6 Decluttering Tips When Moving

There is nothing more exciting than moving to your new home. You get to change the space, and environment, even meet new people, and get to a new part of the city or even the world. It is truly an exciting event in anyone’s life but it can also require a lot of work. When packing to move you will realize how many things have accumulated in your life and house. So, it is a must to know how to properly declutter everything and what to do with excess things. Let’s start.

Start Early

The key here is to give yourself enough time to go through every single item in your home. You don’t want to start packing and decluttering a week before the move. That’s not enough time to do everything properly. So, give yourself at least a month or two before moving day to slowly and carefully go through every room, every nook and cranny, and organize all the things you won. You can categorize them, create piles and even label everything to know what you’re going to do with it.

Book Everything in Advance

Chances are high that you’re going to need moving and storage services, so make sure to arrange those in advance. You don’t want to book these a few days in advance. Make sure everything is booked and organized at least a month earlier. That way, you will know when exactly is your moving day or even make adjustments in dates and times if necessary. Also, don’t forget to take care of all the utilities and change addresses for your bills. You don’t want to leave that for last, because you are risking living without water or electricity the first month you move to a new place.

Keep Essentials in a Safe Place

In all the decluttering and packing craze, you might misplace a few things. So, keep your essentials in one safe place. Keep your wallets, phones, keys, chargers, toiletries, medications, and a change of clothes all in one bag that will only go with you into the van or car. That way, you are not risking packing all the essentials into boxes and shipping them with the van to a new place.

Figure Out What to Do Wit the Clutter

There are three options here - you can sell it, donate it or throw it away. As soon as you start packing you will notice that there are things you don’t need anymore. Old clothes, items, trinkets, dishes and many other things may end up as excess. If the clothes and other items are still usable but you don’t need them, you can easily donate them to a local charity or simply give them away to someone you know will need them. If those items are not usable anymore, you can consider recycling some of them or simply throwing them out. Lastly, if there are items that you know are valuable, consider having a garage sale and simply sell them to others. This way you manage to get rid of things and even make a buck.

Check the Expiration Date

You will also have to go through all of your food and other products that have an expiration dates. You don’t want to pack something that is not usable anymore, so go through each and every item. You would be surprised how many and how fast things can expire in your home. Herbs and spices are only good for a few months, canned food can last you long, but it still has an expiration date. The same goes for cleaning products, cosmetics and even coffees, teas and similar products.

Label All the Boxes

When packing and decluttering, it’s easy to lose track of what’s where. You can chuck things into boxes but without labeling them you will have no idea what’s in those boxes. That’s why you should start labeling as soon as you start packing and decluttering. You don’t want to throw away the wrong box with essential things. You can even come up with a whole spreadsheet to keep track of every item or box. But if you don’t enjoy that, simply write ‘kitchen’, ‘bathroom’ or label for any other room or group of items you’ve put into boxes. Stay organized.

Moving is all fun and games until you’ve lost track of what’s where. It is essential to stay organized throughout the process and to declutter your home properly. Start decluttering room by room and create piles with labels of what you’re going to do with all that stuff.