What Should I Bring?
Should I bring that couch and the hand me down coffee table?
SELL EVERYTHING! Okay so I am only sort of kidding. Moving is really hard. It is hard physically, mentally and emotionally. The less stuff you have to move the easier it is. This is the part of moving that crosses over into the emotional aspects (I might need all these things!) but on the practical side less is definitely better. Let's start with the easy part. Get rid of everything you don't love or have no more use for. Do not say “I might” have use for it. You cannot predict the future and trying to anticipate what you might need will leave you with a bunch of crap you will have to get rid of eventually. Next take stock of the biggest pieces of furniture you own. That ten foot couch might not have the right space in your new home. You might say oh if it doesn't fit in the living room I can put it in the basement play room; only to get there and the damn couch won't fit down the stairs, or up the stairs or through the doorway (this happened to me). Is your new home a condo where everything has to go up a flight a stairs? Remember you will be totally stressed out when you arrive at your new home. All you want is for the movers to get the stuff into your house and leave so you can take a breath. At this point you have been packing and stressing for a couple of months and there isn't much left in your tank for a hiccup. What do you do if the couch doesn't fit through the door? Leave it on the lawn. Not to mention the movers and standing there getting paid by the hour waiting for you to decide. Do this with everything, will your four poster bed hit the ceiling fan in your new home? Are the kids outgrowing the bunk beds anyway? Have you always hated your mattress? Now is the time to take stock and get rid of anything that isn't serving you. It is far easier to sell an item from your home months before you move. Not only do you already have friends and neighbors who might want to buy things but you will probably get more money because you have time. Time is what you will have the least of in the first months after the move.
