How do you decide what to move?

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Whakamole
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How do you decide what to move?

Post by Whakamole »

I'm planning on a cross-country move. I don't live in a house, but I still have a decent amount of "stuff." Some of it I will have to move myself, because it's either valuable or not something I can trust the movers with. The rest, I am planning to either pack myself or get the movers to do it for me.

How do you decide what to move? I'm throwing away the typical - clothes I don't wear, books I haven't read and will probably never read. But what about the rest - kitchenware, furniture, and so on?
PoppyA
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by PoppyA »

I guess i’m trying to understand what motivates your question. Are you trying to save on the movers fee?
sailaway
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by sailaway »

Moving is a good time to cut. If you have kitchenwares you don't use, sell them or take them to a charity. Does your furniture fit in your new home? Unless you have something you were already considering getting rid of/ replacing, you are probably better off taking it. After all, do you really need the hassle of furniture shopping on top of the move?

Pack yourself so that you can ask the questions. Do I use this? Often enough to justify keeping it? Do I even like this thing that I have been keeping? What better time than a move to lose that hideous gift you has been keeping just because it was a gift? If you pay for packing, they will pack that solo sock under the bed. If your company has offered to pay for packing, make time to cull through before they come and again as you find a new place for every after the move.

We just re arranged our townhome and I was in such a hurry to get everything ready for my parents to visit that I didn't cull at all. Feels weird and unproductive to move things from one place to another without looking :(
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Watty
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by Watty »

Whakamole wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:52 am But what about the rest - kitchenware, furniture, and so on?
With a traditional moving company you can research it and estimate that it will cost a dollar per pound(a wild guess) or per box to move something across the country. If something is easily replaceable then you can decide if it is cheaper to move or replace. Some things like lampshades will take up a lot of space so you can decide that way.

One thing people often forget to consider is that some things in your house are expected to be replaced periodically so if they don't have a lot of years left it likely does not make sense to move them across the country.

For example a five year old TV or mattresses may not be worth moving. With something like a mattress though that means that you would need to buy a new one as soon as you arrive when you are very busy so that is also a tradeoff to consider.
sailaway wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 9:10 am If you pay for packing, they will pack that solo sock under the bed.
This is true. I one did a cross country job relocation. In getting our old house ready to sell we had been wiping down the woodwork around the door frames with furniture polish with an old rag. The movers carefully wrapped the dirty rag in paper the size of a football and packed it in a box with some other stuff. Fortunately the company was paying the relocation costs so we did not end up paying extra for that.

One thing to understand though is that the moving company may not insure customer packed boxed.
Whakamole wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:52 am ....books I haven't read and will probably never read.
Books are good to cull since if you ever get a desire to read it in the future then you can either get it at a library, or buy an inexpensive used copy online. That said if you do have some books that you want to move it is likely less expensive to mail them using the media mail bulk rate. You need to read the rules for media mail on the post offices website and follow the rules but that can be a lot less expensive than what a moving company would charge.
runner3081
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by runner3081 »

We sold everything except for, 1 couch, clothing, electronics, mattress, crib and baby toys.
adamthesmythe
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by adamthesmythe »

It's not just the value per pound that you need to think about. You need to consider the time, effort, and maybe gas involved in re-buying things that you discard. And the annoyance of being without things while you buy.

There's no way to do this other than making a decision as you pack. There will be regrets, either moving too much or too little.

One way to do this is to pack up parts of the house although maybe not all of it. As you pack you can consider and make decisions. Yes, there is reduced coverage for damage if you pack yourself. But it's not hard to learn how to do this properly. In a few moves, none of the things I packed were broken and only a couple of the mover-packed things were broken.

Shipping is by the pound so low-value, heavy, and easy to replace items are candidates to be discarded.
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lthenderson
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by lthenderson »

Whakamole wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:52 am How do you decide what to move?
It depends on two things that you didn't mention. What is your budget for replacing things and how close were the things you currently own due for an upgrade? Both of those would affect my answer.

Probably the bulk of the price of moving is just getting the truck and the labor to get it from point A to point B loaded and unloaded. The amount of stuff probably only increases the price incrementally. So my focus, if you have the budget to replace things, is leave everything behind that was worn, getting old, not used, etc. and replace it when you get to the place. Be sure to figure in the time and hassle involved in shopping and replacing for things that might have very long lead times due to the pandemic. If the stuff you currently have is decent, you are probably money ahead to include it in the move versus replace it with new stuff.

Before deciding to pack yourself, make sure you understand the damage policies and what insurance covers. In my experience, getting reimbursed for damage caused by moving is much more generous if the hauler does the packing versus you doing the packing. Something to consider.
Caduceus
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by Caduceus »

I've done multiple moves over my life so far and I've found that with every move I remove quite a bit of stuff, but also that there are some constants in my life in terms of possessions that I'm likely never going to discard.

One thing I found helpful is instead of asking yourself what to throw, you ask yourself what you truly treasure about what you have. The thought experiment I did was that if I could only save 20 things from my place, what would they be, and it was quite illuminating. It occurred to me that I would probably choose those 20 things over the rest of my possessions. Try that experiment. Separate everything you own into the most important 20 things vs. "the rest". Which pile would you choose? I either moved those 20 things myself (I took them with me on my person) or paid extra to have them shipped very well and separately.

