Moving

[yvi]

At some point during the next two or three weeks, I will have the pleasure of moving for the 5th time in less than 7 times, this time further than the previous times (about 3 hours by car away).

So I thought that as a rather big community, we could have a thread where people share their moving tips. Might be helpful to me and others :)

Comments

[ex_calla653]

My last move was two years ago. I still haven't unpacked all my boxes and am already considering moving again in the next two years (bigger flat).

SO, let's see. My tips:

* If you can manage financially: hire a moving company, at least for the actual moving day. Experienced movers are much faster and professional than friends and family. It will save you a lot of nerves, stress and friendships.

* Start packing early and use the time to also get rid of anything you don't want to take with you.

* Don't make the boxes too heavy, especially when you pack books. There are special moving-boxes just for books, they are smaller than the normal moving-boxes.

* Boxes: if you have a paper for used items you can check there if someone is selling used moving boxes. Or ask around among friends and aquaintances. Same for bubble-wrap.

* Label you boxes not just for content but also in which room they should go and then put labels on the rooms as orientation for the movers. Best would be colours like: blue->bedroom, red->kitchen, green->living-room and so on. Put the label on more than one side of the box so that they are easily visible.

* Put everything you might need during the first few days (kitchen-stuff. coffee-machine, music, clothing, toileteries) in separate boxes or bags that you put in your car. Same with anything valuable or highly breakable.

* Make sure you have enough food and drinks around during the actual moving days, even when you hire a company.

Good luck with your move!

[katemonkey]

Put the clothes you normally wear around this time into your suitcases. That way, you don't have to worry about unpacking the clothes boxes right away when you get into the new place.

And, in fact, clothing makes excellent packing material for fragile things. So use your clothes to pack dishes, knickknacks, whatever.

[quinfirefrorefiddle]

I've been moving at least once a year for the last... nine years? I really hope that cycle can end in the next year or so.

Label label label! All stuff that obviously goes into one room or another, gets labeled "Bathroom" or "Kitchen". Stuff that may be in various places because you're living in a new layout gets labeled "Misc" and put into a giant pile in a large, open space near the middle of your new living space.

Unpack the bathrooms first, then your bedroom, then kitchen, then everything else.

You can usually get free, good quality, large boxes from grocery stores, if you ask nicely. (Or liquor stores.)

Gather together the most breakable, most beloved dozen things or so that you own and put them in your car, not the truck. Do this before packing the truck so they aren't out and easily broken while packing the truck.

Purge your stuff now, obviously. Goodwill will love you, and so will your back.

[jamethiel]

Pack everything except for bedding and 1 set of cups and plates before moving day. Get an esky and some ice the morning of the move. Have one box that is the first thing you transport containing mugs and tea/coffee/sugar/milk and biscuits. Make a thermos of tea/coffee and have it waiting at one of the places.

Make yourself take regular breaks.

[havocthecat]

My favorite tip: Go through your books! If there are any that you can get rid of (hard as it may be to do so), get rid of them. Books are some of the heaviest things to move.

That said, I still cling to my books.

[moizissimo]

But you can sell them at a used book store, and get OTHER books. :)

I hate to admit it, but I've been downloading electronic copies of books I own. Then it's a little easier to give the hard copies away or loan them out!

[jenett]

Yay! (If a job search goes the way I'm hoping it might, given other circumstances, I might be looking at not only a move, but a really rapid move about 5 hours away. Eeep!)

Things that have helped me in the past:
- Even if you don't start *packing* early, start getting everything in a state where you can pack it fast as soon as possible. That means going through and getting rid of (in whatever form) stuff you no longer need, and taking them off for donation, used book stores, whatever. The packing will go much faster, and be much less painful.

I do a set of bookshelves or a bit of closet a night: do this for a week or two with some longer stints when you have more time, and you get through everything fairly fast in a small space.

- The less stuff you move, the easier it is. Asking yourself "Do I really need to move that" can be very helpful.

- For health reasons, I really really really don't want to do the heavy lifting for this prospective move.

My research is pointing out to me that a lot of the smaller moving companies are glad to get hired to do whichever bits you don't want to do - if you want to load/unload yourself, but don't want to drive, you can (money allowing) hire that part, or you can hire someone for the lifting parts, and drive yourself, or whatever other combination makes sense.

- A tip I found elsewhere and intend to try: if you know you're not moving furniture/clothing/whatever, a number of the donation places (Goodwill, ARC, etc.) will come and collect stuff from you if you call and ask. Much easier than hauling it all there yourself.

[brainwane]

Another good source for boxes: comic book shops.

Number your boxes. You will find it useful to know quickly how many boxes you have to move. If you can, keep an inventory spreadsheet noting what's in what box. That's great for the week up to the move, when you suddenly need something you've already packed.

MovingScam.com has recommendations and antirecs for moving companies.

If at all possible, for intracity moves I recommend having a few days' overlap between the old place and the new place. This makes it easier to move in via a few trips, never have a gap in internet/electricity/heating/cooling, and have some buffer time in case movers don't show.

On hand at the new place immediately: toilet paper, a shower curtain, makeshift drapes for the room you want to sleep in, and the phone number of a restaurant that delivers.

