Product Description

Whether you're a not-so-old couple or a getting-on-in-years single who has decided it's time to move on; an adult left in charge of a parent's or loved one's estate; or just someone who's looking for a simpler lifestyle, Moving On will provide invaluable practical information and resources, as well as sanity-saving tips and advice from those who have been through it all and came out smiling.

Here are just a few of the questions answered: What are the logistical problems to be overcome in dividing up and getting rid of decades' worth of family possessions? What do you do with the things you don't want to keep? What's the best way to preserve what you've decided to keep? Serious questions all, but the authors approach an often delicate subject with much humor and an upbeat, albeit realistic, attitude.

This practical information is balanced with anecdotal accounts and useful advice on how to keep the peace among squabbling relatives, hold on to a sense of humor, and find the positive in an often monumental task.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #598922 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-07
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781584793236
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
LINDA HETZER is an editorial consultant and freelance writer whose work has been featured in Good Housekeeping, Cuisine, Food & Wine, and House Beautiful. She is the author of several books, including The Simple Art of Napkin Folding and Rainy Days and Saturdays. Reader's Digest, Time-Life Books, Roundtable Press, and the National Audubon Society are among her clients. She lives in New York with her husband and two children. Editor and writer JANET HULSTRAND'S clients include the Brooklyn Children's Museum, the National Audubon Society, and Workman Publishing. Her work in interdisciplinary arts education has been featured in Humanities Education, and "Paris Through The Eyes of Travelers," the literature course she created in conjunction with Hunter College, is offered each summer in Paris. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two children.

Customer Reviews

Downsizing Your Life
These days, a groundbreaking theme is the need to rid yourself of excess and get to substance. Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home by Linda Hetzer and Janet Hulstrand is an excellent resource book for those wanting to move from a bigger home to smaller surroundings, what to do if you're a couple whose children have recently left the nest and you want to downsize, how to clear out the house after a death in the family, or the best way for an elderly parent to get ready to move in with a son or daughter.

In every case, you have to know what to do with the stuff of life, like accumulated family possessions, unneeded household items, and family heirlooms. Moving On has terrific checklists, planning tools, and how to avoid squabbling among relatives.

Coping With Life Changes
I was really glad to discover this book. Several friends in their fifties and sixties are coping with clearing out Mom's stuff so she can move into an assisted living facility. Quite a few also have to clear out a lifetime's accumulation of their own, so they can retire and relocate.
Here's the topics covered in chapter one (Planning Ahead, Remembering Who's in Charge, Preparing for the Day, Agreeing on a Family Plan, Dividing Up the Belongings).
Chapter two covers Sorting It Out, Getting Started, Considering Storage, Making It Work. In chapter three it handles the emotional part of downsizing (Preserving Family Heirlooms, Finding Archival Materials, Preserving the Memories Themselves).
Chapter four tells how to turn some of it into cash (Yard Sales, Estate Sales, Auctions, On-Line Auctions, Secondhand Retailers, Selling Direct). Getting rid of the rest is covered in chapter five (Giving It Away to Friends or Family, Donating and Recycling, Throwing Out the Trash).
The book also lists
*Helpful Books and Websites
*Organizations (Professional, Trade, Consumer, & Support Groups)
*Suppliers of Archival Materials
*Donation and Recycling Directory
*A Checklist of Questions to Ask

I wish I'd had this years ago
If only I could have used this book several years ago when my sister and I had to move my mother out of her home of 40 years! Linda Hetzer and Janet Hulstrand are warm, witty writers who get right to the point in this short, concise, and immensely helpful book. Now I'll save it to use myself when it is time for me to move to smaller or different quarters, and I'll advise my daughter to consider it her handbook. This is a much-needed addition to "how-to" books.