With the stressful nature of moving a house, it is important to come up with effective strategies to help you save time and money during the relocation. When it comes to packing your stuff, you should start at least eight weeks before the actual day of the move. This will allow you to de-clutter your home by getting rid of items you will not need.
Benefits of Decluttering Your Home
Donating household items is a great way to de-clutter your space before moving. Getting rid of items that you don’t need gives you a clearer and more focused mind, makes it easier to pack, cuts your workload, and reduces the cost of your move. If you are not sure where to donate your household items, here are a few options for you:
Shelters and Support Agencies
Most shelters and support agencies direct their efforts towards helping people get back on their feet. If you’re downsizing to smaller place or relocating to a new town, you may want to consider donating to those in need. Many organizations take furniture, bedding, books, computers, and electronics. In Dallas, Family Place, which provides shelter and assistance for victims of domestic violence, accepts donations of gently used items.
Churches and Thrift Stores
Churches and other community organizations will help people in need by offering them better living conditions, assisting them to find jobs and giving deprived folks hope. By donating furniture, kitchen supplies, food and bedding to these organizations, you will have helped to offer relief to people in need. The decision to donate these items will also cut your workload during the move. The Genesis Thrift Store, which benefits the Genesis Women’s Shelter, accepts donations of housewares, furniture, clothing, toddler items, electronics, and more.
Local Libraries
When making a clean sweep of your house, you should consider donating books and magazines to local libraries. You may also choose to give away some of the reading materials to literacy groups in rural areas. Dallas Public Library accepts gently-used books, DVDs, and CDs at all of its locations.
Schools, Clubs and Daycare Centers
Educational institutions and hobby centers will gladly accept working electronic equipment, books and office supplies. This means that you can donate old computers, magazines and even boxes of crayons or markers.
Food Banks
If you’re moving locally, you might try to take the pantry with you. However, for those moving out of state, it’s usually easier and cheaper to leave the food behind. Try to eat up all perishables before the move date, then donate your unopened non-perishables to a nearby food bank. The North Texas Food Bank accepts canned goods, rice, pasta, peanut butter, and cereal.
Local Animal Shelters and Animal Hospitals
Even as you work to help humans by donating household items, you should also remember animals. If you have kennels, bedding, and food bowls that you do not want to transport to your new home, you can donate them to animal hospitals. Local animal shelters will also accept towels, office supplies and leashes.
Once you have donated some items and are left with what you need, it should be much faster and easier to finish all your packing. Plus, since you’re moving less, it won’t cost you as much to hire movers! It’s a win-win. If you’re still searching for reliable Dallas moving companies to help with your move, give us a call or fill out our form (cheapdallasmovers.net) to get started.