My husband and I have been married for a little over one year, and in that short time we have moved four times. We've loved each place that we've lived in, but never particularly enjoyed the moving process. Moving is always difficult and time consuming no matter how you approach it, but we've learned many things with each move that help moving day to go smoother. I would like to share with you our tips and tricks for moving in hopes that your move will go as smoothly as possible.
Things To Do Before Packing
#1 Get Rid of Items You No Longer Need or Want
You never know how much stuff you have until you start pulling things out of closets and cabinets. There are always going to be some items that you've held onto that you no longer need, and now is the perfect time to get rid of them. I would start this several weeks if not months before your move and take it room by room. You can make three piles: keep, donate and toss. My husband and I had only lived together a year, and were surprised at how many things we ended up getting rid of!
#2 Cancel/Start Utilities Beforehand
Most utility companies will let you call weeks or even months before the move to cancel or start the utilities in your name. I recommend calling two or three weeks before you move to cancel your utilities in the place you're moving from, and call your new providers to start the utilities at your new place. That will be just one less thing to worry about the week of your move.
#3 Make Three Lists to Organize Packing
I have found it helpful to make three lists titled: "Pack Now,""Pack Week Of," and "Pack Day Of."The first list, "Pack Now," you'll list a bunch of things that you can pack weeks before the move and won't miss. We've listed things like food storage, holiday decor, extra bedding items, winter clothing, and books. The next list titled "Pack Week Of", we've listed things that we will need to use closer to the move, but could live the last few days without. For example, we packed a lot of kitchen items, furniture, laundry detergents, and most of our clothing leaving out just a small packed bag. For the last list, "Pack Day Of," we put things like hygiene products, bedding, packed bag of clothes, a cooler for our fridge items, and cleaning supplies. Making these lists makes it much less hard to start packing because you know exactly what to pack and when.
Let's Start Packing!
#4 Use The Things You Own As "Boxes"
You're probably gonna need several boxes, but you have a lot of space in certain things that you probably own too. We kept a lot of our clothes in the drawers of our dresser and used each dresser drawer as its own "box." We also filled all of our suitcases/duffle bags, laundry baskets, storage totes, and baskets. There are a lot of items you can fill while you're packing! Utilize that space!
#5 Use Things You Have For Padding
You also probably have a lot of things that you can use for padding for some of your more fragile belongings. For example, we put dish towels between each of our ceramic dishes to protect them from being broken during the move. The dish towels would have had to be packed either way, and this way we're accomplishing both goals. We also used extra sheets to protect our glass picture frames. It works like a charm!
#6 Leave Hangers on Clothing
I've packed clothes in every way with each of my moves but my favorite thing is to keep the hanger on. This is because both the clothes and the hangers need to be packed, and it saves so much time when trying to unpack. I have two favorite ways to pack your closet with the hangers on. The first is to poke a hole in the bottom of a trash bag and slide the tops of the hangers through this hole, creating your own garment bags from trash bags. This protects your clothing but is a very easy way to pack them. The other way I have tried is to put your clothes, with the hangers on, into trash bags and vacuum seal the bags with your vacuum. This one helps save space if you are short on space in your truck. With this strategy we did lose a few hangers, but for the convenience of having everything all ready to hang up in our new closet it was a price I was willing to pay!
#7 Make a Box Of Things you Will Need Right After The Move
There are certain things you will want as soon as you get to your new place. Make sure those are all in a box or two and are clearly labeled so you can get to them fast. Some examples of things you might want are cleaning supplies, tools, and any documents you might need. It's also a good idea to keep this box with you, so if you are having help from a moving company maybe you'll want to put this box in your own car.
Last Few Things to Remember When Moving
#8 Break Up the Cleaning and Packing to Avoid Burnout
Moving can be stressful and overwhelming! It feels like so much to do in such a short time! Just remember that breaks are important! Something I find helpful is to switch up what I'm doing when I start to feel overwhelmed. For example, if I've been packing for so long that I am not quite sure if I'm going to be able to do it all, I'll switch to some of the cleaning instead. Both need to be done, so I'm still being productive but I'm getting a little break from the mundane packing.
#9 Get an Early Start on Moving Day
I'm not a morning person, but on move day I would much rather wake up early and finish early than the opposite. Starting early will help relieve some stress and give you the maximum time to get everything done! Just think about how rewarding it'll feel when you are finished moving everything into your new place and the sun is still up!
I hope you find these 9 tips useful in your upcoming move! Let us know any of your favorite tips when moving from one place to another!
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