Let’s face it, the longer you’ve been in your home; the more junk you’ve accumulated. You may think owning a bunch of stuff is supposed to improve your quality of life, but the reality is that you are complicating your eventual move. It is easier to declutter before a move because it gives you a chance to start fresh when setting up in a new home. Follow these helpful tips to declutter your belongings before a move.
1. Start Organizing Long Before the Big Day
Don’t wait until your moving day to start throwing old stuff away. If you procrastinate until the last minute when moving, you could end up taking items you don’t really need. The key to a stress-free moving experience is to plan well in advance and get rid of unneeded belongings as soon as possible.
2. Tackle the Kitchen First
Your kitchen is a notorious source of waste as you continuously build up foods that expire. The best way to embark on your decluttering efforts is to sort through your fridge and pantry to throw out any old foods or unused housewares. Moving is an excellent opportunity to eliminate waste, starting with the place that creates the most.
3. Give Yourself an Incentive to Sell Used Items
Clutter can be a profitable venture with the emergence of phone applications that make it easy to snap a photo and sell your used things. List a few items online each day and before you know it, you will have money coming in. There is nothing like a good incentive to motivate you to go through your belongings.
4. Sort Through Items in Storage
Do you remember those boxes that have been stacked up in the closet for years? Moving is a prime opportunity to declutter your household because you can take the time to go through old storage boxes that contain items you haven’t used in ages. Throw away things that have been sitting in storage unused instead of spending money to bring them to your new home.
5. Apply the One-Year Rule
You may have a deep connection to your belongings, but if you don’t use them it doesn’t make sense to keep holding on to things that just sit in your house. Follow the one-year rule to get rid of all items that haven’t been used in a year. If you can’t remember the last time you operated a household gadget, it may be time to get rid of it. Chances are if you haven’t worn pieces of clothing in a year, it is unlikely you will wear them in the future.
6. Label Your Boxes for Easy Unpacking:
Shifting around boxes after a move can be exhausting when all you want to do is relax after a long day. To make sure your movers know where to put your boxes, use a bold marker to spell out which room each box belongs in.
Moving is the perfect opportunity to organize your belongings and find a way to get rid of unneeded possessions. Why pay to move things you don’t really need when you can simplify your life by decluttering before the big day? Avoid the mistake of moving with junk and sort through your belongings before you start packing for your move.