Things you should leave behind when moving

Moving to a new home can be emotional. Even though you might be relocating to improve your carrier, studies or the quality of life for your family, just thought of packing all of your belongings into a truck and leaving your family and friends behind can bring tears to your eyes. Therefore, when leaving their current house, people tend to cling to their memories and decide to pack all of their items. Relocating too many items can clutter your new home and significantly increase the moving cost. To make the whole process much easier and be able to save money you need to learn more on which things you should leave behind when moving.

Why leave anything behind?

Moving is never easy. Even though you might be moving just a few miles away, the relocation process stays quite similar to the one when moving interstate. Therefore when moving your home you will need to find reliable residential movers, create a budget, make a packing plan and deal with all important pre-move tasks. Even with the help of experienced professional movers, there are many things you will have to handle on your own.

Cut the moving expenses

Creating a detailed and well-organized packing plan is an important part of your moving process. With a clear idea on which items you need and which things you should leave behind when moving you will be able to lower your moving costs. Your moving expenses will be calculated according to the overall size and weight of your move. Therefore, relocating an old couch just to put in the garage of your new home, doesn’t make any sense.

Even if you are planning a DIY moving process leaving some of your belongings behind can still help you save money.  Having fewer items to relocate will help you cut your packing expenses as well. Therefore, you will be able to rent a smaller truck and won’t have to worry about spending over the set budget.

Declutter your new home

Each household has more than a few items just laying around. It might be an old chair you never got to fix or an old lava lamp you kept moving with your since college. Even though it might seem there are just a few of those belongings that you can consider as things you should leave behind when moving, getting rid of those items can help you declutter your new home. With more living space, you will be able to decorate your new home and make more space for new memories.

 How to decide which things to leave behind when moving

The very first thing you should do when you start moving preparations is to create a detailed moving plan. In order to stay organized during the process, you need to prepare your moving budget, make a detailed packing checklist and create a pre-move to-do list. This way you will be able to avoid any stress and make sure your move goes according to your deadline.

In order to decide which of the items to relocate to your new home, you will need to create a packing plan. The best way to do so is to divide your items into a few different categories:

• Pack and move. – The list of items you want to bring to your new home.
• Storage. – The list of items you want to keep but don’t have enough space for.
• Sell, donate or recycle. – The list of things you should leave behind when moving.

How to decide which items to relocate

The best way to decide which of the items should be moved to your new home is to plan your furniture placement in advance. Use the floor plan of your new home to plan the furniture layout. Therefore, you will be able to decide how much space you have and which items to relocate.

Do you need a storage unit?

Setting apart with some of your belongings may not be an option. Moving them to your new home might also be impossible. The best solution here would be to find a decent cheap storage unit. This might be much easier than you think. All you have to do is research storage facilities in your area and check their reputation and prices. Make sure you check out the ones that are located at the city’s outskirts. You might be able to find a few affordable ones.

Make a list of the items to sell, donate, give away or recycle

Now comes the tricky part. You will need to decide which of the items don’t get to be relocated. Try to stay practical and avoid getting overwhelmed and emotional. Think about which of the items you don’t use or need anymore.

Warranties, old documents, and manuals

We are not saying that you should recycle your ID. However, there must be some documents you can scan and bring to your new home on a flash drive or upload it to your google drive. Therefore, you will have all of the paperwork easily accessible without having a drawer full of paperwork you rarely need.

Old furniture

After planning your furniture layout, you should be able to easily decide which of the furniture needs to go. In addition to saving money by leaving some of your belongings behind you can also find a way to add up to your moving budget. Organize a garage sale or sell some of your belongings on Craiglist. Therefore you will be able not only to declutter your new home but also create some funds in your budget for decorating your future home.

Old clothes

Now is the time to reconsider all of your fashion choices. Sell, donate or give away your old clothes. Moving boxes that are specially made to keep your clothes safe during transportation can be 3 times more expensive than the regular ones. Therefore, for an example, if you are moving to Miami, one of the best US cities to retire, you can easily ditch those bulky winter coats. Besides being able to save money while moving, donating some of your clothes can help other people. Therefore, find a charity organization in your area that collects the clothes and food for the less fortunate.

Plants

Both indoor and outdoor plants take up a lot of space. Also, relocating the plants long distance may not be good them as well. Therefore, consider leaving them behind.

Other household items and garage junk

When deciding which things you should leave behind when moving, you will need to ask yourself a few questions. How often do you use this item? Is it possible to replace it after the move? Do you have enough space to relocate it? Does it have any sentimental value? This way you will be able to stay organized and easily decide which items to relocate.