Decluttering Before a Move
Moving costs scale with volume. Every container you fill before the movers arrive is one you are not paying to transport.
The arithmetic favors throwing things away
Long-distance moves are priced by weight or volume. Furniture you don't want, boxes you haven't opened since the last move, and anything broken all cost money to relocate. A container before the move is usually cheaper than the freight.
Rent it for the sorting week, not moving week
Moving week is chaos and the driveway is spoken for. Book the container for the week before, when you're packing and deciding, and have it collected before the truck arrives.
Donate first, dump second
Furniture in usable condition, working appliances and clothing are all worth a donation collection. Many charities pick up, and it reduces what you're paying to dispose of.
Check what the new place needs
People frequently throw away curtain rails, shelving and hardware they then re-buy. Walk the new property, or its photographs, before the container arrives.
Time the container to the packing, not the move
The useful week is the one where you are opening every cupboard and deciding, which is two or three weeks before the van rather than the week of it. By moving week the decisions are made and everything left is going, so a container standing there does nothing but cost days.
If your closing date is firm, work backwards: container in for the sorting two weeks, gone before the packing crew needs the driveway. A container in the way on moving day is the one scheduling mistake that costs money on both sides.
What movers will not take
Worth knowing before you pay to have things packed. Most movers will not carry paint, solvents, propane, fuel, fertiliser, pool chemicals, batteries, ammunition or open food, and many will not take plants across state lines.
None of the chemical items goes in a dumpster either, so those need the county's household hazardous waste route and they need it before the move rather than after, when you no longer live near that county.
The attic and the garage decide the size
The rooms you live in are usually already curated. The storage spaces are not, and a loft that has absorbed fifteen years of boxes will produce more volume than the rest of the house combined.
Empty those first and size the container from what comes out of them, not from what you can see in the lounge. It is also the part most likely to need two people and a weekend rather than an evening, so it belongs at the front of the schedule rather than the end.
Do not pay to move what you will not unpack
Movers price by weight or volume, so every box you take is a box you pay to transport and then pay in time to unpack. The rule that survives contact with a real move: if it has not been used in the last year and it is not seasonal, sentimental or genuinely valuable, it does not travel.
Applied honestly, that is usually a container's worth in a family house, and it is cheaper to dispose of it at this end than to move it and decide at the other.
Common questions
- When is moving season?
- May through September, peaking in the summer months, which is also when container availability is tightest. If your move date is fixed, book the dumpster at the same time you book the movers.
- What size for a pre-move purge?
- A 10 or 15-yard is enough for most, since the point is shedding rather than emptying. Go to a 20-yard if you are clearing a garage, a basement or a loft at the same time.
- Should I rent before or after the move?
- Before, almost always. Every item you throw out first is one you do not pay a mover to carry, and movers price by weight and volume. Decluttering first frequently pays for the container.
- Can I get a dumpster at an apartment or condo?
- It depends entirely on the property. You need a placement spot that is not shared parking and, usually, written permission from management. Where that is not possible, a junk removal crew is the realistic alternative.
- When should I rent a dumpster for a move?
- For the sorting two weeks two or three weeks before the van, not for moving week. By then the decisions are made, and a container in the driveway on moving day is in the way of the crew.
- What will movers not take?
- Paint, solvents, propane, fuel, fertiliser, pool chemicals, batteries, ammunition and open food, and many will not move plants across state lines. None of those go in a dumpster either, so they need the county hazardous waste route before you leave.
- Is it cheaper to throw things out or move them?
- Throw them out, for anything unused in the last year that is not seasonal, sentimental or genuinely valuable. Movers price by weight or volume, so every box travels twice: once on the van and once through your time unpacking it.
For current pricing see the Dumpster Price Index.