When you move houses, you have a lot of difficult decisions to make regarding what to keep and what to toss. While the desire to hold onto things can be great, you also don’t want to saddle yourself with too many boxes of stuff that you can easily replace. If you find yourself in a situation like this, relax. There is a very logical way to go about the process that will give you confidence that you’ve made the right decision. And once you’ve finished sorting your stuff, you can call Elatemoving.com to help you complete the job. Elate is the leading moving company in the country, and they have a proven success record of helping people complete all sorts of moves.
How to break it down
The key to deciding what to take and what to get rid of essentially lies in deciding each object’s value. Value can have different meanings, so we will break down the categories into financial, practical, and emotional categories.
Objects of Financial Value
This will probably be the biggest category for decision-making. Obviously, it costs more to replace expensive things, so you’re less likely to want to let go of them. Keep in mind the following points when assessing financial value:
- The cost-to-move rule. Usually, if an item costs more to move than it does to replace, you will want to get rid of it.
- High resale value potential. Some items can be sold for a high amount, particularly if they are rare or unique. Do your research on this.
- Make a depreciation check. Some items, particularly old electronics and appliances, can decrease in value significantly over time. Keep this in mind.
Items of practical value
You should also do a thorough assessment of your belongings’ practical value. In other words, how often do you use them?
- Usage frequency. One rule that people go by is that if they haven’t used something in a year, it should probably be tossed.
- Appropriateness for your new space. Think about the dimensions and functionality of your new home! If rooms are small or lacking in electrical capacity, maybe you should get rid of certain things.
- In most cases, you should get rid of duplicates, unless they are very expensive and necessary.
Items of emotional value
Finally, there are items of emotional value, ones that it pains you to get rid of. To make decisions about these things, consider the following:
- Are they irreplaceable? Some things, such as family heirlooms and the like, may well be irreplaceable.
- Remember digitisation! Everything can be photographed and kept in the cloud these days.
- Donating items can be very rewarding. You can donate either to a charity or to people that you know.
Order of operations
After dividing items into the three categories mentioned above, you should further divide your stuff into three additional categories:
- Things that you definitely want to keep should be grouped together.
- You might be able to profit from certain items, so make a category for this, too.
- Again, it would be great if you could give certain things to needy people. Keep this in mind.
- Throw out. And, of course, there will be things that you simply want to get rid of (this could also mean recycling!).
Once you’ve gotten to this point, you should have a clear idea of what you want to keep and where the rest should go. And you will be able to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you made the best decisions you could.
You can always redecorate!
Even though getting rid of some of your old belongings might feel painful, remember that you will be entering into a whole new life when you arrive at your new home. And this means exciting things, like redecorating! So keep this in mind as you go through the purging process, as it will help you keep your spirits lifted. It might also help you decide whether or not to keep that bright purple couch you’ve got in the living room.
Article edited by Alexander Elisab