I have seen this trick on HGTV shows. Need to do it myself as we move into our new house this weekend.

Take 4 boxes, or laundry hampers. Lable them:
TOSS
KEEP (everyday use or display)
STORE (long term storage)
DONATE or TAG SALE

And in regards to your "What if we need it" disease: if you have not used the item in the last 6-12 months (you pick the time line) say bye-bye to it!!

Good luck!!!

As far as the replacing stuff after you move factor--how much time will you have to do that? An old TV or couch may be heavy in the move, but you may not want to spend the first two weeks trying to replace household goods. You can always donate or freecycle after the move.

I wouldn't store anything for a garage sale. Since they are home daycare items, could you donate them to a family shelter and take the write-off?

Now, I would start in the kitchen with the goal of just decluttering. Did you use the item in the last year? Do you love it? Does it make you smile? If you said no, then put those items in the charity box. A room a day and move through the house, just focusing on give away stuff. Go back and start over. Look in every drawer, every closet, look at the nick knacks. Once you've been through the house twice, you should be reasonably decluttered for resale purposes.

The biggest wasters of moving are items in garages and basements. Aside from holiday items, what else is really there? Sports gear, camping gear? Evaluate it for need once you move. If the family no longer camps, give the stuff away. Same with a storage shed.

As far as the "what if we need it" part. I've taken Flylady's message to heart that this is thinking based on fear. I have faith that I can provide something if I need it. Now, I'm not going to get rid of my bathtowels and then moan and groan. But I don't need thirty towels around either. But that bucket of nails and screws my very unhandy husband hauled through the move? I know if I ever convince him to change a screw, I'll be able to go to the hardware store and get some. If you are moving 100 miles from the nearest store, it would be wise to save a bucket of screws. We live less than a mile.

Gloria

Gloria's idea about maybe using that old tv or couch is exactly what we ended up doing. We had to move out of our house and when we moved back in we were going to get rid of
the last pieces of furniture but finding what we need is not so speedy or easy. We have ended up using some of the old (and in bad shape) couches and chairs, as it is tough sitting on the floor.
But if moving a couch will cost you $200 I would think differently.

We moved recently from SoCal to Oregon. Took just a 17 foot U-Haul truck and a small trailer.

Over a two-month period we sold or gave away most of our furniture, even some pieces I really liked but just couldn't see moving. Made our house look bigger and easier to sell.

I didn't declutter enough though - and it's the small stuff that killed us, not the big things. The small stuff ate up the time in packing and made me crazy to the point of just not wanting to deal with it at all.

We ended up leaving stuff on the curb with "Free" signs on it - good stuff! - and posting messages on freecycle and craigslist about "moving - free stuff on curb." Folding wooden bookshelves, crates of good office supplies, queen mattress/box spring and frame (we're now sleeping on a futon sofa we bought here), miscellanous kitchen equipment including toaster oven, and so much more - out on the curb. I was aghast, knowing I'd be spending money on replacing a lot of that stuff at the new place.

We've been in a small rental apartment since we moved but now we're buying a house and it will seem almost vacant for awhile as I look for and buy furniture for dining room, family room, office, bedroom ...

If I'd been more organized ahead of time we could have taken a lot of that stuff with us. It would have been better to realize that we needed a larger U-Haul and pay extra for it, than try to stuff everything into the smaller one and then leave things behind.

About ten years ago,my sister moved during the week between Christmas and New Years. They had lots of help, schools were closed so it was less upsetting to their kids.

The biggest wasters of moving are items in garages and basements. Aside from holiday items, what else is really there? Sports gear, camping gear? Evaluate it for need once you move. If the family no longer camps, give the stuff away. Same with a storage shed.

I would SO agree with this. Last time we moved, we moved craft supplies, junky photos, household knicknacks, office supplies, old linens, all stuff we have and never use that's in storage.

Also, I would seriously limit the amount of "cheap" furniture that you move. I love IKEA, but much of their stuff does not travel particularly well. If you're going to use it at the new location, okay, but try to be ruthless.

marge, don't you think it would still be worth hauling a couch for $200, when the replacement is going to cost $2,500? At least, that's what it's been for me.

I've moved the same kitchen table and chairs three times, still trying to find something I like better. I paid less than $100 for them 15 years ago. My beat up old comfy couch has a slipcover so you don't see the holes and marker on the fabric. Still looking for a replacement for that also. Got rid of the $2,500 replacement couch.

