Owning a home in the United States is not as easy as it used to be. Currently, the homeownership rate stands at about 65%, a drastic change from the time of the previous generation. A couple of reasons factor in, but, for the most part, the perspective of the current generation of homeowners has pushed more people to consider renting rather than owning.
For most people, this will mean the need to downsize. Downsizing is not the easiest task, especially if your goal is to maintain your current quality of life. Be that as it may, complicated does not mean impossible.
Tip #1 – Start ASAP
While others prefer working in a rush, it should be said that downsizing is not a task that you can cram easily. That’s because of everything involved, from choosing what to keep up to managing the logistics of the actual move. You’ll want to be sure that you have enough time to address everything, after all. You can start simply by taking a walk around your home and sorting your items into two piles—one for items you want to keep, the other for those that need to be sold or thrown away.
Tip #2 – Use a Moving Company
It might be tempting to depend solely on yourself and the help of your friends, but you might be making things harder than they have to be. If you followed the first tip, you should have enough time to schedule a professional moving company to help you. You want a professional team to help because they know exactly what to do, no matter if your situation seems unique. Remember, this is how they make a living, so you can trust them to know how to treat your possessions.
Tip #3 – Categorizing Your Belongings
Now, let’s take a closer look at what to do with your belongings. It might help if you had a rubric or, say, a category system that can help you identify which items to keep. You can start by identifying which objects fall under any of the following:
- Use case – Will you be using this item frequently? If so, how many of the same items do you have? Try to remove any duplicates of your belongings, so long as they serve the same purpose.
- Size – The item’s size will make it easier to determine whether you want to keep it. If you can afford the space, you should be able to keep it as long as it still serves you a purpose.
- Sentimentality – Not all items serve a specific purpose, though. Sometimes, it’s the sentiment that the items carry. Make sure to not fall into the hoarders’ traps and only pick out the objects that mean the most to you.
With these three criteria, you can quickly identify which of your possessions you can bring to your new home.
Conclusion
If the goal is to ensure you have more space and fewer items to manage, then it’s time to do the hard work now. Moving from your current home to your next, smaller home can’t be easy, but it’s undoubtedly doable. In fact, you can even maintain your current lifestyle, so long as you take your time and avoid rushing any decisions. Downsizing doesn’t have to mean sacrificing—sometimes, it just means you need to declutter.
Division 1 Moving & Storage offers local moving services in Alexandria, VA. Our goal is to help clients reach their new homes by bringing their things with them, regardless of how far their next home may be. Never worry about moving into a home far from where you live by speaking with one of Alexandria’s best long-distance moving companies today.