MOVING HOUSE...when to start packing de-cluttering etc. am starting to panic.

[noonar]

hi, we are due to complete on our new house at the beginning of march.

i'm starting to feel a bit panicky about the magnitude of the task ahead of us, even though its a way off.

trouble is, we've been here 14 years, have had our children here, and have accumulated a huge amount of clutter. we have a large house with a large loft that is FULL of junk. not to mention the shed...

you get the picture. am staring to feel overwhelmed by the thought of it all. my head spins at night with thoughts of all the jobs we have to do.

any tips for making it a bit easier/ less stressful? we have a 3yo and 5yo, btw, so its hard to get things done at the best of times.

how far ahead of time should we pack?? we are off skiing 2 weeks before we complete. great timing...

sorry, am rambling in my state of panic.

advice please xx

It is the perfact opportunity to have a thorough clear out. Start small so you don't get inundated. Pick a room to start and work through one draw/shelf/cupboard at a time. It may be an idea to hire a skip as well so you can be really ruthless. If you look at the whole picture it is terrifying, but one room at a time iis doable.

I started doing this about 4 months before we moved, but we had the packers in the day before the move (we didn't do any of the actual packing).

Bah! You have months!!

We are hopefully exchanging today and completing in about 4 weeks, moving in soon after that.
Have packed 2 small boxes of books.
That's it.
Have been here nearly 10 years. And we are both horders! (Not that DH would admit it)

Didn't want to jinx it by packing before exchange.

ah, how does that work, having packers? didnt know there was such a thing possible

tigana, am still really stressed. its going to be a big upheaval emotionally too...

good luck with your packing- we arent going to do anything before exchanging either.

I sorted the whole house from top to bottom including loft and shed, got rid of a tonne of stuff, (gave away,recycled, binned and charity). Then the day before we moved the packers (who had been previously to gauge how much stuff we had) came and packed everything (wrapped plates/glasses individually etc etc)into labelled boxes. They returned the next morning and loaded it all into 2 lorries and drove it to new house then unloaded into the appropriate rooms.

Isn't that the norm?

this is a great website, some even give you free boxes etc.

dh has been taking of hiring a van, as we're moving v locally. will have a word...WE WANT PACKERS!

THANKS FOR LINK XX AM OFF TO GET DD1, NOW.

Get the removal men to do the packing. They are very quick and efficient, your things will be fully insured if they have packed them and it often doesn't work out to be that much more expensive. When we moved a few years ago I think it was about £100 for them to pack whereas if we had packed it would have cost us about £60 just in packing materials alone.

Do look into having packers. It cost about 250 pounds more than the basic removal cost but did make life much easier.

Of course, they don't actually declutter for you

Opps yes, sorry, 150 pounds, not 250...

We moved about a hundred yards down the road. We had a removal company and packers.

Well.....
I'm moving at the beginning of February so I've started thinking about it, but that's all. And we've only been here 3 and half years, so not as bad, but we do have huge amounts of clutter hanging about.

In my head I'm going to try and sort through a room at a time, giving myself a week for each room, with a break over Christmas. By sort through I just mean clear out and clean cupboards/bookcases/piles of cr*p and decide what we are keeping and what can be chucked/recycled. I've already got a couple of huge boxes in the spare room into which I've started putting carboot/second hand sale stuff as I come across it.

I've also opened a word doc on the computer with a list of people/companies etc that I will need to do a change of address for - there seem to be hundreds, and with my list already started I add names as I get post, or as they occur to me.

I'm going to start proper packing into boxes after Christmas, starting with books and summer clothes. That's as far as plans have got. Any more tips much appreciated!

I'm so slow! lol

Yes, we're definitely paying for packers. Did it last time, and the cost was soooo worth it.

We have used Pickfords twice - and they packed for us. Brilliant. These guys are professional and are very quick, so job done in no time.

Definitely 1 room at a time, be ruthless!

I thought I had been ruthless, but we have now been in our new house for about 8 weeks and I am still finding stuff and thinking why on earth did we bring this?

Has to be a joint effort if you have a DP/DH, if not then grab a good friend, it's always helpful to have someone to wrestle rubbish you don't need from you/convince you to keep some sentimental things.

Trust me on this I am an expert, between childhood and my own house moves this is now my 18th house

P.S. I had Pickfords pack for me for the 1st time this time, sooooo worth it

We had a lot of notice about our move and vast amounts of clutter, and I started Freecycling/selling stuff as soon as it was confirmed that we were moving. It really is one of those jobs that's manageable if you chip away at it but overwhelming if you plan to do it all in one week.

Start getting stuff out of the house bit by bit - that's how it all came into the house in the first place! Take single carrier bags of books to charity shops as you fill them, rather than waiting until you've sorted through every bookshelf and picked out every single book that you want to get rid of. Same with clothes - a carrier bag out the door is one less thing you have to step over. Always have a give-away box on the go, and do a bookshelf or a drawer if you are waiting for the kettle to boil or even if you're on hold.

By the time we were a month away from our move the house had started to develop big bald patches, which was fantastically relaxing and motivating. Nibble - if you gulp you'll choke!

Ooh yes - packers are def the way to go!

Mind you - be warned - they come in like a load of locusts and swarm around your house and before you know it they have packed the full rubbish bin!

Have moved now 10 times and the first few times we did it ourselves. Never - and I mean NEVER again.

As others have said - just do bit by bit. It is wonderfully cathartic when you do it.

We're moving on Friday hopefully, still have to exchange

My list of people to tell:
Banks & Building societies (ISAs?)
Credit cards & loans
Mortgage people
House buildings & contents insurance
Life assurance
Doctors, dentists, opticians
Pensions
Work - HR & payroll
Car insurance
People who have your car details, e.g. Kwik Fit / Halfords
Store cards and online store accounts, though these probably linked
DVLA
blood donors
Gas, electricity, water, council tax
Telephone
Mobile
broadband provider
TV licence
ebay & paypal
solicitors
amazon
online shops - amazon, hmv, play
Child Trust Fund
Health Visitors
Nursery / school
Bounty
Child Benefit

Evenhope added "local tax office and the National Insurance office"

I am ashamed to admit I have been pakcing full on for two days since viewing a wonderful house...I now think the agent has let it to someone else as it is showing as 'under offer' on their site. however that could mean me as I told them I really want it...who knows...I will have to unpack again!
We have been here 3 years and have hoards of clutter. Terrible. that's why I start early - we'd be moving after Xmas if we do get it. Usually I would have a 3 week window but this one we'd get a bit longer (renting)

Mind you I start packing a few times a year - mainly when I get fed up with the landlord! Tis cathartic.

I am dreading the bit where you dig up your plants because you know they will get bulldozered when the house is sold

AAARGH plants
thanks

hope you do get the house columbia, when do you expect to hear?

erm, yesterday

they didn't ring, I am fearing the worst. They know how much I want it, saw it 8 months ago and just missed it then...they promised to let me know if it came up again, of course they didn't, and someone else saw it before me...I said I'd be long term but am increasingly convinced it went to the other person

arghh

Thanks for your kind wishes though x