Moving -- Money saving green tips

Having to move quickly across the country is exhausting, and could potentially be very expensive.  During the first purging stage I felt like a hoarder because I couldn't just throw stuff away.  It had to be recycled, or donated, or sold, or given to someone.  Then you'd have the stuff that someone made, or my grandmother gave me this...really.  The list could go on.  It almost seems like to put everything in it's place, you'd spend more time driving and it wouldn't be worth it.  Well, you're half right, but only if you don't plan your trips.

We haven't been doing the dumpster thing, but we have been donating.  Goodwill, our church, and my daughter's preschool has been the benefactor of many toys.  Took a few shopping bags full of books to our local library to be re-used.  We've had one yard sale, which proved to be too time consuming and not really worth it.  Craigslist has been awesome.  We've sold all the furniture we wanted to sell through craigslist, and some that wasn't in great condition was put in the free section.  Yay re-purposing.

Next up was packing material.  The other day I visited a 7-11 and asked the if they had yesterday's newspaper leftovers.  Sure enough they did, and they handed me that stack up there.  Free packing material.  Friends and family have been bringing over boxes for us to use, so there has been little need for us to purchase new boxes.  I've heard retail stores are also willing to give away boxes if you get there at the right time.  I've also heard craigslist again is a great resource for boxes.

In the end, moving across the country greenly is best done when you aren't having to move very much.  It's counter productive to have to buy all new stuff when you get there, so I'm hoping to buy second hand things when we get out there to furnish and decorate our new place with.  I was quoted a price of $1 a pound for everything I had to move across the country, eeek!

After everything is all packed, it's time to paint, and show the house.  Hubs leaves Tuesday for Colorado, and I'll  be heading out a few weeks after him.  More later!

Moving Cleanly -- Purging

So, in case you're not in the scoop, hubs got a job. This summer will be spent moving from Virginia to Colorado. Of course I will be documenting this process here on the blog, and how I intend to do this in the most green way possible.

We already messed up this morning when we went to the Uhaul place to buy boxes. I've put the word out. I need boxes! I don't want to buy brand new boxes. Anyway...

Our first step is to purge. The less we move, the less it costs and the better for the environment. We'll either be doing a yard sale this weekend, or we'll get a flea market booth. Flea markets are huge here, and this time of year they are booming. The other thing I've found is Freecycle. On their website, you can browse the area for people giving stuff away, or post what you need. Green can be cheap!

For greener, yet pricier solutions you can try Green Box. Sadly for me, they are located in Southern California. Not much help to me in the suburbs of D.C.

While we use the boxes we have, the rest of our boxes will be a miss match of stuff we ask for from the stores we shop at, or from friends or from Freecycling. Wish us luck, or moving journey begins!