Packing up

Sncjw

So I’m starting my packing so there isn’t a mad rush between exchange and completion. 

You don’t realise how much carp you accumulate until you pack up. I still have stuff in a spare room from moving from parents home to my rented place. I just can’t bare the idea of throwing away something someone has bought me even if it’s a naff thing. 

But I would like less rubbish. 

Does anyone else have this issue and how did you resolve it. 

csgohan4

we used to hoard, but I ended up just throwing a boatload of accumulated stuff we didn't need anymore, donate as much as you can, otherwise your local recycling center. No point in keeping something that you want use, just clutters the place more

KxMx

Be absolutely ruthless about what you want in your new place. The more you get rid of now the less you have to pack and unpack.
Donated to charity it's going to do more good than you keeping items you don't like/need/use.

RelievedSheff

We had three and a half weeks from reserving our new build house to moving in so we didn't have time to fanny around packing crap we will never use again.

We got a big skip and were ruthless with getting rid of anything we would not use or did not want. 

When we had done with the clear out we had far less to pack up and box up and it made moving much easier and more organised and it mean't we moved into our new home with only things we wanted and needed. 

It was strangely theraputic having a big clear out.

hazyjo

Never advisable to pack too much before exchange!

I solve it by just getting someone in to pack the lot (worth EVERY penny). I find it much easier binning stuff at the other end once I've moved in. The thought of storing it somewhere in the new place where it'll never see the light of day somehow makes me more ruthless. If I get it down in my 'old' house, I'll be far more sentimental.

Doozergirl

This book: 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0091955106/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Qq6xEbJ7CPMA4

I thought was pretty good at getting rid of stuff but this book really helped me get rid of 'guilt' keeps like gifts.  And books.  For some reason I thought I should never get rid of a book.  

There's a series on Netflix too.  "Tidying Up".

TBagpuss

I got rid of a lot of stuff when I moved house. 
What I did was think about why I was keeping stuff. Like you, I had a lot of things which I had because they were gifts. with those, I  I told myself firmly that the gift was that the person had chosen to give me something, and it was fine for me to pass on those things I no longer loved / needed / wanted - I don't need the thing to remind me of the person. One of the good things about gifts that are naff or not to your taste is that they may still be in very good condition, so if you donate them, someone else may get something which is still in pristine condition. 
 where you have multiple things from the same person, pick one to keep and get rid of the rest. That way, you still have a tangible reminder of that person, but less clutter!  
For stuff which has been packed up a long time, ask yourself - if you haven't missed t for the last x years since you moved, what makes you think you will want or need it going forward? 
Another thing I found quite useful was to ask myself whether the thing was something I could replace if it suddenly turned out that I did need it. If the answer was yes, then it got decluttered - if you are in the habit of keeping stuff because it might come in handy, this works quite well. 
for things in good condition, I found it helpful to donate them to charity shops etc - that way, I could frame it as me supporting the charity, rather than me throwing out stuff  or getting rid of gifts, and that made me feel more positive about it, so it got easier. 

pinkteapot

Don't bin stuff, people! (Unless it's broken or otherwise end-of-life). Give it away for free on Facebook groups/Freecycle or give it to charity shop. 

RelievedSheff

pinkteapot said:

Don't bin stuff, people! (Unless it's broken or otherwise end-of-life). Give it away for free on Facebook groups/Freecycle or give it to charity shop. 

That's all well and good if you have the time to do that and deal with timewasters.

We didn't so opted for the skip method. Although the skip rats had a field day and took a lot of the stuff that we put in there!

swingaloo

I couldn't put good stuff in a skip especially if I was sentimental about it. I found the best thing to do was to box things up and seal the boxes. This included stuff I knew I didn't want, stuff I couldn't decide about and stuff that I was holding onto for sentimental reasons.  After it has been boxed and out of sight for a few weeks (so don't unpack it to see what's in there once its been boxed) its so much easier to take the stuff to a charity shop. When you are holding something in your hand or actually seeing it every day its so much harder to let it go. You are much more detached from things if they have been boxed away, its as if its already gone.

RelievedSheff

swingaloo said:

I couldn't put good stuff in a skip especially if I was sentimental about it. I found the best thing to do was to box things up and seal the boxes. This included stuff I knew I didn't want, stuff I couldn't decide about and stuff that I was holding onto for sentimental reasons.  After it has been boxed and out of sight for a few weeks (so don't unpack it to see what's in there once its been boxed) its so much easier to take the stuff to a charity shop. When you are holding something in your hand or actually seeing it every day its so much harder to let it go. You are much more detached from things if they have been boxed away, its as if its already gone.

Why move a load of stuff you don't actually want or need only to take it too a charity shop a few weeks down the line?

Seems like a massive waste of time and effort!!