Packing up all of your stuff and moving is a hectic and stressful process, especially if you’ve never moved by yourself before. However, with enough planning and organization, moving can be a breeze. Follow these tips for a stress-free moving experience.
Make a list.
Before you start packing, write out a checklist of everything you need so you can stay on track.
Also keep track of how many boxes you have per room. After you move, you can double check that they are all there. You may want to make a “moving binder” filled with all of your important documents and lists to help keep you organized and efficient.U-Haul?
Decide whether you will need a large U-Haul for your move, if you will hire movers or if you will move everything yourself. Consider how much stuff you have, how far your move is and if you have friends willing to help you out. If the move is not too far and you have friends that will help you, then consider a U-Haul or just moving it all yourself in your own car.
Know what to get rid of.
Two months before the big move, start cleaning out your home. Go through your closets and drawers and try on everything, and get rid of anything that doesn’t fit or that you haven’t worn in the past 18 months. Make piles: keep, sell, donate and throw out. Once you’re done with your clothes, go through all of your knickknacks, books and other junk you just have lying around the house, and add anything you don’t want to the sell, donate and throw out piles. Start packing up the stuff you want to keep, and then hold a yard sale or sell anything in good condition to a consignment shop.
Toss the old stuff that no one would want and donate the rest to charity.Pack and unpack by room.
When packing up, go room by room to keep everything together. Label each box with the room it belongs to in your new home, and keep all similar boxes together. You can even color code your boxes with colored masking tape to really streamline the process. When you’re unpacking, having all the boxes labeled makes it easy to unpack by room and make sure everything is where it should be.
Wrap breakable items in clothing.
Use soft sweaters, sweatshirts, tee shirts and socks to pad boxes with breakable items. Picture frames can slide into the torso part of a sweater or sweatshirt, and socks can be stuck inside and around cups and glasses to prevent breakage. Use soft items to fill in extra space in other boxes too.
Pack drawers, suitcases and more.
Don’t waste money on unnecessary cardboard boxes. Pack your dresser drawers with clothing and other lightweight objects, and fill up your suitcases for easy and cheap packing. Get creative with packing. Use laundry baskets for items, or place non-breakable things like towels in garbage bags. Just be sure to label them so you know they aren’t trash!
Pack the things you’ll need first in an easy to access box.
When packing, set aside a separate box for all of the things that you will need right when you move in. Keep scissors or a box cutter, a spare change of clothes and toiletries in there so you are ready to start unpacking when you get to your new home.
Take photos before you move in.
If you’re renting your new apartment or house, take photos of every room before you move anything in. This way, you can avoid any conflicts with landlords when you eventually move out.
Change your address.
Let everyone know you’re moving! Fill out a change of address form at your local post office or online at usps.gov so that your mail gets forwarded to you. Change your address for your magazine subscriptions and online shopping sites like Amazon. Finally, keep your bank and credit card company in the loop too.
Feature Photo via We Heart It