Moving into a home – a new start is someone else’s too

Moving into a home is an exciting and stressful time. Think: a new space, a different layout, a blank canvas!

But before you move into your new residence, you’ve got to move out of the old. You’ve got lots of stuff which means many boxes, which means lots of work. As they say about new beginnings: To make room for more, sometimes you’ve got to let things go.

In anticipation of the move, purge your belongings. There’s value in decluttering your home before you move. The process itself forces you to itemize and organize your belongings, which is always helpful before tackling moving day.

Take note of what your must haves are, what will work in your new space and what you want to leave behind. For most, moving is an emotional time,in part because of the stress of packing but also because of the sentimentality of saying goodbye to a place they lived.

Know that when you hire a mover, you pay for space and time. Items for which you have no use or need, if packed, take up valuable space in the truck that could be used to carry something else. Also, the labour and effort of properly packing and carrying those items costs you time. Don’t pay to transport something you don’t need.

Moving needn’t be expensive if you plan properly. Consumers can help subsidize the cost of hiring a professional mover by selling unwanted items like couches or furniture sets. Luckily for savvy savers, all it takes is a few keyboard clicks. In these tech-driven times. There are plenty of digital destinations that allow for easy and free advertisements. Use online classified websites or social media platforms to help spread the word, and watch how quickly your goods get sold. Prefer the old fashioned way? Spread the message that you’re selling some items by word-of-mouth or putting up posters in your neighbourhood or community bulletin boards.

A rewarding alternative to selling your items is donating them. Find a home for those belongings by giving them to people in need. Donate your comforters and couches to your local women’s shelter. That old office desk you were going to leave behind could be someone else’s place of inspiration. That old jacket you haven’t worn in years, could keep someone else warm. Across the country there are shelters in need of donations.

Other alternatives could be donating to favourite charities and local furniture banks. Give someone else a fresh start from belongings that don’t make the cut for your new space.

For most, moving is an emotional time, in part because of the stress of packing but also because of the sentimentality of saying goodbye to a place in which you’ve lived and created memories.

Decluttering your home before a big move is valuable. Not only does it help with packing efficiency which lends to it being financially helpful, but it also helps with the emotional stress of moving out and moving on.

Decluttering helps start the process of “goodbye” to get you ready for all those “hellos” in your new neighbourhood.