Another thing that I think would be reasonable - although this might differ for you - is to donate or discard any thing that's a "commodity" and keep only special items that cannot be re-purchased easily. I had no trouble getting rid of books because what was important was the content inside, and that could be obtained anytime through Kindle, at a library, or re-purchasing the book. Most people don't re-read the vast majority of books they own, so they are just taking up space doing nothing. I also had no trouble getting rid of a lot of clothing, utensils, tools, etc. I didn't end up needing or re-buying almost all of those things.

Most of the stuff that followed me to my current place when I got married to my husband were family heirlooms and sentimental things. I still have the love letters my first boyfriend sent me (my husband found them while unpacking and strongly disapproved ...), the journals I kept as a teenager, etc. It's going to be different for you, but take time to evaluate what matters to you.
GJ48
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by GJ48 »

Whakamole wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:52 am ....How do you decide what to move?
I recently made a 900-mile move using professionals. I recommend investing the time it takes to work up a detailed floor plan for your new place. Once you've done this you'll realize what's useful to keep.

Create shapes for all the pieces of furniture you might like to keep. Also, make shapes for the estimated number of packing boxes you'll have. Be careful to size them to scale with a floor plan of your new location. Then, you can experiment with arrangements on paper. If you've able, setting up a drawing in PowerPoint and sliding shapes around is a breeze. Don't forget to account for the packing boxes. They will have to go somewhere on day 1 of your move-in.

A big advantage to this approach is you can use it to label and color code your boxes and furniture. At the new place it'll be much easier to manage the movers as stuff rolls in the door. Moreover, if you number each box and keep an inventory of the contents finding things when you need them is a lot less stressful.

Good luck on your new venture.
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Whakamole
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by Whakamole »

lthenderson wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 12:25 pm
Whakamole wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:52 am How do you decide what to move?
It depends on two things that you didn't mention. What is your budget for replacing things and how close were the things you currently own due for an upgrade? Both of those would affect my answer.

Probably the bulk of the price of moving is just getting the truck and the labor to get it from point A to point B loaded and unloaded. The amount of stuff probably only increases the price incrementally. So my focus, if you have the budget to replace things, is leave everything behind that was worn, getting old, not used, etc. and replace it when you get to the place. Be sure to figure in the time and hassle involved in shopping and replacing for things that might have very long lead times due to the pandemic. If the stuff you currently have is decent, you are probably money ahead to include it in the move versus replace it with new stuff.

Before deciding to pack yourself, make sure you understand the damage policies and what insurance covers. In my experience, getting reimbursed for damage caused by moving is much more generous if the hauler does the packing versus you doing the packing. Something to consider.
I'm paying for it myself so budget is a concern. That will, of course, depend on what I'm replacing. My mattress is rather old and should be replaced, for instance; paying to move it won't be cheap, and it would need to be replaced so I'd have to pay again to get someone to bring in a new mattress and remove the old one. You bring up a good point about making sure things can be replaced; I don't think I have much that will be hard to source (I'm bringing my car and anything with a computer chip) but I shouldn't make assumptions.

Good point on packing myself. For what I'm going to take with me (computers, some other valuables) do you think movers would be OK with putting it in my moving vehicle (either my car or a small moving truck)?
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lthenderson
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by lthenderson »

Whakamole wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 5:52 pm Good point on packing myself. For what I'm going to take with me (computers, some other valuables) do you think movers would be OK with putting it in my moving vehicle (either my car or a small moving truck)?
When I moved, the movers packed electronic items with great care and lots of packing materials. My vehicle that I drove was full of things that they couldn't legally take like guns, ammunition, live plants, open containers of chemicals, etc along with a small amount of irreplaceable stuff. Even if I had wanted to take my electronics in my vehicle, there wasn't room. Everything arrived safely except for a vacuum cleaner which has lost a wheel in the process and which the moving company reimbursed me for. It ended up being a real hassle to dispose of all the packing materials from the move because there was so much of it so everything comes with a price. I think it took me about two months of metering it out with my everyday trash before I got all of it disposed of at the new location. I know if I had packed everything myself, I wouldn't have used a fraction of the packing materials and may have had more casualties on the other end as a result.

Overall, I have moved a half dozen times and have packed and moved everything myself to paying for a full service moving company. By far my happiest experience was hiring a full service moving company and if I ever move again, it will only be using a full service moving company. But I did pay a premium for that experience and it might not be affordable on a small budget.
mr_brightside
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by mr_brightside »

did a multi-state move a few years ago. got rid of a TON of stuff beforehand.

STILL moved WAY too much stuff. three years later we still have probably 20 decent sized unopened boxes in the garage or attic.

80 / 20 rule definitely applies.

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westie
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by westie »

get rid of just about everything. Unless your furniture was from the Versailles Palace, craiglist or donate it.
senex
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by senex »

General rule of life, only keep things you need, love, or use.

Interstate moves (are you moving interstate?) are quoted by weight, so you can calculate transfer vs replacement cost for each couch, dresser, etc.
musicagogo
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Re: How do you decide what to move?

Post by musicagogo »

I keep all pictures, etc . After that only stuff I really like and that cost >/= $100/sq foot. So bye-bye mattress, TV, much of my kitchen/bathroom stuff, etc. Might be silly rule of thumb but it really decreases the amount you keep. Much easier to transport. All else is given away/sold
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