Moving is always a stressful period for everybody. If you add to the moving process the fact that you have to downsize and move to a smaller place, moving becomes even harder to manage. Now you will have to decide which things get to stay with you and which things you need to get rid of. It’s tough and the choices will certainly be hard to make. However, you don’t have to panic. You will manage to get on top of this situation, especially if you decide to take into consideration our five tips.
It’s very important to write everything down before you start packing. It’s like doing an inventory of the things you own. It will help you make an idea about what things you have in your own house and what items you need to keep. Reading this list will also help you decide what to keep and what to sell, donate or throw away. Make three columns: one for things you use often, one for things you use from time to time and one for things you rarely use. Then start sorting things out.
The rule is that if you have things that you keep “just in case”, most of the times you never get to use them. So these are definitely the things that you need to either sell or donate. If you keep things that are broken or have no use anymore for anyone, you should definitely throw them away. Keeping things for the sake of them just takes up a lot of space in your home for no good reason at all. This list will not only help you save space, but it will also declutter your home.
3. Find an affordable storage spaceIt often happens to have things of emotional value that you just don’t have the space to keep in the house anymore or large items that you want to keep, but moving to a smaller house makes it impossible for you to take them with you. The solution, in this case, is quite simple: find an affordable storage space and keep them in storage. Make sure you pack them properly and label them accordingly, so you can keep them in good condition and find them whenever you need them. Of course, eventually you will have to find a better solution for them because storage costs money. You could try and store them at your friends or family members who have bigger houses, a garage or a storage unit, especially if you’re planning to sell them soon.
4. Discuss the move with your moversIf you decide to hire a professional moving company, you can count on your movers to help you with great advice. They will tell you not only the basic things they tell to anyone who is planning to move home or office to help them during the process, such as details related to packing, notifying the persons that need to know about the move, changing your address, unpacking and so on, but also about where to find cheap or even free moving boxes, how to care for fragile items during the move, and where you should sell or store the things you don’t need.
5. Put together a moving saleThis step will not only help you downsize, but it will also help you make some money to cover some of the costs, if not at all, of your moving process. You could have the sale in your courtyard or garage, or even online on Craigslist, eBay and other similar sites. Make sure you check things with the local authorities and have everything in order for the sale if you decide to have a yard sale. You need to see if you have to get a permit before organizing the sale and if you should pay a tax or not for this endeavor. Set a date and make your sale known via local newspapers, social media and online. Set the prices before the sale begins and display them for everyone to see them. It will make things go easier and smoother. Organize everything you want to sell in categories and be ready to negotiate the price. After all, everyone that comes to a garage sale comes looking for bargains.
