When most people think of packing to move, they think of endless boxes and hours spent loading books, DVDs, and kitchen spices. The bad part is that those same people just jump in without thinking about it, taking on more stress than needed. Packing is an essential component of moving, and one of the most stressful steps, however, you can minimize the stress and inconvenience by following these helpful tips outlined in this post. (If you haven’t read the rest of this series, you can find Part 1 here)
1. SUPPLIES
Make sure you have good, solid packing supplies. This means sturdy boxes, enough boxes (grab them wherever and whenever you can, it is better to have more than not enough), ample packing tape, markers, labels or paper for writing down what is in each box, and some kind of cushioning material for fragile items. Find the balance between going cheap (cheap markers are fine; cheap packing tape will irritate you and can break when you least anticipate it). Usually, buying from a UHaul or moving company is convenient, but not particularly budget-friendly; track the supplies down on your own, borrowing or using second-hand when possible.
2. TAPE IT UP
Tape up all electrical cords, and wiring or cable cords together with the units they belong to. This will save both time and money later on so you don’t have to be searching all over or heading out to a store to buy replacements. It’s common to end up with a pile of remotes and electrical cords, with none of them seeming to match anything.
3. RESEARCH
Find out how to move those appliances safely without spilling out any Freon from the fridge or freezer, scratching or putting a dent into your items or finding out they were damaged along the way and no longer work when you arrive. While you can pay for this service, with a little research and work, you can save your money and do it yourself.
4. F-R-A-G-I-L-E … THAT MUST BE ITALIAN! (I had to include the quote from “A Christmas Story”)
When packing dishes, glassware, mirrors, pictures and frames, be sure to wrap them all with towels, sheets, newspapers and anything else that can be either pressed firmly in the box without room to slide around. Bubble wrap is easy, but not necessary; use what you have on-hand.
5. PACK ONLY WHAT YOU NEED
Leave clothes and items in dressers, bureaus or cabinets unless they are breakable. Merely tape up the doors and drawers and move as one piece. This will allow you to fit more into a smaller truck and you will not need to pay for a bigger size, or make that extra trip when moving with your own van.
6. ADVANCE NOTICE
Make sure you call the cable and utilities companies with ample time and cancel your services for the old place. If you are transferring any services over to the new place, make sure the appointments are set for when you will be there for installation. This will help you avoid paying for services in two places at the same time.
7. LIGHT-WEIGHT
Don’t pack boxes too heavy. Boxes should not weigh more than 50 pounds; some movers will charge extra for heavier items. Make sure to label them well so anyone reading them can make a quick judgment about what the weight may be and decide to choose something easier to handle.
8. HELP PLEASE
Ask for help where you can. If you have friends and family, bribe them with food and/or alcohol, and have a running list of tasks they can tackle in an hour or two. It’s much easier to talk someone into coming over for an evening to pack your books, rather than coming over for the weekend to pack up the whole house.
9. PACK WHAT YOU CAN
If you are paying for movers, make sure everything is packed and ready to go so you can keep your costs down to the minimal. Store all boxes on top of each other in a room close to the door they will be going out. Let them know beforehand of stairs, narrow walkways, or long distances from curb to door, as these may all affect your price.
10. DIY
Do as much as you can yourself.Even just packing a box or two every night for a few weeks will put a huge dent in the amount that you’ll have to pay someone else to handle for you.
If you enjoyed this post, you won’t hurt my feelings any if you share this post via social media or any other way you can. I try to make that easy on you by placing the social media bar to the right of this post. Please take the time to leave your thoughts on this post below with comments and tips you have about when you are packing to move.
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“How Using The Professional Movers Can Save You Time and Money”
This post will go live June 1, 2012 @ 8am EST
Picture of Woman Packing To Move by Wendy
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
We had a stager/interior designer come over last night and I definitely have quite a few DIY projects to do. Should be fun if I can find the time to do it all!!
Thanks for the reminder about the utilities…definitely didn’t think about that.
any time Jason. I had a friend that began doing that as a side job entirely. Good luck finding the time… I’m sure it will pay off well.
Great tips Jeremiah. I’ll have to remember to tape cords to appliances next time. Last time I made the mistakes of just packing all those cords together in one box. That led to an interesting jigsaw puzzle of trying to figure out which cord matches with what. I don’t know why they can’t just put the brand’s logo on all cords. Well I guess it’s probably cause some other company probably manufactured the cord separately, but still!
I also really like to tip of asking friends to come over to help pack for 2 or 3 hours. They are definitely going to be much more willing to help with something like that rather than dedicating an entire day to helping with the grunt work.
I have found it to be very effective to invite a few friends over for just an hour or so… definitely more buy in from your friends… and you end up getting everything packed a little quicker. Thanks for the comment Jeremy
Nice. waiting for you to add me to your blogroll