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Moving in 4-6 months---how to get ready?


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Anyone have great tips for how to get ready to move? We will be moving in 4-6 months--give or take a bit. The highway is coming through our house. If we don't find another hobby farm for sale in our area soon, we will likely be buying 13 acres and building there. That might mean a 1-2 month stay in our camping trailer or apartment during that time.

 

How do I get a household that has been here for 18 years ready to move? I have the 3 special needs kids and all of there stuff and then the garages, barn, and critters to get ready.

 

I was thinking of starting dejunking now in 2 stages:

 

1. Start in a room and get rid of anything that I don't want to move with us.

2. As I come across things that I know won't move with us (no matter where they are) get rid of those too.

 

I know that my kids do NOT want to get rid of ANYTHING--down to the last of 37 stuffed animals or 83 books, etc.

 

Have you ever been rather ruthless with this and then regretted getting rid of stuff? I am thinking of getting rid of all but 2-3 cook books. After all, those few have almost everything in them I need and I have google for anything else. Same with books (of all horrors:001_huh:)--I am thinking of seriously downsizing our fiction section and keeping some favorites and then our non fiction reference books. We have 2 libraries which are each within 10 miles plus a church library.

 

I am thinking of just boxing stuff up as I come across it and dontating the whole hodge podge to a local thrift store. I could sell some of it but we are in a rural area in the middle of winter here and I don't think my stuff is worth that much, esp. for the hassle involved.

 

Any other tips, ideas for making this go as smooth as possible? We will have professional movers that do all of the moving but my sister said they pack and move EVERTHING---even moved her trash for her:confused: so I want only the minimum here in the house when they come for that.

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I regularly move stuff out of the house into bins in the garage. Anything that is still out there after 3-4 months gets donated or tossed. 90% of the stuff I don't miss.

 

If you have 6 months you could go through and box up stuff you don't think you want to move and wait to donate it until you are sure.

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I would not waste much energy on sorting books - books pack up very nicely in boxes and it takes hardly any time to take them off the shelve, box them, unpack and put back. When we moved overseas, we took all our books and I don't regret it for a minute... getting it from the shelf is very different form having to treck to the library.

 

I'd be rather ruthless with clothes, household items (how many dishes and gadgets do you actually use? Give away all the rest), knickknacks (unless strong memory attached), anything you don't use right now but keep because you might use it later (you probably won't), anything you have two of but need only one etc. I'd make it an ongoing process to discard items as i come across them, seeing you have so much time.

I give away anything my kids have outgrown, including toys and books (as soon as they are ready to part with them - if they are still attached, I would keep and move it). Waiting for the garage sale is not worth it.

 

If you have a farm, the hardest thing to get rid of may be lifestock.. so I'd start offering this for sale immediately. Anything else that's left at last minute you can take to salvation army - but they don't take sheep.

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Do garage sales do well in your area? I would start there. If you have outbuildings you could do one in there no matter what the weather. I am surprised what people will buy. If so, pick a building and start hauling stuff out there. Go through the kids stuff when they aren't looking or are gone. Dump everything in the middle of their room. Toss everything broken first. Then box up like items. Let them know you are moving soon and they can have the toys later. Keep out only their favorites. Give them very little. You will be surprised. They will be upset at first. But, they usually find their imaginations again. Even the special ones. In fact, my special kids are the ones who have benefited most. They seem to really feel when their is too much stuff.

 

I would be pretty ruthless honestly. Otherwise you end up packing all that stuff and probably paying storage money for it. Do you want to pay hundreds of dollars each month for your old stuff when you can just replace it later or gasp....not replace it and have some extra living area (or chocolate:tongue_smilie:).

 

Get a box and go through all the clothes. Go find some free boxes. Start tossing things in there while you go through your day. Either put it in the garage for the big sale or haul it to goodwill whenever you are near there. Don't let anyone in those boxes.

 

Find some blogs or books for inspiration.

 

The Tricknor Tribe lives in their toy hauler. I think it is 13 people.

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If you have a farm, the hardest thing to get rid of may be lifestock.. so I'd start offering this for sale immediately. Anything else that's left at last minute you can take to salvation army - but they don't take sheep.

 

We only have a hobby farm--3 horses and a 14-20 chickens, a few barn cats, and a dog so all of them will be moving with us.

 

Garage sales do not do well in our area and I am afraid that if I box up stuff it will wander back in to the house before I could have a sale.

 

We will be blessed in that a prof. moving company will be packing us up and moving all of our stuff for us and then putting it in the new place. Dh is SO happy NOT to have to move furniture.

 

If we build on the property we looked at today, we will only be moving about 1 mile as the crow flies away.

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I'd suggest you start small. You've got time and if you start getting rid of things with a vengence now, you'll meet with resistance and spend the next four months fighting rather than clearing. Get a box and fill it with things you know you can do without. When that box gets full, drop it off at Goodwill (or wherever) and begin filling the next box.

 

If you get within six weeks of moving and are still feeling like you have too much stuff, you can pick up the pace then.

 

For me, the key was to go through the kid's things when they weren't around. I'd put the things I thought they could do without in a separate box and store it in the garage, out of easy sight, for four to six weeks. If in that time, the dc went looking for something I'd boxed up, I'd go get it. If they didn't ask for it, I'd donate it after the four to six weeks had passed. I kept track by writing the date I filled the box on the front.

