(Photo courtesy of Kai Schreiber.)
Moving is a great time to go through your belongings and purge, purge, purge. What better excuse to get rid of unwanted clutter than the burning desire to not have to pack it and move it? Some things are just not worth the effort to move. So, while you’re packing for your move, here are five things you’ll want to leave behind.
Anything you haven’t worn in the past year.
Clothing is a sly little clutter monster. Each item of clothing is small, but when you put them all together you’ve got a huge mess. Take a couple hours and go through your closet before packing your wardrobe box. Get rid of everything you haven’t worn in the past year. On the bright side, if you haven’t worn it in a year, you probably won’t miss it.
Broken or damaged items.
Rusty pots and pans. Furniture with broken parts (handles, legs, etc.). Incomplete puzzles or games. Basically get rid of anything that is junk, needs to be fixed, or has missing pieces. You’ll be better off buying something that goes with the decor when you arrive at your new home.
(Photo courtesy of Uriah Welcome.)
Geographically specific items.
If you’re moving from New York City to Phoenix, you probably won’t need your parka and snow blower. Or if you’re moving from Miami to Nome, you can probably ditch your pool floats and beach chairs. Moving is the perfect opportunity to leave behind anything you can’t use at your new location.
Expired beauty products and medicine cabinet items.
A move is a great time to go through your medicine cabinet and get rid of any expired items. Pain relievers, vitamins, and first aid ointments should all have expiration dates printed on them. In addition to that, many cosmetics have expiration dates. If you can’t find one on the bottle, a general guide for most cosmetics is six months for anything creamy or liquid and 12-18 months for dry makeup. You’ll want to get rid of anything older than 18 months.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Smith.)
Outdated or Useless reading material.
Books and magazines are heavy. If the reading material isn’t inscribed, doesn’t hold sentimental value for you, and you’re not planning on reading it again, don’t keep it. No need to move anything heavy that you aren’t emotionally attached to. The same goes for people, so now’s a good time to ditch your significant other if they’ve been bugging you. (Kidding! Sort of.)
Remember to donate your gently used household items to local charities in your area before you move. Check out this post if you need ideas about where to donate your old stuff.
Have you moved recently? What did you leave behind? Leave it in the comments.