One thing I meant to mention and minet spoke to this is a decluttered, purged home is so much easier to deal with. My boss from hell wouldn't let me take any leave days, so I couldn't have packing time or time to deal with the movers. I had seriously decluttered and purged for four years (I'm slow) and we had our 2,600 sq. ft. 3 car garage house packed in 3 days. The movers came at 9 and had us totally loaded by noon. I had all of the boxes and furniture color coded and at the new house I had a floor plan with the colors designated, so they could tell where to put things without having to have someone at the door to constantly direct traffic. We only moved across town, but the move went so smoothly our final price came in at $1,000 less than the quote due to it not taking as much time as anticipated.

And I still had a couple of van loads to take to the thrift store as I unpacked.

Gloria

Sell, get rid of as much as possible and then get rid of more. We just moved and I wish I had followed my own advice. I did declutter a lot and donated many items to others but still filled up a U-Haul for our long distance move. Be sure to mark your boxes and totes so you know what is inside. That alone will save you a lot of time and frustration later.

Is there a way you can get the thrift store to come to you? There are lots of charities that do pickups.

We usually book for a charity to come pick up two or three weeks ahead. That gives us lots of time to declutter. As we declutter, we make lists of what we're giving away so that we can get the tax deductions, and (this is key), pack it all in copier paper boxes. The copier boxes stack NEATLY, which is a plus if you're showing your house. We usually tape a piece of paper to the copier box lid so that it's easy to list our donations as we put them in.

You could do what one lady on the Flylady site did and arrange a standing charity pickup appointment. She had her charity come by every week at a designated day/time. And she always had a lot for them.

Do you know where you're going? If you know the dimensions of the space you're moving to, you can measure your furniture and know what will and will not work in your new space. We didn't do this and I wish we had. It took soooo long to pack up our old apartment and we ended up getting rid of about 1/3 of it after our move.

Here is a link that might be useful: Arrange-a-room online at bhg.com

My sister is moving across country in 2007. She has to pay for her own move. After getting bids (including UHaul which would be tricky cause who would drive their cars) she realized it would be cheaper to buy new stuff. She's keeping a few antiques that can't be replaced otherwise the rest goes.

Oh one more thing.

You asked any tips on keeping a room clean...
Yes! Don't use it!!!

quirky, I really have to disagree with this advice. Now is the perfect time for the OP to weed out stuff. To rent a POD (which aren't available everywhere)and move stuff is a waste of energy, in my opinion. People come here for advice on controlling the stuff in their lives, not how to put it into storage.

Thinking we can always deal with things later is what gets many of us overloaded to begin with. To move it seems redunant and a waste of time and money. The OP isn't listing her house until Feb. That's over 30 days of decluttering time which shouldn't be wasted. Who says she is going to have "leisure" time to do this later?

To overload a new home can be depressing. And the suggestion of not using a room isn't very helpful for those of us live with other people and actually use the rooms in our homes. I guess if you have 8 rooms and live alone that would be do-able, but it sounds like someone's house is too big if they don't need a room.

Gloria

Cathy,
My vote is to let go of the garage sale idea. Do you really want the bother of storing stuff until then, plus give up a couple days have it?

Next: The "what if we need it" disease.

"The goal is to move as little as possible, but we don't want to replace a lot of things in our new city."

Your GOAL says it all. Move what you currently use. For example, let's say you're debating on whether or not to take your punch bowl with you. You haven't used it in years but MIGHT need it once you move, and you don't want to have to SOMEDAY replace it. The worst that could happen is you (1) go to the thrift store and buy a replacement for $5 or, (2) serve alternate beverages at your first party.

Or, let's say you have 4 dozen tupperware containers. You don't currently use them but MIGHT want to in the new house. Get rid of them. If you decided you REALLY want plastic containers, go buy Gladware--it's cheap and easy to find.

Or let's say you have an abundance of knick-knacks and decorative items that MIGHT work in the new house. Unless you LOVE them, don't take them. No sense moving something you barely like, just because you already own it. You'll be "stuck" with it forever, looking at something you really don't like. You won't have to "replace" decorative items right away, but can add pieces little by little over the next few years.