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About 5 months ago we found out we'd be moving (depended on when the house sold). I started by going room by room and boxing up anything we didn't use on a daily basis, donating, and trashing things. I was amazed at how much I actually threw away and donated. I tried to look at things with a detached eye and really asked myself when was the last time I used this item. That usually helped me get rid of the "what if I need it later" feeling. If it had been years since I used it, I could live without it. As for the kids' stuff, I told them that we had to box up all the extra, so anything that couldn't be put away neatly went into a box. I was decluttering in preparation to sell the house and you don't have that motivation, but something similar might work. I put all the boxed up toys in storage. They've only asked for 2 things out of the last 5 months. I'm seriously tempted to get rid of the rest when we move next week. Good luck. It's hard to go through every thing you own piece by piece. Even today, I took a box of things to Goodwill and felt a little sad when I donated one of my dd's little purses, but I'll live. :)

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That is a good idea. I hope to start tomorrow with getting rid of stuff we don't need.

 

What is really sad is that last fall I donated TWELVE HUGE black garbage/leaf bags full of stuff to our church's Great Giveaway...........and we filled a trash dumpster TWICE with stuff and now, just a few months later, you could never tell it. We have WAY too much stuff.

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We spent 10 months knowing we were going to move and I didn't do enough. I didn't know what size house we were going to end up in so I justified keeping everything by saying that we might need it in a large house and so on. We ended up moving 10 miles to a house 1/2 the size of the first one.

 

Get rid of any clothing that is going to be the wrong size for the wrong season or that is really too worn for much (you know, the kind that will rip apart in one wearing). Since kids grow and all that, start with your own clothing and shoes. I was ruthless with my own clothing and am now glad that I was.

 

I also gave away many cookbooks and I don't miss them. I find that when I wasnt a new recipe I always search online first anyway. I just kept the books that have recipes I already use. I was also ruthless with many of our other books. If it is one I can check out at the library, it was gone.

 

We started eating up any surplus food to save money. We found ourselves eating out a lot move after the move and just before the move thanks to packing and such. Also, not knowing how much space I was going to have made a difference. I can gradually rebuild my stockpile and it was easier not taking it.

 

Go thru every box you have stored now. Get rid of it. Get organized now. If it needs to be filed, make files now and do it now. Dh didn't get all of his done and now I still have boxes of papers to go thru. UGh.

 

Don't be ruthless on seasonal supplies. I gave away and threw out many of my gardening supplies. I didn't know where I was going to store it, we were not planning on gardening for at least a couple of years...but of course now I need it all again.

 

Can you set aside one room for packing? I did that. I packed up all the seasonal dishes, extra baking pans, and so on. Labeled the boxes well, and put them in another room ready to go. Then, weeks later, I ended up donating them because I was able to make it just fine with only 1 lasagna pan :)

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Go through *everything*. We made 5 trips to the dump and at least that many to Goodwill. Big ticket items we sold on craigslist. I don't think garage sales are worth it, I would rather give it away than selling stuff for a nickel all day.

 

My kids were cooperative when it came to purging, I didn't throw out anything without their knowledge. I didn't get rid of any books, just for the record. ;)

Edited by Mrs Mungo
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I am in the same boat. My goal is one bag a day, often done in 2-3 bag chunks. So far, I have been able to do it pretty good. I like smaller goals that add up. :0)

 

First I researched what donation centers were in my city. I have a donation center in every direction I go, with minimal side stepping, so I have no excuses to not donate.

 

What I have is: big black garbage bags for donation to Goodwill. That way they are easy to see, I can just grab any black bag around that has items in it and get rid of it. If I am mid bag and have to walk away, I know on another day that I can just grab the bag, full or not and donate it. When i didn't have this system, I would forget what was donation and what was garbage, so I was reluctant to just grab and go as I walked out the door.

 

White kitchen bags are for trash. Again....garbage day, I can just grab and go if it wasn't already put in the garage. I can walk into any room, and know that if there is a partially filled bag, it goes. This works for the kids too. I will hand them a bag and ask them to put somethings into it. They have whittled down many more toys than I expected this way. I usually take a glance through their bag and toss a bit into the Goodwill bag that I think is still usable.

 

One particular cardboard box is for recycling upstairs. Quick and easy to dump into my main recycling bucket.

 

One blue laundry bin gets taken to the kids second hand store at least once a week. They are very picky about what they take, but they will donate what they don't want so I can just drop it off and leave if I want. The $$ adds up on an account for me. I have about $120 so far this month. :D:D

 

Anything worth $20 or more, we Craigslist for a few weeks before we donate.

 

 

One mental question I ask myself is: can I replace it? If it is a kids board book that they really liked, and I don't want to toss it because of this, I ask myself if I can just buy it again. If the answer is yes, then I toss it. If there is emotional attachment to it, I ask myself if giving it away vs. donation will make me feel better. If yes, I give it away. If no, I put it aside for another day. I have found myself going back several days later and tossing the same item with no guilt what-so-ever. It seems like for my brain, it needs a time to let go of somethings that have emotional attachment. But once it is ready, I can toss pretty much anything :lol:

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I was thinking of starting dejunking now in 2 stages:

 

1. Start in a room and get rid of anything that I don't want to move with us.

2. As I come across things that I know won't move with us (no matter where they are) get rid of those too.

 

 

 

Well, this is pretty much exactly what I was going to recommend when I saw your post title. I'd start with the garage, get rid of everything that you don't want/need, and hopefully leave it fairly empty. That will make it easier when you go through other rooms one at a time. You'll have someplace to store stuff until you can get rid of it. I'd also recommend you think about using freecycle to get rid of anything that could be used again by someone else. Or bring things to a thrift store.

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