I am hoping to move into our new build by the end of February. We have been cleaning out closets and packing things we don't need. Once we are in our new home I want to concentrate on decorating and the fun things not having to worry about organizing our old stuff.

So I vote for getting rid of anything you don't want now.

Do it now. Don't pay to haul things you don't need or want in your new home. It will just add to clutter there and make it harder to enjoy your new space.

Garage sales are a PITA. I'd go through your stuff and be honest with yourself on what you will probably get for your items at garage sale prices. The type of stuff that's gonna sell for a buck or less is probably better (and much easier!) to just pack up and donate to a Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. Some will even pick up. The tax deduction is better than all that work to make a few bucks, imho.

Whatever you have left that might fetch a decent price at a garage sale might also do well in a shop selling used items. Some will buy outright but most work on consignment. Even if you get less for it, it would be a relief to have it out of your way when you move.

If none of these ideas appeal to you, definitely do the garage sale in your current location first. No need to move and continue to store what you don't want. After your garage sale, then you can decide what should be donated or taken to a consignment shop.

In our area, there are a few folks who will buy your leftover garage sale items. You don't get much for it but at least the stuff is gone and they do the hauling away. Double-win, imho.

We have a local auctioneer that does antique/collectible/vintage auctions and also does a weekly junk auction. That can be an excellent way to get rid of things and make a few bucks.

Of course, if you have stuff of value stored away that just doesn't fit your home like antiques, collectibles and vintage items, you will want to separate these out and either sell them individually via your local sales venues (Facebook, Craigslist, nickel-ads) or contact shops that sell these items to see if they would like them. You won't get top dollar if you sell to the shop but you will also save the time and hassle of selling them yourselves. If you're overwhelmed with moving, it might be worth it to sell for a lesser amount in order to save yourself some time.

When we last moved, we took 26 years of accumulated items we didn't want....I can't believe what all we had packed in the attic!...and the furniture that wouldn't work in our new home and had a whole house sale. Meaning, there was too much to fit in our garage so once our house was completely emptied of the things going to the new house, we just put out tables inside the house and had people come right in. Of what was left, some was taken to Goodwill and some sold at the auction house, some as junk and some as antiques.

My only regret is that I wish I had gotten rid of more stuff. We still ended up moving more things in to the new house that we really didn't need or want long-term. It's small stuff so I have a Goodwill box that I regularly drop off.

i actually started purging two years before packing the first box and again
6 months before the first boxes were moved
we packed seasonal items after using them the last time in the old house
then we had the realtor come and give us the ok on what was left
have the garage sale before moving......take the remainder to goodwill...
we were only moving 85 miles and we built a shop and put the first of boxes there
i do think we should have gotten rid of more stuff prior to the move
our biggest problems were/are the family "heirlooms"
after we'd decluttered our "old" house felt so much better

You will absolutely hate it if you move boxes of crap to sell into your new home! Open one box from storage, sell what you can on Facebook or Craigslist, sell cheap and just get rid of it! Then have one box for trash, one for goodwill, one for storage. When the trash box gets full, put it out on trash day. When the goodwill box gets full, drop it off, and when the storage box gets full, take it to a storage unit...even if that means getting a smaller storage unit close to your Townhouse. Whatever you can get through now will make your life easier after you move. Whatever you don't get through, stick in the storage unit. You will be glad it is out of sight for awhile!

Can all of you people getting rid of heirlooms ship them to ME? My family history is too 'new', so I'll admit to envying all the old vintage couches, silverware, and other antiques.

A great book I was reading lately had some good advice on this topic. It said:

"Do NOT toss all of your stuff and buy new for your new home - as a new home is NOT a completely new life.
Look to what you have, what you use, and bring those items into your new space."

Definitely look through your stuff and toss what you think you don't need, but keep anything you're uncertain about for a year.

If you have the time, the sooner you purge, the better. In our case, even though we knew we were moving eventually, we put it off until our hand was forced. My wife got a job in our new location (over 600 miles from our old house), so we went into panic mode. Most things of value we simply hauled up here, and the junk we sold in a garage sale. It was a lot of work, but we made about $400. Everything that didn't sell went to Goodwill. Unfortunately, charities are getting fussier about what they will take, so another load went to the dump.

Here in SC, we built a barn 1st, which proved to be a good idea, as that is where we put all of our stuff. The new house, which I am building my self, single-handed, is not done, so our stuff sits and waits for the day we officially move in. At least we only have to move the stuff 120 feet!

Once the house is done, we'll play with all of our furniture and antiques, trying things out to see if they really fit or not. We had boxes and boxes of stuff in the attic, and we moved that stuff without even looking at it. So in another year or so, we'll do another purge, although most of it will be antiques, and thus worth some money. Now in our 60's, we're going to keep working towards getting rid of our excess stuff to simplify things for whomever has to deal with it after we're gone.

Our home will be ready at the end of February also. I have two young boys so got rid of a lot of old toys before Christmas, and I packed up their summer clothing. But other than that have not done a thing. I need to hop to it!

