it starts

We got the ball rolling on packing.
We did the usual pack/purge piling and ended up with a carload to take the the recycling and thrift store.
We let a lot of "stuff" follow us around for years but have taken the opportunity, now that we are owning, to consider what we permanently want in our lives.

That old clock radio that your g-rents gave you? While sentimental, is useless now. That collage you made in college? While still memorable, you'd be ashamed to hang it up anywhere (or should be!).

Keep the memories and purge the tokens. We have finite space in our homes and hearts for "stuff". Make sure each item counts. Less (to dust, to move, to clean, to put-away) really is more (space to spread out, to bring in the useful and beautiful, to maximize the ever-important 'white space').

Just like budgeting, purging means giving up a ton of little things so that you can enjoy one big, important, expensive thing. Be it a stack of sweaters for a designer dress or a discount chair for some more bare, beautiful floor.