Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Getting Rid of Stuff

One piece of advice that I keep coming across : get rid of your stuff! Moving half way across the country is no easy task. The more stuff you take, the harder and perhaps, more expensive it is. Plus, once you get to New York, space is at a premium. I have heard stories of people that have moved with absolutely nothing and started an apartment with cardboard drawer sets and an air matress. If you haven't heard of him yet, Check out this guy that built his furniture from Fed-Ex boxes.


The point is you really have to think about what you want/need to take with you and what you need to simply get rid of. I like to think that this will not be that difficult for me since I have moved several times in the last few years. However, I have been living in the same place for 3 years now, a lifetime by my standards, and have accumulated a lot of "stuff." I began the ugly process of sorting and packing some of my stuff last night by cleaning my desk. I decided while cleaning files and drawers that it might be easiest if I begin placing things in 3 categories.

1. Stuff going to New York
2. Stuff going to storage ( hopefully the smallest category!) ( I promise I will do my best Mom.)
3. Stuff to get rid of. (Throw it away, give it away, whatever, just get rid of it!)
Guess it might be time to pass on my extensive collection of coozys. If I come across any items that I have difficutly parting with I will write a little about it. Until later I march forward with trash can and moving boxes by my side.






3 comments:

Pavel said...

Good luck with packing your stuff. I guess I will have the same problem - to bring all my old stuff and stuff which I collected here back to Europe... Thanks you, airlines, that we can carry just 2*23kg (uff, how much it is in pounds?-maybe around 50)! ;)

Unknown said...

I could not agree more about the idea of getting rid of the "stuff" that you really don't need. In my last apartment in NYC I actually had to come to terms with the fact that I had to either throw something away or give it away if I wanted to get something new. Another important thing to remember is that everything you bring with you can be used for storage. It is not as easy to get to al of my "stuff" now as it was when I lived in the mid west, I now store a lot of my "stuff" in my suitcases and squeeze tem into my closet.

Another thing that I have found is that almost everything is more expensive in new york. I was surprised at how much more expensive even groceries are. On that point, the local markets and bodegas are very accessable however if you go to an actual super market you can save some cash.
Your apartment will most likely be very small which means you are going to want to get out of it as much as possible and explore the city. With that being said, don't waste your time getting a home phone.

Adrian Whitsett said...

Trying to pick out the stuff that you actually want to keep is probably the hardest part about packing. Every time I have moved (6 times in 8 years), I throw away considerably more stuff every time. It's all about keeping the things you actually need vs. the things that you just have accumulated over the years.