Or, let's say you have 2 microwaves and can't decide if you should move them both. One "might" break. The worst that could happen is that you take one, get rid of the other, and SOMEDAY you have to shop the ads to buy a new microwave on sale for $60. You don't need to move duplicates (which you probaby don't "need" in the first place). It's like Gloria said above, you NEED towels, but don't need 30 of them.

For me it's always easier to let something go once I've planned how easy it is to replace *IF* I ever need to.

Cathy,

We have moved 10 times in twenty years. This last move was into a house 600 SQ FT smaller than the house we had. Two and a half years later I am STILL clearing out stuff I moved here I do not need or use but felt I could not get rid of at moving time.

You have had some very good advice here. I will add try to keep in mind the cost of replacing verses moving it. If I had it to do over again I would have tossed a lot more than I did. We had just moved a year and a half before this last move and I THOUGHT I really had dumped a lot of stuff then. It was not enough. Save your very favorite things and the things you use and since I do use lots of things in my arts I allowed myself to save the very best of the junk stuff I make things with. I am using those things up fast now.

I also agree with the what if thinking. Do not go there just get new unless it really is something you use in your lifestyle now.

I also agree on do not bother with yard sale. If I had to store and drag all the stuff I donated back out again I might be tempted to keep it. use that energy to keep sorting and purging. Give yout purged things away with a happy heart to know someone will find the treasure you thought it was when you bought it. What you give away comes back to you ten fold. I am not sure why but it has happened to me. So give it with a smile and free your heart and brain. I have not missed anything I gave away. I know many of the things I did give away brought joy to others. That brings Joy to me.

I peeled my extra things away like layers of an onion. Going through and choosing three things on every shelf and in every drawer to pass on. The first couple of times through it was easy. After it took a little more thought but worth every effort. I know it is important to keep at it since you do have a limited amount of time. Just keep in mind when you get brain tired from making decisions take a break. If you keep pushing too hard it becomes easier to say to yourself I will just keep this or that and you do not want to go there either. Stop and rest and go back to it when you are refreshed.

Good luck Chris

We are also moving this spring, and Flylayd taught me to talk to my "stuphhh".

"Do I love you? Do I love you enough to pack you, move you, and find you a place to live in our new house?"

That's it--do I love that item enough to go through all that work with it? And part of the answer to the question tells me where I'm going to put the stuff.

Craft items for Girl Scouts: yup--you should see the looks on their faces on 'craft days'. It's bulky, space-consuming, and will be hard to deal with--but it's worth it. I have my eye on a bin storage unit from Sam's Club. It'll be kept in the basement storage area in the room off of the rec room.

An entire cabinet worth of tupperware I hardly use: nope, just keeping some of it. I've given 1/2 of it away already--time to give away the other half. Keep stuff that stacks well together and uses the same lids. Give away anything that doesn't.

Glass bowls: already got rid of the ones that don't stack well. The ones that stack get kept

Camping gear: yes--it goes in the basement. We'll get a metal storage rack for it all.

Clothes that might fit me someday: they're all gone. And then I lost weight--2-3 sizes worth. I had to go buy all new clothes. (Rough life) BUT, the one pair of jeans that I somehow kept is going--they are out of style and ride too high on the waist and my weight is proportioned slightly differently--wasn't worth keeping.

Towels: we're going to pack with them and then buy new towels for the new house. They're all getting sort of ratty anyway.

Tools: keep. keep them all. DH will weed through them someday, he tells me. (My set stays in the house. He's never heard of anyone having a 'tool basket' before.) He tried to replace it with a toolbox. I balked. I still have my tool basket.

Magazines: thin and toss. If I can't file it somewhere, then I must not need it very badly. If I did, I'd have a file marked for it. (i.e. kitchen appliance ideas)

Games/toys: the elementary school teachers were the recipients of all games my kids had outgrown

"Do I love you? Do I know where you're going in my new house? Are you worth packing and transporting? Are you worth paying someone to move for me?"

If the answer is 'yes', then you know what you're getting into. If the answer is 'no', then you know that however much you might like an item, you don't love it *enough* to keep dealing with it.

--Beth

Here is a link that might be useful: Our house being built

bethohio3, you have taught many of us something with your last post.

"Do I love you? Do I know where you're going in my new house? Are you worth packing and transporting? Are you worth paying someone to move for me?" will be my new mantra as I declutter the spaces I didn't get to last year as well as giving those items I already went through a second decluttering. We should be moving out of state next year (again) so it's time to make my new list of things to go through and get started.

