You may have moved many times and you consider yourself a moving expert but you cannot deny the fact that you learn many new lessons with your every move. Moving is a daunting process and it needs expert planning to achieve a successful move. One of the best moving tips is to be a minimalist while moving as this will solve so many of your problems. Downsizing your home can help you a lot in your moving process. When you calculate your moving cost, it is your inventory size that makes the major component of the moving costs. Minimalism is a great way to ensure cost-effective move.
Minimalism means living well with less stuff. Many people take minimalism as a colourless and tasteless life which is not true. It means keeping only those things that you need and removing any unwanted and not-needed stuff from your place.
The first thing that you need to do before decluttering your house is to take an inventory of all your belongings. Make use of this activity and get rid of anything that you no longer use and edit your inventory accordingly.
As they say, Minimalist people are always happy in life, it applies to moving too. Having fewer belongings has its benefits that help the mover in many ways.
Following are some benefits that will make you realize the need of getting rid of all your unwanted stuff:
Economic benefits
Getting rid of unwanted stuff will make your move much cheaper. No matter how much to try to save by hiring less labour and negotiating better, the moving company or truck rentals take a toll over your overall moving budget. Moving companies generally charge based on the time, distance, and weight of your shipment. So fewer things mean less price to pay.
In case you are moving temporarily for an internship, higher studies, or sabbatical, you will have to store your belongings somewhere. Storing your stuff may cost you almost as high as a house rent especially in metro cities.
Space Benefits
You will obviously need less space to store less stuff. And that is another big benefit of being a minimalist.
Here we present some tips to follow your minimalist move to make your moving process easier:
Plan Your Downsizing Process
A minimalist move is about downsizing your home stuff which definitely needs a lot of effort and planning. It is advised to do your decluttering task before you start your packing. Sometimes you may even feel like getting rid of some more stuff at the time of packing and after the decluttering process is complete.
You can declutter process raises two steps; taking out all the unwanted stuff and what you want to do with the sorted stuff. You can consider selling, donating, and/or gifting your sorted belongings.
Categorize the stuff that you will be disposing of. Time taken in the decluttering process depends upon the size of your house.
Sort and Make Piles
Make piles of all of your sorted stuff. Pick one room and go through each corner of it and sort what all you need. Sort and categorize your stuff and make piles further.
Make a pile for donation as you can donate all your new or gently used items. You can consider donating your stuff at various places including schools, libraries, non-profit organizations, and/or community centres.
Make one pile for recycling of your things. Make a pile of all that stuff that can be recycled which may include disposables, electronics, appliances, batteries, and crayons. Learn how to recycle them from a right place.
Make a pile of all the trash that may include unwanted things that you don’t want to use or are torn up. Things that are not in good condition should not be donated.
You can even consider selling some of your stuff that may include old furniture and decorative material.
Follow Some Must Rules of Decluttering
Make sure you follow some general rules of decluttering as the most difficult part of minimalism is bidding goodbye to your belongings. You need to understand that everything that you own is not valuable.
Don’t feel guilty about sorting things on an emotional basis. Remove all that you don’t use anymore. You can take pictures of all those gifts that you don’t use anymore. Also, don’t keep stuff that reminds you of any sad old memories like mementos from your failed marriage or relationship.
Get rid of anything and everything that you haven’t used in the last year. Toss every item that you are not planning to use in near future. Don’t take seasonal clothes along just because you own them especially if they are not needed at your new place.
Consider Temporary Storage as an Option
In case of a sabbatical move or temporary move, you can opt for a temporary storage solution. This option will help you in a minimalistic move along with the option of getting them back once you will return back.
Set a goal to remove things you want to get rid of to make your minimalistic move easier.