We are building our home across country and have moved into a rental. We did a thorough purge before we left-didn't want to deal with garage sale so just kept taking everything to a local thrift shop that supported children with cancer. In the rental, we have one bedroom filled with boxes that we haven't unpacked. We didn't want to unpack things we don't use much and then pay to have someone pack them again. Our house won't be ready until July, but I think we'll take a look at what we've used in the rental, think about what I wish I had unpacked and then get rid of more stuff before we leave. It just doesn't pay to pay people to move stuff you don't want or need. After clearing out my mom's apartment after she died, I got much better at getting rid of things-"do I want my kids to have to go through all this stuff and decide what to keep or get rid of" became a really good question. Mom and Dad had done a good job in downsizing but there was still a ton of stuff. Good luck and congrats on moving into your new home!!!!

Same. Ditch what you don't want to keep now, rather then dealing with it later. Like many have said, the time isn't often worth the money made at a garage sale, so donate the items to charity. If there's valuable things, sell them online, but be prepared for no-shows. Ask around to find out if friends or co-workers need anything? Often they'll have children buying their first homes or leaving for college and you can offload a lot of things to new homes where they'll be used.

Honest, when you move to your new home, it's not going to be fun sitting around picking through boxes and having garage sales. Clean house now, so you can move in, relax and enjoy!

I'm in a similar situation with accumulation of things. I will definitely be lightening the load by donating some furniture, lamps, etc. I'll be so happy to get rid of many things (stuff weights you down, in a matter of speaking).

But I HATE packing. I haven't started yet, and I'm getting nervous that I'm procrastinating. I don't even know where to start. I'll be hiring a moving company to transfer my stuff to my new place.

Get rid of as much as possible NOW .... I have sent about 1/4 the furniture to various charities, and 50+ boxes of books to the big Phoenix charity sale. One more BIG pack and purge coming, then we can move out.

Go through the boxes one more time, with a trash barrel and a box of trash bags at your side. If you do a couple a night, it goes quickly ... especially when you get some cleared out and

Here are your classifications:

1 - "must have in new house" ... re-pack these and label them prominently, set them aside.

2 - "trash" ... just toss it, quickly. Be honest about the condition and discard anything that is not usable by you or someone else. If it's fixable, put it on craigslist as a freebie that needs repair. There are people making a modest living fixing and reselling things.

3 - "donate or sell" ... things that are clean and in good repair that don't fit your body or your lifestyle, duplicate appliances, out of fashion stuff.

Your quickest way out is to call a charity and have them come get everything that is not going to the new house and not trash. Just clear it out and you will feel less pressured.

We commenced a month ago in preparation for an across the country move in April/May this year. At least a quarter of my beautiful basement floor is currently occupied with large bags my wife marked for charity; they will surely be bringing a large truck. As I stated in another thread, this is doing little to reduce my move volume and weight (34K+ lbs), of all the 'must-have'/'must-move' pieces here. Similar to cz_crap, we will rent a large home (I'm going to hate it) while we build the new home over 18 months. I am grouping and placing items in categories, many in open boxes, for movers to pack and mark them accordingly. I did a similar and successful move several years ago from UK to USA whence 90% of my home was in storage in the UK for a year and shipped days before and arrived precisely on the day I closed on the new house just built; while I was signing title documents at the title company, the 40' container truck arrived from NYC port, at the new home, where my daughter was waiting; truckers only had to wait less than ten minutes before before we were permited to move contents to the new property.

This time it will be different, since I'm my own GC and intend to build enough to get a CO; the county is fine with that so long as the area is sealed off from the remaining constrution zone. It will be harder to get a CO from my wife who does not want to move into a 'construction zone' again. She suffered for six months while I finished my basement (6hrs/day and weekends), when I moved it's entire (1000sf of 1500sf) to the home above.

I'm not dreading the move but it will surely be challenging, very expensive for home and three vehicles.

My goal was not to move anything to this house I wasn't going to use here. I came close. Those last few boxes that sat unobtrusively in the garage for several months - turned out to be things I really didn't need anyway when I hadn't even unpacked them. After a quick look through - GoodWill.

I gave away, donated, trashed. Family and neighbors, Goodwill, our local Clothes Bank which also takes bedding and cookware. Both of those outlets give tax receipts. I had no big ticket items left to garage sale, and couldn't find value in the work involved to try to sell boxes of small items. It was more efficient for me to purge, gift.

I can't imagine having brought quantities of things here not appropriate for this house, moving was chaotic enough as it was ;) Being in a new space, with new uses for old things, purchasing some pieces I didn't have....so freeing, it was liberating in fact to pare down, streamline.

My goal was not to move anything to this house I wasn't going to use here.

That's our goal too ... if something doesn't fit the house or the new lifestyle, it's not leaving with us.

While you should purge that which you KNOW you don't want, I'm with Naween -- don't be pushed into getting rid of things you'll miss. I love my books, my antiques, my undefinable but beloved stuff, and I don't regret the extra time and effort spent moving them. In our last move, I dug up and transplanted an entire garden of heirloom roses and miscellaneous plants, so I hit the ground running in my new garden.

I would separate your belongings into must-have, want, might-want, and don't-want. Get rid of the don't-wants immediately. Pack up the must-haves and wants for moving. Save the might-wants for last -- if you still think you want them, move them, but the trauma of your move may make you see them in a different light, and it may be time to send them on their way.