Possible Move.. Where to Start?!

Go get some large garbage bags and boxes and start tossing. Make one corner of the room a keep and one a toss. Then just get to it. You have to go through it all so start there. Then you can call someone to haul it out for you.

Good luck. And enjoy Idaho - I hear it's beautiful.

One room at a time. If you do it that way it will not become overwhelming.
Make sure younmark the boxes #1, dining room when you pack. Also make a list of the boxes. Good luck. Been in my house 40 years. Do you know what you accumulate in 40 years?

We're in the same spot... very likely relocating from NY to FL before the first of the year. The kids and I will be going first and my husband will follow within a month.

Start small because it will be overwhelming. Pick a closet and get started. Things that are broken, missing pieces or never really had a function in the first place are trash. Things that are still usable, but no longer needed get bagged and donated. Every time I come across something that I'm pretty sure we won't need or that could be easily replaced, it gets tossed or donated. We make a Goodwill run each weekend with 3 or 4 trash bags full of "stuff" and our garbage cans have been filled to the point of overflowing for the last month, but we've gotten rid of TONS of "stuff".

As you come across things that you won't need before moving, start wrapping/boxing/labeling. Our basement is starting to look like a storage unit, but at least things are getting boxed... serving pieces, holiday decorations, photo albums, tools, supplies, etc.

Little bit each day and it will get done!

Start small and keep moving. The monitors can be taken to Best Buy for recycling. Donate the clothes, washer and furniture to Goodwill. The broken appliances can go to a metals scraper.
Anything that is usable can be donated to a thrift shop or shelter. You have the time to have a yard sale, you may even get $10-$20 dollars for the broken appliances. Sometimes they are fixable and retired men like to do this and then sell or donate them.
Make a plan to go through 5-10 boxes a day. Open - quick look- decide 'keep - toss or donate'. Mark the box keep - toss or donate-- start a stack for each. Every couple of days grab the boxes marked donate and take them away. Empty the boxes marked toss into the garbage can and cut-up boxes for recycling or save them for packing. You will be amazed at how fast you can whittle down a huge pile of boxes.

As far as the kids artwork, keep it years down the road it will be invaluable to you.

We just moved. :-) I understand what you're going through.

The trick is ONE ROOM AT A TIME.

This is a wonderful opportunity to get organized and purge the junk.

Post the big junk on Craigslist. Check out what comparable items are going for so you don't try to sell it for some ridiculous price. If it's not worth buying, post it for free. There are lots of folks who will haul away whatever you have. We made about $700 selling stuff that was collecting dust on Craigslist.

Also, check out your local Freecycle group (yahoo Groups). Sign up, then post what you have and folks will come and haul it off. Seriously, people want the weirdest stuff! I had someone come and dig up daffodil bulbs when they were getting out of hand. And some other folks came and hauled off some old cast iron pipes from the back yard.

For the rest? Do one room at a time. Trying to do it all at once will overwhelm you.

Pick one room per week. Get some boxes from the local produce departments. Pack, toss, sell, donate. Pack what you want to keep, toss out trash, put stuff to sell in a pile for a garage sale, and whatever doesn't sell at the garage sale? Donate it to charity. And if you don't have time for a garage sale...sell what you can on Craigslist (they have a very easy to use app), and donate the rest to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.

A few helpful tips: Call your local trash company and rent a dumpster. It's so worth it. I spent $125 to have a dumpster for a month...and tossed TONS of junk. I didn't even realize I HAD that much junk! The trash company dropped it off where I wanted it and picked it up when I was done.

If you haven't used it in over a year, and know you won't use it in the next year...get rid of it. Give it a new home. Sell it. Someone will adopt it and love it and use it. Just because you spent money on it or Great Aunt Ina gave it to you doesn't mean you should keep it.

You don't have to keep EVERY keepsake. One or two items will help you cherish Granny's memory every bit as much as 50 items. So ask the family if anyone would like to share in the memories. If not, keep just one or two of those items...and give the other 48 a new home so they won't be cluttering up yours.

Use one room to stage all the packed up items. Garage is easiest. Clear out one side and start putting everything you pack from each room in there neatly so it's ready to put on the moving truck. That way you can EMPTY rooms as you go through them one-by-one.

Lastly, find a cleaning company who will do a move-out-cleaning for you once your house is empty. It's SO worth the money. I found a local company that is licensed and bonded who cleaned my 1200sf house top to bottom for $100. Which meant that I didn't have to. They even cleaned the fridge and oven. :-)

Hope that helps!

You can google "moving checklist" and there will be some that tell you what to do 8 weeks before you move, 7 weeks, etc. Here is one:
http://www.upack.com/moving-resources/checklist.asp

Yes, I've moved many times with a large family. Make lists and label all boxes or containers. Keep a list of the things you label on a sheet and also put the rooms each item belongs in on the box/container. Get rid of everything you don't need/want. I don't know about that number you have for junk but try it and if not find some way to get it out of the house. Clothes that you don't need donate or get rid of. I've always ended up with things sI wish I'd gotten a home for before we moved instead of dragging it to the new house. Start with removing things from the walls and packing them away. Then do a room at a time. You can do it and especially with kids to help.

When we moved we went through the same thing. Start by hiring a storage container for your driveway for the boxes that you pack so they can get out of the house and you can have space to work or empty a room and dedicate it for stacking the packed boxes. Label and color code boxes by room. Yellow for kitchen, red for dining room, blue for bathroom etc. that way when you get to the other side you immediatly know where a box need to go. Make list how many boxes each room has and as they come off the truck make sure they are all accounted for by there color.
Don't call 1800 junk. Everything you donate can be claimed from tax as long as you write it up and get a receipt. There is even normally churches that has woman shelters or building houses that will take the working appliances and might be interested in the non working ones. They might have volunteers who can fix them. Phone around before throwing anything away. Start early, take room by room, pack 3 or 4 boxes a day and before you know it won't look so overwhelming any more. Good luck.

If you're having 1800GOTJUNK come out anyway, why not give them the stuff you're planning on leaving behind? It seems to me someone is going to be pretty angry they have the deal with that stuff and you may get a huge bill for the cost of removal. Better that you be in control of the cost of removal than to deal with the bill that comes your way (which may include extra costs for the inconvenience of it all).

Just my two cents ... :)

Where I live, you can put almost anything out on the curb and it's gone the next morning. I don't know if you do that in your city. Otherwise, I'd check into Freecycle.org It's a site that let's you say what you have to give away and someone will come and get it. (Like the curb thing only you have a better chance that it will get taken.)

Otherwise, yes, call Got-Junk and they will haul anything away, for a price. Their website states that they do attempt to keep as much as possible out of landfills. I guess I like to think that the things I no longer need can benefit someone, so I'd rather not see them dumped in a landfill.

Pick one room, or part of a room or part of the garage and just start tossing! You could make one pile (or box or bag) for pure garbage, one for giving away, and one for saving. With each item ask yourself - is this useful or beautiful? If the answer is "no" it goes out!