Desperately Seeking New Home and De-Cluttering

Privately Renting Today

With the immense difficulties facing those of us who are privately renting at the moment, it has never been harder to find somewhere, and to prove you can afford it. Despite running my business for over 20 years, privately renting for 18 years (never once missing a payment), and even though I’m looking at smaller places with cheaper rents, I am currently struggling to even get viewings agreed.

I have the added problem that many landlords for some reason, are now not happy with me running my lovely, quiet, wonderful therapy business from home - where I have never had a problem with this before. For those that don’t realise, I have also been told that the income you have to prove is between 30 and 36 times the monthly rent (depending on the agent and the rental value) in order to just secure a viewing. If you don’t earn this, you have to have a guarantor who does, or you have to pay 6 months rent upfront.

BBC News actually reported this morning, that they recently commissioned the property portal ‘Rightmove’ to trawl its data and gather a picture of the growing level of competition in the private rental sector. It found that in Britain there were typically 20 requests to view each available property from prospective tenants, which has tripled since 2019.

Unfortunately, the cost of external treatment rooms, combined with a residential rent here in leafy Surrey, is just not doable for me as a single woman, despite working full-time, in a relatively well-paid job. So – as things have been a little stressful, I decided that all I could do, was to do something positive, to make a start towards my next chapter, wherever that may be. So – on came the declutter! (with a fair amount of dark chocolate to see me through along the way!).

Letting Go

I knew there would be some sadness saying goodbye to some things that I loved, and a lot of memories (good and bad) to process, with all the old photographs and paperwork I found, as I started to sort through the many boxes. Wanting to hang on to some things that in honesty, had been in a box since we moved here! Knowing that I had to get rid of them though, as if I’d not needed them in 5 years, I probably didn’t need them at all!

I’d kept every single Birthday and Christmas card that Molly has ever received, from her first birthday to now - and she’s 19 this September - so they all had to go! A massive box of teenage diaries that I wrote myself daily from age 11 to 15ish (some interesting and hilarious reading there!) – all had to go too. I might just have kept one...

But, when I started this, I didn’t realise the positives that would come from the process too. Clearing out a lot of the old, wrapping the few remaining precious, sentimental bits and pieces, and making room for the new...

The Benefits of De-Cluttering

The first benefit is obviously some cash! Selling a lot of personal possessions has netted me some money to put towards a van for the move, whenever it comes. That is wonderful and very helpful at this time for sure! It is amazing how it adds up – a pound here, two or three pounds there – well worth the effort when you put it all together. Let go of stuff, clear space and make some money along the way!

Some of the things I have sold and given away, have gone on to live a new life elsewhere, and I’ve had the pleasure of receiving many messages of thanks from people.

I gave one guy all the DVDs and 6 storage racks that we had. He runs a group of childrens homes across West and East Sussex, so was going to divide them between the homes. Another guy took a lot of craft supplies from us for a similar cause. One lady came to collect some plants she wanted to buy from me, and her little girl took a liking to a rainbow painted pot that I had in the garden, so I gave it to her to grow her strawberries in – she was only two, and was so chuffed!

Another lady bought a rusty shabby chic bench I was selling cheap, completely repainted it and sent me a photo of it looking beautiful in the garden of the childrens nursery she had bought it for. Another person took some sports equipment, and messaged me to say that their eldest child had just played badminton with them for 2 hours for the first time ever.

When looking for a new home for my gorgeous handmade Thai Massage Futon (which I purchased after I learnt Thai Massage in Chiang Mai back in 2009!), a dear friend put me in touch with a young lady who had recently qualified from the very same college (but 10 years after me!) who was looking for one! So I donated my beautiful Thai Futon to her, and she kindly gave me a wonderful Thai Massage in return when she came to collect it! She has also offered to give me another session after I move, which I am very much looking forward to!

A close friend has taken a display cabinet I had and put it to great use for some of her son’s collectibles. She has also taken an egg chair I had, to look after for me until such time I have a place big enough for it. She has made a really cosy corner in her home for her and her son to enjoy it. Another good friend has bought loads of my plants, and she’s a fab gardener too, so I know they are in good hands. I found selling/donating my plants and garden stuff the hardest in a way – but nice to know they will be growing in lots of different gardens across the village now! Same with my firepit which was bought by another lovely friend, so will be well used and loved there.

It’s lovely to think of things being used and enjoyed. I donated my beautiful wedding dress to the St. Catherine’s Hospice Bridal shop in Horsham, who were delighted with it. Great to clear space and give new life to things that you have just had tucked away in storage! Wonderful when other folk can make good use of them too.

I have been to the dump every weekend, several times, for the last 4 weeks, and getting rid of things that were broken (that I intended to fix!), items water damaged in our shed, old photographs and shredded paperwork I’ve been meaning to get rid of for ages, some damaged furniture, and various other items (that weren’t good enough for selling or donating), has been a very cathartic experience! The guys up there have been so helpful, so I took them a couple of packets of biscuits last weekend to say thanks, and they were over the moon – don’t forget to remember to thank those who go out of their way to help you out, and make life just that little bit easier, when you are having a tough time.

I have donated a ton of books and CDs to Oxfam in the village too, who are always so very grateful for donations there. Do drop off any books or CDs you have, and maybe buy a couple of new ones while you’re there!

The Red Cross charity shop must be sick of the sight of me, as I have taken so many bags of clothes, shoes, bags, games, toys and other items to them for selling this past month. If you sign up to Gift Aid with both of these shops, they also get extra on top, which is well worth doing to help the charities if you can. Another plus to de-cluttering!

So – whilst I still have a lot to sort before I can move (not least finding somewhere!)… I’ve made a good start. It is well worth taking the time to have a proper sort out. You find memories from years ago, sentimental things you forgot you had, as well as some things you are more than happy to say goodbye to!