Another paragraph (definitely not a chapter) in our quest to downsizing resembles an episode of hoarders. We have moved six times since we got married 40 years ago. It took until our downsizing project to realize we have been dragging along way, way too much baggage all these years. We now have a mountain of papers to be shredded, at least 200 pounds worth! Every Bank statement, cancelled check, paycheck, utility bill and deductible receipt since 1976! That’s just the stuff with personal information, there has been much more that went in the recycle bin. I’m sharing this embarrassing detail in hopes I can help someone get this done before trying to get a move underway.

What’s more embarrassing is that we thought we could burn it rather than destroy our non-professional shredder, that was a comical adventure that rivals the beginnings of this blog. Needless to say, we aborted the burn barrel idea after a few handfuls and went back to using the shredder. Luckily the next local Shred-a-thon is this weekend so we will be dropping off 6 big boxes of old papers rather than burn up our little shredder.

While I’m on embarrassing adventures in downsizing, I’ve found quite a bit of cash and checks in cards that got misplaced in the weeks after our 2003 move. The checks had to be shredded of course.

I also found a Costco membership reward coupon from 2004 we got shortly after moving into our current house. I was really busy landscaping so that’s the story I’m sticking to. I’m happy to report Costco rewards never expire, even the cashier was excited and had to show it to nearby coworkers and let customers behind me know our coupon was proof how good Costco memberships are. The laughs have been well worth the embarrassment and I hope someone benefits by starting on this journey earlier than we have. Cheers!