Preparing for a move doesn’t have to be stressful. Here are some creative tips to help you simmer down and sail into your new home.
- Pack a little every day - go to Staples, U-Haul or Home Depot and pick up boxes, packing tape, a Sharpie marker and a hand truck (you’ll thank me!). For about $100 in supplies, you’ll be able to have boxes on hand to throw things into that you won’t need until after you move. If you move the boxes into storage (think neat, orderly rows in your garage or storage facility) you’ll even declutter to improve the look of your home for showings.
- Prune the things you’ll never use - if you are packing a little every day, you’ll inevitably find things you didn’t even remember you had! If you haven’t used it in a year, and you weren’t elated when you found it, it probably doesn’t need to go with you to the new house. This goes for everything - toys, clothes, kitchen items, baby gear (oh the joy of shedding baby gear!), paperwork, magazines, books, appliances, linens, shoes…be ruthless in your pruning and you’ll be better off.
- Put your pruning to good use - just because you won’t ever use it again, doesn’t mean it should end up in a landfill. Be good to the environment and your fellow citizens by finding clever uses or destinations for things. The Salvation Army and Goodwill (among other worthy organizations) will gladly take many household goods, clothes, and more. Libraries may take books and several organizations will take cars and furniture. Check on their websites before you haul things over to them. Some will even pick things up from your house.
- Profit from your pruning - there’s nothing more satisfying than making a few bucks off of stuff you don’t want or need any more. The thrill of the haggling, the filling of the fanny pack of small bills (it may be a fashion faux pas, but it is much safer than leaving a wad of cash laying around), the delight of shoppers young and old as they get a great deal. It’s a fun way to spend a day, and if you are downsizing in your move, you may need a weekend or two to make a serious dent. Advertise in the local papers and around your neighborhood because most of your traffic will come from serious yard sale professionals and passers by. Send an email to your local friends and family, particularly those with new homes, college-bound students and young apartment dwellers. And definitely post the sale on Craig’s List. If you haven’t been on that site, you’ll be amazed at what you can find…it’s also a great place to list specific items of value that should fetch a good price.
- Throw out or recycle junk - broken toys, mounds of paperwork, shampoo bottles with 10% left, anything you received for free, anything with missing pieces, and non-sentimental outmoded items. Remember, you generally pay by the pound to move your possessions so don’t be possessed by them.
How are you progressing with packing? Let us know by leaving a comment. We’d love to hear from you.
Tags: declutter, donate, move, Packing, possessions, showing, toys, yard sale
May 4th, 2008 at 2:48 am
The last time I moved, I had to start a job in another state six weeks before my family could move. I was flying back and forth across the country on weekends, packing non-stop for 48 hours at a time and there was still a ton of stuff left to pack when the movers got there. I wish I had the opportunity to tackle packing much earlier, or to consider hiring someone to help while I was away.