Time to Go. Now. Right Now.
February 21, 2007|
It is time for us to PCS. I mean, we are waiting to figure out where we are going because career wise it is time for hubby to PCS. But really what I mean is, we have accumulated too much stuff and we need to move so I have an excuse to dump most of it.
Big military benefit, right there. Every time my kids have an excess of Happy Meal toys clogging up their bedrooms, the bathrooms, and my living room toy box - it's time for us to go. And we're not taking those toys with us. They are SO curbside.
My hubby has a really hard time choosing what things he can part with. Basically, he'll throw away anything that belongs to other people without a qualm - but HIS stuff? It was 2003 before we finally threw away a piece of chain that had sentimental value for him (he had cut it off a fence in protest) from high school. High School! The man graduated from High School in 1993!
My stuff, however, is fair game. Sometimes unconsciously. For instance, I spent my childhood and teenage years collecting trophies and ribbons for various sporting and other competitive events. I had many many memories. In 1998 we were stationed in New Hampshire and had a really great little house with an attic where we stored hubby's prized books and my trophies.
Enter moving day. Hubby volunteered to bring everything down from the attic (because we all know the moving guys won't). Guess what didn't make it to our next assignment? I'll give you a hint: we unpacked hubby's books first.
I have learned my lesson the hard way - I now do all the purging of our household goods. I do it when hubby isn't home. And I'm merciless. If you haven't worn the clothes in the last two years, you do not need them (this is mainly a guideline for me). Pieces of fence chain from 1992 are really not necessary. And just how many stuffed animals are necessary for my kids' survival? Apparently in excess of five thousand. Anything over that number and I send it to Goodwill.
Hubby's starting to get nervous about now because I've got that "we really need to get ready to PCS" look in my eye. I'm appraising things around the house. I'm calculating moving truck loads and numbers of boxes.
I'm getting ready now.
AFW- we got out of the Active Army and went Reserve/Guard and lived in a house for 12 years... after year 3, I was getting antsy. didn't do anything like throw out stuff, so when we did move, we packed boxes and boxes of crud. I just went through a bunch of it, and wondered just why we had it in the first place, why we packed it up and moved it 2ce... and what the heck was it in the first place! We thought we were moving in March, so I was doing really well at dumping (literally, had a dumpster outside!) now that we are staying for a while longer, I will have more time to toss out the crap! yay! husband is a little worried, but I am with you on the rules. course, he hasn't worn anything but ACUs for the last 2 years, except for a month of leave, so I'll cut him a break on the clothes. but the old school books... gone. even mine. plastic containers (if no lid, they are GONE) I am figuring we are going to be in an apartment, with reduced storage, so have to be brutal with stuff to be stored until we retire, stuff to be thrown out, get the kid's stuff sent to him (let him figure out where to put it!) and what we want shipped.
LAW.
Posted by: liberal army wife | 02/21/2007 at 12:55
I will tell you, that I am just like your husband: I have great difficulty in throwing anything away. If a little kid gives me the crappiest gift- (like this one girl I teach made me a pair of sunglasses in arts & craft out of beads), I will not throw it away. Another kid gave me a bead. That's all it is: a single bead. She gave it to me as a present, and I still hang on to it.
This is why, as painful as it would be, I know for my own good, I need a wife who can do for me, what you do for your husband.
Posted by: wordsmith | 02/21/2007 at 13:13
Ah yes. The dumpster mode. We are now stationary since coming off of active duty and going active guard but I still get that itch to pack stuff up and throw it away. After this last deployment my Hubby wants to know if this will be a new thing every time he has to go. Yup, I guess it will be. :o)
Posted by: Lemon Stand | 02/21/2007 at 14:33
I can't wait to be able to just LEAVE everything in boxes and never have to open and unpack boxes again!
I regularly cull out my kids' toyboxes, mainly because they're at the age where they outgrow a lot of them. Clothing, I cull out monthly. I keep the best stuff (you know, Children's Place, Gap Kids, Gymboree, etc) and sell those in consignment...everything else gets given away (CAN YOU SAY FREECYCLE????).
Our last move, from Germany to Kansas, made us realize we moved a lot of junk - way too many "junk toys" from the fast food joints, and we will NOT do that again!
