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Moving, on its own, can be a stressful process. Just thinking about it may give you a headache. But worry not, as this guide will help you go through some of the most important steps of relocation. Decluttering is one of the most crucial preparation points that you need to focus on. With your inventory tidied up, your relocation will be much easier. And not only easier, but it may turn out to be cheaper as well! With some tips to declutter your home and some assistance from professional movers Chicago, you will be ready in no time!

Determining The Moving Distance

This may not seem like an important part – but depending on the circumstances – it may as well be. The larger the distance you have to move, the more significant ridding yourself of unnecessary items is. Having to carry all those tech magazines and newspapers which are obsolete is no easy feat. What about all those CD albums or vinyl that are still gathering dust? If you are moving a few blocks away, or to the next neighborhood, gathering just the essentials can be sufficient. This way, you can always get back quickly and get whatever else you need.

Relocating to another city, state, or country? It can be a huge waste of money to have the aforementioned items packed and transported with you. Especially if you haven’t used them in the last several months. Therefore, continue reading for some…

Tips to Declutter Your Home – The What

Perhaps the hardest part of what we call the ‘declutter’ is the ‘what‘. Namely, when you’re deciding what should go away, it may be hard to throw away all those magazines you loved. Or books, movies, or even toys that you thought you could donate. Of course, you don’t have to throw the items you don’t need any more in the trash can. You can either gift, recycle or lend them until you need them again.

Think about what you rarely use. What better way to start of tips to declutter your home, than with old magazines. The first things that might come to your mind are:

Magazines

Come to think of it – how often do you get back to your old magazines? Some fashion magazines – why not? After all, you may have a retro taste in fashion. Those dozen health magazines? Sure – health tips and nutrition guides are always useful. Tech ones – maybe not so much. By category – make sure you comb through what topics do these magazines and papers cover, which ones you don’t really care enough about, collect them and pack them in a box or two.

What you’ll be left with is just a couple of useful magazines that you value more than other ones.

Books

A similar rule applies to books. Except books are usually slightly ‘more valued’ than magazines since they can’t “expire” in the classic sense. Books are a work of art, and they tell a story. Either fictional, biographical, or even layout someone’s personal thoughts on a subject. In this context, books might be tougher to throw away.

But you can still gift some unused children’s books or coloring books to a local kindergarten. Or better yet – if you find old books about something not applicable today – you know what to do.

Old or Rarely Used Clothes

Our tips to declutter your home don’t include only the items which are big and bulky. Additionally, you might need to consider your inventory of clothes and shoes you have at hand. This is mostly because people tend to change tastes over time, or simply grow out of the shirt and pant sizes. Of course, it may be useful to keep a few pairs of additional shoes, t-shirts or jackets. This way, you will be able to change between different outfits. However, having too many different outfits may get you into the problem where you will be asking yourself too much of the same question, which is: “What am I going to wear now?” or “I don’t have anything to wear!”.

Namely, sift through the jackets, pants and shirts and throw away all the redundant clothing types. For instance, keep one winter jacket, one pair of winter boots. Make sure you have about a dozen t-shirts and a few shirts for formal occasions. The same goes for trousers and pants. It is highly likely that if you have a lot of winter or summer clothes you won’t get the chance to wear it all. Therefore, be sure to pack your clothes properly.

Expired Medicine

As we all know, things tend to get spoiled. Or they expire. In the case of medicine that we were prescribed by the doctor, it is highly recommended to dispose of those that have met their end of life. Consuming expired medicine from your ‘home pharmacy’ can be dangerous. In some cases, it may even be harmless, but taking risks is not an option. Besides, whatever is close to the expiration date or has expired will definitely free up a lot of space when moving. Medicine often take whole drawers or cabinets, so this is just one of many tips to declutter your home.

Old Gadgets

In some cases, you will find that you have lots of different kinds of gadgets lying around. Tech items that are not used as often, most probably due to old age. For example, VHS recorders, tapes or MP3 players. Today, when DVD discs are getting slowly replaced by BluRay discs – the age of VHS is long gone. Namely, most older media formats like VHS tapes can be converted to digital formats of today. The same is for audio cassettes. What’s more, even MP3 players are obsolete.

Today, our smartphones are capable of not only playing music but recording audio, video, viewing images and much more. Therefore, converting and throwing away older tech gadgets might be a huge space saver. And you’ll save money too!

Verdict

Ultimately, if you’ve read these tips to declutter your home – there shouldn’t be any problems. Just make sure you go through some of the categories of items you might have sitting around. We all have something that is barely even used. Or some items that we think we might use, but end up not using anyway for months to come. By following this guide and the below points, you will be fast on the path to success. In the end, you just need to find a suitable moving company, and perhaps an insurance company.

• Check your wardrobe for old clothes. Gift them or throw them away.
• Sift through the old magazines or books. Many magazines cover trends that are “not trendy” anymore.
• Throw away expired medicine. You shouldn’t use expired medicine, as it can cause health issues.
• Throw away, gift, or sell older tech gadgets. You read it correctly – sell! There are always gadget enthusiasts around the world.