I have largely been inactive on this site due to finally closing on a house we have been trying to buy. We cut the lease on our apartment and have one more week to have our stuff out, we have been living here for about two weeks now.
Like most couples with kids, we have school schedules along with work. He works close to 50 hours a week and I’m part time but since school is starting and I work in clothing retail, my schedule has been crazy busy. We knew we were possibly going to move but due to the first loan falling through (blessing in disguise), I put off starting to declutter and pack- for fear of jinxing us. I am now regretting not starting, but we have almost all our items moved and are in the process of unpacking.
Most of the websites say to start seriously packing about a month before the move, start with nonessentials but we decided to move in to the house as soon as we had our new bed and move stuff over as we had time. You can even find tips for 3-4 months before the move. When you know you’re moving and have that much time, it’s easy to declutter, pack neatly and even plan and hold a yardsale.
We also had reasons, we didn’t want a ton of cardboard boxes clogging up both homes so we decided to pack several boxes then reuse. I started with the same 3-4 boxes, but it wasn’t working. I had a neighbor give me one box and my parents gave us several others. We still have managed to move a full 4 bedroom townhome over to the new house- with only about 10 extra boxes. We already had several totes, I’m in the process of switching from storing things in cardboard to totes.
Here are some tips I have come up with with moving quickly on a busy schedule
Tips for Packing Up the Old House
1. Don’t be afraid to recruit help- Packing, moving and taking inventory of your stuff while two kids are running around unpacking boxes can take a lot of extra time. Recruit someone to help with watching the kids.
2. If it’s not a major move (across state lines or the other side of the state), you don’t need to waste money on a moving van- We have a truck and other family members with trucks. If you have any friends or family members with trucks, recruit them. Just paying gas money saves on what you would pay a mover.
3. Recruit your kids to help- your kids will be just as excited and as nervous about the new house as you are. Give them some boxes and have them pack their toys, games, clothes and anything else of theirs.
4. Don’t stress if you can’t get everything sorted before moving but if there is anything big you are definitely replacing, put it to the side. You may be at the end of your lease so you don’t have the time to slowly move, or you could be like us- not wanting to jump the gun then having the house close super fast, you could even be dealing with an eviction. No matter the reason, you’re needing to be out of your old house/apartment fast but you have all the time in the world in your new home. If you’re down to the last month, or last three weeks but you both work 40 hour weeks, find someone to come with you to help watch your kids and move as much in one day as possible.
5. When you’re packing, look at each item you’re putting in boxes and ask “do I really want to take the time to move you?” If the answer isn’t a “yes” enthusiastically, you may want to toss it.
6. Use your kitchen and bathroom towels to pack up glass and breakable items. It gets your towels moved and helps protect
Tips for Unpacking at the New House
1. While unpacking, throw in the 1 year rule. If it’s a nonseasonal item, if you haven’t used it in six months give a serious thought to when you last used it. If you can’t remember, or it’s been well over a year, toss in the donate/sell or trash box.
2. Make sure you keep the three boxes- “Donate/Sell,” “keep” and “toss.” This is one of the primary tips I have read in all organizing, decluttering and cleaning advice pieces but it’s very important. When you have your “keep” box full, put everything immediately in place. If a nonessential is
3. If you move boxes you still had packed from your last move and you haven’t touched them, you may want to rethink holding on to them. There is a good chance that the items are nothing more than dead weight. If it’s a box filled with your children’s art work, there is a website Artkive that will turn them into a book for you and will even keep and dispose of the drawings. That way, you have the pictures but they will be neatly compiled in book form and won’t take up too much space (or get ruined as easily)
If you don’t have the money, you can also scan the drawings on the computer and save them under a file on your computer, you can even go on a self publishing site, like Lulu Publishing, and create a picture book yourself.
If the boxes have clothing items you’re trying to save “for when you lose those extra X pounds,” maybe keep one or two quality pairs of pants, but just donate or give them away to someone who wears that size now. If they have misc stuff that you’re just afraid to give up because you don’t want to replace, just remember that you haven’t used it since before your last move- you likely won’t miss it. Those boxes (we all are guilty of moving unopened boxes around from home to home) are the easiest way to declutter.
4. Go through your shoes. Chances are, you are holding on to several pairs you never wear. If you have multiple shoes that are very similar (I personally have 3 pairs of black boots- a pair of ankle boots, mid-calf and knee high- I had more but got rid of all the others, I had a favorite pair I wore 24-7 but finally had to get rid of them. After getting rid of the favored pair, I started collecting boots trying to find a pair that could replace the ones I liked and ended up with about five or six pairs of black boots I didn’t like, so I kept one of each length and wear them all occasionally)
5. Pick easy targets- most of us have ended up with large collections of kitchen gadgets that we don’t really use. It could be that somehow you now have 5 spatulas but only use 2. You could continue to save all the others for when the others get old and let them take up precious space, or you could give them away or sell them and get them out of your kitchen. Take a look around your kitchen, it’s usually one of the easiest targets. Look for canned and boxed food past the exp date, open packages of food you tried then didn’t like or gadgets you had to have and never used. Choose the bathroom next and find all the cosmetics, soaps, cleansers and medications past their exp dates, small sample or travel size shampoos and soaps you don’t use and anything else that is taking up room. Getting those two rooms will give you the motivation and energy to go through the other rooms to get them in shape.
These are 11 decluttering and moving tips I have found so far. We are still in the process of moving, so when we finish and get everything posted, I’ll make another list of the other tips I used.
If you have had to move quickly or downsize homes, how did you handle the decluttering and packing? What were some ways you kept your sanity? I’d love to hear.