Move and then throw out? Throw out and then move? What happened the last time you moved?

I have done both. Before one move I got rid of a lot of things that I had kept for years.

During another move, I more drastically reduced my possessions both before and after my move. I got rid of books, movies, CDs, furniture.

Do it before. I did some of mine after the fact and it just made the process more of a pain. I had an overlap on the old place and was hopping backwards and forwards just to get rid of stuff.

Getting it out of the way makes the moving day so much easier and it's way better to take stock of what you need.

My partner moved to my town this last week, which encouraged me to either sell all my old shit, or throw it away, or donate it.

I've made over £1100 selling old game stuff, and I can now actually see what's in my cupboards

I have moved across country twice, but not in a time in my life when I had accumulated enough stuff to approach what's going on in Jeff's videos. I definitely got rid of stuff before the move in both cases.

Doing it before is better.

Even if you are moving to a bigger place, there are likely a lot of things that you accumulated that are pointless, not relevant to who you are anymore, or just broke and got replaced. Moving out can be a great opportunity to optimize living space, and that includes getting rid of stuff...

Also, the more you clean up before packing, the less you have to move.

For people who have noted about doing it before you move - yes, I totally agree, doing it before is better. But, sometimes, you don't do it before. :)

For me, I'm a pack rat - I'm the guy who goes "What if I need X?" It's compounded by the fact that I can usually remember a half-dozen examples where I DID throw something out -- and it turns out I did need X. :) (Yes, I know that's confirmation bias, but, it's hard to argue with the meat sack that's your brain sometimes.) And even if I commit to throwing stuff out, it can take months before I get around to it, if I get around to it at all. I always seem to have major timesinks in my life, esp. given my choice of career.

Depends on how much time I have to prepare. Generally I like to make the move the easiest that it can be, so I'll throw out what I don't want ahead of time. But I still do end up with a ton of junk that I end up throwing out after I move too. So probably a mix of both, but I'd prefer the first if time allows

@turtlefish: This is quite interesting and mind blowing post. LOL. :p

I've done the 2nd option because I had a time constraint and had to get out of the apartment before the lease ran out.

Ideally, I would do it before moving. A lot easier especially since there is less stuff to move and less stuff to unpack.

My moves have been to various apartments or moving in with people, only to move out into an apartment. My last move was out of my parents place to an apartment. That move was about 700-ish miles away. I took just about everything when that move happened. There were a few things like a washer and dryer I left behind, because I didn’t need it anymore and it didn’t make sense to move it, store it, and then take it out later on. So my folks kept it until they moved, and then they threw it away.

Looking to move into a house soon-ish, and the stuff I don’t want I might get rid of before I move.

@turtlefish: I can agree with you that it is better to do it first, but sometimes you have to do it after. I think that is mostly a time factor. I have definitely just packed everything -including garbage I wanted to take to the dump- just to leave a place quicks.

If I had a method that I felt was best it woudl be Before & After. Clean before and after a move, throw out as much as you cna first; and then after you move and start opening boxes have bag or box to just toss in the weird things you find. I think there is a concept that only deployed soldiers & long distance hikers know; your pack is ALWAYS full of stuff you don't need! ;-)

I picked the throw out then move but it was more theoretical as I only recently started living alone so the real thing was I kept almost everything and then bought enough furniture and art to make sure it didn’t look like a dorm room or a crack house.

Moving is expensive, why pay to move junk you aren't going to keep???

Sort, donate / recycle / sell / get rid of junk, then move.

When I bought my house I initially thought that I would have all this extra space to put all the stuff I’ve accumulated over the years. Now, 6 years later, my partner and I still have boxes of who knows what in our basement from the move that we still haven’t even sorted through. Logic would tell you that if I haven’t needed it in 6 years, I probably don’t need it, but who has the time to figure all that out?

I try to clean house a little when I move, even if it's just across town. Obviously it's sensible to get rid of more things when you move across the country (see this article https://threemenandatruck.net/how-to-prepare-for-moving-across-the-country/#Declutter_and_Document ) but it's also good to do any time you move. For me anyway, I always find I have some junk stored away that I really don't need or want. Plus it's good to start life in a new home with a clean slate knowing you've gotten rid of what you don't need.

I'm moving AGAIN two months three month after I moved last. Its not the decision to keep or throw out that gets me it just wanting to keep stuff, knowing you CAN move it, but being totally exhausted at having to pack up again and move.

I'm moving up, the new place is nice and the next place is nicer -- but I really do hate moving.