The Mover’s Mantra – Sell, Toss, Recycle, or Donate (or Keep!)
The Mover’s Mantra – Sell, Toss, Recycle, or Donate (or Keep!)
Moving house feels like a fresh start. You have the opportunity to explore your adventurous side and recreate yourself in a new location, in a new house. As part of leaving behind bad habits and moving on to better things, this is an ideal opportunity to discard material possessions that don’t serve a purpose in your life anymore. It’s often not until we’re packing our moving boxes that we see just how much ‘stuff’ we have, so much of which we haven’t seen in years. Don’t let your old clutter follow you into your new life. Instead, harness the power of The Movers Mantra.
The Movers Mantra is a simple sentence that helps you clear out your things, and keep only what you need. It is easy to follow and environmentally sound, as it’s not an off-hand instruction to just bin anything you don’t want. It is simply:
Sell, Toss, Recycle, or Donate?
It gives you the options you need to leave behind your unwanted possessions while benefiting other people and the environment. You’re already off to a positive start in your new life!
It should be said that this thoughtful mantra works best if applied early. If you leave cleaning out your current house to the last minute, it’s likely that anything you don’t want will end up in the ‘Toss’ pile. Start sorting out your things as early as you can, ideally at least a month in advance.
But how do you apply each of the options? Here’s our handy guide to clearing out, decluttering, and commencing a clean, orderly new life in your new home.
Sell
Australia is an affluent country, and many of us accumulate items we underuse, don’t use, or keep in very good condition. It therefore makes perfect sense to make some money out of these possessions and sell them. Here are some ideas to make some quick cash before your move while cleaning out your house.
Local Sales
Local Classifieds
Yes, we’re starting low-tech. You’d be surprised how many people bag a bargain by shopping and buying locally via their local paper. Particularly with bulky items, there’s no postage, and your paper might even let you list items for free.
Garage Sale
Let the shoppers come to you! And let’s face it, who can resist having a peek at what the neighbours are selling? Garage sales are a great way to sell a lot of things quickly, so seriously consider this option. Make sure your signs have few words, are easy to read with large, bold writing, and quickly give people the relevant information such as the address and times. Add both the start and end times, so you don’t have people turning up at your door while you’re having dinner wondering if they can check out your kayak.
Second-Hand Dealer
If you need to sell individual items quickly, consider your local Cash Converters or pawn shop. Though it’s true that you won’t get a lot of money for your item as the dealer needs to make their profit on resale, it’s fast and you walk out the door with cash in hand.
Online Sales
Gumtree, Trading Post, or Ebay
Unless you’ve been staying well away from all tech for a number of years, it’s likely you’ve heard of these websites. It’s actually quite likely that you’ve bought a thing or two off them. Well done, you might have actually been helping someone out with their own Movers Mantra!
Gumtree lets you list your stuff for free, though it gives you options to boost your ad for a few dollars.
The Trading Post is still around (https://www.tradingpost.com.au/), though not in the same paper version you had growing up. Same idea as Gumtree, and free to post your things to sell.
Ebay lets you access a wider audience, but the downside is that they do charge fees to sell your goods.
Yep, we got here in the end. You can list your things in a regular post on your personal page, you can join a local buy/swap/sell group and list your things, or you can create a page specifically to list your stuff. With a specific page, you can promote it, and it’s good if you have many things to sell.
So there you go, there are plenty of ways of selling your things, and it’s guaranteed that the extra cash you make from your sales won’t go astray while moving house!
Recycle
It is very likely that when you are chanting your Movers Mantra and going through your things that much of it will be recyclable. The paper alone – old documents, boxes, folders, etc. – could save you a full trip during your relocation.
Your recycling bin is the first place where you can place recyclables. If you need to brush up on what you can and can’t place in the yellow-top bins in Brisbane, have a look at this guide.
If you need to recycle more or larger items such as batteries, empty gas bottles, old paint or oil, or electronic waste, you can take them to your local Brisbane Resource Recovery Centre (they’re much more than tips these days!). Click here to find out the full list of what you can and can’t recycle for free there.
As an added bonus, all reusable items that are donated are sold at Brisbane City Council’s tip shops, with proceeds going to Endeavour Foundation to support people with a disability.
Donate
There are many charities that will gladly take your unwanted clothes, electrical goods, furniture, and other items in good condition. A major plus here is that these donations benefit people in need. However, it is very important to remember that donation bins are not dumping grounds for broken, unusable items. It actually costs charities millions of dollars to dispose of all the unusable donations they receive. A good rule of thumb is: if it ain’t fit for a mate, then don’t donate. Find out more about donation dos and don’ts here.
Another great option for donation is your friends and family. You might not need baby clothes and a cot anymore, but do they? Let them know what you’re getting rid of and you might find that they’re very happy to reuse your things.
Toss
Although it comes second in The Movers Mantra, it should really be here in order of preferred ways to get rid of stuff. Again, using your local Resource Recovery Centre is a good way to get rid of large items or a lot of items. Be sure you use your tip vouchers to save money.
If you’d like something more convenient where the rubbish pick-up comes to you, you can always rent a skip. These range from a cute 2 square metre bin to a huge 30 cubic metre bin, so have a chat with your chosen provider to find out what size would suit your needs best.
Keep
What you have left after exercising The Movers Mantra are material possessions that you truly need. When it comes to packing up your house for moving day, you’ll have less work to do, and you’ll know that you’re only taking with you things you want and need. You’re also giving your removalists a smaller task, which could save you money.
Moving Day Made Easy
Now that you’ve thoughtfully disposed of what you don’t want, you’ll want someone to carefully handle the valued items you’ve chosen to keep. For the most skilled handling and best customer service in Brisbane, call Optimove Removalists.
We have movers with over 600 moves’ experience, and who know how to professionally handle everything from awkward double-door fridges to delicate vases during a relocation. We carefully pack your furniture with plastic wrap as well as felt blankets for extra protection. All our moves are also covered by removalists insurance, so you can simply relax and let us do all the heavy lifting.
We specialise in delivering nothing but premium relocations, so call us and you’ll know you’ll have the best removalists in Brisbane working for you. Call 1300 400 874 or contact us online for five-star relocations!
