Clearing through the cupboards for a house move.

dekaspace

Just going half a mile away on same housing estate (can just about see new place from current place) but its a bit awkward going through cupboards.

On the positive I already got rid of quite a lot of stuff as when I moved here I had a lot of half done things like Xbox's I planned to repair and never got round to, and laptop and pc parts that are outdated.

I don't yet know if the new place has the boiler in cupboard or kitchen, at current one its a new one in kitchen so the old cupboard I use for boxes, but my neighbours have the old fashioned boilers which take up the entire cupboard.

That cupboard is massive so thats where boxes go now.

The hardest parts right now is just organising the junk, and I feel bad but I am throwing out a lot of stuff that could be useful to someone such as xbox power supplies, some computer cables etc but a few months back I advertised bags of stuff like this and had no response even for free.

Also what I am doing (or planning as havent took them out yet) is fill a couple of small boxes with rubbish/junk, take them to the big metal bins outside, dump the contents and take the boxes back for packing.

Just wanted to get my feelings out a bit, but would be good to get any advice, I was thinking it would be good if I could borrow a shopping trolley from somewhere, that way once I have keys for new place I can take smaller things there such as the contents of food cupboards, bottles of juice etc.

The main thing I was a little worried about is electricals, I have my 2 tvs in living room and a pc, and a surround sound setup so the wires will be a mess and items hard to move.

Whats the easiest way to do all this bearing in mind I am in a 1st floor flat, my plan was the man with van charged £20 for 30 minutes, leave the boxes in my hallway or even take what I can downstairs and pay him for 30 minutes, that way all thats left is furniture and electricals (and food) and any small things as I say I can take by trolley, and if theres spare time when loading van I will take a few small items of furniture like bedside cabinets.

The new flat was built at same time but as its council its been modernised, and its ground floor.

Linda32

I would suggest you google House Removal Companies and then the town you live in. They will do the actual moving for you.

After that its just a case of setting everything back up again.

Make sure you keep everything together that you will need the first night.

Siebrie

Do you have a moving date yet, and can you rope in friends and family?

Does your council have a recycling centre, and do you have a way to get there/do they do pick-ups?

You can already start eating down the food you have, and start packing the things you don't need on a daily basis. If you have enough time and energy, you could even sort through it all before you move, for instance when you start packing up the bathroom, you could ask yourself if you really need all the towels, and only pack those that you need to keep. Don't overdo it, but maybe an hour every day, or a cupboard per day.

I'm sure there will be loads of advice; good luck!

dekaspace

Siebrie wrote: »

Do you have a moving date yet, and can you rope in friends and family?

Does your council have a recycling centre, and do you have a way to get there/do they do pick-ups?

You can already start eating down the food you have, and start packing the things you don't need on a daily basis. If you have enough time and energy, you could even sort through it all before you move, for instance when you start packing up the bathroom, you could ask yourself if you really need all the towels, and only pack those that you need to keep. Don't overdo it, but maybe an hour every day, or a cupboard per day.

I'm sure there will be loads of advice; good luck!

All I have been told is the keys will be available by end of month then I view it and its up to me if I take it there and then, I am a single person living in a 2 bedroom flat so most things I own are like dvds and electricals

Since its under 10 minutes walk to new place I can just come back and grab things like toiletries and food.

Didn't time it earlier but would of been around 45 minutes I think and thats with limited space to sort through about 2/5 of my biggest cupboard, apart from that I have 3 wardrobes of stuff to go through and the drawers underneath bed and also a filing cabinet and another cupboard by door.

If it was just a case of chucking in boxes I could do the lot within a hour but its better to go through it so I get rid of most of it.

And I have no local friends or family.

Linda32 wrote: »

I would suggest you google House Removal Companies and then the town you live in. They will do the actual moving for you.

After that its just a case of setting everything back up again.

Make sure you keep everything together that you will need the first night.

They cost a huge amount, even Anyvan quoted me £50 to move a few boxes around the corner

kazwookie

I suggest you freegle / freecycle the stuff you dont want.

Car boot other stuff
Ebay more stuff
Tip the rubbish
Colour code the cables for each item, take photos as well so you can work out what plugs into what.

thriftwizard

Might your local FE college be interested in the outdated/part-repaired computer & console bits? Our local Freegle group often has pleas from electronics students/trainee engineers looking for things to repair - anything from Spectrums onwards! They've also taken bags of leads, jacks, footpedals etc. from me as my boys moved onwards & upwards musically. The college also took OH's uncle's radio-ham stuff, which was positively ancient (60s/70s/80s) but seemed to make them very happy!

When it comes to packing PCs, TVs & leads, power down, unplug, coil & tape the leads to the appliance; masking tape's best. You might want to label plugs & ports with a little spot of masking tape & a letter or number, so you know which plug goes into which port when you re-assemble. Having girls too, we just use different colours of nail polish to dot-mark them, but you may not have a convenient supply of that!

