Whether you are moving, having had renovations done, are dealing with a relative’s death, or simply want to declutter and organize your home, a necessary step is getting rid of everything once you’ve decided what you don’t need anymore.

The first thing to do is think about what is important to you in regard to your junk removal. Are you most concerned with a speedy solution that just gets the junk out?  Do you want some of your items that are in better condition to go to charities where other people can use them? Are you concerned with recycling?

The simplest solution to just get everything out is a dumpster rental. Many junk removal services will have the option of renting a dumpster for an agreed-upon time. The dumpster will be parked in front of your home, and you can add to it at your leisure. When the rental ends, the company will take away the dumpster. This will work for small items that you can remove from your home yourself. You may still have to make special arrangements if you want to get rid of furniture or appliances.

If you want more control over where certain items are going (ie, charities, thrift stores or recycling centers), you’ll have to do a bit more organizing and research.

As you clean and declutter your home, make sure you keep items that you are getting rid of organized and labeled. You may want to start with categories like clothes, toys, kitchen items, etc. If you are feeling too overwhelmed to do this by yourself, BBB has tips on hiring a professional organizer.

Note: Never simply throw away any paperwork that has personally identifying information on it or any bank account numbers, credit card numbers, etc. These documents should be shredded before they are removed from your home. You can shred them yourself, check with your local BBB about upcoming Shred Days, or look for a company that picks up your documents for shredding or has a location where you can bring them. BBB has guidance on how long you should keep different types of paperwork.

Once you have organized the items you want to dispose of, there are various steps you can take.

• Decide if there is anything you want to try to sell. Check these BBB tips for selling used items online.
• Consider donating gently used items to local charities or thrift stores. Sometimes they will come to pick them up. Other times you will have to drop them off.
• Check with your local sanitation services to see what/how much they will pick up with your regular trash services. This may be a way to get some free junk removal. There may also be an extra cost.

Once you have gone through and decided what you want to donate or can simply throw away, it’s time to find someone to remove everything else. If you don’t want a dumpster parked outside your home, you can arrange for a junk removal service to come with a truck to take away your items. Another benefit here is that you can arrange for the service to come into your home to take the items out, rather than having to get them to the dumpster or curb yourself.

When choosing a junk removal service, make sure you get a quote ahead of time. Prices can vary greatly, and you want to know what to expect. Prices will usually be determined by how much room you take up in the truck, and can also be affected by considerations like how many stairs the workers have to go up and down to remove the items. You may have to have someone come to your home to see the scope of your items to get an accurate estimate.

You should also determine a timeline for when the service will arrive and how long the job should take.

Ask about anything that will not be accepted and, if you’re curious, how they dispose of various items.

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