2010 Moving Support Thread - Page 3

[MamaFern]

our insanely low offer on a house was just accepted ( i so manifested it!) so the closing date is may 1st i plan to spend all of may fixing up and doing some reno's..painting ect..as well as figuring out what will come and what will stay...im planning to be picky. we have a lease till the end of June, which i think we will just keep because then it gives us a few months to really get organized and settled and everything. it actually totally perfect. i was stressing about how we could do it all.. get everything ready there and get this house all cleaned up and that one fixed up, but everything falls into place it seems. It does need quite a bit of TLC but that is what i enjoy!

[BarefootScientist]

Congrats MamaFern!

I finished decluttering the office yesterday! Oh man was that a job. I've been working on it almost nonstop since Wednesday. I am so happy it's done! Now the only big decluttering job hanging over my head is the garage. Eek!

[avent]

MamFern, congrats!!!! I would love it if we could afford to have our rent and mortgage overlap for a bit; life would be easier. I'm so glad it's all working out for you. I guess I need to learn to manifest things...

The in-laws are coming tomorrow. My MIL is great but she's a bit of a taskmaster. However, for this particular visit I need that to roll to the final stretch. Also, BIL is coming as well and he's 6'4" and strong, so that should make it easier to get things to storage.

[Jenn_M]

Congrats MamaFern!!!! That's awesome!!


We start moving stuff in 20 days. I am starting to freak out. The house is a disaster because I worked more days than expected last week and we helped my MIL move on Saturday which meant that I didn't even get to do catch-up housework that day.

[MamaFern]

thanks everyone!


BarefootScientist: on the office declutter!
any news on the garage?


Avent, hope your visitors are good helpers! i always find that less gets done with family visiting,..even well meaning family..but hopefully that wont be the case for you. how are you feeling otherwise?and your dp?

jenn_m: it will all come together. deep breaths! in 20 days it will be all over

[BarefootScientist]

Originally Posted by MamaFern

BarefootScientist: on the office declutter!
any news on the garage?

Not yet. I'm a little discouraged. The office was easy because it was cool and cloudy and DS was happy to shred and explore all the junk. I think the rest of the house decluttering is going to be a little more challenging 'cause all he wants to do is be outside now. Which is fine because there's a lot of work to do outside too, but I also have to chase him around (our yard isn't fenced or anything) so I can't really settle in and get the work done.

I'm trying to convince DH to take a couple days off work.

[marimara]

Ok, I'm back over here. We officially have an offer on our house and we are supposed to close at the end of the month. The crazy thing is though, is that this week we can't do anything with packing stuff because of a 10 day due diligence period in my state where the buyer can walk out of the deal for any reason.

Soooo, that ends next Wed, BUT we'll be on vacation for 7 days starting this Saturday!!! (this vacay has been planned for a while and is already reserved so we can't get out of it). So that leaves us with 2 weeks, to get rid of HALF our stuff and sell it hopefully and then pack and move.

We have fully enbraced Voluntary Simplicity and have big plans down the road, but phase one of downsizing is going from 2000+sqft 4bd/2bs/2cg home to a 1200sqft 2bd/2ba/1cg apartment. We are also downsizing our vehicles. DH is selling his truck and that will leave us a 1 car family, but he has a motorcycle that he rides to work most days.

So I am just spinning thinking about how fast this is all happening. We have been talking about downsizing for years, and we thought it would take longer to sell our home. So now here we are, everything happening in one month! I'm almost paralyzed by all the stuff I have to do, I don't even know where to start.

We are planning a yard sale the weekend after we get back from vacation. I need to know what decent prices to set things at. Any idea? For example, I have several pieces from Pier 1 that are solid wrought iron and/or slate stone. (coffee table, pedestal table, side table, queen bedframe footbd and headbd), mattress/boxspring, bistro table and 2 chairs, bar cabinet, tv stand) They are in excellent condition except for the cushions that can be replaced. I have no idea what to price them at. I tried to sell last year for $200 for the bistro table and 2 chairs and had no luck. These pieces are about 6-8 years old, but look brand new except for the cushions like I said. Is there a rule of thumb for pricing furniture at yardsales? What about 10 year old mattress/boxspring, Sealy I think, no stains or holes, just a little old??

[avent]

MamaFern, DP is doing better. The first couple of days of having family visit we didn't get much done, but that's changed. This morning FIL, BIL, and DH cleaned out the garage!!!

We've been going through an entire small room of old paperwork and other crap. Never again! We're about 1/3 of the way through. Things are working well with the new filing system.

We're going to call the realtor next week. I can't bear to have her come through the house until it's in better shape. Does anyone else feel self-conscious about having the realtor go through the place and critique it?

[MamaFern]

I'm not getting anywhere fast, but im much better in a pinch and since we will have 3 months to get purged, packed and moved im not stressing too much.. im more busy planning the house fixing up..picking out paint colours and what kind of counter tops to do in the kitchen (thinking tile or polished concrete counter tops..DIY of course) also planning the bathroom reno..its all too much fun. we don't have a lot of money, but i know that it will all come together and its going to be amazing! i have always dreamed of haVing my very own house to decorate exactly as i want luckily my father is a builder/carpenter and has new flooring and new windows that he is going to donate and come help install and he is amazing at all kinds of hands on stuff (my dp is pretty good too) so between the two of them im sure any shelving or other stuff will get done just so.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

we did do the kids room yesterday...my son de-cluttered his toys/possessions again (we did it before christmas) and I have taken all but a few toys away from both of them (4 & 7) to keep things a bit more sane in our home for the next while.. i will go through them and decide what we keep without their help.. I plan to do a toy rotation when we move because i had that going in our last home and it was much better for everyone..

