Best practices for cleaning out apartment

[Anonymous]

We’ve moved my parents several times in the last five years—to be closer to us, better care at a different AL place, etc—so they don’t not have a full house worth of belongings but somehow they have acquired a ton of stuff. We are moving them to be closer to my sister in the next state over now but their new apartment will be smaller so we need to purge quite a bit. It’s a mix of trash and items to donate, and includes everything from books and clothing to furniture, tv, dishes, plants etc. Is there a service we can hire that will remove all of the unwanted items from the apartment or should we plan on tackling this ourselves? We are exhausted and have young kids and I’m looking for the path of least resistance. TIA

[Anonymous]

Can you pull out anything they need and move the necessary stuff then just hire a junk hauler to take the rest? You said the rest is trash and donations and I believe the junk hauler places can take care of all of that for you, although you won't get the donation receipt.

[Anonymous]

Take no more than two hours to pack what they need (clothes, dishes, towels). They simply don’t need much. Put a post it on the few pieces of furniture you need. Call got junk and spend half a day directing them and let them trash/donate all the rest.

People spend way too much energy agonizing over this stuff. Just let it go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take no more than two hours to pack what they need (clothes, dishes, towels). They simply don’t need much. Put a post it on the few pieces of furniture you need. Call got junk and spend half a day directing them and let them trash/donate all the rest.

People spend way too much energy agonizing over this stuff. Just let it go.

Thanks! We are definitely not agonizing over "stuff" and looking for the most expeditious way to clear out the apartment they are vacating. If we are agonizing over anything beyond the labor aspect it's not wanting to add to the landfill when there's quite a bit that's more than fine for Goodwill etc. Does the junk hauler take things to the dump or a place like Goodwill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take no more than two hours to pack what they need (clothes, dishes, towels). They simply don’t need much. Put a post it on the few pieces of furniture you need. Call got junk and spend half a day directing them and let them trash/donate all the rest.

People spend way too much energy agonizing over this stuff. Just let it go.

Thanks! We are definitely not agonizing over "stuff" and looking for the most expeditious way to clear out the apartment they are vacating. If we are agonizing over anything beyond the labor aspect it's not wanting to add to the landfill when there's quite a bit that's more than fine for Goodwill etc. Does the junk hauler take things to the dump or a place like Goodwill?

I will second the PP. 1-800-Got-Junk. Do not agonize over your carbon footprint and landfills. If it's only an apartment, it is 1/100th of the garbage that gets dumped daily by a family of 4 in a large home. I don't know what these guys do with the stuff but it's not worth worrying about right now given what you're dealing with. What I would do is exactly as PP suggests - 2 hours to pack what they need, Got Junk the rest. Then, once they are settled, if you still feel badly about the landfill thing, spend the next 6 months reducing your own family's waste as a trade-off. People in and around your parent's generation collected stuff. Aging makes the hoarding worse. Just vow to be different yourselves and throw this stuff away.

[Anonymous]

Try to remind yourself that a lot of what Goodwill receives goes straight to a landfill either immediately or after a month. Better for the environment to bring it straight to the recycling rather than schlepping it around and having it end up there anyway.

[Anonymous]

There are services who will do this, but they can be costly. If you can sort it yourselves (eg, which goes to dump vs. which to donate), you can do it for less. Some non-profits will pick up donations (note they need lead time to schedule and will not take everything, so confirm with them to ensure they will pick up what you wish them to take). There are plenty of services who will pick up and haul things to a dump. You'll find several on Yelp, etc. Smaller outfits or a random friend's "helper guy" will often do it for much less than the bigger advertised services (eg, 1800-GOTJUNK charges much more than no-name guy with a truck).

Having just gone through this, I hired someone to haul off both donations and trash. Try asking friend's housekeepers, handymen, etc if they have a friend or family member with a truck who would be interested. We paid them by the hour + gas + dump fees. Loaded the back of the truck with dump items, and the front with donations. He made the first stop at the donation center, and then drove the rest to the dump.

If you go this route, spend a few minutes online to find the landfill with the best fees within reasonable driving distance.

I empathize with the job ahead of you, but you will be SO GLAD when it's done!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take no more than two hours to pack what they need (clothes, dishes, towels). They simply don’t need much. Put a post it on the few pieces of furniture you need. Call got junk and spend half a day directing them and let them trash/donate all the rest.

People spend way too much energy agonizing over this stuff. Just let it go.

Thanks! We are definitely not agonizing over "stuff" and looking for the most expeditious way to clear out the apartment they are vacating. If we are agonizing over anything beyond the labor aspect it's not wanting to add to the landfill when there's quite a bit that's more than fine for Goodwill etc. Does the junk hauler take things to the dump or a place like Goodwill?

Yes, the major junk haulers will take donations. I’m not sure if you would have to schedule two appointments — one for donations and one for the rest. Just call them and ask. That said, as another poster noted, don’t fool yourself that donations are super meaningful.

[Anonymous]

They are in an AL place now. These places have lots of experience with this. They will have suggestions. They won't want to appear like they are pressuring/choosing one company/charity over another, don't want to coordinate it --- but move-outs happen all the time. I imagine you have some kind of a relationship with people who work there. Ask them.

[Anonymous]

You can donate the furniture- see if there is a donation center nearby that will come and pick it up.

Pitch the trash and unusable stuff in the apartment complex dumpster. You’ll need trash bags. Lots of trash bags.

Take excess clothes and whatnot to Goodwill.

You can take family pictures and heirlooms to your house. Scan some special photos and print out copies to put in a picture board to hang in their room.

[Anonymous]

You say you have young children and that you have been dealing with moving your parents for the past 5 years.

How old are your parents? Can they help with any of this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You say you have young children and that you have been dealing with moving your parents for the past 5 years.

How old are your parents? Can they help with any of this?

OP here—Parents are not in good health. In their upper 80s. Move is to a facility with a higher level of care.

Current AL place will be no help other than maybe allowing us access to their dumpster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You say you have young children and that you have been dealing with moving your parents for the past 5 years.

How old are your parents? Can they help with any of this?

OP here—Parents are not in good health. In their upper 80s. Move is to a facility with a higher level of care.

Current AL place will be no help other than maybe allowing us access to their dumpster.

Having access to a dumpster is huge actually. If they were in poor enough condition to have to move into that facility in the first place then it’s doubtful that what they brought into their apartment was heavy. I would just roll up my sleeves and start separating out what they actually use from what they don’t use. Toss trash and worn out items.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, just hire Got Junk

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You say you have young children and that you have been dealing with moving your parents for the past 5 years.

How old are your parents? Can they help with any of this?

OP here—Parents are not in good health. In their upper 80s. Move is to a facility with a higher level of care.

Current AL place will be no help other than maybe allowing us access to their dumpster.

Having access to a dumpster is huge actually. If they were in poor enough condition to have to move into that facility in the first place then it’s doubtful that what they brought into their apartment was heavy. I would just roll up my sleeves and start separating out what they actually use from what they don’t use. Toss trash and worn out items.

Why would you assume they don’t have anything heavy if they are in AL place? Movers move elderly into AL places too. And people can accumulate a lot of stuff very quickly—especially if they know how to use a computer to order things.