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Move it or Sell it: What's Worth Keeping During a Move?

Sandhya Sharma
9 years ago
Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks associated with moving home is deciding what to bring with you: it can be a painful to decide which items to take with you and which to leave behind. Some items are not worth the effort or expense of moving, so it might be worth selling them and buying new items for your new home. On the other hand, there are certainly going to be items that you simply cannot live without.

Here are some top tips on how to make those difficult choices and decide what is truly worth keeping when you are moving home.

1. Check with your partner/roommate to avoid duplicates

If you are moving in with a roommate or partner, it is likely that you may each have a TV or sofa or fridge. Obviously you don’t need to have two or three of each of these items, so it may be best to come to an agreement about what each of you should bring to the new home, and sell the spares. Try to each bring an item of equal value, so as to keep the balance fair.

2. Throw out replaceable items

While it may seem wasteful to leave behind items like printer paper or condiments, they are often just not worth the effort of packing and shipping. If an item can be easily and cheaply replaced, then it might be worth just selling it or leaving it behind for the next homeowner or tenant.

3. Hold on to your antiques

It may be a hassle to move your great-grandmother’s coffee table halfway across the country, but unique pieces and antiques cannot be easily replaced or forgotten. When you are young, it is easy to undervalue both the real and sentimental value of these kinds of objects, so think hard before making any rash decisions that you may later regret.

4. Reconsider large or awkward items

Measure every item in your home that you are considering moving, and then check that against your available floor space. While you may love your current wardrobe or desk, will it actually fit in your new home? If you are downsizing or moving from a house to an apartment, always bear in mind that your available space may be drastically changing. Think vertical as well as horizontal: many people do not realize that different homes can have vastly different ceiling heights, so your tall bookshelf may not even fit vertically into your new room.

5. Check frequency of use against how much you love an item

The two most important scales you should use when considering whether to keep or toss an item is how much you use it and how much you love it. If you use an item a lot, but you don’t really love it, then it may be worth tossing and buying a new version when you have relocated. If you don’t really use an item all that much, but you truly love it, then you should think long and hard about whether it is worth keeping.

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