In January 2024, Joyce Bassett began her downsizing journey, moving from a four-bedroom, two-story split Colonial to a two-bedroom ranch twin home.

A year after she began her quest to downsize, Joyce Bassett’s satisfaction hasn’t waned. She appreciates that she no longer has a mess left for others to clean up.

On her downsizing journey, Joyce Bassett donated many kitchen items, smaller decor pieces and gently used clothing to CAPTAIN’s Treasures in Clifton Park. The thrift store’s proceeds benefit the Saratoga County community.

When she began downsizing, Joyce Bassett started with the basement, organizing unwanted items into four piles: 1. Throwaway; 2. Giveaway; 3. Garage sale or Facebook Marketplace; 4. Sell on eBay.

JDog Junk Removal will do an estimate using pictures of what needs to be hauled away. Getting large exercise equipment and trash removed is a big boost to a cleanup and creates space to organize items to be cleaned up, sold or given away.

JDog Junk Removal will do an estimate using pictures of what needs to be hauled away. Getting large exercise equipment and trash removed is a big boost to a cleanup and creates space to organize items to be cleaned up, sold or given away.

Paint cans need to be taken to a recycling center. Be sure to keep labels on all your paint cans or the recycling center can't take them.

In January 2024, we closed on the house where we raised our kids. Our move from a four-bedroom, two-story split Colonial to a two-bedroom ranch twin home in Wilton was finalized in October. We learned to live with less for almost a year while we put what we didn’t sell or discard in a U-Haul self-storage facility. We lived in two short-term rentals for 10 months, making our big move somewhat of an adventure.

The satisfaction I now feel every day hasn’t waned. We no longer have a mess left for others to clean up.

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I learned so much during the move and appreciate all the terrific advice I received. Friend Cindy told me her $20 rule; our neighborhood real estate agent Tracy Fiore presented us with a game plan for cleaning out and preparing to show and sell; others encouraged us to simply tackle one room at a time.

The key was cleaning out the basement, which included a smaller finished space and a large, jam-packed utility area. It also had a ton of boxes I didn’t unpack from our move in 1997 from Naperville, Ill., a Chicago-area suburb where we lived for 10 years and our children were born.

Starting with the basement, I organized items........

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