When you own too much furniture, accessories, sports gear, and other belongings, moving becomes more complicated, time-consuming and expensive. Ease your household transfer by downsizing your possessions so that you have less to deal with during your move. These tips show you how.
Divide and Conquer
Organization is the key when you downsize. Create the following categories and use them to classify everything you own:
- Move is for items that you want to take with you such as the clothes you like wearing, your TV set and computer. They should eventually be packed away in boxes that should be the only items you move.
- Store is for things you want to keep in a storage locker or your mom’s attic but not bring, such as family heirlooms, artwork and souvenirs.
- Sell is for stuff that you can make money from such as CDs, books, and furniture you no longer like.
- Donate is for objects that you can give to charity, such as VHS recorders, clothes that no longer fit and books you're done reading.
Storage Strategies
The first place to store items for easy accessibility is in a storage locker that is near your new home. You’ll need to pay a monthly fee to rent a unit. Another option is in a spare closet or space belonging to a relative or friend, which can potentially be free. A final possibility is in a storage area at your new home if you can find the space.
Where to Sell
If you start several months before the move, you’ll get the most profit for your goods at online auction sights like eBay. You’ll need to create descriptions, take pictures, pay a commission on any sale and deal with shipping. But your potential profits are greater because you have a worldwide base of customers.
If you want to keep your sales local and commission-free, you can use Craigslist or other city-based listing services. You can also email a list of what you own to your family and friends to see if they want to buy anything.
Finally, you can run a garage sale, which requires some advertising at neighborhood locations like grocery store bulletin boards and putting up signs around your community. You’ll also have to spend a few hours setting up and dealing directly with buyers. But you could potentially sell most or all of your stuff and get cash in hand by the end of the sale.
Whatever you don’t sell needs to go into the donate category.
Donating to Charity
This is the easiest category to get rid of because all it takes is hauling your possessions to a thrift store or charity. Just remember that other types of facilities can use donations as well such as libraries for books, schools or kid’s clubs for sports equipment and old folk’s homes or community centers for art supplies.
Now that you’ve downsized your possessions to a more manageable size, you can contact us at True Friends Moving to schedule your upcoming move!