The time has come to move from the home where high maintenance and costly upkeep are cutting into your well-deserved leisure time and fun money. Now, all you have to do is decide what to do with all of the stuff you have acquired and accumulated while living in your large home. You can keep from feeling overwhelmed by breaking down the process of downsizing into three basic steps.

Step One: The Treasure Hunt

This first step simply requires that you walk through each room of your house and mark the items that you absolutely, positively can't part with. This includes furniture, wall decor, family heirlooms, trinkets, and sentimental treasures.

Step Two: Solution For Indecisive Moments

Chances are, during step one you came across some items that you weren't sure if they were keepers or not. You might also have marked some items as treasures that simply will not fit into your smaller house or apartment. The solution to this dilemma is to rent a storage unit to store those items in. After you make the move, you can go through the items you have stored and decide if they are indeed "keepers" or items that you just weren't quite ready to part with before the move.

Step Three:

Make lots of people happy by donating all of those items that didn't make the "keep it" or "store it" list. Local churches and charities are always in need of household items and clothing. Alternatively, you could have a big yard sale and use the money you make to celebrate your new lifestyle.

Placing those items you have mixed feelings about in storage for a while will give you time to determine their emotional value and eliminate the risk of regretting hasty decisions. A storage unit is an ideal place to keep the things you want to pass on to children or grandchildren who may not currently have a place for them.