6 Tips For Making Packing And Moving Easier

Packing up your home and moving (sigh). It's not something that many people enjoy. It can be a tedious and even daunting task especially when you have multiple rooms to pack.

I should know. It’s something I’ve done several times over a 10-year span not counting the yearly moving in and out of the dorms during my college years.

Related read on my financial blog: How I Decided I Was Ready To Buy A House

About half of my moves have been long-distance - moving from one state to another. The rest have been short distances - moving from one town to the adjoining town or down the road to a new apartment. 

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After moving a few times I realized that I needed to have a system in place to help make the move easier. My biggest pain points were

•  Getting supplies for the move without paying a lot of money
•  Organizing my packing
•  Finding everything when it was time to unpack

Some of the things I learned from all of my moves are

•  It’s best to start packing a few weeks, or months ahead of time
•  Break the packing into easy to achieve bites
•  Sometimes it pays to hire movers

Related read:  7 Things To Do After You Move Into Your New House

Though I wouldn’t call myself a packing and moving expert I do have a few packing and moving tips and tricks that have worked for me and I’d like to share them with you. These tips have saved me both time and money.

I’ve also created a handy-dandy checklist that is for sale in my shop. It is based on the checklist I created for myself and use when I move.

Start cleaning house

Before I start packing I go room by room and sift through closets and drawers to determine what is going on and what isn’t. By doing this I’ve thrown away several things I shouldn’t have been hanging onto because they were ready for the trash, were supposed to be donated (but never made it out the door much less to Goodwill), or could be sold online.

By going through these items before I start packing I can make a decision on whether I should keep the items or not that isn’t clouded by emotion or feels rushed because I’m pressed for time. I’ve found I’m more likely to get rid of items than hang onto them when it’s not a rushed decision.

Create lists

When the move starts getting really serious and gets closer I create lists for the following:

• What packing supplies do I need to buy?
• When I need to notify my landlord (if my lease is being broken)
• Scheduling the movers
• Utilities that need to be turned off/transferred
• Where I need to provide a change of address - post office, bank, family, friends, and work

Start hoarding boxes

Once you know you’re planning to move if you have the room, start hoarding boxes because they aren’t cheap if you have to buy them. One way I’ve done this is by saving boxes from deliveries, asking family and friends, and even asking if I can take empty boxes from my workplace.

Related read: How To Find The Best Realtor For You

Pack room by room

For me, packing room by room keeps me sane. Doing it by room allows me to keep items from each room together and not get mixed up with other rooms. I like to start with rooms that have items I don’t use regularly. In my two-bedroom apartment, it meant the spare room was the first room and my bedroom and bathroom were my last.

Label the boxes

I totally slacked on this during a couple of my apartment moves and regretted it. When my boxes are labeled I can tell the movers to read the box and place it in the appropriate room. This results in less searching around for items and having to move heavy boxes by myself from room to room.

Unpack at your own speed

After all my items are moved in I focus on my bedroom and bathroom. For me, it’s really important that the bedroom and bathroom be put together for me to feel comfortable in a new place and to establish a routine. Once they are done I start working on the other rooms only unpacking what is necessary and then unpacking the rest bit by bit until I’m all done.

What are your packing and moving tips?