Wow! I never realized I had this much stuff! (relocating, packing, movers)

[Fairwinds]

Are you in the process of moving and realize that you've accumulated enough stuff to open a hardware store? That's what I'm dealing with right now and I'm pretty amazed! Five cans of unopened spackling paste! That's just the tip of the iceburg! What stuff are you challenged to leave behind?

[Bakeneko]

Originally Posted by Fairwinds

Are you in the process of moving and realize that you've accumulated enough stuff to open a hardware store? That's what I'm dealing with right now and I'm pretty amazed! Five cans of unopened spackling paste! That's just the tip of the iceburg! What stuff are you challenged to leave behind?

If you have a Habitat for Humanity nearby - they will take stuff like that off your hands for their Restore store.

[DFWgal]

Originally Posted by Fairwinds

Are you in the process of moving and realize that you've accumulated enough stuff to open a hardware store? That's what I'm dealing with right now and I'm pretty amazed! Five cans of unopened spackling paste! That's just the tip of the iceburg! What stuff are you challenged to leave behind?

When we moved, a few months ago, I called movers and calculated a certain amount of boxes. After I was done packing, I realized I had 10 extra mid-size boxes! Fortunately they just charged me a few more dollars. The owner, that came with two other workers, told me it always happens LOL

I found some shoes and clothing with price tags (That was a surprise because DH and I are not big spenders).

[lislemom]

not sure what suprises me most but i feel like after the amount i have donated my house should be empty but its not

so i start going thru closets again one by one and call for another pick up for donation

we are relocating so they will pack everything and move it

my control issues are making me crazy in thinking about unpacking all the miscellaneous items and finding new homes for everything

we just remodeled the kitchen in 2011 and literally i designed my kitchen for all my stuff, i customized cabinets to fit things in certain places and now i get to move into someone elses design

[MaggieZ]

moving a lot teaches you not to be a packrat or even worry about material things.
The more control you think you have, the less you really have...
I used to save everything and now I regularly get rid of things I don't use...it's amazing what a person accumulates, giving it away or selling (depending on what it is) are always good options. The local Salvation army or Goodwil or any organisation that helps people might need stuff..

[goldengrain]

My husband and I collect books. It was so bad that we had piles that did not fit on shelves. We moved and now have a regular library, but we also bought Kindles, hoping to reduce the clutter.

I wonder if this runs in families. My mom seemed to collect clothing. She shopped often and it cheered her up. She was poor as a child - maybe that had something to do with it.

Fortunately, we don't spend what we don't have.

[Nanny Goat]

My husband had stuff in the garage like: tax records from 30 years ago, life jackets even though we haven't lived near water for 15, tools to fix cars with that are obsolete, locks by the dozens, things I wouldn't know what to do with if there was an instructional manual w/ them. Anyways, "had" is the operative word. I spent one whole day just shredding. You have to prioritize when you're planning a move--what to take and what to unload.

[Coolhand68]

I recently moved and had to unload almost an entire garage worth of furniture, appliances, clothes, and toys that I no longer use. Goodwill got half, the rest just needed to be left on the curb.

[KAILANI]

I am SOOO with you!!

I have racks of paint, plumbing supplies, fixtures, nuts, bolts, paste, compound, glues, greases, etc.etc.

All this stuff adds up to a LOT of $. Some of it is barely used... I wouldn't want to pack it though.

Habitat for Humanity is a great idea! Or post in Craigslist for a one day yard sale, cheap!!

[zthatzmanz28]

Isn't it UNBELIEVEABLE! When we first moved intoour cavernous 1600 sq ft house in 2003, I thought we could never have enough stuff. When we moved 6 years later we wondered were all the stuff cam from...we had yard sales, craiglisted, ebayed and still had stuff. We donated to COuncil for the Blind, Habitat ReStore and Salvation Army and still had stuff we left behind.
We are ready to move again and this time we started early. Last spring we started taking boxes to our local PTO thrift store--so far we have dropped off 10-15 large size boxes of stuff..