Interesting thread. I am one of those hoarders- it may come in type.
In 2003 we sold our UK house and put our useful stuff into storage pending moving abroad. We had a huge clearout with
- selling on Ebay ( that was fun in those days). You would be amazed at the old stuff people will buy.
- car boot ( which most certainly wasn't fun. In fact it was a ghastly experience )
- garage sale ( which was actually a yard sale of things like garden ornaments, chimney pots, even plants). That was quite fun.
- numerous tip trips ( running the gauntlet as the guy was convinced we were traders)
Then we lived in a caravan for eight months while we drove around looking for a house in France or Spain. That was actually very liberating as we only had the stuff you actually really really need for living.
Then we had our stuff in UK storage moved to our new
house ruin and started collecting again. Two things brought home how much we had. First is after 14 years we still have a number of boxes unopened! The second was initially never having stuff like off cuts of wood to hold something in place. Got plenty again now.....
Mrs V keeps raising the subject of downsizing , I really like where we live but accept in a few years we might not be able to negotiate stairs. In the meantime we will keep accumulating.
Good luck with your move