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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to pare down your belongings by asking

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Speaker 1: whether you would move something to a new place. If not,

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Speaker 1: you probably don't need to keep it now. My family

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Speaker 1: and I have been in the process of moving. Fortunately,

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Speaker 1: our new place is only about two miles from the

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Speaker 1: old place. We can drive there in six minutes. We

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Speaker 1: are hiring movers and we don't have a strict deadline

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Speaker 1: for getting everything in a set amount of truck space.

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Speaker 1: We don't necessarily have to purge things, but we probably

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Speaker 1: should because there is nothing like packing up to make

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Speaker 1: it clear just how much stuff you can accumulate over time.

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Speaker 1: We have lived in this home for ten years, so

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Speaker 1: there are ten years worth of Christmas and Birthday presents,

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Speaker 1: kid artwork, books. It all adds up. Any given puzzle

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Speaker 1: or game might not have been touched for years, but

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Speaker 1: it's not hurting anyone just sitting there and so nothing

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Speaker 1: happens to it. That's fine as far as it goes.

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Speaker 1: But if you have been thinking about lightning your house

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Speaker 1: up in the new year, maybe it's time to start

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Speaker 1: taking a few minutes a few times a week to

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Speaker 1: really look at things. Marie Condoz says, to ask if

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Speaker 1: the object sparks joy. That is certainly one way to

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Speaker 1: look at it. But another reasonable question is this, would

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Speaker 1: I pay to move this thing? If so great, If not,

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Speaker 1: maybe it's time for it to get sold, donated, or recycled,

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Speaker 1: if at all possible. I certainly been asking that question

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Speaker 1: as I have looked at a few storage spaces in

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Speaker 1: my house. We have a garage, we have an attic,

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Speaker 1: and we have a basement storage room. All of those

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Speaker 1: places wind up being a halfway home for things that

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Speaker 1: aren't being actively used but haven't landed on the chopping block.

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Speaker 1: Yet these are secondary value spaces in a house. And

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Speaker 1: yet when I brought in potential moving companies to give

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Speaker 1: me estimates, all of that stuff had to be included.

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Speaker 1: It would cost the same to move that stuff as

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Speaker 1: to move the stuff we actually like and use. When

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Speaker 1: things are going on a truck, there is no such

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Speaker 1: thing as secondary value. The movers pack it up and

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Speaker 1: move it carefully, same as they would with anything else.

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Speaker 1: With those dollar signs staring at you, you start rethinking

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Speaker 1: things fast now to be sure in our case, there

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Speaker 1: is sort of a middle ground. We can put stuff

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Speaker 1: in the trunk and drive it over whenever we're making

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Speaker 1: a trip over to the other place. That happens about

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Speaker 1: four times a week. If I'm going anyway, best not

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Speaker 1: to go empty handed, and I don't have to wrap

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Speaker 1: things up carefully. That said, I've been sending piles of

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Speaker 1: stuff out the door to be donated, and stuff that

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Speaker 1: can't be donated has been recycled if possible, or trashed

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Speaker 1: if it can't. Books I'd stop seeing on my shelves

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Speaker 1: have wound up being sent to the thrift store. I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't pay to move them, so clearly I don't truly

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Speaker 1: want to keep them now. I'm doing this because we

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Speaker 1: are moving, but you do not have to be moving

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Speaker 1: to ask these questions. Just put everything through the same rubric,

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Speaker 1: look at its size and weight. Would you willingly pay

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Speaker 1: I don't know a dollar, five dollars, ten dollars, twenty

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Speaker 1: dollars maybe more for the big stuff to move that

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Speaker 1: particular item. If the answer is no, that is a

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Speaker 1: good sign that you don't really value it all that much,

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Speaker 1: So call the donation truck and put it in those

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Speaker 1: boxes instead, too, much stuff can cost us. We just

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Speaker 1: don't always see that so clearly as when we're moving.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our times. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.

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Speaker 1: That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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