings | 203 | |
| Estate auction | 203 | |
| Estate sale | 204 | |
| Garage/yard sale | 206 | |
| Online listing | 206 | |
| Hiring someone to sell your stuff | 207 | |
| Selling Your Belongings Online | 209 | |
| Hosting an Estate Sale | 211 | |
| Before | 211 | |
| During | 213 | |
| After | 214 | |
| Conducting a Garage Sale | 214 | |
| Chapter 12 | Giving Away Some Stuff | 217 |
| Returning Items to Your "Kids" | 218 | |
| Being Prepared for Disappointment | 219 | |
| Deciding Which Family Member Gets the Family's Treasures | 220 | |
| Offering Your Belongings to Family Members and Others | 221 | |
| Donating Items to Nonprofits | 222 | |
| Salvation Army | 222 | |
| Vietnam Veterans of America | 223 | |
| AMVETS | 224 | |
| Goodwill Industries | 225 | |
| Habitat for Humanity | 226 | |
| The Arc | 226 | |
| Local nonprofit groups | 227 | |
| Pushing It to the Curb | 227 | |
| Chapter 13 | Storing Stuff You Can't Part With | 229 |
| Reconsidering: Will You Really Ever Need This Item? | 230 | |
| Exploring Your Storage Options | 231 | |
| Friends or relatives | 231 | |
| Portable storage containers | 232 | |
| Self-storage units | 233 | |
| Peer-to-peer storage options | 234 | |
| Protecting Your Valuables | 235 | |
| Home safes | 236 | |
| Safety-deposit boxes | 237 | |
| Insuring Your Valuables | 238 | |
| Chapter 14 | Disposing of Your Remaining Belongings | 239 |
| Recycling as Much as Possible | 239 | |
| Having Your Junk Hauled Off in Dumpster | 241 | |
| Disposing of Toxic Items | 243 | |
| Hiring a Company to Haul Away Your Junk | 244 | |
| Part 4 | Moving Out and Moving In | 245 |
| Chapter 15 | Gimme Shelter: Choosing a Home | 247 |
| Finding Your Place in the World: Location, Location, Location | 248 | |
| Deciding Whether to Buy or Rent | 249 | |
| Deciding Whether to Build or Buy | 250 | |
| Estimating the Living Space You'll Need | 252 | |
| Total square footage | 253 | |
| Rooms and room sizes | 254 | |
| Living room and dining room or office/den? | 255 | |
| Entertainment areas | 255 | |
| Office space | 256 | |
| Outdoor living areas - porches, decks, balconies | 256 | |
| Pool or hot tub (or both) | 257 | |
| Basement (or not) | 257 | |
| Garage/parking | 258 | |
| Storage space | 258 | |
| Considering Mobility and Accessibility | 259 | |
| Exploring Your Housing Options | 261 | |
| Traditional house | 261 | |
| Apartment | 262 | |
| Condo | 263 | |
| Granny pod (aka mother-in-law cottage) | 264 | |
| Tiny home | 264 | |
| Mobile home | 265 | |
| RV or van | 265 | |
| 55-and-older community | 265 | |
| Barndominium | 266 | |
| Shipping container home | 266 | |
| Houseboat or cruise ship | 267 | |
| Assisted living facility | 268 | |
| Accounting for Additional Costs | 268 | |
| Utilities | 268 | |
| Maintenance and repairs | 269 | |
| Homeowner or condo association fees | 269 | |
| Property taxes | 270 | |
| Chapter 16 | Buying and Selling a Home | 271 |
| Deciding Whether to Sell or Keep Your Current Home as a Rental | 272 | |
| Deciding Whether to Buy First or Sell First | 273 | |
| Keeping your finger on the pulse of the housing market | 273 | |
| Keeping an eye on interest rates | 274 | |
| Buying before selling | 274 | |
| Selling before buying | 276 | |
| Choosing Whether to Pay Cash or Finance Your Purchase | 278 | |
| Advantages of paying cash | 278 | |
| Advantages of financing the purchase | 279 | |
| Picking the Right Real Estate Agents for You | 279 | |
