Sorting Your Stuff: How to Make Moving more Affordable
Monday, April 25, 2016, 6:00 AM | Leave Comment
The cost of moving can be less daunting if you reduce the amount of stuff you take with you. No matter whether you’ve lived in your current home a short period of time or for many years, you’ve probably accumulated some things that you really don’t need to take to your new home.
Moving the minimal amount of items from one place to another can reduce both the physical labor involved with moving and the cost of relocating. Taking less stuff means you can use a smaller moving truck or make less trips from the old house to the new house, if the houses are only a short distance apart.
There are several methods you can implement to sort through and ultimately reduce your household items.
The following ideas can help you get started with the sorting process.
-
Size up the New House
Take a good look at the place you’re moving to. Access how much space you have in each room so that you can decide what furniture to take.
Your new home can be organized and clutter-free if you only take what comfortably fits into each room. Walk through your current home and tag each piece of furniture and the accessories that you plan to take with you.
-
Making Choices
The next step in your pre-moving process is to go through each room and sort through the items that aren’t tagged to go with you and decide what you want to donate or sell and what items simply need to be discarded.
As you access the items, consider how long it’s been since you used or wore something. If it’s been over a year, it probably doesn’t need to go with you.
If you find items in the closets or stored in the attic or basement that you’ve forgotten about, you probably won’t need those things in your new home.
Once you have a collection of things to donate to a local agency, deliver them quickly so that you aren’t tempted to hang on to them.
-
Self-Storage Units
You can ease some of the pre-moving stress by renting a self-storage unit. You can use the storage unit as a place to store items that you hope to sell rather than donate.
Temporarily storing them will give you some extra time to advertise the items or to have a yard sale right before or right after you move. You can also store items that you think you might need in your new home or in the near future.
You can find self storage in Louisiana, or look for units closer to your local area. Just in case you need to run by and grab something.
From a budget perspective, it would be better to store those things than to have to buy a replacement for them later on.
-
Don’t offer Your Home for Storage
If you have things stored at your house that belong to a friend, your adult children or other family members, have them pick those things up.
You don’t want to have to pay to move their belongings and you don’t want them to clutter or consume space in your new home. It’s easy for kids to use a parent’s house as a storage space for things that don’t fit in a dorm room or their first apartment. You might want to suggest to them that they rent a storage unit for their belongings.
Moving from one place to another gives you an opportunity for a new start. Excessive possessions can weigh you down and clutter your new home. Move just what you need into your new place. Give away what you don’t need. Store what you absolutely can’t part with at the moment. The passing of time might make you realize how unnecessary it is to hold onto numerous material possessions.
Throw us a like at Facebook.com/doable.financeAuthor BIO
Rachelle Wilber is a freelance writer living in the San Diego, California area. She graduated from San Diego State University with her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Media Studies. She tries to find an interest in all topics and themes, which prompts her writing. When she isn’t on her porch writing in the sun, you can find her shopping, at the beach, or at the gym. Follow her on twitter and Facebook.