Posted by: Linda | 02/21/2007 at 16:05
I know what you mean about stuffed animals. I swear those things reproduce on their own. I don't care how many I get rid of they are still everywhere.
Posted by: angela | 02/21/2007 at 16:44
PCS time can really be a stressful time. Average military families see costs associated with these moves exceed $10,000 ...for all those curbside throw-aways, move expenses, lodging not covered, and setting up the new home with everything you need.
There is a solution that can put you ahead the next time you move. Try the folks at Lightspeed Relocation. They negotiate with realtors and lenders nationwide to give back up to a third of their commissions. Ten minutes can save you that $10,000. And their services are completely free!
Posted by: Eric Olson | 02/21/2007 at 20:50
As much as I loathe the idea of moving, I look forward to the "purge" aspect of it. I usually start a year in advance. My goal is always to leave a duty station with less than what we arrived with.
I, too, do monthly purges of clothing and inconsequential toys (i.e. Happy Meal toys and the like) and bi-annual purging of larger toys ( can you say YARD SALE!!!).
We've been here for 2 years and I'm already itching to go. The purging started the day MacGyver deployed ;~)
Posted by: HomefrontSix | 02/22/2007 at 02:16
I agree with HomefrontSix in regards to the idea of moving! We've moved 3 times in 2 years so I'm looking forward to staying put for awhile.
We do the "purge" in our house every Spring (summer vacation fund garage sale) so that helps with the Happy Meal Toys,etc. I can't imagine what their rooms would look like if we didn't.
GIve me another year and I'm sure I'll be ready to move again LOL
Posted by: Tammy /HH6 | 02/22/2007 at 08:29
Ya we do the "purge" as well.. DH does not like that day bc i go straight for his "crap". bc that is what most of it is.. I mean he is out of school 11 years and needs to keep all of his highschool football game tapes. I am sorry but if you would like to save htem for our son send them to your mothers house i am tired of moving them..lol. Not to mentin he still thinks his highschool tshirt fits him..i have attempted to get rid of this shirt on many occasions nad it comes back from the dead everytime. I swear it has legs to walk out of the trash can. But when i went through the house the last time in order for our Pcs which was canceled. I got rid of an entire corners worht of trash. did it all while he was in the field and he was none the wiser. just a where is this item at.. and im like HMMM havetn seen it..LOL
Posted by: Kel | 02/22/2007 at 11:41
When my kids ask where something is that I have gotten rid of I always blame it on the move. "Did we leave it in Texas?" or "did the movers lose that too?" They forget about it soon. They asked about something the other day that I got rid of years ago. If they are just now missing it that proves we have too much stuff.
Posted by: angela | 02/22/2007 at 12:06
I actually LOVE when the word is PCS! It's the perfect excuse to purge my husband's magazines and all of the little toys the kids get from McDonald's! :-) Travel Light and you'll avoid having more boxes to unpack! Plus, isn't it lovely to have a clutter free home for a little while?
Also, there are more and more companies out there providing some great relocation services and helping you save sometimes thousands! One that we looked into and really liked is Lightspeed Relocation, I forget the website but I am sure you'll find them on google! Cheers!
Posted by: LeeAnn | 02/22/2007 at 16:53
My parents have a rule that once we moved if we didn't touch a box in the basement or attic for 3 months after we moved we would throw it away so we did it a little different than most. My pet peeve are those McDonald's toys...I throw them away every chance I get but my Mom saves every kids meal toy that she gets and gives them to the kids when they come every Summer, she even has her co workers and church in on it. The kids act like it's Christmas and even talk about what toys Grandma has for them the whole drive up! This past Summer there were 5 Target bags filled with them. So every year I have to wait till they go to school and throw them all out!
Posted by: mismysailor | 02/22/2007 at 19:11
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Posted by: Lauren | 02/23/2007 at 22:46
I too am in the purge process for PCSing. We are told we will move this summer but not where as of yet. I am going through our things and purging the items we won't use or need no matter where we go. If we were to go overseas, then I have a lot of purging to do. My husband gets promoted tomorrow, so we will add a few pounds but certainly not as many as we will need. When those 3 years on an assignment comes around, I get the itch and have to start moving things out. I am accumulating the items in our garage so I can start having the first of several garage sales. It is a freeing feeling to "lighten the load".
Posted by: Tampa Diane | 02/28/2007 at 11:41