- I gave a way a bunch of my stuff when we last moved. One of the local nonprofit groups with a thrift store had a particular day each week they would come to my zip code. They probably thought I was nuts, but I had them put me on the schedule for weeks- the fellows who picked up the usable items would just laugh when they ended up at my house again! I had a spot in the garage for the upstairs gleaning and a spot in the basement for the downstairs. The men could move just about anything cause they were strong and there were 2-3 of them. They also would come right after I finished my yard sales too.
Also, I rented a u-haul trailer. Spending money when I had a perfectly good old pickup truck to haul things with goes against my nature, but local rental wasn't too bad and it gives you a covered protected place to put your giveaways as you sort. You can even lock them up and put your bigger items in there too like furniture, old appliances, etc. Then you can hook the thing back onto your car and drive it to its donation destination! Plus, if you are a pennypincher like me, as each day passes, you know you are paying to keep the trailer, so it forces you to make up your mind and get the thing filled, emptied and returned to the U-haul center! I may end up doing this again even without moving because despite paring down a bunch with the move, I still kept too much stuff. For the thrift minded- I have seen people advertise all of their moving boxes for sale for a minimal (compared to new) amount, say $30-50 in the classifieds. Some will put the whole bunch in there for FREE. Maybe this isn't a good suggestion for SHEs, but you could turn around and sell them after you move or return the favor and give them for FREE to someone else.
- One thing that helped me tremendously during moving was a timer. At the time I was totally addicted to chatting on BBS (before internet) and it was almost impossible to drag myself away from the keyboard. (I was so bad I'd DREAM about chatting, wake up typing on my pillow, haha!) Anyway, I started packing early so I'd have plenty of time. I'd allow myself 30 minutes chatting, 30 minutes packing, 30 minutes chatting, 30 minutes packing.... You know how much you can get done in 5, 10, or 15 minutes already... I got most of the non-essentials (books, china, decorations, etc) packed in a very short time and stacked out of the way against a wall. It was one of the easiest moves that I can remember, clutter and all! Next time, definitely a 270 fling boogie beforehand! :)
BOXES
- Moving--apple boxes are great--they have a lid so you don't have to tape (unless contents are tiny.)
- Check with your local pharmacy for boxes, if you can't afford to buy new ones. The boxes the vials come in are a great size for books and most other things. If you're thinking ahead, they will save the boxes for you every time they get vials, which is several times a week! That way,you'll fill a few, get a few. And the pharmacy will also get boxes from time to time that are divided for glass bottles (you can pack your glasses in there, and smaller knick-knacks).
- We broke down our boxes, stored them flat on the porch (in order of size), out of the way - ran a free ad in the local shopper and sold the whole batch for $50. A little extra change in our pocket, and the boxes were disposed of by someone who needed them.
- Kept one big one for the kids to make their own 'house' - they were having fun and gave me time to unpack, uninterrupted.
- Boxes. Every time we move (and it's been quite often of late) we go to the local bookstore and ask if we can raid their cardboard dumpster. They almost always have a separate dumpster just for the cardboard and the boxes are usually collapsed so you can fit more of them in the car. These boxes are very sturdy. They are usually medium sized boxes and are easy to carry when packed. The best part is they're FREE!
- Go to the grocery store for banana boxes. They are a great size, the top fits down completely over the bottom and they have handles!
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