I’ve moved quite a few times in my life both when I lived with my mom and on my own, so here are my expert moving tips for a less stressful move. Enjoy!
1. Scout out the place you’re moving to. Is it smaller or larger than where you currently live?
If it’s smaller, go through your items as you pack and try to organize items you don’t want or need anymore into items to sell, donate, and throw away. You can do this for knickknacks, clothes, shoes, anything. For the donate and throw away items, you can put them into large trash bags and take them to their respective places. TIP: If you don’t sell your items by the time it’s about two days before you’re going to move to your new place, go ahead and donate them. You don’t want the added stress of moving those items later and trying to find a place for them.
If the new place is larger, as you’re packing, think of what you’ll need (if anything) for the new place. Will you finally have a dining room? Then you’ll need a table with at least two chairs. Does the new place have a place for a washer and dryer? Well doggone you’ll need a washer and dryer. As you’re packing, make a list of what you’ll need and if you need it immediately or if it can wait and roughly how much it’ll cost so you’ll know how much you need to save and account for in your budget.
2. While looking at your new place, note any work that needs to be done.
Do any of the rooms, counters, floors, windows, appliances need to be cleaned/removed? If any of this needs to be done, I would let your landlord know right away. They should get it taken care of. However, some places don’t do that and they’ll usually even knock off some of the total deposit or first month’s rent if you do it yourself. If you decide to do it yourself, make sure you have all of the cleaners and supplies you’ll need such as window cleaner, wood cleaner/polisher, a vacuum, broom, dustpan, mop, paper towels, floor cleaner, disinfectant wipes, and trash bags/boxes. Also take note if your windows need blinds or curtains and remember to budget for that if you don’t already have blinds or curtains.
3. Ask your landlord if you can start to bring items and boxes by before you move in. If it’s allowed, this’ll be a great help for when you start to move stuff over.
4. Make sure you have everything you need to start packing. You’ll need boxes and/or totes, trash bags, packing tape, and newspaper or any other items you could use to wrap any of your breakables in (or maybe no newspaper if you choose to wrap your breakables in clothes and blankets that you already own).
1. Do it by room, Start, within that room, with the things you won’t need for the next week or so.
2. If you’re using cardboard boxes, use packing tape on the bottom.
3. When you’re finished packing each box, label the room and items in the box. i.e kitchen, cooking bowls. This will be a life saver when you’re unpacking.
4. As you pack, clean. Dust and wipe down the surfaces, sweep, mop, wipe down the windows, etc. so you won’t have to do it later. Doing it room by room is so much easier.
5. If you can take items over to your new place beforehand, go ahead and do that. Don’t stack your boxes and items all over the place. If your box says kitchen, go ahead and put it in the kitchen. It’s going to make unpacking way better.
6. When moving big items like furniture, see if you have a friend who’s willing to help with a truck or trailer. You can always offer to take them out to lunch as thanks for their help.
7. Like six, if you decide you want someone to help you move, you can take them out for lunch or order some delivery and have some snacks and a beverage like a little get together. I personally don’t like when other people try to help me move because they don’t do things the way I like but hey, whatever works for you bud.
8. Once you’ve got everything moved out of your old place, go through every drawer, closet, and cabinet one last time to make sure you didn’t leave anything crucial or sentimental behind. Some things people commonly forget are their shower heads, ceiling fans, and light switch covers. If you installed any of these things, remember to take them with you and to replace the originals if there were any.
1. Again, start by rooms. Depending on the room, if may be easier to start with the smaller items or the furniture first. For the kitchen and bathrooms I’d start with smaller items. For the living room and dining area, start with the furniture and bigger items.
2. You can also do like seven above and have a moving party to help unpack.
1. Remember to check your fridge and pantry to see what foods you do and don’t have and go to the grocer’s for food that you’ll need for the week.
2. On the same not, depending on how well you stock your fridge, for the week or two before you’re going to move, try not to buy any food for your old place. Eat and use what you have if you can so you won’t stress about any food ruining in the moving process.
3. Remember to change your address for sites like amazon, and for magazine subscriptions, news, etc.
4. Leave your new address to your previous landlord/post office so he/she can forward any mail that you accidentally receive at the old address.
5. If you’re moving counties/states, remember to check in with the DMV, your healthcare provider, optometrist, and dentist.
6. If at all possible, try to call and have your lights, water, cable, etc. set up a few days before you move in so you won’t be bored in the dark on your first night there. Keep in mind when scheduling that you’ll most likely have to be present for the cable/internet.
I hope this helps anyone who’s moving in the future and may be stressing and feeling overwhelmed.