Can you get some idea of what it's going to cost per pound to move everything? It might be a lot easier to choose to leave behind a $50 microwave if you know it will cost you $75 to move it. There are some things you can't replace for their sentimental value. And there are a few things you want to have with you right away, like clothes for the first week, maybe even that microwave. But for anything you can't easily replace or don't need right away, a pure dollars and cents appraisal may help you weed out a lot of it.

I'm just moving down the road a few miles, so the cost factor isn't much of a consideration for me. Anything I'll use in the new house is worth taking for me. It's just a matter of going through it all - and having DH do the same.

I can't tell from your post if you've evey made a long distance move or not BUT as someone who has 3 times let me give you a few things to think about.
First most movers will charge by weight AND distance moved,
so you want to get rid of things with weight.
Second when moving plan on EVERYTHING going wrong. Murphy's Laws apply strongly to moving. If something can go wrong it will AND at the worst time possible.
Anytime you move there is a chance your stuff will end up in storage someplace, even if that was not in your original plans. Storage can mean lost or damaged stuff.
Ask your moving company to come in and give you an estimate for what you have to move. That alone can motivate you to downsize more than you would normally.
The moving company will also have a list of items you can not take in their vans/trucks. Those items you might as well get rid of now with the exception of those you know you will need before your move to maintain your home. Have it planned where the remainder will go before the movers arrive on moving day.
Use one closet to store the stuff that is going with you in your car/van or plane. In there should be important documents,old phone book from your current area, kids records, medicial records....ANYTHING you would need to live the first week in your new home somewhat comfortable. Movers NEVER arrive when they say they will...stuff happens!When it comes moving day put caution tape over that closet door and don't let the movers near it. It helps to pick out a single spot for all that stuff now so it doesn't get mixed in with other stuff and so you can keep a visiual on how big a pile you plan on taking yourself is.
A new house usually requires a new look. So unless your furniture is irreplaceable, as in an antique or family heriloom you might want to let it go now rather than later. You can always borrow pieces or make do with a thrift store find. Often not having furniture will motivate you to get one room done in your new place quicker.
AS for keeping it all looking good while you are getting ready to move. Start in your storage spaces. Attic, basement and gargages first. They are the hardest to clean out and any buyer is going to want to look at them too so start cleaning there.
Label everything. A for Attic, B for basement, G for garage.
Writting out words can get tough around box 50.
Keep a master list with your codes with you. I suggest a spiral notebook dedicated to the move for all your moving stuff.
When you get your storage spaces done they should look nearly move ready AND you should have some space for boxes from the house. Things you need but it would make the house neater if they were packed up till after you moved.

This is great stuff! Thanks so much!
We haven't listed our house yet, still working on it, lol. Why does everything take longer than it looks? Like eyes are bigger than our stomach, lol!

I have been doing good getting rid of stuff.
12 garbage bags full of girls clothes...gone!
3 garbage bags full of girls shoes....gone!
many boxes of kitchy knick knacks, stuff in case.....gone!
11 garbage bags of women's clothes not worn in 7 years since I left work to be a stay at home mom......gone!
Next big project.....toys toys toys! Where to start? We get hung up on getting all the pieces of each game or whatever together so we can donate it or give it way as a usable item, and not just throw it away. This is a project that has gotten started and "so far" probably about 20 times. We get interrupted or run out of time, and it gets undone by our girls.

As we get rooms done and ready, I am learing:
It is SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier keeping an uncluttered room clean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I enjoy dusting, and enjoy vacuuming, and taking 5 minutes to spruce up a clean room is so easy compared to letting it go and needing hours.

So much stuff, so little time!

A lot of that stuff costs more to move cross country than it would to replace it, so keep that in mind for the "what if I need it" items. You'll probably come out ahead if you end up replacing a few of them than if you moved ALL of them.

