Tips for Decluttering Your Home Before the Move

Moving to a new home can be a very exciting and very stressful process at the same time. With all the planning that goes into it, moving house can be time-consuming if not done methodically. If you are wondering how you can approach reorganizing your belongings without making it unnecessarily complicated, here are a few tips for decluttering your home before the move that should help you set the stage for packing and relocating as efficiently as possible.

Why should I declutter before the big move?

Namely, decluttering your home before the move will significantly reduce the entire relocation-related workload. Sometimes people assume they will have enough time to sort what they need and what they no longer need when they start packing their things before the moving company arrives. Of course, if you do not have many possessions, it makes sense just to select what you want to bring to your new home as you pack. However, if you are packing for a long-distance move and have many things, you will want to decrease the number of items you are bringing to a minimum. This will make packing less time-consuming and require less planning for what goes into which box. You will also need fewer packing materials, which will undoubtedly save you some money. Not having too many boxes that need to be loaded onto the moving truck will also reduce the number of hours you will have to pay to the moving crew.

So, decluttering definitely makes your relocation less expensive, especially if you are working on a tight budget. Relocations are not cheap, particularly if it is a relocation when you have to pay additional taxes after the move. Now that you have an idea as to why you should tidy up your home and reorganize your possessions, let’s take a look at some useful tips for decluttering your home.

Declutter to save money

Going through all of your belongings will make it easier for you to have a mental checklist of the things you need to handle. Therefore, you will have enough time to give away what you do not need, perhaps to your relatives or a charity. Otherwise, you might even earn an extra buck by organizing a yard sale for the things you cannot or do not want to bring to your new home.

Decluttering to save money is an excellent way to motivate yourself and your family to finally take up this task. You can even make this into a mini-competition that your family can organize to speed up your moving preparations.

Reorganize and pack gradually and realistically

It is best if you take your time and do everything step-by-step. This is important because you might be too lenient or too strict about what you want to keep and what you do not need anymore.

At times, people get used to having a lot of things that they do not need. So, to genuinely declutter your possessions before the move, you should have certain criteria that can help you think about your things realistically, by thinking minimalistically, and reduce the quantity of items you plan to move.

Firstly, we recommend you think in ‘Yes/No’ terms. So, if you haven’t used or worn something in a year, then there is a high probability you do not need the given item anymore. Hence, while you are deliberating whether you should keep or throw away something, try not to get too sentimental and just say: No, I don’t need this, I haven’t used it in ages.

On the other hand, if you do not have enough time to sort through your things, you might be inclined to leave or throw away some useful things or those that matter to you. It’s best if you take several days, sort through everything you have, and pack 3-4 boxes a day.

Categorize your belongings according to their importance 

An excellent way to organize your reorganization is to think in terms of more and less important belongings. Or, in other words, you can prioritize packing your things in phases in which you first pack valuable and fragile possessions. If you have expensive art or jewelry, you should first figure out to pack it so that it does not get damaged during transport.

The same goes for breakables such as glasses, silverware, mirrors, and such. These items might be more tricky to stack so that they do not break. Also, you can pack these things first since they are not essential for your everyday life before and after the move. Some people find it helpful to have boxes for different purposes to separate things more easily. So, you could designate one box that you will use to pack your belongings and another one for donations or your yard sale.

Pack your things in predictable ways

So, you will probably want to pack your books and decoration before you move on to more important things such as your clothing and electrical appliances. Another benefit of packing according to importance lies in the possibility of having a delineated packing and unpacking protocol. Therefore, this kind of approach to decluttering and packing should shorten the relocation process significantly.

Another helpful guideline is to try not to leave things unfinished. So, if you planned to declutter your entire home, you can stay organized by decluttering your home room by room.

All in all, we hope this short article on decluttering your home before the move has given you an idea as to how you can think ahead and organize your relocation in the most effective way possible.