Before you move, you are going to want to go through your home and your belongings. Moving presents you with a unique opportunity to evaluate all of the things that you have accumulated in your home and determine what you really need. Here are three tips to help you inventory your possessions.
1. Sort by Categories, Not Room
Oftentimes, when people go through their belongings before moving, they sort through belongings by going room by room. However, instead of sorting through your home room by room, sort through your home category by category.
Some examples of categories include clothing, books, bedding, and decorations. The idea behind sorting by categories and not rooms is that you may not store all of your clothing in your room or all your books in your living room.
Sorting by category allows you to get a complete idea of how many items you have for each category. This will make it easier for you to sort through your belongings and narrow down what you want to keep.
For example, going through all of your books at once will allow you to determine what books you really want to keep in your collection, or going through all of your decorations will allow you see what decorations you really want to keep in your home.
2. Figure Out What to Sell & How to Sell It
Next, before you start going through your items, determine what you want to sell and how you want to sell it. Do you want to sell books that are in good condition? If so, find a secondhand store where you can sell the books.
Do you want to sell your clothing? Find a shop that accepts consignment items online or in your local area.
Determine what items you would want to sell and how you would sell them. That way, as you are going through your items, you can accurately sort the quality of items that you will be able to sell.
3. Figure Out How to Donate and Dispose of Items
Finally, if you don't want to deal with selling the items that you don't want to keep or if you only want to sell some of the items that you want to get rid of, you are going to need to figure out how to donate and dispose of the other items.
There are numerous organizations, both local and national, that accept donations of gently used household items, furniture, clothing, and appliances. The key is to find these organizations in your local community and to see if any will come to your house to pick up the items. Getting the donated items picked up will help make the process of going through your items quicker.
For items that you can't donate, you are going to want to figure out how to dispose of the items. If your garbage company allows for a larger pick-up, that is one way to get rid of those items. If not, you may need to plan a trip to the dump to get rid of any extra junk.
If you're planning on making a move, contact your local movers for more tips and to schedule an appointment.