I’m moving next weekend and I’m dreading it. I hate moving. We’re moving about 6 blocks away from where we currently live so we don’t have to box every single thing up. I’m planning on putting stuff in boxes and taking it to the new house, unloading it and then going back for more. Any helpful hints you may be able to share would be greatly appreciated!
If you haven’t done it already, take this opportunity to throw things away. We’ve been in our house a little over a year and among the few remaining still-being-unpacked boxes, I’m finding that I should have tossed most of the stuff before we left Virginia. Moving is the perfect time to reduce clutter… in theory… wish I’d done it…
That’ll be a very long day if you do it that way.
Pack yer boxes (mark em bedroom north wall 1, BedN2, south wall 1, etc…) move 'em, thenunpack.
Yes, I have a great tip…
Once I started earning enough money, I paid someone else to move me! Moving is a task for satan himself!
E3
I usually move all the little stuff (pots, pans, dishes, bathroom stuff, clothes, pictures, etc.) so most of the house is in order before the big stuff gets moved in. I should be able to start moving next Tuesday or Wednesday night so I can have all the little stuff done by Friday and we can move the couches, beds, dining room, and other furniture Saturday morning and I can be completely unpacked Saturday night. It just seems easier to me to do it this way. YMMV.
I usually plan it so I have two or three weeks overlap between the leases so I can take my time moving. It’s a much more laid back process when you’re not running on short deadline.
cash in your ‘favor’ chips. the more hands the better. last time we moved there were 6 pairs on one side and 8 on the other. smooth as silk, im telling you.
If anyone moves and has their friends help, save the beer for after you’re done.
Pay well those who do it with you. That way youll know that they show up.
You can use your clothes as packing material. Thats one thing most people don’t think of.
Make collection boxes, e.g. one for trash, one for thrift shops.
Make sure you have a window covering for the bedroom in your new place. There’s nothing worse than going through a long day of moving and then having to get up with the sun the next morning because you don’t have an appropriate blind/drape. (Obvious, I know, but it happened to me…)
6 blocks? Wimp. I was going to suggest using Amtrak, but then I moved from Philadelphia to San Diego. 
I’ll also second using clothes for packing material. I’ll also throw in that the boxes you get reams of copier paper in are the handiest, dandiest things around.
Esprix
The very best moving job I ever saw went like this:
Four girls were moving into a new place. They called everyone they knew, asked them to help them move, and promised a keg of beer at the end of it. The faster we got things moved, the sooner we’d get the beer.
They had everything boxed up in advance. Two dozen or more people showed up in about a dozen vehicles, with a pickup and two vans for the big stuff. Every box was labeled–color coded, even–for each girl’s room, plus kitchen and living room stuff. Photocopied directions were handed out, with cell-phone numbers. The keg was sitting on the deck of the old place.
The tap was at the new place. I thought that was particularly clever.
I kid you not: the entire place was moved in twenty minutes. It took about another fifteen to move all the furniture just so. Then, we all trucked back to the old place and threw a fairly decent party–a stereo and a TV were left behind, and they had to clean up the old joint, anyway. Total cost: $12 per girl, plus about an hour to get everything moved and arranged and get the keg tapped, plus however long it took them to organize so well. It was the easiest move in which I ever participated. I think I carried about three boxes and a mattress.
Furthermore, the keg was drained in only an hour or two, so we were out of their hair in a hurry. Good feelings all around.
Some good advice already mentioned, but here’s a few more:
[li]Keep track of the food and kitchen stuff! You don’t want to find, three days later, that container of leftovers that should have been sitting in the 'fridge.[/li][li]I third the use of clothing, blankets, etc., as protection for breakables. Don’t use newspaper unless you have to, because the ink smears and gets all over everything. Plastic bags (the kind groceries come in) are good for both carrying stuff (espically bathroom/kitchen supplies that can spill), and for cushioning.[/li][li]Take the drawers out of things. Not only to make sure nothing fell behind the ones in the kitchen, etc., but simply use them as boxes. Makes moving the funature easier also. (Just be sure to put the drawers for the kitchen, etc., back in when you’re done.)[/li][li]Rent a U-Haul, trailer, or buy one of those dolly thingies. Use a wheelbarrow, or anything with wheels to help you get things from place, to vehicle, to new place. It saves an amazing amount of time.[/li][li]If you need boxes, don’t check the grocery stores (stuff may have gotten spilled in them), check copier places, department stores, and the like.[/li][li]And lastly… give yourself more time than you think you’ll need, worst case. You do not want to risk rushing things, and breaking something (be it an item, or yourself!).[/li]
Gahh, moving. I don’t want to think about how many times I’ve done that already in my relatively short life… and I’m not in the military.
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Get a truck lined up – not a pickup but a big rental type truck, 15 feet or better and covered in case of rain. If you’re renting one, reserve it immediately, they can be tough to get on short notice.
If the terrain makes it worthwhile, get a four-wheeled cart like the ones they use at Home Depot, long, low and flat. They can also be rented but again, reserve it now. Next time I move, I’m gonna buy one of those suckers.
Start keeping the cover pages and subscription info pages of any magazines you subscribe to. The address labels are useful when you have to change addresses.
Buy a mess of ziploc freezer bags. They’re really handy for sticking small stuff in so it doesn’t migrate.
If possible, pay a little extra on your ongoing bills like credit cards and such. If there’s a mail snafu, you might avoid a late charge.
Get gel-cushion inserts for your most comfortable sneakers.
Use 'em!
My best moving tip: Never pack a box heavier than you want to lift. Buy smaller boxes, because you’re going to be lifting them a LOT.
I once made the huge mistake of packing my 2000lbs of books into large boxes, on the premise it would be faster to haul them all that way. I was going to hire a mover but at the last minute, I got stuck hauling them all myself. Boy did I learn a lesson. Took me twice as long since I was worn out halfway through the job.
Having moved house about twelve times in the last twelve years, I can offer the following:
I second the “big clean up and chuck out” idea. Get rid of as much stuff as you possibly can. Get a skip bin if you have to and be ruthless.
If finances permit, full-pack-service removalists. I have now wised up and will go into hock, if necessary, to get a removal firm that will show up, pack your stuff, move it and come back a week later to get the boxes. Minimal sweat, minimal time wasted. The absolute best possible scenario.
If finances don’t permit, then beg, bribe or outright kidnap as many people as you possibly can to be slave labour on the big day. The more the merrier - or the faster, at least. Nothing makes moving house painless, but at least you can get it over with quickly.
Be as organised as you possibly can be. In the days before I wised up and started using the full-pack guys, I started sorting and packing a month ahead. It’s amazing how much stuff you can get into boxes and not miss for a few weeks.
Always know exactly where your supplies of coffee, tea, sugar, milk, coffee cups and kettle are. You’ll need 'em. Keep track of your preferred booze for the same reason.
One thing I want to add to this is that you should send a woman to get boxes. I moved recently and when I went asking for boxes, nobody had any. Always the same story “We just threw them out, come back tomorrow morning and maybe we can save some for you”. But when my wife went into the same stores and batted her eyelashes, suddenly everyone had boxes stacked to the ceiling and they were falling all over themselves to help her.
The key to getting boxes is to ask polity a day or two in advance , if the store could save you so many boxes with in a given size.
Take only what you currently use to the new place. Put these items in a easily acessable area. Next put all the other item in labeled boxes and store them. Don’t unpack anthing you don’t need to use. This saves time when moving every year, and after two or three years you trash the box on the next move.
Auto-parts stores.
oil boxes.
Nice size, fairly tough.
I have never moved. Just thinking of it scares me.