I need boxes because im actually going to start packing things up and away..it seems like the best way to get things going. as i pack i can really decide what goes and what stays and we can just keep the things we really need/want here till the move..as well as the furniture of course. I don't have anything large to get rid of that I can think of..everything is functional and nice which is great because we won't need much either.

I actually really like packing. I find it meditative..I just need to get started first to keep momentum.


my plan for today was to do our bedroom closets (one houses my clothes and older dd's plus house linens and other things..the other is my dd's clothing, cloth diapers, baby stuff, puzzles, games ect.. ect....but im feeling so ill (9 weeks pregnant ill) that all i can manage is the laundry so far.. its still early in the day so we shall see.... im really hoping this sickness will pass and be replaced by insane nesting

[BarefootScientist]

I am not used to my Easter weekend being like this! I am used to going camping or picnicking or something! But on the other hand I am really enjoying getting stuff done. Yesterday I decluttered our bedroom and some of DS's playroom. Wow, now that I've typed that out I can't believe that's ALL I got done yesterday. Well, I guess I did most of the bathroom too - organized our medicine cabinet and under the sink. And I was running around all day coordinating freecycle pickups - jeez that's just about a full-time job when you're giving this much away.

I have the rest of the playroom and then just the kitchen, dining room, and a little in the living room left to declutter. Everything is getting so empty. When people walk through and look at our house I want them to see it as very spacious. Plus when we move there's a good chance we're moving cross-country so we want to bring as little as possible. Then there is our little storage area under the steps I need to go through - that won't be too strenuous, and then move on to the garage. Eek! Though once we get all our freecycle stuff from the house cleaned out of the garage, it might not be SO bad. I just need DH around so I can ask him what things are and badger him..."Do you really need eight screwdrivers?" Going through DS's books and stuffed animals was really hard for me. Even though I only gave away the ones I hate or that he never reads/plays with! The kitchen and garage should be cake in comparison. At least emotionally.

Then there's still more work to be done outside...that's been DH's domain. He finished touching up exterior paint yesterday, he needs to power wash and stain the top of our deck...hmm what else. I know there was more. I have someone coming to clean the house on Monday, and clean up the yard (rake, beds) probably early this week.

Our goal is to get on the market by middle of the week...but at this point I'm thinking more like end of the week. We want to get on ASAP to hopefully take advantage of the tax credit.

Happy packing/moving to everyone else, and happy Easter to those who celebrate it - take a break! I'll try to take my own advice...

[BarefootScientist]

Our house is now on the market...

How's everyone else doing?

[marimara]

Sold our house, closing in a week and a half, moving in 7 days. Lots to do!!! it all happened so fast....I'm not even sure where to start.


We just go back from vacation. Started on the stuff in the attic. I gave some stuff away and sold some big stuff too already (power washer, spreader, etc.).

We have divided our garage into keeping/selling or donating. This morning after I have my cup of Joe I'm taking photos of the furniture we're selling and putting it on Craigslist for low prices, hoping it goes this week. If it doesn't we might just donate it on Sat when we have the moving truck.

[avent]

We are spending today clearing out the office and the master bedroom. No work on the garage due to rain.

And we found a stager and the realtors we want to hire are coming to see the place Friday. Yea!

We're making better tracks since we decided to hire a babysitter for the weekends (they're still around the house with us.) We realized with what we're paying for mortgage/insurance/property taxes if we hire a babysitter on the weekends and get done a month early we're still coming out way ahead.

[avent]

We got a lot done today, although it would have been good to start earlier in the day. I think we've shredded about 5k pieces of paper over the last month! (Not an exaggeration.) We've also gotten our files in better shape, although I still have another box to file.

As for packing, we got rid of so much stuff from the bedroom (not counting the closet) that we only have one box of stuff packed for moving and one small box for storage. If we don't count the closet we're about 80% done with the bedroom, including the master bath which had a lot of junk in it. So..yea?

[catscharm74]

Good for you Avent...great job!!

[catscharm74]

Y'all are doing great!! Such inspiration!! Keep it up. And post pics if you can.

[MamaFern]

avent,

I have packed...4 boxes but they are baby toys & autumn/winter books and things that just end up all over the house but that the little ones dont really play with really out of season. since our new bean isnt due till nov. I will likely just keep the baby toys packed in boxes till autumn again...and the books will come out then as well. i like books on the book shelves to be reflections of the time of year.

yesterday we spent the day cleaning up the garden at our new house and transplanting a few things...some poppies and day lilies, iris, a few cute little wild flowery kind of things and some virginia creeper to climb up the fence and front of the house. its looking really nice already with everything getting their leaf buds and the grass greening up. we had snow and hail this week as well as rain, so lots of wetness which we have needed.
i have more gardening to do today..being outside is easier for me than inside..the fresh air helps my queasy stomach.

[avent]

Thanks everyone, for the encouragement.

MamFern, you're so lucky to have a yard you can plant in at the new house. I hope we end up with something similar, but you never know when you're looking to rent....

[Jenn_M]

12 days until our big move and 7 days until we start moving boxes and other small stuff!!!! ACK!!

Here are some pictures of the new place, we went to stake out the new garden and measure some rooms yesterday.

[avent]

Originally Posted by Jenn_M

12 days until our big move and 7 days until we start moving boxes and other small stuff!!!! ACK!!

Here are some pictures of the new place, we went to stake out the new garden and measure some rooms yesterday.

Hang in there!!!

The new place looks great. I especially love all the wood and the quality and amount of light you get!