Is it Time to Move?
10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Alleviate Some of the Stress of Moving
“It seems such a waste of time
If that’s what it’s all about
Mama if that’s movin’ up
Then I’m movin’ out
I’m movin’ out”
When I started this blog on moving, I decided to begin with a song. Billy Joel’s anthem immediately came to mind. I wanted to offer a selection of tunes to get you humming, and my Google search led me to so many songs about leaving home.
Country songs about breakups and moving on; songs about kids growing up and leaving home; and songs about the bittersweet feeling you get looking back on a life well lived, they were all there.
Moving is one of the most stressful events in a person’s life, even for the most organized among us. No wonder there are so many songs about it!
Finding a home; packing everything up; deciding what to keep, give away and discard; the actual move itself, and wondering how you will fit into your new place (physically and emotionally) are all factors that elevate our stress levels through the roof.
Lots of people are rushing to put their home on the market to take advantage of the dearth in residential real estate inventory. Once the decision is made, they panic, because they look around and can’t believe how much stuff they have accumulated over the years.
Where do I begin? — They ask themselves.
They call me with great urgency as they need to figure out fast what they should take with them.
With some forethought, there are ways that you can manage some of that stress and anxiety.
The first step is to figure out what fits into your new space. This is the expertise of A Simpler Life Now, down to determining the correct number of place settings from your dining sets that you should take.
If you follow these 10 tips, you will be singing a happy tune throughout your move.
Contact family members to see what they might like to have.
Get to know your garbagemen and recycling providers. Once you make the decision to move, you should spend time each week tossing out the stuff that is unwanted.
Decide if an estate sale or online auction is for you. Perhaps you have valuable sterling silver, artwork, or gold items that you can sell.
Think about repairs you should make to your home that will help it sell such as a new coat of paint, removing old carpeting, and some attractive landscaping.
Declutter, declutter, declutter. And then declutter some more.
Call me to help you organize and stage your home for realtor photos.
Sort through junk drawers, closets, attics. Figure out what you have and start to clear it out.
Remove photos from their frames and keep just the photos. Our framed photos take up so much space!
Check your spices and cans to make sure they are not expired. Is your make-up old too?
Be on the lookout for days in your town when you can drop off old chemicals and cleaning products. Did you know that you can use cat litter to help dry up the paint in old paint cans? Once the can is empty, you can throw the can in your regular trash basin.
A Simpler Life Now can help you with any and all of the above, and get you singing with happiness again!