[viklikesfic]

For reference, here's a link to the post I made on this topic in the community. Good tips in the comments!

[marymac]

Pharmacies/chemists and pizza places tend to have regular deliveries, no particular box-disposal process and will often be thrilled to give you as many boxes as you like, here have some more.

I once moved all my clothes in a giant Pampers box, courtesy of housemate's work. This last move, we had pizza base boxes, which are perfect for books.

Whatever you do, clear as much as you can before you do the clean, especially in rentals. And keep a box or two spare for the stuff you find as you move furniture. You'd be amazed what turns up.

And whatever you do, don't forget to eat. You'll be frayed already, if you don't eat and drink properly, things will get exponentially worse. Also, landlords object to the handover being delayed by murder investigations.

[wyldbutterflies]

If there is anything you can part with, do so now. That way you won't have to move it. Goodwill and the Salvation Army do make pick-ups for furniture if any of that will be leaving you.

If you have a grocery store nearby, contact their produce department and get some banana boxes. Many of them have handles as do some boxes for liquor. Handles are a lifesaver. And the best thing is that they are free. If they are slightly grubby inside, you can place a trash bag in them and that will keep your valuables clean.

Label all your boxes with a coding system that works best for you. I normally label by room, but make get specific like "Kitchen - Pots". This will make things much easier to find in the long run.

As for packing: aside from furniture, if you can't lift it safely, it is too heavy. My motto for moving has always been that I plan to do it myself because I don't know what help I may have. I would want to be able to lift it and whoever you have helping you move will thank you.

My parents have a trick where they shrink wrap furniture. According to my dad, it makes it easier to grip. Take that for what it's worth. I tend to think it is so they don't have to remove the cushions.

You might want to eat up or give away any food items that are refrigerated that won't make the three hour trip.

Keep all things you can't live without in one place - think of it as packing for vacation - what sort of things would you put in a suitcase if you were going out of town for a week? Those will be the things that you will want to have handy for the first few days of settling into your new home.

[softestbullet]

Ah, this is timely for me, too. Thanks for asking! :)

[schnurble]

All very good advice, but I'd especially confirm the tip to rent a moving company - they're reliable, fast, and when they break their back, it's their fault and they're insured. If your friends help you and break their backs, it'll be your fault...

And since you'll move for a job, you can deduct the entire moving company bill from tax (and there's a lot more moving costs you can deduct from tax, so you should inform yourself about this and keep all bills and receipts)

[miome]

If you have a lot of electronics, it's good to organize the cords. Get a bunch of 1 gallon ziplock bags, put the cords for each item into a separate bag, and label them. This is so, so much easier than hunting through a huge box of cords at the other end.

Also, if you hire a moving company, it's good form to have bottled water on had for them.

[alphaviolet]

I have a *lot* of tips on this b/c we moved in December - across the country - with 15 days' notice. (If there's anything that brings out one's inner Type A personality, that would be it.)

1. Get comparison quotes from moving companies. And references.

2. Make sure you have a plan for a place to stay/sleep/eat if you are getting there before your furniture does.

3. Ship book boxes by media mail if needed. It's cheaper than truck transport.

4. Calculate whether the cost of shipping furniture (which is based on the weight) is more or less than the cost of replacing it.

5. Remember the tax deductions - including donations to Goodwill, etc.

6. Label boxes clearly.

7. Keep important things - like box cutters - accessible.

8. Give away (or eat) food rather than bringing it with you.

9. Budget and keep an eye on your expenses.

These last 2 items are the most important:

10. Get a massage - or take a hot shower - when you're done.

11. Make time to deal with the emotional part of moving - saying goodbye to favorite places, seeing friends, etc..

[catie56]

i'm a little late to the party here, but having moved a few times (once internationally), i have a couple tips.

1. hire movers! i know it's been said before, but it makes such a huge difference. just knowing you don't have to wrestle the couch yourself is a big deal. especially in older houses and second-floor dwellings.

2. if you have time, and your building is complicated, determine exit and entrance routes beforehand. when i moved recently, we had to pull stuff up over the roof because the stairways were too narrow. we also had one "in" door and one "out" door so there were never any collisions and it kept the flow moving so it took less time to get everything out and back in.

3. clean beforehand. i'm fortunate enough that we could hire some folks to help out with this, but it was great to know that underneath the boxes and clutter of moving, things were not disgusting. also, the previous tenants had not kept things up very well so before we got all our stuff in, it got rid of their mess too. this does mean that you'll need to keep cleaning stuff handy as well when you're packing. we just bought a ton of new sponges, cleaners, etc. and then kept some of the old stuff for cleaning the previous apartment.

4. if you're moving in the same city, it's helpful to split duties, and have one person at the old place coordinating removals and one at the new coordinating where things go. it saved us a lot of time and work to have the movers take things right where we wanted them (esp. heavy stuff) and to be able to just unpack in the correct location later. if you're only making one trip this isn't really relevant, but more than one and it's great.

5. if you're renting now, check out your property manager's policy on trash removal. when i moved internationally (and purged a ton of stuff), i got slammed on my security deposit for extra trash removal. this is also a reason to start sorting through stuff early.