The average mover in the United States is a couple between the ages of 18 and 34 with one or two kids. This translates into a lot of stuff being collected over the years. For movers, it can be a bit stressful trying to decide what should stay or be tossed and what should go with you to your new home.
Hiring junk removal services is a good first step. But before that happens, you need to decide what is junk and what isn’t. When it comes to junk removal, there are some lessons that we have learned over the years. Here is a small compilation of tips and tricks for de-junking and de-cluttering your home to get ready for a big move.
Give Yourself Plenty of Time: Waiting until the last day or even a few days before the movers arrive is a bad idea. If you feel rushed, you will likely swing too far in the extreme of either keeping everything or junking everything. Give yourself at least two weeks to plan on what should stay and what should go. Spend a couple of hours each day tackling the house room by room. By working through the house in small sections, you will be in a much better state of mind to get rid of what isn’t necessary.
Use Up Consumable Goods: There are a lot of things that just aren’t necessary to pack on a moving truck. Toilet paper, canned food, cereal boxes, cleaning supplies, etc. However, you don’t necessarily want to through these out, especially if you are frugally minded. Be sure to think ahead a few months here and stop buying the normal amount of these supplies 3-4 weeks before the move. Use up all of the excess toiletries and soaps and shampoos. Start eating the canned food. This will lessen the load of what you have to move, and end up saving you money. You can always buy all of that again when you get to your new home anyway. It usually ends up being wasted space on the moving truck.
Keep an ‘Absolutely Necessary’ Box: This is a small box of things that will be absolutely necessary for the first day you move in. Moving day is long and takes a bit of time and energy. Usually, the last thing on your mind after moving in is heading to the grocery store to pick up toilet paper. In your essentials box, make sure you have things like a single roll of toilet paper, a box cutter, hammer and nails, and anything else necessary for those first 24 hours in your new home. This will save you a lot of frustration in having to look through dozens of boxes to find what you need.
Junk Non-Sentimentals First: When it comes to junk removal, getting rid of that extra set of sheets is much easier than junking the collar of your childhood dog (or something else with sentimental value). Get rid of the easy stuff first. Save the hard decisions for last. This will help make sure you are able to de-junk as much as possible without spending a lot of time agonizing over that broken CD player from the 90s that you jammed out to The Spice Girls on.
Do A Practicality Test: When it comes to junk removal, put items through the practicality test. Be brutally honest with yourself here. Ask yourself when the last time you used that particular item was, or when the last time you wore that outfit was. If something hasn’t been used or worn in the last several months, you probably aren’t going to use it again. Donate, sell, or junk. As far as useful items go (sheets, kitchen utensils, etc.), having duplicates is sometimes nice. However, you don’t need 5 extra pairs of sheets and 12 different types of forks. Keep an extra pair or two, get rid of the rest.
As you get ready for your move and are in need of junk removal services, feel free to give us a call. We hope this article will help your move go a bit smoother as you get ready to take on a new chapter of your life.
