I have never used movers before. In each cross country move, I sold everything I could and took only what would fit in a van or SUV. My dad drove with me from Texas to D.C./Virginia during Tropical Storm Allison (which followed us from Houston to McLean, no joke). Prof drove his car down from Michigan to D.C., and we took everything in our two cars to Michigan. This time as a family of four, we couldn’t fit everything in two cars. We had to hire professional movers.
The Great Move
Friends told me that it takes a full day for the movers to clear out the house. I braced myself for the worst. I thought, “Surely, it will be from 8 am to 4 pm. Then I’ll have an hour to clear out the rest, clean up one last time, and then give the keys to the new owners at 5 pm and head out.”
Our movers cleared everything out in three hours flat. Todd, our moving guru, said that this was one of the fastest moves he had done in awhile.
How to Make Packing and Moving Day a Cinch
I packed everything. Because we were planning to downsize, it didn’t make sense to pay the movers to pack for me. They wouldn’t know which items I needed versus which items needed to be removed. Plus, I am an organized person.
Step 1. Itemize important things on a list.
I itemized our stuff by room on a Word document in table format (MS Excel would have been good too). As I cataloged our items in each box, I numbered the box once the most important items were itemized.
MOVING TIP: Don’t itemize everything, say 3M Command strips, but rather focus on the things you might say, “Hmm…I wonder where those table lamps are that are mixed with the pillows and bakeware set?”
Many people will label a box, Master bedroom, but won’t know which box has those table lamps. Wouldn’t it be nice if you knew that Master Bedroom Box 4 had the table lamps? What’s so great about doing a little leg work before your move is that you can do a quick search on your Word document to look for that item.
Step 2. Move boxes of the same category into one location.
Cordon off different sections in the room to say that one corner will hold all the boxes for the master bedroom, another corner with boxes for the kitchen, and another area with boxes for the bathroom.
MOVING TIP: I like to use Post-it Notes
Step 3. Try to clean as much of the house before moving day.
Don’t Have Time to Read This? Pin it for Later:
Over the course of three months, I took it step-by-step. For example, we cleared out boxes from the basement to the main floor, organizing them as suggested in Step 2. Then I proceeded to clean the bathroom, walls, door knobs, and vacuum for the final time. Basement done. Check. This meant that the movers didn’t have to track dirt and mud from the outdoors. But this also meant that you have to do the heavy lifting. For some people, it’s not an option. We didn’t have much in the basement, so it worked out well for us.
About two weeks before the move, we then tackled the upstairs bedrooms. We boxed most of our stuff and pushed the boxes into one corner. I left the furniture where it was, but I wiped down the doors and door knobs, etc.
About a week before the move, I worked on the main level of the home, such as the living room, laundry room, etc. I left the kitchen for the last possible moment. In the process, I gave the bathrooms and kitchen a very thorough cleaning days before the big move.
Thus, by the time of the big day, I only had to give it a quick wipe on the countertops and vacuum for the last time. I made it just in time for the mover to pack up the vacuum onto the truck.
How to Make Do without Your Stuff Until Everything Arrives
Let’s see. It’s day seven, and our stuff hasn’t arrived. In fact, our movers said that they are going to make it on the last day they promised to deliver. Ugh. While I prepared on the front end for the move, I was completely ill-prepared on the back end. I didn’t think about we needed to make it through the first week without our things.
Well, Prof and I packed three important bags of clothes. One small bag for our clothes on the road. One medium size bag for clothes while in the apartment but without our stuff, and one bag for Prof’s immediate work-related business trip that day after our things were set to arrive.
If I had prepared better, here’s what I would have packed in the car (contains aff. links):
- air mattress
- bed sheets or sleeping bags
- folding chairs or camping chairs
- plates
- plastic eating utensils
- mugs (for my coffee)
- cutting board
- knife
- pot
- pan
- kitchen cooking utensils (ladle, spatula, etc.)
- foam mats (because we don’t have carpet in the apartment)
- towels
- rice cooker
(Cuckoo is the best!)
(Cuckoo is the best!)I remembered a few of the items listed above, but we were mostly eating out for the first few days in NJ. Had it not been for our friends who brought over a Korean eating table, a rice cooker, an extra air mattress (thank goodness!), and some toys for the boys, it would have been tough to deal.
We had one air mattress and it was enough to let one parent and child sleep well. The little one was on the floor with me, but the carpet pad was not enough to give us rest on the floor, which made us more exhausted.
Don’t make the same mistake as us. Make a list of things you think you’ll need in the first few days to survive. You don’t want to sleep on hardwood floors if you don’t have to. And who wants to at our every day for a whole week? It gets expensive and your taste buds may need a break too.
Have you made a move before? What tips or advice would you give to the next person, couple, or family making a big move?
(Disclaimer: I receive a small commission on any items purchased through Amazon. You won’t be charged extra for these items, but it will help me to continue running the website. Happy moving!)
