Downsizing With Family History in Mind

by Devon Noel Lee, Andrew Lee

Whether you have 1 hour or 1 year to downsize your possessions or those of a loved one, the task is overwhelming and fraught with error. Downsizing with Family History in Mind guides you through the process with Action Plans based on the time you have available to complete the downsizing process.You will also learn how to evaluate your possessions so you know what to keep to preserve your family's legacy and what you can give away.Learn why when you have less, you have more, through Downsizing with Family History in Mind.

Genres: Nonfiction

143 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 26, 2019

Reviews

[Alexandra Daw · Rating 5 out of 5]

i bought this book on Kindle. This 143 page guide to downsizing is every family historian's answer to their prayers. I have just started retirement and am determined not to leave a "mess" for my kids to clean up. I think by their very nature, family historians are hoarders. This guide accommodates all sorts of situations - from having to clean out a house in a weekend through to having 12 months to get ready. We're not moving anywhere soon but I would like to get started and I feel far more in control now I have these checklists and guides for different areas e.g. paper documents, photos, household items. etc. As an only child I have luckily (or unluckily depending on your point of view) inherited things from my grandmother, my mother, my father, housemates and of course the kids. There's lots to get rid of and lots to store or at the very least, display. This book will help me get there. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[carrietracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a slim, probably self-published book whose intro desperately needed someone to actually read it and correct weird computer auto-fills.

But once you get past that, it's actually super helpful in ideas on downsizing in a variety of situations. It helps you with a rush job if a family member dies unexpectedly and you need to do a quick grab/photo/sort all the way through knowing that you want to move to a smaller place in a year. There are helpful lists, useful ways of thinking about things you own and even about how to pursue avenues to rehome some of your items that may have historical value.

The only thing you need to outright ignore is the part where they tell you to throw away ALL BOOKS MOVIES AND MUSIC. Which is hilarious.

But otherwise, this was definitely worth the ILL and probably would be worth a fast order if you find yourself dealing with cleaning out a relatives home after their passing. I wish I'd had this BEFORE I sorted through my grandmother's stuff.

While it DOES contain a fair amount of info on sorting genealogical items/family heirlooms it isn't super narrow in scope.

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I downsized 6 years ago, I moved bins of journals, boxes of framed photos, and albums of photos, with the expectation of "doing something" that will make sense of all of it. This book helped me speed up my work flow with what the author calls the "process." Before I read the book, I had removed photos from frames and scanned them, moving the files into chronological ordered folders. My family had 138 albums of photos from film which are now in processing with the end goal to have annual photobooks. Photobooks will be easier to share with grandchildren than the heavy 3 ring binders which needed curated to tell better stories.
I am recommending this book for my genealogy club to host a discussion for all members of this 55+ community during family history month.

[Ann Otto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much information in this book is based on common sense. It addresses family history but also downsizing a home as well, so it isn't as focused on genealogy as one might expect by the title. However, the author's tips and charts on planning for any type of possession downsizing including various timelines would be helpful to those in need.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

One day we're going to be gone and our kids are going to have to decide what to do with all our stuff. This book is full of tips on how to decide what is important and worth saving and what is not. When it comes to my family history files I'm very concerned about how to preserve what is important and where it should all go. This book has motivated me to start taking steps now in deciding what to keep and what is worth donating and how to find repositories for those family history donations.