How to Downsize Your Belongings Before Your Big Move

Moving will always be a little stressful. Even when you move with the best movers and for the best reasons, picking up your entire life and belongings can be overwhelming. However, you can reduce some of that stress (and even cultivate some happiness) by downsizing your belongings.

By keeping only your most important belongings, you’ll make your new home feel like a fresh start. Plus, you’ll cut the hassle of moving countless objects you might not even want to keep in your new home. In this post, we’ll walk through how to downsize your belongings. Specifically, we’ll cover these tips on how to downsize your belongings:

Decide What to Get Rid of Before Moving
Hold a Garage Sale
Donate Your Old Belongings
Sell Your Stuff on Craigslist

Decide What to Get Rid of Before Moving

One of the biggest challenges to downsizing your stuff is determining what to get rid of. When you sort through your items, use the six-month rule to decluttering. That is, if you haven’t used or even thought of an item in at least six months, then it’s time to get rid of it.

Also, consider the KonMari method to decluttering and downsizing. The premise of this method is simple: only keep the items that bring you joy. Rather than purging belongings room by room, you downsize by category (i.e. books, clothes, shoes).

There are exceptions, such as your grandmother’s sterling silver, but if you know you’re not going cross country skiing again, it’s time to get rid of the poles and skis.

You can also consider where you are moving to. If you live in Los Angeles and are moving to Portland, you might not need twenty-five pairs of flip-flops or sandals; trade in all of your shorts for a rain-worthy jacket and a sweater.

Hold a Garage Sale

One easy way to get rid of a lot of extra items is to hold a garage sale.

Many people find this a favorite way to dispose of possessions because they can cash in on items that were formerly taking up space. Remember the waffle iron from three Christmases ago that you used once? Someone will love to pay you for that. Have you migrated your book reading to an e-book device? All of your paper books will find good homes on your neighbor’s shelves.

You never know what people will pay top dollar for. Remember: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Be sure to check out our previous blog post on garage sale tips before moving.

Donate Your Old Belongings

If your items don’t sell, or if you’d rather not be bothered with hosting a sale, consider donating your excess possessions. Many places will even pick up your items directly from your house (even oversize items such as couches, if they are in good condition).

Call up local churches or charities if you are uncertain where to take your stuff. Local homeless shelters will be happy to take clothing, bedding, and other items. Goodwill is always a good choice, and they often have convenient drop-off centers in parking lots or elsewhere.

Sell Your Stuff on Craigslist

Craigslist will earn you the most money for your possessions, but it takes much more effort than the previous two options. Craigslist is best suited for items that are distinctly valuable, such as vintage furniture or appliances. Clothing, for example, won’t sell as easily.

Craigslist also has a Free option for those items you simply need to be rid of. People will come over and pick up your ratty old sofa and you’ll not have to lift a finger.

Downsize Your Belongings with Priority Moving Services

It can be tough to get rid of some belongings, but learning how to downsize your belongings is one universal moving tip that always brings joy in the end.

While you focus on paring down your possessions, leave the heavy lifting to Priority Moving Services.

In addition to being one of the highest-rated moving companies on Yelp, we were named as one of Expertise’s top 20 Portland movers in 2016.