We're moving. Give me your best moving advice

[Modem Butterfly]

Lay it on me, DU!

[MissB]

1. In town or out of town?

[Modem Butterfly]

6. In town, same zip code, even

Just a better neighborhood.

[MissB]

10. Hire one of those loading/unloading companies

They'll load your rented moving truck. You drive truck to new home. They unload your stuff.

Look in your phone book for moving boxes supply companies. Usually there is one in there that sells used boxes.

Declutter your stuff, if you have enough time. We all have too much stuff.

[Modem Butterfly]

19. Ooo! Good idea!

Thanks!

[Squatch]

2. Stretch. Prevents injuries. Also, beer motivates workers, especially

if they're your friends.

[phusion]

3. Sell off extra crap before you move...

That way you don't have to move 10 boxes full of holiday decorations :)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

7. I'll second that one...

...if you have stuff that you haven't touched in a year or more, sell it...give it to charity...throw it out...but DON'T drag it with you. I had to move a month ago after living in my last place for only a year. I reduced the load and paid half of what I paid a year ago to move.

Also, get a good shredder or locate a shredding service that will come to your home. All of my old checks, bank statements, etc. are now tiny little unrecognizable pieces of confetti.

:toast:

[Telly Savalas]

28. I know this goes against conventional wisdom...

but during a move isn't necessarily the best time to reduce the amount of stuff you have. If you aren't moving for another 2 or 3 months, then yard sales and charitible donations are definitely to be considered, but if you're moving at the end of May, you probably don't want to mess with that. Time is too scarce! (Especially if you have young kids that demand a lot of your time.) In all likelihood most of the stuff you haven't touched in the last year is stuff you don't really need to keep, but the decision making process of figuring out what to get rid of and what to keep can really slow you down. Also, the act of getting rid of stuff can be time consuming: planning a yard sale is quite an undertaking, and making trips to haul small loads of stuff to various charities can be a hassle if you're in a time-crunch.

If you have ample storage, just throw the crap in a box and take it with you. In the end, it can save you time and stress. Think of it this way: if you have say 20 boxes worth of crap that you don't really need, it's quicker to move those 20 boxes with you than it is to identify what the 20 boxes worth of stuff actually is, try to sell some of it, and make extra trips with the remainder. Either way, the crap is leaving your old home, so why not make it leave in the simplest fashion possible? After you've moved and are slowly getting settled in the new place, then purging unnecessary belongings might be a good idea.

Although, if you do have several months before the move, the yard sales and charity route can get you set up for an easier move, if you start now.

Also, on an unrelated note, liquor stores are great places to get boxes. Most wine and beer boxes are just the right size for books.

[Not_Giving_Up]

4. Don't move where I live

The "management" bites.

[kick-ass-bob]

5. Beer.

Lots of it.

[Squatch]

17. That's what I said...beer is always a big help.

[Hobarticus]

8. Don't actually count on people to help you move...

Unless they're VERY good friends.

You find out in a hurry who your true-blues are, when you move.

[AuntiBush]

9. Here New Zealand is good place to live...

At this point, any damn where is better since the death of America.

[Dorian Gray]

11. Ugh! Good luck!

Take some Valium!

[politicaholic]

12. If you haven't used it in two years, chuck it, give it away, or sell it.

use this opportunity to purge and organize. organization of your new home is really determined by how you organize your move.

Make it a fresh clean start and your transition will reveal a sense of clarity.

[unhappycamper]

13. Don't forget pizza - just make sure most of the move is done before

you feed them.

[Parrcrow]

14. Yard Sales and trips to the dump!

shamelessly ask everyone you know to help.

[AlCzervik]

15. make sure you take care of all your utilities for both places

you don't want to get there and find the electricity and phone isn't turned on.

[Modem Butterfly]

23. We have to have some phone jacks put in

There aren't any phone jacks on the main floor.

:wtf:

[AlCzervik]

26. thats interesting, i could almost understand no phone jacks

on the second floor where bedrooms are but none on the first?

[Modem Butterfly]

27. Nope.

Our new place has four stories, a finished daylight basement, the first floor which a large family room which is adjoined to a deck and which has an office and the laundry room, the main floor which has a formal living room, kitchen, guest bath, and dining room, and the top floor, which has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, including the master bath. Our house is built into a hill, if that helps you visualize.

There are phone jacks in every room, including the laundry room and on the deck (!), but not any on the main floor. We need to have at least one in the kitchen and I'd like to have one in the living room as well.

[peacebird]

16. LABEL, every box in detail and clearly

You want to know which kitchen boxes contain stuff you really need, and which contain appliances and dishes which are seldom used.

Same goes for living room, den and bedroom... It is MUCH easier when you don't have to pile through boxes of winter clothes when looking to find clean spring/summer duds...

Trust me - there will be far too many boxes and you will not remember what is in each... Digging through all the family room boxes in a desperate search for the dish remote after a long day of moving just sucks....

two weeks to the day since we moved into our new place - needless to say I did NOT follow this advice and it has been painful...!

Oh - and be absolutely BRUTAL when paring down what you don't need to move. If you haven't used it in years - get rid of it!

Good luck!

(and remember to have the fridge stocked with some cold brews or a good bottle of wine to help ease the post-move sore muscles!)

:toast:

[kwassa]

18. Beer doesn't improve moving skills, and ....

can actually make you feel worse on a hot day.

We moved a major household only about a mile, and hired a small local outfit to handle the big stuff. These guys managed to get sloshed in the mile drives back and forth between the two houses. There was never any visible beer at either location.

and these were, um, professional movers.

[barb162]

20. don't use a moving company if possible; try to get your friends to

do it.

If you do use a moving company, take the replacement value insurance

[Modem Butterfly]

21. You don't know our friends!

The last time we moved, it was a near-disaster.

[NewJeffCT]

22. List of who to notify

Make sure you come up with a long list of who to notify about your move:

IRS, Social Security, Post Office, Bank, Motor Vehicle Dept, State version of the IRS, town hall, all of your utility companies, credit card companies, notify where you work (so payroll can make the official change) - any insurance you have, health, life, etc - also, any place you have investments like a 401K.

[livetohike]

24. Take a box of your important papers, jewelry, sentimental stuff

in the car with you. Also,take with you a box with the coffeepot, toaster, phone, radio (so you will have music while you work at the new place), coffee, a notebook or paper and pen,etc. This is so you aren't trying to move and unpack many boxes looking for things.

[Terran]

25. We're moving too, beginning of June

I'm told it's better to move all your big stuff first, and then move the boxed stuff later; this is assuming you don't have to do it all in one day. We could take the whole month, but hoping to get it done in a weekend.

You can probably find competent movers who won't cost you a huge amount of money. I think we're hiring a local outfit at $80/hr. with three guys. I reallllly don't wanna move all this stuff myself!

And of course, downsizing and getting rid of stuff you don't need is always a good idea. That's what we'll be doing in May.

[leftofthedial]

29. leave everything

and start over