I have partially cleaned out 4 houses and it is a job I absolutely hate. It makes me so sad that people spent their lives accumulating all that stuff and it's just trash to whomever inherits it.

I really hope I can get rid of everything so my kids don't have to take on this mess. If I could only figure out where to start......

In the end it is just stuff.

It is a large house so some of the furniture will stay.

We made one the large bedrooms a storage room for the good stuff.

The rest, I don't know what will happen to it.

I guess it will be sold, a lot of it is nice stuff.

In the end it is just stuff.

and it only has meaning to us.

“A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff.” George Carlin

Nobody else really wants your stuff, most of the time.

This lady has a lot of nice glassware and plates.

A lot.

I am guessing most of that will be sold off.

How many plates and glasses do you need.

I am sure all this stuff brought the Aunt a lot of joy.

And it will bring new people joy.

The aunt has good taste in stuff.

You are a great friend to help do that.

My mom is a hoarder. My brother owns the house she lives in, or rather, keeps her stuff in. It is a typical hoarding home, no room to actually live in the house. She and her husband live in a trailer in the back yard, while the house is crammed full of crap.

My brothers and I joke that the only thing we will fight over after she dies is who gets to pay for the dumpster bill.

My parents aren't exactly hoarders, but they have large house thats crammed with stuff that nobody will want. We're a small family thats not even very close, and share zero interests, or appreciation for stuff. Though much of their stuff is expensive, it'd be a full time job liquidating it for pennies on the dollar, and no one is going to do that. Probably about 95% of the valuable stuff will go to charity. But I'll easily fill 2 or 3 dumpsters with everything else.

at his mom's house. We live in another state so I can't be there to help. It's a daunting task. You are a mensch! Go have your sandwich and chill. Feel good that you helped your friend.

Thankfully they don't have that much stuff.

Tomorrow we will have more help.

It is hard to know where to start.

I liked looking at the old photos, the Aunt liked to take pictures.

It is daunting.

I wish your husband well.

It will be harder because it is his mother's stuff.

I find it is just best to keep a few things that mean the most.

You can't keep everything.

When my mother passed away in 1999, my brothers and I had the chore of emptying the house and preparing it for sale. She and my dad had lived there for 30 years and the house was packed. It took us two or three weeks of all day work, garage sales, hauling things to Salvation Army that we didn't want or we couldn't sell, etc.etc. I would never want to do that again.

My mom had been a kindergarten teacher for 25 years and had boxes and boxes and boxes of teaching aids and activities for the little kids. Her school was really happy that we donated all that stuff to them.

I spent 10 days with my uncle a couple of years ago helping to clean out
their house to get ready to sell after my aunt died. Their only child--a son--
came for a couple of weeks and then just left! No, he did not have a job
or family he had to go back to! There was still a LOT to do when I left
and their wonderful neighbor--who'd been like a daughter to them and lived across the street--
finished the job of getting the stuff out and the house organized to put on the market.

When my husband died about 2 and 1/2 years ago....I was 48 and we had been together 27 years. His family took the small farm I paid for and are suing me over the home I paid for. He was disabled the whole time we were together.
In putting the house on the market (1931 craftsman)....I sent 3 tractor trailer loads of antiques we had collected to auction. I had NO help but my daughter and had only a week to clear out 27 years of life. It isn't easy when you have time and it is hell when your time is limited.
It is also a very soul-wrenching time for the loved one left.

Sorry if this has already been mentioned.

Estate sale services will come in organize, price and tag anything you don't want to keep. They will then hold the sale on the premises.

Basically you don't have to lift a finger - all the stuff is gone and the estate sale people hand you a check. Most ES services charge 30-40% of the total receipts, but again you don't have to do anything.