The idea behind packing for a move is that you get rid of all the crap you don’t want/need anymore and only take the good stuff. A purging, if you will. On that front, our move was a complete and utter failure. We took just about everything. That means the onus has now been shifted to the unpacking portion of the move. Once again, oh joy.
But it does mean that more stuff is being tossed with ease. There’s far less well-we-might-need-it-in-the-future talk, because – to use a corny expression – the future is now. There’s no need to save something in case we could use it in our house, because we’ve got the stinkin’ house, so if we can use it we will. And if we’re just holding onto it for sentimental reasons, we’ve got plenty of boxes and closets to fill.
One site has really helped out with the whole house cleaning thing, though. And that is Freecycle. Sandy had introduced me to it, and I was intrigued by the idea of picking up some things that weren’t important enough to bother with an exchange of money for. Instead, it’s turned out to be an incredible resource for getting rid of all the things I never threw out because I thought it would be wasteful. Before we moved I was able to quickly get rid of an old 17″ Mag monitor (some of you may remember that one since it dates back to my college years), an old 9″ monitor, and an old air conditioner (still working, but we got a new one for cheap). Now I’ve already been able to get rid of most of the boxes and packing material from the move as well as the extra firm mattress the previous owner had left for us. Sure, I’ve thrown out plenty of stuff for bulk pickup, too – but that’s only for the real damaged goods. This stuff still works.
Now I’m also assembling all sorts of old computer parts, electronics, and telephones that will either be freely distributed or sold at a yard sale. Just about anything that isn’t nailed down is free game for redistribution. Eventually we’ll be able to completely minimize our lives and go back to eating off milk crates and sitting on bean bags! Take that, capitalism!
Nice approach. )