Everyone dreads moving day. I bet it’s right up there on the endorphin scale with “public speaking”, “doing my taxes” and “bumping into my ex”
Since I hope we are all past friends renting a van and paying with beer and pizza, there are some ways you can make a move more organized and less stressful. Clients often ask me for moving recommendations, like how do you move in a month; moving checklists, or in a pinch - how do you move in 3 days?
I just helped a client with a move; and here are my top tips for making the day work:
- Don’t move on closing day. This is my top tip with good reason. If you’re closing on a property – or even 2 to do the move, one thing that is NOT in our control is the time a property closes. That means you may have to be out of one property before you get the keys for a second. If you’re moving to a property that needs an elevator reservation it will be pretty difficult to have that all lined up. Figure out which works best, getting your sale proceeds & storing your things overnight or closing on your new property before and overlapping ownership a few days.
- Hire packers – have them come a week ahead of time. Pack everything you don’t use on a daily basis
- Pack a suitcase with essentials and put them in your car. Your clothing, toiletries, toilet paper, clean bedding
- Get a floor plan for your new home so you can direct the movers
- Move everything to the main floor if you can – this minimizes movers time in the house
- Use medium sized boxes with handles, they aren’t too heavy to lift when packed, stack nicely and don’t crush what they’re stacked on
- Moving to a condo? Get the logistics in place as soon as you have a move date (elevator reservations, registering with the building etc.)
- Label everything in BOLD capitals on the face of the box that will be visible
- Have the movers provide specialty boxes for art & clothing – try and get them to bring things that they can re-use
- Take pictures of your electronic set-up so you can put everything back together. You can buy sets of write-on wire labels from Amazon
- Tip the movers. Have water and snacks on hand
Here are some links to tips from industry experts:
The Frugal Girls 10 Moving and packing tips
PODS recommends - What to pack first when moving
Buzzfeed - Brilliant moving tips
Here's some links to some of my favorite moving supplies:
Medium Moving Boxes the link is to home depot, but anywhere that sells moving supplies - like storage warehouses will have them too
Electronic Cable Labels this takes you to a generic search on Amazon, but you can sort through the results
Packing tape and mini cutter there is nothing more annoying than losing the end of the tape roll! I find these mini dispensers easier to wrangle than the big ones. Bonus they store easier too when moving is done
Sharpies invest in multi packs of sharpies like these double sided Sharpies from Staples, or for a bolder font try these Jumbo Chisel point Sharpies
