moving company to transport it all could seem overwhelming

If you have an abundance of belongings that you’ve accumulated after many years of living in one place, the thought of what you’ll pay a moving company to transport it all could seem overwhelming. The solution to reducing the tab is to downsize as much as you can before you get to moving day. Here are a few tips that will help you get through this process:

  • Emotional ties. One of the hardest things about downsizing is letting go of things you have taken years to accumulate. On the surface, it may feel like taking a step backward. However, once you begin focusing on the things you really do not need and the money you’ll be saving overall, you’ll find it easy to downsize despite emotional ties.
  • Take an inventory. Start by writing down everything you own. Do one room at a time and don’t leave anything off. Once you have your inventory list, look at each thing on it and ask yourself if you truly need it.
  • List what you don’t need. Your next list will be the things you determined you don’t need. On it will be things you haven’t used for a long time. Look for redundancies. For example, do you really need a dozen blankets? As for clothing, if you haven’t worn it in the past month or a previous season, you probably don’t like it well enough to keep it.
  • Consider your new home. It isn’t just total square footage to consider, but the size of each room. Your bedroom now may be large enough for the multiple dressers you have, but will they fit in the new one? Also, will the new home have the amount of storage you have now? If not, you’ll need to downsize a bit more to avoid needing a self-storage unit.
  • Determine how to get rid of things. Do you have time to deal with a garage/moving sale? Do you live where people could find you if you had one? Keep in mind that nobody ever sells everything at a garage sale, so have a backup plan for what is remaining. Another option is to skip the entire sale hassle and donate everything to charity. You can also use online services to give things away or sell them, which can be effective for the larger pieces you want to get rid of.

Look for a local moving company who will give you the information you need about how much you can save by downsizing and advice on how much you should do to get to your budgeted moving amount.