| Timing the Market (or Not) | 281 | |
| Getting a Home Equity Line of Credit (Just in Case) | 283 | |
| Accounting for Taxes on the Sale of Your Home | 284 | |
| Capital gains tax | 285 | |
| Property tax | 286 | |
| Real estate transfer tax | 286 | |
| Chapter 17 | Packing Your Belongings | 287 |
| Taking the Easy Way Out: Hiring a Professional | 288 | |
| Recognizing the advantages of hiring a moving company | 288 | |
| Choosing a reputable moving company | 289 | |
| Teaming up with your moving company for best results | 290 | |
| Doing the Packing Yourself | 292 | |
| Gathering your moving supplies and equipment | 292 | |
| Packing room by room | 294 | |
| Labeling boxes | 309 | |
| Chapter 18 | Executing a Successful Move | 311 |
| Changing Your Mailing Address | 312 | |
| Avoiding hurt feelings | 312 | |
| Notifying the postal service of your change in address | 313 | |
| Changing your address on all your accounts | 314 | |
| Sending change of address notifications to everyone you know | 315 | |
| Arranging Transportation: Trucks or Portable Containers? | 316 | |
| Scheduling movers | 317 | |
| Being available on moving day | 318 | |
| Switching Your Utilities | 319 | |
| Unpacking: Decluttering, Round 2 | 321 | |
| Kitchen | 322 | |
| Bedrooms | 322 | |
| Bathrooms | 323 | |
| Living room | 323 | |
| Dining room | 324 | |
| Garage/basement | 324 | |
| Part 5 | The Part of Tens | 325 |
| Chapter 19 | Ten Good Reasons to Downsize | 327 |
| Reduce Your Cost of Living | 328 | |
| Spend Time and Money on What Really Matters | 328 | |
| Save Time and Effort Cleaning, Maintaining, and Repairing Property | 328 | |
| Become More Mobile and Flexible | 329 | |
| Reduce Stress | 329 | |
| Spend More Time with Loved Ones | 330 | |
| Alleviate the Future Burden on Loved Ones | 330 | |
| Optimize Your Health and Fitness | 330 | |
| Focus on Quality Over Quantity | 331 | |
| Work Less | 331 | |
| Chapter 20 | Ten Tips to Make Downsizing Less Stressful | 333 |
| Focus on What to Keep, Not What to Get Rid Of | 334 | |
| Follow the One-Year Rule | 334 | |
| Downsize One Room at a Time | 335 | |
| Set a Manageable Deadline and Milestones | 335 | |
| Follow the OHIO Rule | 335 | |
| Host a Sorting/Packing Party | 336 | |
| Pack an Essentials Box | 336 | |
| Have Your Adult Children Clear Out Their Belongings | 337 | |
| Create a Yes and No Pile (No Maybe Pile) | 337 | |
| Opt for Amenities Over Square Footage | 338 | |
| Chapter 21 | Ten (or So) Ways to Reduce Your Living Expenses | 339 |
| Slash Your Insurance Costs | 340 | |
| Reduce Cable TV, Internet, and Phone Costs | 340 | |
| Cancel Subscriptions | 341 | |
| Reduce or Eliminate Vehicle Expenses | 341 | |
| Clear Out Your Storage Unit | 342 | |
| Take Better Care of Yourself | 342 | |
| Shed Your Consumer Debt | 342 | |
| Use Cash-Back Credit Cards | 343 | |
| Buy Your Groceries Online | 343 | |
| Set Spending Caps | 344 | |
| Ask About Senior Discounts | 344 | |
| Chapter 22 | Ten Ways to Supplement Your Income | 345 |
| Find a Part-Time Job | 346 | |
| Manage Property | 346 | |
| Start a Business | 347 | |
| Watch Other People's Pets | 347 | |
| House-Sit | 348 | |
| Sell Your Crafts | 348 | |
| Tutor or Substitute Teach | 349 | |
| Become a Driver | 349 | |
| Build a Career as a Social Media Influencer | 350 | |
| Become a Virtual Assistant | 350 | |
| Index | 353 |
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