Moving in 6 weeks - Feeling Overwhelmed Options

[sarasievert]

Hi
I have been fluttering on and off. I am putting all my things in storage in 6 weeks - will start 2 weeks before. I am a single mum - a cook - have lots of cookbooks and lots of things I need to declutter. I feel so overwhelmed by it all - and want to just put my head under the blanket - but somehow know that that won't work.
Do I keep the synthetic Crhistmas tree thats a pain to put up, do i really need all those self help books, How does one declutter books?
Sara

[JennaR]

Hi Sara!

I'm a military wife and have moved 4 times in the last 3 years. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I still have several boxes I've yet to unpack from the last move (and we've been here 6 months!).

As far as your books go, do you have a bookshelf? Allot yourself a certain amount of space on the bookshelf and say "I'm keeping as many fit on this shelf." First, toss (donate? yard sale?) the books that you know you won't read again, the ones that torn or ruined, etc. Then, select your favorites and stack them on the bookshelf. See how much (if any) space you have left on the bookshelf and work from there. That's the hardest part for me - trying to figure out which ones in the middle to keep and which ones to get rid of. But I KNOW you can do this. The less stuff you have, the less stuff you have to move!

Flylady has a moving section. If you haven't found it yet, it's here. Flylady's Moving Tips

Keep us updated on your progress.

Oh, and way to go for starting 6 weeks out instead of waiting until the week before (like I've been known to do! Oops).

[jmlflymomma]

Hi
I have been fluttering on and off. I am putting all my things in storage in 6 weeks - will start 2 weeks before. I am a single mum - a cook - have lots of cookbooks and lots of things I need to declutter. I feel so overwhelmed by it all - and want to just put my head under the blanket - but somehow know that that won't work.
Do I keep the synthetic Crhistmas tree thats a pain to put up, do i really need all those self help books, How does one declutter books?
Sara

Hi!!!!

I'm thinking that any books that could be gotten from the library could be decluttered/flung...right?

Do you USE all those cookbooks? I have to admit, I have cookbooks that I have either never used, or have only made one recipe. So many recipes are available online now, many cookbooks are rather obsolete.

Best to you!!!


BTW...if your next move is going to be a rather permanent one ( meaning that you'll be there for awhile), I would chuck the difficult Christmas tree and get an easier one next season. I have one big tree and one little tree. The little tree is a self-lit artificial and I don't even bother taking the ornaments off... ...I just wrap the whole thing in a big garbage bag and put it away. (wish I could do that with big trees.... )

Many of the newer artificial trees are so easy...they come with lights or fiber optics already on...so much easier!!!!!

[jellyrollqueen]

Hi Sara--

I'm moving too, the movers are coming this weekend to pack everything up. I'm not particularly a packrat myself but DH is and so we have been going through major decluttering for several months now. I still find a few things of my own that could use weeding out (yesterday I decluttered my knitting needles--I'm an avid knitter and found I had a lot of old duplicates/odd needles. I threw out the oddballs & ones I don't like using, and kept the good ones).

With your cookbooks, I recommend doing a "backwards declutter"--that is, pick out your all-time favorite cookbooks (you know which ones they are without thinking about it) that you absolutely can't live without, and pack them up in boxes, clearly labeled "FAVORITE COOKBOOKS". That way you will have the ones you definitely want to keep out of your way and ready to move. Then go through the ones that are left and decide which are your next favorite--that Christmas cookbook that you only use once a year but that does get used like crazy during the season, etc.. Or a reference book that you may consult from time to time (Like a Larousse Gastronomique etc.) but that is very handy and expensive to replace. Put these in another box(es) clearly labeled "COOKBOOKS--KEEPERS". These also will go with you.

Then go through what you have left. Pick out anything that has great sentimental value--eg the really gorgeous coffee-table cookbook that your sister gave you, you hardly ever cook anything from it but it is so pretty you can't bear to part with it. That goes on your coffee table for decor in your new home. Anything that doesn't have sentimental value (and I mean a LOT of sentimental value) pack up in another box, labeled "COOKBOOKS TO GO". These you can a) donate to a library take to a used bookstore like Half Price Books and sell/trade c) sell on eBay or Half.com d) have a yard sale and sell, or d) give away to Goodwill or friends. I've given away several nice items like books, posters, jewelry I no longer wear to friends of mine who have really loved getting a surprise "gift", and I don't feel bad about letting go of them because they are making someone else happy.

Same process as above for the self-help books. You can probably look at them and know which ones really helped or not. If your divorce is over, you probably don't need the ones on divorce anymore. (I got rid of my DH's, he's been through 2 divorces and I told him I wouldn't let him go that easy! He had been hanging on to them for 3 years after his last divorce and I figured after we got married it was okay to get rid of them. He agreed.)

Get rid of the Christmas tree. They are cheap and easy to replace and you can find one that fits your new living space. We just got rid of the pre-lit artificial tree my DH has been schlepping around for the past 20 years, packed it up nice and gave it to Goodwill. We will get a new one for our new home this winter. We also weeded through the ornaments, using the same process as above for the books, and got rid of about half of them.

I think the "backwards declutter" may work well for you--separate out the things you really really love, and pack them, then weed through the rest. This is what works for my DH--he is very sentimental, but he has a lot of stuff he keeps even though he can't remember who gave it to him or where it came from, he will keep it because he's afraid that if he gets rid of it he will be getting rid of "something important". Which is where say to him, "If you can't remember where it came from or what it means to you, then it isn't important, and the person who gave it to you probably isn't going to walk into the house and ask where it is!! "

Don't think about how much there is left to do. Just work on one thing at a time and think about that. You eat an elephant one bite at a time.

P.S. My packrat DH is out at our storage space right now throwing stuff out. He decluttered the garage this weekend and got rid of crap he's been toting around for 20 years. So if he can do it, you can!

[Zicks]

I think the "backwards declutter" may work well for you--separate out the things you really really love, and pack them, then weed through the rest.

I have been using this method by packing my favorite items in boxes that I have tagged with color file folder labels. (Red for the master bedroom, green for our son's bedroom, yellow for the kitchen, etc.) I also have an index card with all contents listed for that box number and the upper corner marked with a Sharpie for the room where the items belong and the location of where I have the box put right now; this way, if I need something that I have packed, I can go to my cards and find where it is easily.

For example, if my son decides that he just HAS to have his Spiderman figure that he decided to pack for our move, I go to my cards with the green corner, look at the contents. When I find the card, I erase the item that I am taking out of the box, reference the number and location of the box, and get the figure for him.

If you watch the show with the Duggars, this is the method that Michelle used when they were moving their belongings between two temporary locations before their house was built.

I am still 6 weeks before our move, but I feel much more comfortable with what I have packed. It is similar to a focused 27 fling boogie. I find 27 items that I can pack for my son's room, then 27 for a new box that will hold kitchen items, etc. If I don't love an item, I put it in FlyLady's Give Away pop up basket that I lined with a garbage bag. When it is full, I take it to the car to go to Salvation Army.

For your recipes, you might also look for a software program that will organize the recipes that you use (like Living Cookbook). Then you won't need the whole book for a dozen recipes.