Moving soon - Where to start with de-cluttering

[Azura2019]

Moving house in 4weeks, where do I start decluttering??
Full time working, single parent and 3 primary school kids..honestly don't know where to begin.
3 bedroom house full of "stuff"

Black bin bags. Fill each one, seal it. Put it in car. Repeat until you have a car full. Drive to the tip. Empty. Repeat.
We moved in 2017 after being in the house 12 years. I realised that all the sorting into piles wouldn't work. Highly cathartic. Still needed a huge truck and Luton box van

Ha ha I might have to do that!! So hard when you are emotionally connected to each item..

When you moved to the new house, did you feel "oh I should have kept this" after binning it during move?

If it’s more a house move I’d suggest box up all keeps that you won’t need in next four weeks. Then they’re out of the way.

Then go room by room. Even if it’s a cupboard at a time. Think practically, ie how many duvet sets do I need, will there be a place for this ornament, do I need this DVD etc.

If there’s anything you’re not sure about you could always do some ‘packing party’ boxes, which means pack it anyway and if you need/want it in the next four weeks then you know it’s to keep (for now.)

I’d also say pack with as much organisation as possible, ie kids toys already organised into a box, drawstring bag etc. That way it’s a case of getting it out of the box and putting it straight into its new home.

If you're moving in 4 weeks then start packing now! Go room by room, pack up all the stuff that you know you wont need before move day. You can then spend a bit of time boxing the things you want to keep and binning what you don't want/need. Give yourself time so you're not just frantically shoving things into boxes in the last week.

Label all the boxes so you know exactly what's inside and what room they go in.

I have moved A LOT over the years and have perfected the art of packing!

I would personally pay packers if you can. They will do it all the day before and if you are paying movers anyway it isnt that much more. The movers pack absolutely everything, even half used ketchup so there is no requirement to declutter as such but it will help unpack the other side obviously.

I would then just grab a bag and go through a room picking up things you know you def dont want/need. Focus on using up supplies such as toiletries and food and dont buy new stuff

Konmari method (if you’re not familiar with it, google it, there are lots of sites that tell you the essentials)- if you do it following her rules it’s a really efficient method to get rid of a lot of clutter, having a predefined process helps avoid being paralysed by the scale of the task and it also helps to get everything organised which’ll make it much easier for packing/unpacking.

Depending on the temperament/ages of your kids either involve them or see if you can get someone to look after them for a day or two at the weekends for the next couple of weeks, I did it earlier this year and managed to get rid of probably close to half my possessions over a couple of weeks (the most time consuming being the ‘papers’ category because I had lots related to my work that I couldn’t just get rid of but had to digitise)

With a full weekend working on it and a few hours each evening after the kids are in bed, you could make a lot of progress in a couple of weeks.

Yes I’d start packing actual boxes and sealing them with a label on each eg kitchen stuff, kids’ toys. You will naturally chuck out a lot of stuff as you go.

I’m not sure you have enough time to do a thorough declutter so if it comes to it, sort it the other end.

We have just finished gettig rid of stuff we don't want to move with us after 3 weeks of doing it on weekends/evenings/when we had time and could be bothered.

Went room by room and a storage unit at a time in each room. Emptied everything out and had 4 categories; keep, bin, charity shop and sell. But it does help that we are not sentimental on a lot of stuff so could easily get rid of a lot of it. Now we will just focus on eating everything we have in the freezer/cupboards before moving.

The worst one was all the old paperwork we had kept all over the house. Just the sheer volume of it. Old bills etc that we went through one by one and burned everything we didn't need to keep. Rest was much easier in comparison.

I do need to mention that we did not go through clothes as we just went over them few months ago. But I would leave that one for after moving tbh if you have loads of them to sort through.

When you moved to the new house, did you feel "oh I should have kept this" after binning it during move?

No. I threw away more than half of our stuff and I haven't missed anything yet. I have actually thrown away stuff while unpacking too. I'm not a minimalist, just was fed up drowning in stuff. Now everything has a place while the house looks tidy. It's a lovely feeling, try to picture that.

Also, if in doubt bin it or bring it to a charity shop the same day. If in doubt and you can buy the same thing easily in your new town for less than 20 pounds: bin it or charity shop. If in doubt about nostalgia (kids paintings etc): scan it or take a photo. Do one or two memory boxes per kid with stuff, keep the rest digital.

Thank you 😊

I have just shredded tons of old paperwork, feels sooo good. Phew!

We are getting removal company to dissemble furniture and assemble at the other end.
I can ask them to pack as well, surprisingly doesn't cost much.
However I'm wondering if I could ask them for boxes and keep filling them up as I declutter? We will have to live with boxes but at least I'll know I'm not taking stuff I don't need and more importantly I know what I am taking. Each room has built in storage and I can't remember what's in where. Is this a sensible approach or I should I declutter and leave the stuff where it is and let packers pack it?

If you can’t remeber what’s in them most likely don’t need
We always used a packing company

When we move we do sets of decluttering... One as we prepare to pack, then again when we unpack. The unpack one is easier as you realise things don't have a logical home or don't fit into your new home.
Packers are great but they literally chuck everything in a box.