The Super Sentimental Gal’s Guide to the Pre-Move Purge

Listen – I feel your pain. I am the woman who had not one, not two, but three shoeboxes filled with carefully dried flowers from prom corsages and bridesmaid duty and a special bouquet from the man I thought would someday be Mr. Super Sentimental. Keeping special mementoes and treasured memories is a practice that gives some people a lot of joy.

Unfortunately, that joy can create a lot of hardship when you need to move to a new place. The top moving tip to make your relocation easier is to go through your things and get rid of the things you no longer need or want. How do you do that when everything has meaning?

Here’s what worked for me. When my parents sold their Westchester home, it was my sing to move into a shared apartment in Manhattan. Hooray for independence and being a lot closer to my job – but goodbye to having a huge bedroom with a large closet to keep all of my stuff. I had less than half of the space available to me that I had at home, so I had to do some serious downsizing.

Step One: Start with the Stuff You Really Don’t Care About

You may be super sentimental, but the odds are you aren’t super sentimental about everything. Go through your things. If you don’t actually care at all about something, let it go. I found I had some clothes I never wore and didn’t even remember buying. Letting those things go was easy, and it helped me ease into the downsizing process.

Step Two: Take Pictures of Sentimental Treasures

 

Remember those prom corsages? When I looked at them objectively, they were looking a little rough. The colors had faded and petals had started to fall off. Realistically, those corsages weren’t going to get any better than they currently were: they had peaked and passed their moment of ultimate beauty. With that in mind, I took a picture of each one and let the actual corsages go. Pictures are extremely portable and stay in good shape without deteriorating.

Step Three: Ask “What Am I Willing to Give Up For This?”

One of the items I was holding onto was a paper mache sculpture I’d made with my best friend in college. We’d had a great time making it and honestly, it was the most creative thing I’d ever made. But it was big – so big that my best friend had no problem saying “No, you take it home with you!” when the semester ended. I was on the fence about keeping it until my Mom said, “What are you willing to give up to have space for this in your new apartment?” That question was an eye-opener. Using that criteria can help you sort out what you really, really want from what you want.

Step Four: Find Good Homes for Your Treasures

I’m a book person. I couldn’t let the treasured volumes in my little library go to just anyone. So first I asked my friends what they wanted. Facebook Messenger is great for this, so you can keep everything private and safe. The books that were left I brought to my high school – some went to their library and they also have a drama club that took a few. There are other ways to find good homes for the things you care about: domestic violence and homeless shelters often accept donations.

Step Five: Keep Looking Forward.

When you get down to it, being sentimental is one way to hold onto your past. But life isn’t lived only in the past: the future lies ahead, at the new address! I found that keeping my attention focused on where I’m going instead of where I’ve been made it easier to decide what I truly needed to hold onto when I moved. It also really helped to draw a map of my new place and try to figure out where everything would fit in the space I would have. When something didn’t fit, I would ask myself, “Is this important to my past or to my future?” Keep moving forward – that way you can create more memories and eventually get a place with space enough to keep them all!