Moving to a new home can be one of the most exciting, stressful, and draining experiences of your life. It doesn’t matter whether you moving across town or across the country.
You are packing up your whole life only to unpack it again. It’s an incredibly intimidating and stressful cycle. Having a plan to purge your home before you start moving out can help to reduce the stress of the entire moving process. It may also give you peace of mind moving forward. When you get rid of things you don’t need anymore you begin to cut through the clutter and focusing on what is really important.
Even if you know you’re not going to use your daiquiri maker again or be able to fit into those jeans you wore in college it can be tempting to hang onto them because you never know when they might come in handy. Don’t fall into this trap. If you haven’t used something in years. The chances are pretty good you won’t miss it if you let it go.
Attack the Closets First
If you are tempted to keep your acid-washed jeans and your favorite T-shirts from college, remember clothes take up a lot of space and make for heavy boxes. If you haven’t worn something in over a year. It’s time to let it go. If you’re still having trouble letting go of your old clothes, ask yourself a few questions. Is it in style or make for a comeback? About every 20 years fashion cycles repeat themselves. Is it in good shape? If you’re thinking about holding onto a pair of pants or a shirt, but they’re looking kind of shabby and you would not feel comfortable wearing them to the grocery store get rid of it. Does it fit anymore? Like it or not, our bodies change as time goes on. If you can’t fit into those pants or the shirt just doesn’t quite look the way it should it’s probably a good idea to get rid of them. If you haven’t worn something at least once in the past 12 months or you answered no to any of the three questions above, fight the urge to hang onto it, stay strong, and put it in the pile to give away.
Get Rid of Furniture, Small Appliances, and Nonessentials
Before you pack up everything you own or donate anything that isn’t nailed down, think about the layout of your new house. Are you downsizing or are you moving to a place with substantially more square footage? Try to visualize what will go where in your new home. This will make it easier for you to decide what to keep and what to part with. It may take you some time to get everything laid out just the way you want in your new place. Renting a storage unit may be a wise idea. It will give you the option to hang onto big or important items until you figure out exactly what needs to go where.
Again, we can’t stress this enough. Don’t hang onto something just because you’re afraid to get rid of it! If you truly think you’re going to use it, that’s fine. If not, give it to someone who will. Habitat for Humanity or Goodwill is a great option to quickly and easily get rid of some of your household items. They may even offer to pick up heavier items, saving you from the backbreaking work of loading and hauling.
Now that you’ve got rid of the heavy stuff and things that aren’t necessary for everyday life, it’s time to start making decisions about appliances and electronics. Appliances and electronics may be a little trickier to donate. Habitat for Humanity won’t accept many appliances that are beyond five years old. Dishwashers, washers, and dryers must be less than 10 years old to be accepted.
Because of the rare earth metals and other chemicals they contain, a lot of electronics are supposed to be recycled or disposed of at special facilities with the capabilities to deal with all of the unique materials inside.
Check out eBay, Amazon, Facebook, or Craigslist
If you have the time, it can be a good idea to try to sell some of your used electronics or household items. Selling items online may sound intimidating. We assure you, it’s not that bad. In fact, most of the sites we mentioned like Amazon have an app that will allow you to list your treasures for sale directly from your phone. Take a few pictures, write a short description, and you’re done.
You can either choose to ship the items or have the buyer come pick them up. It’s a great way to conveniently get rid of things you don’t need or want anymore while making some extra cash to put toward purchases for your new home.
