No matter your age or income level, if you need to get rid of some possessions due to downsizing, you’re likely to be tormented by the process.

Indeed, those at the top of the success ladder often feel the most overwhelmed when they need to purge possessions, says Vicki Norris, author of “Reclaim Your Life ... and Get Organized for Good.”

Norris, who was a real estate agent before she started her own organizing firm two decades ago, says the proliferation of inexpensive imported goods and the ease of buying online have exacerbated the problem, particularly for middle to high-income people.

Ownership of too many possessions isn’t only an emotional burden; it’s also a problem for those who need to make their place appealing to buyers to achieve a successful sale, says Dorcas Helfant, a real estate broker and co-owner of several realty offices.

“Nowadays, buyers want to start fresh in a house that’s free and clear. They can’t picture themselves living in a place jammed with other people’s stuff,” says Helfant, a past president of the National Association of Realtors (realtor.org).

Before embarking on the huge task of getting their property ready for market, she urges sellers to create a timeline and a checklist.

“There’s a lot of emotional turmoil with any move. But you’ll be much better off if you take a strategic, step-by-step approach rather than a disorganized one,” Helfant says.

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Equip yourself with the right gear for the job.

Norris says an efficient decluttering and packing program shouldn’t require a lot of expensive equipment.

In most cases, cardboard boxes should suffice for your move. Ideally, these should be boxes of uniform size -- like the “bankers boxes” sold at office supply stores -- that will stack neatly.

After pre-packing the items you’re determined to take to your next property, place these in your garage or a guest bedroom not currently in use. If possible, Norris urges you to avoid renting a paid storage unit.

“Storage units can be very expensive. People think they’ll just rent one for just two or three months. But due to their inertia, the average rental period is at least 15 months. When your stuff is out of sight, it’s out of mind,” she says.

-- Go room-by-room when decluttering and packing.

Norris says it’s very unnerving to approach a decluttering project by working on several fronts simultaneously. Instead, she advises you to tackle just one room at a time, beginning in the “public” areas of the house that will receive the most scrutiny from prospective buyers. These include your entryway, living room, dining room, family room and kitchen.

-- Take your children’s feelings into account when sifting through their toys.

Children feel an understandable sense of alarm at the notion that many of their toys will be packed up and stored away until the move is complete. As Norris says, they need reassurance that their toys will be available to them once your family reaches its destination.

How can you calm your children’s fears that their toys will be safe?

Norris suggests you involve them in the pre-packing process, making a game out of choosing a few very special toys that can remain in their room until the move is complete and placing the rest in packing boxes.

“Don’t pack their toys behind their back or they could be very upset and freak out. This could make your move even more upsetting,” she says.

-- Allow extra time to clear through your kitchen.

As real estate agents observe, most home shoppers won’t routinely look inside a chest of drawers and examine your clothes. But many will open kitchen cabinets and are very critical of countertop clutter.

“Give the kitchen top priority. No one wants to see that toaster or blender on your counter space,” Norris says.

You won’t want to remove basic kitchen items -- plates, pots, pans and utensils -- until right before you move. But much earlier, you can pack away seasonal and special-use items.

-- Realize that purging can prove cathartic once it’s done.

Few enjoy the arduous chore of sifting through years’ worth of accumulations. This project can be especially unpleasant for those who must move against their will for whatever reason.

But Norris says many who complete the process discover, much to their surprise, that they feel happier when they’re less encumbered with excess belongings.

“It’s an unexpected chance to lighten up and start over,” she says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

After completing a Ph.D. from an Ivy League university and landing a job with a government agency, a scientist of 31 never imagined he’d be spending his free evening and weekend hours cleaning houses and landscaping for extra cash. But a zeal for homeownership has led him to do just that.

“I grew up poor, my dad is gone, and my mom is living on disability, so she can’t possibly help me buy a house. What’s good is that my parents taught me a strong work ethic, so I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves and work hard to get what I want. Right now, a house tops my list,” the scientist says.

In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008, housing analysts predicted many millennials would reject homeownership as a goal. But that hasn’t happened, says Ashley Richardson, a seasoned real estate agent affiliated with the Council of Residential Specialists (crs.com).

“The only difference in home-buying patterns between the millennials and their parents is that, nowadays, kids wait longer to buy,” Richardson says.

But for a generation saddled with student debt and facing high housing costs, there are often steep financial barriers to homeownership. That’s why they must be resourceful and, like the scientist, build a savings account by whatever means possible.

Are you cash-tight yet you hanker to take advantage of the low mortgage rates still available to buyers? If so, amassing a war chest of cash could make your home-buying offer even more competitive.

“As always, cash talks. People with more cash can get better deals, especially in areas where multiple bidding is the norm,” Richardson says.

Seeking to increase your income is just one element in the equation. The other is to cut spending. Here are a few pointers for those embarking on a crash savings program to buy a home.

-- Reflect on your attitudes about spending.

What stops people from reducing their spending? Financial planners say emotional impediments are often to blame.

“People come to financial advisers hoping for a miracle. But we’re not miracle workers,” says Shawn Koch, a planner affiliated with the Garrett Planning Network.

Koch says many people attempting a crash savings program first need to deal with the reasons behing their bad money habits, such as impulse spending or a sense of material entitlement. To help conquer these impediments, she recommends a book called “Money Harmony: Resolving Money Conflicts in Your Life and Relationships” by Olivia Mellan, a psychotherapist.

-- Begin with an inventory of your current spending.

