When planning a big move there are several things you really should take the time to consider, even though you won’t always find them on a checklist. These are the things that will take your moving experience to the next level. They aren’t strictly necessary but they will help you streamline your home and life and can make moving an opportunity for a truly fresh start. Can you move without doing any of these things? Yes, but if you take the time to do them you will be gifting yourself with more time, freedom, and space to create the life you’ve always wanted.
Compare Moving Companies
First, you absolutely need to start comparing moving companies. You may think you don’t want to spend the money and that it makes more sense to do it yourself but that may be because you haven’t taken the time to find out just how affordable this time saving luxury can be. Yes, a moving company is something of a luxury. But if its within your budget, a little splurge now and then can be one of the best things you can do for yourself. This will also help give you the time to complete the other suggestions.
Unfortunately, not all moving companies are the same. You’ll want to make sure you find one that offers you the option of full service packing or do it yourself packing. Then be sure you are comparing quotes for loading, transportation, and unloading to similar quotes. Not all companies offer the same services and it’s important to know exactly what you’re getting. Finally, ask if the companies your considering offer any additional services like storage between the date you move out of one location and move into another.
Embrace Minimalism
Minimalism is the trend of letting go of excess belongings in order to simplify and enrich one’s life. There are many degrees of minimalism. For some people, this means keeping only what is necessary to survive. For others, it can mean only purchasing the best of each type of thing to live a life of minimalist luxury. Regardless of whether or not you are interested in adopting this type of life, there are many ways the mindset can help make the entire process of moving easier.
Take the time to evaluate all the things you own and identify where you have surplus items or things you no longer want, need, or use. If you have two coffee makers consider donating or selling the extra. By taking the time to do this instead of packing everything for the big move, you will reduce what you have to pack and unpack. This saves you time, money, and energy. It has the added bonus of allowing you to create a less cluttered space in your new home.
Embrace the Cloud
While you are going through everything you will likely notice you have piles of papers, pictures, videos, CDs, and other items that could be stored electronically. There are several storage services that will allow you to store any type of paper on them. This can virtually eliminate the need for filing cabinets and are a great way to store photographs so they won’t degrade overtime.
If you rarely watch your DVDs and find yourself turning to one of the streaming music services, it may be time to consider selling your collection to free up room and earn a little extra cash. This is also great for old tax returns, insurance policies, and college papers you haven’t been able to part with. Even if you aren’t willing to fully digitize, consider putting the most essential paperwork in the cloud to make them easier to access if you need them during the move or if there is an emergency.
Sometimes it feels as though moving is an enormous task that will only cause stress and eat up valuable time. While this is certainly one way to view the situation, you could also see it as a fantastic opportunity. A chance to get rid of all the things, both physically and emotionally, that are holding you back from living the life you’ve always wanted. Clear out the past and you will have more room in your life for the future you’ve imagined.
Mario says
Embracing the cloud is right. The times I’ve moved, I took it as impetus to digitize documents by scanning them, uploading them to an external hard drive AND uploading them to the cloud so I have ready access to them whenever.