10 Tips That Make Moving Suck Less
From decluttering, to choosing an agent, to packing your entire life into portable containers, there are few things in life more stressful than moving. Whether you’ve accepted a job in a new city, just finished construction on your dream home or you’re dodging eviction, no matter what way you slice it, moving bites a dirty big one. So to help you save your sanity (and because mine might be a lost cause), here are 10 Tips That Make Moving Suck Less.
10 Tips That Make Moving Suck Less
1). Make it a family decision.
To prepare for the possibility of our upcoming move, Hubs and I sat the kids down and talked. As a family we measured the pros and cons of Daddy-o accepting a new job across the country–no more 100,000 degree summers (shout out to my Texas peeps!), snow skiing just a short drive away, great schools with more extracurricular opportunities. When the job finally came through, the kids were excited, like they’d been part of a huge decision and like they, too, were in control. The same went for our first house hunt. We all made our own wish lists, compared and leveled expectations. Now, instead of dreading their second move in two years, they’re excited.
2). Take it one room at a time.
We’d been in our first home for fourteen years. It was where my Hubs and I became adults–brought home our babies, taught them to swim, ride bikes and throw a football. It was also where I first discovered you can cram a whole lot of shazam into a hobbit hole. Packing quickly became overwhelming. Paralyzingly so. But after a few deep breaths, a bottle of wine and Eddie Vedder on the sound system, I realized that when you focus on the forest, you lose sight of the trees. Break the job down into smaller, more doable goals, one room at a time.
3). Still feeling overwhelmed? Have a packing party.
Your friends want to spend time with you before you go, they also want dibs on your no-longer-needed furniture. Lets face it, with a big move coming up, that time budget is stretched tighter than your wallet. Your friends are nosy beyotches, too. Finding those old college love letters Hubs used to write you will have them giggling for years. Just remember to pack and seal the “adults-only” drawer before they arrive!
4). Leave the hauling to the professionals.Â
I know it’s an expensive option and costs way more than pizza and beer, but nothing ends a friendship faster than broken heirloom china. In my neck of the country, off-duty fireman turned professional movers are in abundance. They’re strong, trustworthy and in great shape to haul that treadmill you had good intentions of using down second story stairs. And they’re more reasonably priced than a divorce, because that’s where you’re headed if you insist on moving yourselves.
So take that security deposit refund or the mortgage payment you got to skip and spring for some help of the hunky variety. I know from experience, they’re worth every penny.
5). Take good care of your moving men.
Feed them well and keep them hydrated. Skip the pizza (that’s what everyone does) and go for pasta with whole grain bread. Try yogurt, fresh fruit and crackers for a snack. If a good tip isn’t in the budget, a cooler of cold beer at the end of the day will hit the spot.
6). Just under hot-totty firemen, wardrobe boxes are the ninth wonder of the world.
Why waste time taking clothes off hangers to stuff in a square box? Pack up clothes, hanger and all, in a nifty little wardrobe container. Or if you’re low on cash and you want to save $12 per box, lay out your hanging garments between two sheets, tie them off at both ends and carry them body-bag style. The bonus practice will come in handy when you’re ready to off your spouse.
7). Purging now means less to unpack later.
Unlike your IUD, if you haven’t used/needed it in the last year, you probably never will. Toss that junk.
8). Stuff gets lost in moves.Â
Don’t think that’s a good thing? What about the 14,000 stuffed animals your thirteen year old doesn’t think she can live without. Save a few special ones and “mislabel” the rest. A needy child desperate for a lovey to hug will thank you.
9). Stuff also gets broken
Remember that heirloom China you got when your grandmother passed? It’s as ugly as oven-ripe turds. Granny won’t haunt you. She probably didn’t like it either, or you for that matter. Who wills their ugly-ass dishes to someone they like? Now’s your chance. Use it wisely.
10). It’s okay to feed your kids fast food every. single. night. when you’re moving.
Potential buyers don’t want to smell last night’s chicken curry or burnt asparagus in your kitchen and you don’t have time to cook anyway. Â Their arteries and yours will survive. When it’s all over, eat better, but for now suck it up and forgive yourself. You’re contributing to your local economy.
I really like your tip “take it one room at a time.” That definitely sounds much easier when it comes to packing up your home. My husband and are going to be moving in the next few weeks so we will have to keep these tips in mind. We will be sure to call a local moving service to help us with the job.
The Best Moving in Brooklyn.
Residential Moving Brooklyn
You are right on the “SPOT” with # 5). Take good care of your moving men.
