Anyone have some good moving tips?
By DCA from Concord, CA
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If you hire a moving truck be sure to get one large enough to move everything in one trip. No new companies, they are too slow, good luck.
Start packing all the things you don't use on a daily basis as early as possible, and be sure to write on each box, in marker, the contents of the box and what room it goes in. Pack everything so that on moving day, the only things you have left to pack are your breakfast dishes and your bedding. Do not pack your hanging clothes; instead group your hangers together and tie them with string so that you can just take them out of your closet, lay them in the back seat of a car, and then just rehang them in the closet of your new home. Round up as much help as you can, you're going to need it, and make sure you have some help unpacking your dishes, towels, toiletries and other necessities.
Go through your belongings and get rid of as much stuff as possible before you pack or move. For moving clothes on hangers, I like to use wardrobe boxes. You can order them online. Keep them to reuse. They are wonderful.
Pack all your dishes in towels and wash cloths and dish cloths. Pack all your what nots in soft clothing. Reduces bulk, the dishes are protected, and when you are unpacking, it is like unpacking two boxes at once.
Color code your boxes - either use different colored markers or buy some colored stickers and put the color or more than 1 side of the box. In your new home color code the doorways. Then when the boxes are being unloaded the "blue boxes" go in the "blue room" etc. Just number the boxes 1, 2, 3, etc. and keep a master list of the contents (it's a good idea to make a copy), so "Blue 1" is baby's toys,"Blue 2" is baby's bedding etc. Don't use red as a color for a room. Any box with red (along with the room color) has breakables in it and make this very clear to whoever is doing the moving. If using garbage bags for clothing, bedding etc. The stickers can be applied in several places. Hope this helps and good luck with the move.
Go to the liquor stores around you and grab some of the boxes that have had bottles in them and already have the cardboard separators in them. You can pack glasses, bottles, bottles from fridge, knick knacks, etc in them and it sure helps save time when packing and unpacking.
You can also use socks for small knick knacks, just slide them in & fold over.
Try packing your favorite clothes as outfits, in each box put everything you would wear in a day together, jeans, t shirt, socks, undies, whatever! That way you won't have to unpack everything in a hurry just to find an outfit for one day. {you can include a bar of soap, towel, washcloth, powder, deodorant, etc and mark it with something like Day 1 and put that box in the bathroom so you won't be searching for it}
Pack a bag or box for moving day with tea/coffee, milk, sugar, kettle, biscuits/sandwiches. Keep it with you so you can have a cuppa without having to hunt around;-))
Put labels, with the contents listed, on your boxes as you won't unpack everything at once. This saves you having to hunt through boxes later.
I will take a few of the suggestions already posted, embellish on them, and add my own personal twist. I am 55 and still rent; I have moved within a building (the worst move ever), and within a complex (next worst), cross-town, other states. Your move changes with the type of move. I'll pretend that you're moving within 50 miles.
First, clean out. Think of the room or location you hate the most, wherever you "dump". That's the one you start with. You get so burned out on cutesy stuff that with the first location you become very particular about what's worth moving and unpacking.
Second, label, label, label. The boxes are rooms - but your rooms are going to change. Cross-over stuff goes in "Miscellaneous". Label What is in the box and number the box. Make 5 copies of each of the sheets. Number goes directly on the box. This way you can do more than one box at a time.
Next, allow for change. Do not tape any boxes closed. This is your big chance to start out organized. This is where you do it. Even if you can't keep up with it, one room is better than none. You will find things that belong somewhere else. If the box is opened, you can stick it in there or start a new box (1 and 1a - keep your rooms the same number, but count each box using the alphabet as above).
I name my rooms, rather than color-code - when movers are dumping boxes, be they friends or professionals, they're not looking for little tabbies to tell them where the boxes go. Big is the name of the game for both Box ID and Room ID.
On the other side. Think about your new home. How to get to different rooms from whichever door your movers will entering from. Create big signs - 8.5x11 is fine - with dark markers. Wherever the first turn is, have 2 (or more) pieces of paper with a list of which rooms go which way - and label the rooms exactly the same way you have labeled your boxes; room or number or both. Don't forget Miscellaneous - you can buddy it up; just make sure you always buddy it up.
Some follow-up. You need 5 copies of the box labels to put one on each side and one on the top; leaving one for you. Movers don't jockey anything around so that they can see where it's going. At the end of all this fun and merriment - If you have time and you may not. Have one main list that just lists your various box names and how many boxes are with each. Staple your "Move Sanity" together in one packet. Do not ever part company with it.
If you are over 35, Do not use friends and family to help you move. Seriously, it can cost you far more than hiring a company. Enjoy! It's an opportunity!
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Tips to help you save time and money when moving. Post your ideas.
My tip is to help people save money who are in the unfortunate, but common place of having to move themselves either by choice or when their company relocates a spouse and won't pay for moving expenses. While these expenses are tax deductible, which is a plus, they are also time consuming, labor intensive, and expensive.
"Use what you have" as packing material rather than buying expensive bubble wrap and shipping paper, ie: use your clothing (which you're going to have to pack anyway) to wrap fragile items before placing in a box.
Get your moving boxes for free from liquor stores and grocery stores. Just talk to the manager first and they'll start saving them for you, you can also check out the dumpsters at these stores or at the local recycling center.
Never wrap china in newspaper, because the news print could come off on the china and you'd have to wash each piece by hand, individually before you could put them away in your new residence. I found a free way to overcome this. I wrap each piece of china and crystal in a plastic grocery bag which I've saved from year-long trips to the supermarket (or ask your neighbors to save them for you for a few weeks or months.
Once you reach your new community check out the local recycling centers to dispose of the bags and newspapers, and check with the local animal shelter too. They often need newspaper.
By Debbie (08/25/2005)
By ThriftyFun
I like to wrap china in face cloths, tea towels , napkins, etc. Lamps and breakable ornaments are wrapped with pillow cases, towels, or table cloths. Put pillows and bedding in the fridge if it is going. Keeps the shelves stable. (08/25/2005)
By siris
When moving, whether loading your rented moving truck or using your own truck, when recently helping a pal move, I noticed that they left the clothing in the drawers, in the bedroom dressers. Her reasoning was, so nothing got lost.
When we moved, instead of packing away the blankets, we used them for the drawers. We took the drawers out of the dressers and covered them with the blankets. We were able to stash the blanket wrapped drawers in the small spaces, leftover near the top of the truck, comfortably, by doing this, the dressers were not as heavy as they'd be for the persons loading the furniture. You want them to be able to help with the complete move, so make it as easy for them, as possible.
After the move, remove the blankets from the items you wrapped them with, identify the contents of the drawers and insert them in the correct pieces of furniture.
By Terri from NV (11/12/2005)
By ThriftyFun
