The packrats are moving!

**babetteq** · 09-07-2005, 03:14 AM

I'm The World's Worst Housecleaner. It takes everything I've got and a million strategies just to keep the place in some kind of order. I think it's brain damage or something...... (I've been known to move in garbage bags and things wrapped up in bedding)

anyhow, I've found it much much easier to keep the place in order since we moved into this quite large place. But, we are moving AGAIN in January for financial reasons. We found a place that will save us hundreds, BUT it's way smaller.

Now, we just moved in June. We threw out a whole TON of stuff when we moved and it was stressfull and horrid. I'm figuring that I have several months to organize a decent moving strategy. Who is good at moving? Organizing this kind of thing?

Any advice? Really, I'm pretty lame at this kind of thing and I'd like this to be as stress free as possible. I'd like to use the few months that I have to make this so.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Sincerely

pigpen

aka

Babs

**Englishlady** · 09-07-2005, 08:03 AM

I have been de-cluttering for years and I am still doing it!( and I like to think I am relativly tidy/neat so............)

The first thing to get your head around is that it NEVER ends, it is a bit like bathing and brushing your teeth, you might miss the odd time but it is something you are always going to have to do

First of all start with a room that causes you most stress, what items have you got in that room that you dislike/never use?

Get rid of those first!

What items in that room can you live without if the space is not available? ~ box these up and label them............

Do this in each room until you have given away/sold all the things you don't use/like

Box up all the things that you can live without ( that you still like)...........put these on one side............

This is going to take a long time so try and do "little and often".

You will feel FANTASTIC, when you have had a good clear out!

The energy around you & the house seems to hum and things seem to "get moving" in ways that seem almost magic and spooky

You must be tough with yourself, you wouldn't pick up trash from the street & dump it in your house? so don' t make yourself live with it in your house

Once you have seen the house you are moving to, go through the boxes you have put on one side and then decide if they are to be kept or given away/sold

Moving house is a good time to start afresh and live a more simple life.

Simple = less stress
Less stuff= less clutter
Less Clutter= Less cleaning
Less Clutter and Cleaning= more time and money

It is a win win situation

Let us know how you get on and good luck with it!

Karen

**Darlene** · 09-07-2005, 08:06 AM

No tips but wanted to cheer you on!

**Emerald_Mommy** · 09-07-2005, 10:03 AM

Maybe if you think about each room in your new home and what you want it to be, that would be a good start. Then take your packing box and pack only what you HAVE to have for that room. That way you're thinking positively instead of negatively. Instead of what CAN'T go you're thinking about things you love and need. If you can't fit the things you thought you needed and loved then you have to try again, paring down the least needed/loved items. Just an idea. You can do this! I'm

for you too!

**MandiDawn** · 09-07-2005, 10:58 AM

I live in a 1000 sq ft house with no garage, no basement, no attic, and only 2 very small closets. Needless to say, I have no storage space lol. I lived with mess and clutter for over a year, with one whole bedroom being dedicated to "storage". What really helped me was I aquired a bed for that room, and in my desire to make it useable I threw a bunch of stuff away. But still, the floor and bed were covered in other stuff. We got new carpet in April, and thus EVERYTHING had to be empited out of that room. I only put back what would fit. THat's all, nothing else. Nothing out on the floor, or on the bed. It was hard, but I just stuck to my resolve and really made some hard choices. Do I want to fit all my shoes in the closet? Maybe I can throw away a few pairs (still don't miss them). Hmm, I have quite a bit of quilting stuff, so that means that these baskets won't fit. Well, I threw away the baskets since the quilting stuff is more important to me. It's hard, but I have smiled every single day as I look into that beautiful finished room. It's my favorite room in the house, because it's so perfect and clean. And my rule is everything must have a home. Never is anything allowed to "sit out". That way if I buy something new that don't fit, I throw away something else.
Good luck!!!

**graci42** · 09-07-2005, 01:01 PM

My advice... Before you pack an item, ask yourself :"Do I love this enough to pack it and haul it to the new house or should I bless someone else with it?"

That's what I did when we bought our home. We had to stay in a small 2 rm apt (off my mom's garage) until we closed on our house. All of our stuff got put into storage for 6 weeks. That helps you find out fast what you can live without!

Graci

**babetteq** · 09-07-2005, 03:33 PM

hey thanks for the cheerleading!! (what a cute smilie). I really like the idea of "blessing" someone with my stuff. I find it a lot easier to give stuff away than throw it away. I've already started on the bathroom.... we have a few months before we move, so I figure I can start "thinning out" a bit.... Old bandaids, half empty bottles of stuff I hate.......

We'll see what january brings!!!

babs

**Nada.Leona** · 09-08-2005, 12:37 PM

I know a lot people don't like the FlyLady system, but she does have a pretty good page about organizing and moving. Here's the link, in case you feel like taking a look:

http://www.flylady.net/pages/Flying_MovingTips.asp