A major obstacle to saving for a home is uncontrolled day-to-day spending. But before you can decide how to reallocate your funds, Koch says you need to review where your money has gone for a period of several months. This can be done either with pen and paper or a personal finance tool such as Quicken.

Such a review can bring surprises. For example, Koch says many of her clients are shocked to learn how much they’re spending on restaurant meals, carry-out food and coffee breaks.

Doing a spending inventory can be time-consuming because you must sift through credit card and checking account statements. Indeed, for those who don’t routinely track their spending, this process could take the better part of a weekend. But Koch says it’s essential to determine where cuts are possible.

-- Develop a budget that allows room for your savings goal.

Given the ever-rising cost of living, Koch says it’s hard to trim expenses enough to allow for a serious savings program. Still, she urges savers to examine their largest outlays, including regular supermarket spending.

“Grocery store food can ... add up fast,” says Koch, who recommends that clients buy fewer processed foods, do more home cooking, monitor food waste closely and consider taking bag lunches to work.

Transportation costs can also put a big dent in most household budgets. Koch advises savers to challenge their long-held assumptions about car ownership. Would public transportation or carpooling be a realistic alternative for commuting that could lead to hefty savings for gas, insurance and car repairs?

Koch also recommends you examine your cellphone outlays.

“Do you really need the latest iPhone, or will the phone you’ve owned for a couple of years still meet your needs? You can always upgrade to a better phone after you’ve met your other money goals,” Koch says.

For those who need guidance, Koch recommends “The Budget Kit: The Common Cents Money Management Workbook” by Judy Lawrence.

-- Sign up for an automatic savings plan.

Many people who live paycheck to paycheck find it hard to summon the discipline to extract a chunk for savings. And they fear automatic withdrawals from their pay.

But financial planners say automatic withdrawals can be the answer for people who aren’t methodical savers. And they say those who have direct debits taken from their pay rarely miss the money. Meanwhile, their savings accounts add up quickly.

“With an automatic debit plan, you just set it and forget it. That’s a big plus for anyone trying to save money for a house,” Koch says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

Before retiring, many people look forward to blissful years without work demands. But a huge job awaits retirees who wish to downsize and must declutter to sell their property.

Take the true story of a doctor who’d worked in an executive post at a large medical center. He and his wife, a structural engineer, both left their jobs at age 70, excited at the idea of foreign travel. But first they decided to sell their family home, a seven-bedroom Tudor.

That decision came two years ago, and the couple’s passports are still gathering dust. Why? Because they’re bogged down by the process of decluttering, and hence their house has yet to go on the market.

Mark Nash, a longtime real estate analyst and broker, doesn’t know this retired couple. But he’s assisted many retirees with large homes who must confront the challenging purging task before they can move.

Many older sellers “spend too much time on a process they could expedite,” says Nash, the author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home.”

Such people need a game plan, says Kristin Bertilson, the owner of “Queen B Organizing.” She’s helped dozens of sellers sift through their accumulations quickly.

To reduce the size of the task at hand, Bertilson suggests that her clients apply objective standards. For example, they might decide to keep all the pieces with their kids’ handprints but toss out craft projects that are falling apart or hard to store.

She also helps clients downsize by encouraging them to confront the true costs of shipping their belongings to the new location -- a sobering realization.

“When people get an estimate of $1,200 to move furniture, they find it easier to let go of all the excess pieces,” Bertilson says.

Nash urges home sellers to undertake the stuff-purging process as soon as they know they’ll be moving. That’s because a decluttered home is much more appealing to buyers.

Here are a few pointers for retired sellers:

-- Get a preliminary handle on your overall clutter situation.

Some downsizers try to grapple with the decluttering process without a plan. But those who do a preliminary inventory of their problem are more efficient, says Dorcas Helfant, a past president of the National Association of Realtors.

“Sellers who have a room-by-room picture of all their possessions can make faster decisions about how to streamline it all,” she says.

Your listing agent can assist in deciding which items should be removed to make your home show-worthy. These will likely include some bulky furnishings, like recliners.

“A house filled with furniture can look a lot smaller than it truly is,” Helfant says.

-- Formulate a plan of action.

Nash says those who are most efficient at decluttering follow a step-by-step action plan.

To begin, he recommends you plot the space in your new property before deciding on the volume of items you can take with you, assuming, of course, that you've already bought your new home.

A few years back, Nash left a 3,200-square-foot bungalow for a 760-square-foot condo, requiring him to drastically reduce his total belongings. To gain a more precise estimate, he bought graph paper and plotted the layout and storage space.

“The drawing allowed me to plan a place for everything I expected to take with me, down to my bike and favorite clothes. That made it clear which things would be impossible to keep in my new condo,” he says.

-- Sort your accumulations systematically.

During their years in a property, many homeowners unwittingly acquire a large array of similar items. Early in the purging process, Nash suggests that sellers sort like items to determine which they have in excess.

“I’m talking about all that stuff you went to the store to buy because you didn’t know you already owned it. After you see all the rampant duplication, it’s easier to cut out extras,” he says.

Once you have the like items in each room categorized, use what Nash calls the “three-box system” to cull through them efficiently. One box should be labeled “keep,” a second “give away or sell,” and a third, “I don’t know.”

To hasten the process, immediately make arrangements to have your “give away or sell” items carted off. This allows you to create more space to sort through possessions from the “I don’t know” box that will require more consideration.

“Decision making is what slows people down. But you’ll make decisions a lot faster if you have fewer items to look at,” Nash says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)