Moving to another country is a huge change, one that brings on stress more often than not. Aside from relocating all of your items, you have to think about things such as jet lag and culture shock. During this time, people want to make each aspect of the move simpler. One of the best ways of doing this is by downsizing your home before moving overseas. Before you contact the best logistics companies in Riyadh to ship all of your belongings, you need to shed some things. With the help of our guide, this task will seem like a piece of cake!
Don’t wait until the last minute
As we’ve mentioned already, moving to a new country takes a lot of preparation and planning. So it stands to reason that the sooner you start to declutter your home, the less stressful will it be. If you know that you will be moving internationally in advance, you should take the opportunity to start right away. The best possible scenario would be to begin 3-4 months in advance. This would also give you enough time to find an international moving company, gather all the packing supplies, cancel your subscriptions, etc.
Go through each room while downsizing your home before moving overseas
Since downsizing your home will certainly take some time, you should separate the tasks by rooms. Start with the rooms in your home that you use the least, such as your guest rooms, attic or basement. Make an inventory list of everything in them and decide what you want to keep and what you can get rid of. Next, move on to your living room and bedrooms. These are the rooms that tend to gather the most clutter, so try to be ruthless rather than sentimental. If you haven’t used something in over a year, it’s probably best to part ways with it. Of course, you should definitely keep the things that carry a lot of sentimental value.
Finally, the rooms you should declutter last should be your kitchen and bathrooms. These are the rooms you will use up to the last day before the move, so you should have everything you need. Go through your pantry and check the expiration dates on all items. Keep in mind that most moving companies will not move perishable items, so try to use them up or donate them to your local soup kitchen or food bank.
Sell the items you don’t want anymore
It’s no secret that relocation can cost a pretty penny, so you should do all you can to save up. One of the ways to actually make money while downsizing your home is to sell the items you don’t want to move. For electronics, appliances, furniture, and other high-value items, you can use online platforms such as Craigslist. On the other hand, for your clothes and other knickknacks, you can organize a garage sale and sell them to your neighbors. While you most likely won’t make a ton of money, it can certainly make a difference in your moving budget.
Consider donating to a charity when you downsize your home before moving overseas
On the other hand, you can downsize your home before moving to another country while also helping someone in need. For clothes, books, canned food and other items that are in good condition consider donating them to your local charity. While you might not have a use for them, someone else will definitely appreciate it. Just make sure that everything you donate is not damaged or broken.
Find a reliable shipping company
Once you have decided on the items that you want to take with you, you need to find professionals to help you transport them. Moving items across country borders is no easy feat. You need to be familiar with the laws and regulations regarding shipping and import. This can be quite a task for a layman, so professionals are often invaluable during this time. There are many excellent logistics companies in Saudi Arabia that can handle this task with ease. Although it is an added expense, it will make your relocation that much simpler and smoother. Keep in mind that you will need to contact the company you want to hire on time so that both you and they can prepare.
Scan your photos and upload them
Many families have scores of old photo albums that they have kept for many years. While they certainly carry a lot of sentimental value, they can also be heavy and expensive to transport. Furthermore, photographs can damage during transport if they are not kept in the right conditions. A great way to lighten the load of your move and have access to your photos at all times is to scan them and upload them to your computer or cloud. That way, you will always be able to see them and you won’t have to look for the perfect place to keep them.
This type of digitalization can also be used for your music. If you have an extensive record collection, you can simply find it in digital formats and upload them to your computer.
Sell your books when downsizing your home before moving overseas
Most bookworms wouldn’t even dream of giving up their precious book collection. However, books can be very heavy and difficult to transport. For this reason, you should consider finding e-book or audiobook versions of your favorite works and sell the physical copies. There are many libraries online where you can find free books in these formats. On the other hand, you can buy other books on sites like Amazon for relatively low prices. You can give the books you own to your friends and family members, or donate them to your local library or high school.
