Whether you are excited to move to a new home or not, I think it’s safe to say NO ONE in their right mind actually likes packing up all of their belongings, carrying them into a truck or trailer, driving for potentially several hours, and then spending days unpacking and fully moving in to their new home. And if you actually love packing and moving, come talk to me, because I need to know what’s making you so optimistic!
As I write this post, I am literally in the process of moving. We just loaded our Uhaul trailer yesterday, and we are making our 19 hour trek from the Midwest to the Northeast. All of the horrors of wrangling packing tape, trashing unnecessary amounts of papers, and hauling heavy boxes down the steps from the third floor of our apartment are still fresh in my mind.
Packing and moving don’t have to be a complete nightmare for you, though! And I have made your job somewhat easier by taking my experience of packing and moving and giving you all the advice I have. Plus, at the end of this post you will find some printables that will make your own moving experience a little less dreadful!
Preparation
1. Don’t procrastinate! This goes without saying. But seriously, don’t wait until the day before you have to be moved out to start packing, only to realize that you run out of boxes or don’t have enough room in the moving truck. Make a plan. Write down the date you need to be moved out and plan tiny projects to do up until you move so you don’t have to do everything in one day.
2. Make a moving week time line. Schedule which rooms you are going to pack each day. Sometimes you can’t pack up everything from an entire room until the day before, but you can get most of it done. For example, the kitchen won’t be completely packed up until the day before, but you can pack away small appliances, plastic containers, and pots and pans you won’t need to use that week.
3. Make a meal plan for moving week. Planning your meals for the week you move will not only help you eliminate having to throw away a bunch of food that you never got to cook or eat, but it will also help you with packing away dishes and cookware. Also, invest in some paper plates and plastic silverware for that week so you can pack away all your plates and such at the same time.
Purging
1. Know what’s worth keeping and what you can sell. Most likely you will need to get rid of some things before you move because you have accumulated so much over the years. Go through it all and really think about what you can part with.
The day we moved, we realized that my husband’s desk wasn’t going to fit in the trailer, so we decided that we would see if we could sell it before we had to leave our apartment that night otherwise we were just going to throw it out. And we did! I listed it on Facebook Marketplace and someone came to buy it in less than 2 hours!
Some really great places to sell your used stuff are Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, Letgo, and Craigslist.
2. Make a list of the things you need to replace. There will definitely be some smaller items that you can’t travel with and that you won’t sell, but you will still need to replace them when you move into your new home. Make a list of those things so you know what you need to buy immediately and what you can wait a few days before you replace it.
Packing and Moving
1. Don’t buy boxes! Yes, you will need boxes, but you don’t have to buy them. Ask your friends who have recently moved if they have empty boxes.
Check with your local recycling center as they will most likely have plenty of used boxes that you can just take. That’s where we got all of our boxes from.
2. You don’t have to just use packing paper. We bought a package of packing paper and a roll of foam from Lowe’s that was really useful and didn’t cost us a ton of money either. We used the foam for our dishes, mirror, and TV and used the packing paper for pretty much anything else that was hard plastic that might break.
We also packed the boxes with packing paper to act as a cushion inside the boxes. Here are some other things you can use when packing if you run out of packing paper:
- Plastic shopping bags
- Newspaper
- Tissue paper
- Paper lunch bags (these are cheap and perfect for packing glasses and mugs!)
- Coffee filters (I just used the leftover ones we had and they worked great.)
3. Make sure you have enough packing supplies on hand. Here are some things you will definitely want to have when you’re packing:
- Packing tape
- Boxes
- Sharpies
- Rubber bands
- Large and small Ziplock bags
- Tools (to take apart furniture)
- Trash bags
4. Send your books via media mail. We had about 170 pounds of books (my husband is taking is MS of divinity and he’s a pastor, so he has tons of theology books, plus we both love reading!) so we decided to send all of our books via media mail to our parent’s house.
Media mail is way cheaper than sending regular packages, but you have to make sure it’s just media (books, DVDs, etc.) and nothing personal in the boxes. Look up guidelines for sending media and see if it’s worth it for you.
5. Know what kind of vehicle you need to transport your belongings. If you don’t need a full Uhaul truck, you can rent a Uhaul trailer to hook up to your truck or SUV. We got a Uhaul hitch installed on our vehicle (which we get to keep) and then we rented a 5X8 trailer. We were able to fit all of our stuff (except for Ed’s massive desk) in that trailer and in the trunk of our vehicle.
6. Know what you packed and where you packed it. Make sure to keep track of important documents (Keep those with you in a folder) and boxes of things you know you will need right away when you arrive at your new home.
7. Pack a duffel bag. Even if you’re not traveling over night to your final destination, pack an over night bag with pajamas, clothes for the next day, and toiletries so you don’t have to go digging through everything just to find those things. You are going to be tired from moving all day, so make those things that you need easily accessible.
Those are all the tips that I can offer you to make your moving experience run just a little more smoothly. Do you have any packing or moving tips that you would like to share? Share them below in the comments and help you fellow readers out!
As promised here are those packing and moving printables that I mentioned earlier. Enjoy!
Packing and Moving Checklist
