Leaving Money in the House

A close relative of mine recently moved after living in a home for over 20 years. C and I went over to help with the moving process. After we finished, this relative hired a cleanup crew to help remove some old furniture and odds and ends.

Reflecting on the move, there are some things that could have been done differently.

1. My relative offered us a lot of things in her home, all I had to do was transport it to my place. One thing I should have done is review the items in her house more closely before moving day to determine what I wanted. Now I regret not grabbing a few pieces of furniture and some odds and ends.
2. I found quite a bit of loose change around the house, mostly pennies. Rather than focusing on pennies, I should have thought about what other small items of value were going to be left in the house. The focus should have been small items since those are easily transportable. Even if I didn't want to keep the items myself, I could have sold them on craigslist.
3. Planning ahead makes a big difference. Moving can be a stressful process, but more so if things are disorganized. I could have taken more of a leadership role in helping my relative out.

In the end, there was a lot of money could have been saved or money could have been gained by taking more time to sell some of the left over items. Part of this was laziness on the part of both me and my relative, but you live and learn!