We moved 17 times in 12 years. It doesn’t matter if you are moving across the country or across the street-you still have to plan it out and move all of your stuff! Here are some things I wish I knew before our first move.
1-Keep a good attitude. It doesn’t matter if other people say things like “Aren’t you sick of moving?” or “Moving sucks!” Many people will comment this way without offering to help. You know this move needs to happen. Instead of giving in to the opportunity to complain, you can use the opportunity to ask for help. Thank them for understanding that moving is a lot of work, and ask for help. Ask for childcare while you pack, or a meal where you won’t have to return pans. Ask for help to deep clean or for them to take a load to the thrift store for you. Choose better productivity instead of a pity party. Think of your children and how your attitude of the move is affecting them. They are constantly listening and hearing what you say to others.
There are actually VERY good things about moving. For example, what better time to go through all of your stuff and GET RID OF CRAP YOU NEVER USE? I love this part. Think about it. If you knew this would be the first of 17 moves, you would probably get rid of a ton of stuff rather than haul it all around creation. Only keep the good stuff! Your favorite decorations, your clothes that actually fit, the cookware that you use every day. Be excited to explore your new location instead of the dread that comes with trying to figure out where to put a haul of stuff that you never use. If you don’t love it or don’t need it every day, don’t take it! Please don’t move it with you because you think you can sell it later! Not worth it. Sell it now or get rid of it.
Another amazing thing about moving is a fresh start. Keep the bridges open that you built where you are…and then create new ones! There are SO many amazing people out there to meet. A new best friend could be waiting around the corner. Maybe there are people just waiting for you to be a part of their life!
2-Keep costs low. See who has boxes-search the Facebook marketplace for free boxes, ask businesses if they have any you can take, or do a post about looking for boxes on your Facebook page or a local group page.
3-Pack smart. With our first few moves, I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t that smart. I would go through everything and pack it based on whether I might use it or not. After a while, I realized that it was extremely time-consuming to approach moves this way. I made a list of clothes, meals I could cook using the same pot, the ingredients for those meals, and essentials like phone chargers and toothbrushes. I could set these items aside into luggage just like we were going on a trip for a few days(I also like to use reusable shopping bags-really anything but boxes so your essentials don’t get confused for boxes to go on the moving truck). This freed me to pack everything else without hesitation! It is also great if you have help coming so you aren’t afraid they will pack something you need. Instead of asking yourself on every item if you will use it in the next few days, MAKE A PLAN, and MAKE A LIST. If you are afraid to lose your list, take a picture or create it on your phone in the first place.
4-Set up help to unload boxes. This could be family, friends, people from church, co-workers, or hired help. On your own, it will take you a day or two to complete what can be done in 2 hours with help. It doesn’t hurt to ask. It can also be amazing to find someone willing to watch your little ones. It can be totally overwhelmed keeping track of them and keeping them out from underfoot while overseeing a move. I would say 8 yrs old and older is a good age to keep at the move to help bring smaller stuff inside.
I have a BIG money-saving tip for you if you need to hire help. We wasted a TON of money because we didn’t realize we could be specific with the movers on what we wanted help with. If we had asked them to move all of the big stuff first, we would have been able to better stick to our budget of 4 hours of help. Once all the big stuff was moved out of our apartment and into our house, we could have said we need to be done with help now and will do the rest ourselves. Instead, they loaded up with random furniture and boxed stuff and had to take 2 loads because they didn’t bring their biggest truck. We asked for 3 guys to come help instead of 2 because we wanted to finish more quickly. That was a big waste of money since the third guy was only bringing out small boxes that our 10-year-old could bring while Caleb and I were moving the couches and bookshelves. I would suggest you have them move the following first:
1-Any appliances (Washer/Dryer, chest freezers, etc.) 2-Beds 3-Dining table and chairs 4-couches and bookshelves 5-Dressers 6-Piano 7-tool carts or other large shelving/items in the garage 8-night stands and fireplace 9-planter pots you want to take that are filled with dirt 10-Largest or heaviest totes and boxes (in our case these are our Christmas tree and Christmas decor boxes as well as kids clothes).
If you don’t think two men will do the job as fast as you would like, my advice is to hire not one but two extra for a total of four movers. That way, the four can work on moving heavy things in pairs instead of 2 doing large items and one left to get boxes that we can move on our own if it comes down to money budget. This tip would probably work best if you are just moving across town and in a situation where you could go back and grab boxes and lighter stuff yourself.
5-Label boxes smart! When you start unloading, people helping won’t know where to put things. As you pack, label the top of the box which room it goes in (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom #1, etc.). They will take the effort to bring the box in anyway, so you may as well make it easier on yourself and have them put it in the room to be unpacked. Once they realize they don’t have to ask where every box goes, they will be relieved and it will seem a lot more organized. You can put the contents of the box on the side for your benefit after the truck unload is complete. Having a case of bottled water or Gatorade is always welcomed by moving help.
6-Plan a meal for the night of the move. We usually order pizza and a salad or get fried chicken/rotisserie chicken and fruit because those feed our large family for cheaper than the cost of a fast-food meal for each person. Another meal we commonly get for a road trip dinner or move night is some foot-long sandwiches from the Walmart deli.
Feel free to add any tips or tricks you have up your sleeve in the comments below. We would love the extra ideas! Have a great day friend, and best of luck with your move!
Jexi