Amazing since I'm going slightly nuts here; we plan to list our house, also in mid-Feb and plan to move across the coast from NJ in the NE to Blaine WA in Pacific NW. Movers calculated approximately 33000-35000lbs at a cost of $30k-$40k (three quotes from top companies). My wife is surely getting rid of clothes, sack and sacks for charity but it's doing little to dent overall weight. Much of the weight is attributed to my electronics incl. computer servers (rack mounted), networked computers, printers, fax machines 10 large TVs, garden equipment, workshop (incredible number of tools/power equipment), huge model planes (too many, my hobby for more than 40 years), a complete gym (5 lge pcs), an amazing fully stocked custom basement bar with fridge, deck furniture (from my current 1100sf deck) and the list goes on. 4 furnished bedroom home (den/office, family, living, dining, furnished basement and 600sf shed. Even if I threw out all furniture, I doubt if I could reduce cost by $10k. As crazy as it sounds, It's a no-brainer to move it all; what is not a no-brainer is finding suitable sized rental single family home in Blaine with enough space to store everything while I build my new and significantly larger home, an 18 month project. Our initial plan was to build first then move but changed when I decided to use the equity (85%) in our current home to help offset the cost of our new home (cannot finance since I'm the owner/contractor); I've purchased a large lot at the other end.
To top it all, I'm architecting/designing our new home, just because I can, and will be dealing with permits, materials, contractors etc. and working at the same time; fortunately I'll be working remote from home 3:30am-11:30am Pacific time giving me rest of the day to build/supervise construction.
No mean task, seems quite daunting but I always challenge myself.

As crazy as it sounds, It's a no-brainer to move it all

If all that stuff makes you happy, then have it. Boys and their toys . . . :)

Glad you agree. Bowling balls too, all 13 of them for use in the new home with two lanes in the basement. Crazy?

Just out of curiosity, why is it a no-brainer to move all this stuff about as far across the country as you can get without leaving the lower 48?

In my experience, any time you move it's a great time to evaluate your possessions and determine whether your stuff is really serving you to create the life you want right now. Not to judge any particular items, but I think you do yourself a disservice to just call bringing it all a 'no brainer'.

But then I'm a very much a minimalist compared to most on gardenweb and don't think that owning/acquiring/keeping any stuff whatsoever should be unconsidered. Ten large TVs sounds almost unbelievable to me. My husband and I have discussions about whether we should keep the one modest sized TV we have when we move soon. It's not about the money or space, but the kind of life we picture having.

I'm a little crazy and don't do things by halves and since you asked about TVs and even though this does not belong in this thread, below is my part of my life story.

We moved from the UK to USA back in 1997 and moved entire house (minus appliances) to a brand new 2900 sf 4 bed/ 2 1/2 bath custom home (excl. basement & room above garage) we had built by a builder. Bags and bags of clothes, books, crokery, memoirs etc. etc. we stored in the 1600sf unfinished basement, several pieces of gym equipment, hobby room (large model planes, too many to count) plus a commerical computer rack/cabinet housing 4 huge servers and rack mount network equipment. Those days we had three crt TVs, one in family room and one each in two bedrooms. We had a massive basement clearout (everything useless was thrown out) in 2010 just prior to finishing 1000sf basement (amazing build, lighting, hw floor, an amazing bar and high end media equipment) leaving 600sf unfinished workshop/hobby/storage room; I did all the work except rough plumbing and rough drywall. 5 screens in the basement incl.100" projection, 2 x 42" plasmas, 1x 50" LCD and 1x23" touch screen serving as a TV/computer/controller. At the same time I upgraded all bedrooms to 3x42" plasma and 1x55" lcd and had previously upgraded family room to 65" DLP (total ten, actually 9 lge and 1 small). Who the heck lives in this house? My wife and I with occasional guests or visits from our two kids. Every room (6) is equipped with HD Fios (incl 3x multi room DVRs); I pay Verizon a fortune every month (don't ask why, my wife of 38 yrs stopped questioning me years ago). My current home (see image), though 17 years old, looks immaculate, inside and outside, like a model home as if it was built yesterday, obviously since it's seen very little use, wear and tear, besides I've been keeping everything up to date as if there's no tomorrow; this was meant to be the last home I ever built, boy was I wrong.

All the above is relatively in the past. A larger home, currently in design stage (see link). This crazy guy will be buying a few more TVs and projection screens. That's the crazy plan; I should be on CrazyGuysWeb LOL.

Here is a link that might be useful: New home site

This post was edited by Pinebaron on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 5:48

I didn't say I agree with you, but it's your right to own and move all that stuff. I just wonder why you are posting on a Home Organizing forum about it. Or posting about it at all.

Sorry about that, It was the heading: Decluttering for selling home and long distance move