There comes a point in life when one has to make the “Big Move”—moving away from one’s comfort zone to another country.
While the reason for moving can differ from one person to another, we all can agree that relocating to a different country can be tough, stressful, time-consuming, and most especially, expensive.
Whether you plan to relocate with the help of a moving company or just you and your family in a vehicle, moving to a border country can be quite stressful and expensive. The major contributing factor is the weight of your belongings (things you want to move along).
Therefore, it’s important to make sure that your properties are well packed, concise, and disposed of things you don’t need.
The process of deciding what items to get rid of when moving can be quite challenging because there are reasons why some of these items are not yet trashed.
Nevertheless, getting rid of these items won’t only save you money and make your journey less stressful, but will also be a way of making some quick cash if sold at a consignment store or your local online or offline marketplace.
What to Get Rid of When Moving Across Country
In this article, we shall be listing the 20 things you should get rid of when moving across the country. This will help you to make a smooth transition.
1. Old or Not So Useful Clothing Items
When moving, it’s a good decision to cut down on the number of clothing items you pack to lessen the weight of your luggage. You can try donating or selling your old or not so used clothing items.
If some of your clothing items aren’t going to be of any use to you in your new place—for example, hoodies or winter gloves in a country with a relatively high temperature— it’s always a good sign that you should get rid of them.
2. Worn Out or Non-Fitting Shoes
This might be the time to get rid of those old non-fitting shoes that you’ve saved for some time (with the hope of giving them out). Just like clothing items, shoes can also take up some space in your luggage. Therefore, it’s pointless to carry along shoes you will never wear.
It’s always a good thing to give them out if they are still wearable, and get rid of the not so useful ones.
3. Old Pieces of Jewelry and accessories
Jewelry and accessories are a treasure to some. But moving across the country with “outdated treasures” isn’t a valuable thing to do; it’s just a bunch of extra weight to carry. You can make little cash by selling your old ones or just gift them to someone else who needs them.
4. Old and Unread Books
If you are an avid reader, it’s not uncommon to have a stockpile of books you’ve gathered over the years. It’s not necessary to move all of these books along with you.
You could make do with the digital versions of your favorite books while donating or selling the hard copies. Or simply sell or donate all your old and unread books that can easily be gotten from the libraries in your new location.
You’ll be surprised at how much space you can save by doing this.
5. Old Media Items
If you still maintain racks of DVDs, cassettes, or VCDs, this might finally be the best time to get rid of some. Let’s face it, old media items are a bit delicate to move and can easily get damaged if not properly packed. Just like books, you can make digital versions of your favorite media items (if you are legally allowed to do that) and sell the hard copies.
6. Old Bedding Materials
These include your old bedsheets, pillows, pillowcases, and duvets that you’ve used for years. They’ve probably served their purpose and need to be changed. It’s better to save some space in your luggage by getting rid of them and getting new ones at your new place.
7. Old Furniture and Appliances
When moving as a family, furniture and appliances are the household items that take up a huge space in the moving van. If they’re too old or out of style, you can start afresh by discarding them and getting new ones when you move to your new home.
They can still be valuable to some people regardless of how old they are. Hence, you should consider setting up a garage sale and selling them or donating them to your local humanitarian center.
8. Outdated Room Interiors and Decors
Moving to a new house is an opportunity to get your interiors redesigned. If you feel like your current frames, room posters, and room decors are already out of style, it’s better to get rid of them and start fresh by getting new ones for your new apartment.
9. Excess Kitchen Utensils
If you look into your kitchen cabinet, you might be surprised by the number of utensils you don’t use anymore. These are the ancient set of utensils that have seen their days and no longer serve any crucial purpose.
Most kitchen utensils are quite delicate to pack (especially the ceramic ones). So, it’s advisable that you only pack the ones you use daily and get rid of the rest.
10. Cheap Broken Appliances
If you have any broken appliances lying around or you’re barely managing and have been planning to fix them, it’s probably better to get rid of them. You don’t want to risk adding more damage to them during the journey. It’s better to donate or sell them and save some extra space.
11. Leftover Perishable Food Items
It’s not always a good idea to travel across the country with food items, especially perishable ones. They can easily get spoiled or contaminated during the journey. To avoid wasting food, it’s a good idea to consume all perishable food items before moving, and give away any leftovers to neighbors, friends, or whoever needs them.
12. Old Magazines and Newspapers
Do you have an active magazine or newspaper subscription? If yes, you probably have a lot of magazines or newspapers lying around your house. Before moving, you can spare some time and go through them, pick the most recent or useful ones, and discard the rest. You can also try donating them to your local libraries, children’s centers, or nursing homes.
13. Old Kids’ Items and Toys
If you’re a parent, it’s not uncommon to still have some of your children’s childhood stuff lying around when moving away from the house they grew up. Except you plan to have more kids, it’s probably the right time to get rid of that stuff. You can consider donating them to your local children’s center and put a smile on some kids’ faces.
14. Old School Projects and Materials
To avoid including unnecessary materials in your luggage, you must do your last cleanup with your kids; they may have a lot of school projects and materials in the house that they don’t need. You can seek their consent when cleaning their rooms to be sure about the materials to get rid of.
15. Empty containers
It’s rare to find a home without any empty containers. Whether you’re planning to recycle them or just save them for future use, you should probably dispose of the useless ones (those without lids) while packing, and pack only the few you need.
16. Expired Medicines, Beauty Products, and Supplies
These are a no-brainer because if the products are already expired, they are no longer safe to use. Hence, endeavor to check and dispose of any expired product before clearing up your medicine and bedroom cabinet.
17. Old Vehicle
If you own a vehicle and you are planning to move to a new country, you have the option of either selling the vehicle or giving it to someone. However, you could transport your vehicle over to your new location if you still need it. Just have it in mind that transporting a vehicle to another country is not cheap. And if you have to do it, make sure it is worth it.
18. Old Bills, Documents and Manuals
You probably won’t need the old manuals and documents from your previous apartment when moving. Therefore, it’s better to discard them as much as you can to save space. To be on the safer side, you can make digital copies of these documents by using a document scanner before discarding them.
19. Garage Junks
Apart from the vehicles that it was initially designed for, a garage is also used to store a lot of things. In most houses, it is usually the second “home of junk” (the first being the artic and basement).
When clearing up, endeavor to take only the useful stuff from your garage and get rid of every other thing—these include paint containers, spare parts, and empty containers.
20. Things That Won’t Be Useful in Your New Apartment
No two apartments are the same. Knowing the kind of apartment you’ll settle in can help to reduce the amount of luggage to pack. If you’re sure that you’re not going to need a particular piece of equipment or appliance in your new apartment, there’s no point packing it along with you.
For instance, if your new apartment doesn’t have a lawn, it’s extra weight bringing your old lawn mower along with you when you can save yourself extra space in the van by selling or giving it out.
Conclusion
The process of moving across the country requires some effort. And one of the most tedious aspects of it is clearing things up in preparation for the move. Alternatively, you can consider selling your old belongings and starting afresh in the new country.
But since that might not be feasible for a lot of people, we have made things easy for you with this article. We hope you find this article very useful as you begin to prepare your properties for your journey.
Great info. Lucky me I discovered your blog by chance (stumbleupon).
I’ve saved it for later!