A shopping trolley of your very own would be a very sensible investment, not just for this move; much better for your back than carrying heavy shopping bags. Most of them have removable bags, so you can take the bag off & use the trolley bit to move heavy or awkward items, like a tower PC or big speakers, that would hurt your arms to carry very far. Use a bungee (or several!) to keep them from slipping off though. I use them all the time to carry the old sewing machines I sell from my stall to my van, or from my van back to the garage when they haven't sold.

GreyQueen

If you can only afford a very limited amount of time with the man-with-van, my best advice would be to use him to move furniture and large appliances. Those are the things you really need a van for, not boxes and bags of stuff, if you're only going half a mile.

Loading vehicles (and unloading them) takes a lot longer than most people realise although the unloading is typically a lot quiicker because you don't have to pack things in so carefully.

I'm guessing you don't have a driver's license since you mentioning hiring a guy; self-drive hire in a transit would be about perfect for this kind of move.

A four-wheeled shopping trolley (not a purloined supermarket one) would be ideal for moving smaller items, even ones weighing several kilos. These turn up secondhand at about the £5 mark pretty regularly around my way, or you may be able to put out an ask and find someone with a spare.

Like the others have said, start decluttering and packing non-daily essentials now then as soon as you've accepted the new place and got the keys, make sure that every trip from old to new home involves transporting some of them across.

Good luck!

monnagran

Listen to your old granny! I have brought up 2 boys and have grandsons so I know all about you young men and your hoarding habits.
You are doing well with your decluttering but you must be brutal. Everything you pick up, ask yourself if your life will be unhappy without it. If not GET RID OF IT.
Think of how much easier your move will be with less stuff.

A shopping trolley would be wonderful for you, not only for the move but afterwards as well. Try freegle. Ask for one on freegle.
If nothing is offered look for anything with wheels. An old pushchair, or a large suitcase on wheels. I wish you were closer as I have just such a suitcase. Anything that you can wheel boxes round to your new flat on will help you immensely on moving day.

Take thriftwizards advice and tape cords to their appliances.

On moving day the first thing to do when you get into your flat is to make a cup of tea and then make your bed. Both things will make you feel at home.

I know you have your problems but you are a sensible lad and I hope that this move will mean a much more pleasurable time for you.
Good luck.

x

RockersWAG

monnagran wrote: »

Listen to your old granny! I have brought up 2 boys and have grandsons so I know all about you young men and your hoarding habits.
You are doing well with your decluttering but you must be brutal. Everything you pick up, ask yourself if your life will be unhappy without it. If not GET RID OF IT.
Think of how much easier your move will be with less stuff.

A shopping trolley would be wonderful for you, not only for the move but afterwards as well. Try freegle. Ask for one on freegle.
If nothing is offered look for anything with wheels. An old pushchair, or a large suitcase on wheels. I wish you were closer as I have just such a suitcase. Anything that you can wheel boxes round to your new flat on will help you immensely on moving day.

Take thriftwizards advice and tape cords to their appliances.

On moving day the first thing to do when you get into your flat is to make a cup of tea and then make your bed. Both things will make you feel at home.

I know you have your problems but you are a sensible lad and I hope that this move will mean a much more pleasurable time for you.
Good luck.

x

I'm with monnagran! Be absolutely ruthless at selling/car booting/donating to charity shops/throwing out anything you haven't actively used in the last six months.
We're moving house for the fourth time next spring and even though we're bringing in a removal firm as the new place is 20 miles away and we have 4-bed houses worth of furniture, we've already begun de-cluttering cupboards and getting rid of anything we haven't used for a few months.
My mother always said if it's a 'maybe' and doesn't have sentimental value, then that's a 'no' to needing it and it goes.

Chris25

GreyQueen wrote: »

If you can only afford a very limited amount of time with the man-with-van, my best advice would be to use him to move furniture and large appliances. Those are the things you really need a van for, not boxes and bags of stuff, if you're only going half a mile.

Loading vehicles (and unloading them) takes a lot longer than most people realise

Good luck!

excellent advice GQ! And if you have a friend or relative to help carry stuff down the stairs, all the better - you could 'relay' smaller items,especially if security is an issue.

GreyQueen

I've moved a lot and can tell you even non-combatants (persons not well enough to lift and carry) can be very useful if they can sit on a chair beside the flat's door and possibly beside the van, so's you don't have to keep locking up and unlocking as you buzz in and out.

I'll tell you a little story, to encourage lateral thinking about moving house. There's probably not enough time for dekaspace to do this, even if he wanted to, but it might assist someone else.

One sunny day, I was fascinated to see a man towing a wonderful flatbed truck down the road. Its bed was pallet-style wood, about the width but only two-thirds of the length of a single bed. Its front wheels were mounted on a separate block of wood, to form an axel which swivelled like a go-cart, and it was towed by a loop of rope. It was rolling along easily under a heavy load.

Being a nosey parker, I bounced up, told him I loved it and asked him where he got it? He'd made it himself to move house with, going a mile across town. The materials had cost him the same as a one-day hire of a transit van, but with no fuel costs, and he still had the trolley to use afterwards.

It was made from old pallets with bought wheels. His top tip was not to buy wheels any smaller than a dinner plate for this purpose. If I had anywhere to keep one, I'd make one for myself. HTH.