Among Friends

[qbetzforreal]

You've never moved before? @OhioAngel

[kaydee50]

Moving is a good time to purge.  Only move stuff you really want to keep.  We've moved several times in the past 20 years and each time we moved less and less.

Also as someone has already mentioned, give yourself plenty of time to pack.  If you think it will take a week, allow 2 weeks. 

Good luck!!

[Zhills]

Label EVERYTHING!  I would label beyond the room it goes in.  Label contents. 

That extra minute now will save having to search for something later.  You can keep it 'general' but it will be worth it.

Move the things you know you will use immediately and put them out, or away if you know where they will go.  Silverware, dishes, sheets, pillows, towels, bath stuff, hair stuff and makeup.

Enjoy your move!  

[dex]

My best tip is to get help from friends and family.Put the boxes in the rooms they go in to be unpacked.I unpacked kitchen first,bathroom,then bedrooms and then did the rest at my leisure.It is very exhausting and makes you wonder why you have so much stuff.

[Mz iMac]

What Whatnow stated is so true....

"It is very exhausting"

After I moved 5 yrs ago, my body reminded me for months I was no longer 25 yrs old.  I should have done what my mother did when she moved.......hire a moving company that does everything.  All my mother did was give the movers instructions on what to pack.  They did everything else.  And, I mean everything.  They even unpacked at the new place & put everything where my mother wanted all in just a few hours.

By the time I got to the new place w/the stuff I packed in my car, my mother's new place looked as if she had been living there for years!

My mother did all of the above from the comfort of her lounge chair which was the last thing the movers packed.

[Mominohio]

My answer would depend on how you are moving.

A lot of people hire a moving company even for local moves and do it all in one big move. 

When I moved locally, I didn't want to do it that way. 

I got my 'new' house all painted, carpeted, cleaned etc. and chose to bring in one or two car loads at a time. I started with the kitchen and and bought a dozen heavy duty laundry baskets. I loaded them with the things from the kitchen, layered with towels, then transported and put the stuff away in the new house. 

I repeated this with all cabinets, closets etc. Then I started with the small furniture and placed it in each room with each trip. 

At the end, all that was left was the big heavy stuff, and we moved it ourselves (we were much younger then!). Today I'd still do it the same way, just hire the movers at the end for the big furniture/appliances. 

I liked keeping control over the volume of things coming into the new place, and not a huge flood of things all at once. No boxes left to deal with, and the empty baskets brought back 'home' each time and refilled. At the end, I washed up all the towels and blankets we used as padding, so the linen closet was fresh too!

I know this isn't for everyone, but I really liked doing it that way. And again, it was a very local move, with 30 days to get it done.

[chickenbutt]

I agree about not only labeling the boxes as to what the contents (basically) are, but labeling in which room they will go.

We had to do that when we bought this house because  we had help.   I got the guys in the house and showed them - all four bedrooms had a number on them and the boxes corresponded with BDRM#1, etc, and the stuff going upstairs in my office was labeled clearly for that.   I just wanted them to see the layout ahead of time.  Also putting the numbers consecutively made it easier.    All four bdrms are along the east wall of the house, so the first one nearest the front was #1, etc, going around to #4, which was the one at the back of the house.

I tried to make it as easy as possible.  When you're dealing with guys you really need to do that, if at all possible.

My only other thing is this - the stuff of yours that you don't want somebody else to break (or possibly, uh, disappear, if you have strangers helping) - just put those things in your vehicle and carry them yourself.

Pack well so that breakables can take some hits.  If some breakables are meaningful to you that you would be heartbroken if they get marred or broken, carry those yourself also.

[sidsmom]

My best tip is to not ask family and/or friends.

Unless there’s an extremely tight Life budget or hardship issues,

we are all adults...and should budget our life accordingly.

If a friend/family member breaks something, anything,

that action, which might seem trivial to them, might expose

hurt feelings on your part...especially since moving is a stressful

activity. Reputable, professional movers move things quickly,

efficiently...and with a contract covering any liabilities. 

[Alison Wonderland]

Moving is stressful, so I did everything I could to make it easier for me.

When I was getting ready to move, I spent one week bagging up anything I wanted to donate and hauling those things to Goodwill. Then I started packing what I wanted to take. I also scheduled movers, a junk hauling company, and a cleaning service.

I also designated a "Do Not Want" area in my apartment. As I was packing, anything I did not want to take with me, I moved to that corner. When the movers came, I had them move everything in the place, but instructed them not to touch anything in the Do Not Want area. They packed everything into the truck. The next day, I had the junk haulers come and take everything from the Do Not Want area. They sort and donate/sell what they can and take everything else to the dump. The cost was worth the peace of mind to me - they just grabbed it all, put it in their truck, and left. It would have taken me many hours to sort and deal with it all and it took them 30 minutes. An hour after the junk haulers left, the cleaning crew showed up and cleaned the place. More peace of mind and time saved for me.

Days before the movers came, I picked up the keys to my new place and did several things at the new place: I brought in a kitchen trash can and garbage bags, I installed extension cords and surge protection power strips where I new furniture would cover outlets once it was in place, I installed a key hook by the front door, and installed a shower curtain, wastebasket, towels, soap, and toilet paper in the bathroom and put some bottled water in the fridge. 

Once the movers arrived, we had a clean bathroom to use, cold water to drink, and a trash can for the detritus of unpacking. And when they put my couch and entertainment center in the living room, I didn't have to worry about shoving anything aside later to get to an outlet for the lamp or cable box, the extension cords made the outlets available. And I had a place to hang my keys so they would not get lost in during all of the activity.

[OhioAngel]

qbetzforreal  yes i did move once, it has been 15 years. i had my husband there and all of his big family to help pack up and get moved.  we got divorced recently and i wont have the help now.

  thank you to everyone that posted tips, they are so very helpful and thank you so much for the good wishes too!