I’ve never met someone who liked moving and you aren’t meeting one today. Moving sucks–majorly. There’s no if’s, and’s or but’s about it. This was my first time moving my entire family of 4 and it was a great learning experience on both what to do and what not to do. Because I care, I’m sharing the 5 things I learned on how to make moving {somewhat} pleasant.
5 Ways To {Not} Make Moving A Drag
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Create a feasible timeline.
Yes, feasible. Have my husband tell it, we can just pack up a family of 4 in a week and be moved and settled. Reality provided a different lesson though. This one week timeline has worked for me in the past. And I emphasize the ME. As in when I was moving just myself–not my family with kids all around me and working non-stop. What does a a feasible moving timeline look like? Give yourself 1-2 days per room for packing.
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Downsize before you pack.
Seems obvious enough, right? Unless you’re on that 1 week timeline and you’re just at the point of throwing stuff into bags so that you’re moved out before your lease is up! But in this 1-2 days of packing per room, start out with getting rid of things you haven’t used in the last 6 months. Yes, 6 months, not 1 year. I get it. Things are seasonal and we can justify all the reasons in the world why something should be kept but don’t. **Pro-tip: if you’re bad at this, invite a friend over who’s good at it. It’ll hurt but feel good in the end.Ā
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Have enough boxes.
I’m not the person that goes to Walmart and grabs their extra boxes. You never know what’s been in those boxes and I don’t want the things that I value and made it through the de-cluttering process put in a sketchy box that held only God-knows what. No thanks. I will reuse all my Amazon Prime boxes and other boxes that I received. Otherwise, I order them from Uline. They have pretty great deals on their boxes.
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Have a packing party.
No one likes moving but your friends WILL help you pack–especially if there’s a promise of wine, thank you pot-luck or something after. If you aren’t a good cook, stick to the wine or beer or water since no one turns down any of those!
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Hire movers.
Family and some friends will help–begrudgingly though. The actual move itself is terrible. All the picking up heavy stuff and walking and then dropping it only to have to do it again is my ultimate nemesis in life. Don’t ask your friends. Hire someone. Grab a Groupon. Look on a trusted website for a referral. Worried about things breaking? Move those yourself.
Moving Pro-tips:
- Make sure that someone is taking care of your kids. There’s nothing worst than tripping over minions as you’re trying to be efficient.
- Clean AFTER everything is all moved out. Don’t feel like cleaning? Have someone do it for you.
- Schedule a move out inspection prior to the actual move out so they can give you tips on things that need to be done so you can get your deposit back.
- Overlap your new place and old one for about a week so you don’t feel rushed or overwhelmed.
- Label all your boxes for ease of unpacking.