When our guys go out for a move, the home owners always seem to get a pizza delivered for the guys but I know that your menu would be a “BIG HIT”! Great Post 🙂
Hi Jamie,
This is one of the most informative information I’ve read. It really helps a lot. Thanks for sharing this and teaching some of your Idea’s
I loved your tips to leave the heavy stuff for the professionals. Even though I’m a man, I have to admit that there are some things that are just too heavy. Do you have any advice about choosing the right professionals? I really feel like it is important to choose wisely when going with a moving company.
Be careful when hiring movers. Do your homework. Ask friends, neighbors, family, co-workers who they’ve used.Also, call up 3-4 movers and get quotes from all, and chat with them a bit to make sure they’re not scammers.
When I was little and my family moved, my family always hired movers to help us and I remember how painless it was! I like how you mention that if you do hire a moving company, you should take care of them. I remember my mom always went out and bought lunch for the movers and they were always grateful. I imagine making sure they ate is also a benefit to you since they’ll probably have enough energy to go faster!
My brother and his family are getting ready to move and are pretty anxious about moving everything. Your tip about breaking the job down into smaller, more doable goals, one room at a time was very insightful. Do professional moving companies use this technique when they come to move someone? Hiring a moving company may be helpful to them during this process.
Thanks for the tips. I have a hard time getting rid of old stuff, but you are right if I have not used it in the last year I need to get rid of it. I am sure some of it could go to people in need, so I would be doing good by getting rid of my old stuff. I also really like the idea of having less stuff to pack.
I like your fourth tip about leaving the hauling to the professionals. This was something that I was stewing over, because it is kind of expensive. However, it would take me so long to do it all especially considering I’ve never done it before. Time is money too, so it makes sense that it should really be left to the professionals. Thank you for the helpful tips!
Tracy,
That’s a nice useful list of tips for any mover. To add on it,
Having a checklist for the moving surely helps, it makes sure that you have done everything that was required.
IT is a good idea to create a checklist even few months before as not each and everything will cross your eye everyday. And anything that was not used for years, it is a good idea to give it away to some charity, this way the stuff doesn’t get waste and you also get the feeling of good deed.
-Monica
I’ve been trying to figure out what I can do to make moving less terrible. I didn’t even think about taking it one room at a time! I’ll get everything packed up like that, but I think I’ll hire a professional mover to get everything taken over. Thanks for sharing!
Taking it one room at a time sounds like a really easy thing to do. Moving can already be stressful but if everyone worked on one room at a time it would get done really fast. You could even have more people included which would make the work go by faster.
In two weeks, the movers will be coming to take away all of our stuff, because we are moving to another state. I really like your tip about taking good care of the movers and I think that they would appreciate that. I especially love your idea about pasta, but I would probably serve it with french bread and cream sodas instead of beer.
I like your suggestion to move one room at a time. This method of moving can relieve stress and help with the overwhelming mess of your belongings. I can completely relate to the paralyzing feeling of moving. Packing can be such an irritation that you almost rather just sell the home with all your things in it. Thanks for the article!
I think it is important to stay organized. I think one of the most important things to do is to have movers help you. I have a piano and I am thinking getting piano movers is probably the best option.
My husband and I are getting ready to move to a new house but have been dreading packing and moving our stuff. I’d never have thought of having a packing party to help us out! We’ll have to follow your advice and have our friends come help us pack. Now we can focus on the next step of moving; finding a moving company!
Moving is usually stressful so I appreciate the tips you gave for making it an easier process. For residential moving I think I’ll leave it to professionals next time around, that should make things go much quicker. Thanks for the moving tips!
Tracy, you are so right when you say moving can suck. So, I like that you gave a lot of helpful pointers on how to make it less stressful and annoying. I particularly liked your tip on leaving the hauling to a professional mover. That way you don’t have to worry about moving heavy objects or driving a huge moving truck.
Thank you for the tips. As being a professional mover, I am always open minded for new knowledge. We have a lot of similar articles at our home page. Check it out!
Moving isn’t the most fun thing in the world but I think these tips will alleviate some stress as I start packing and looking into residential movers. I need to remember to take it one room at a time to keep from getting overwhelmed, like you mentioned. Of course fast food is on the menu in a situation like this, I don’t have the patience to cook in the middle of a big move, so I’ll follow that advice.
These are some great tips, and I appreciate your advice to hire movers to haul your belongings. My husband and I are going to be moving in a few months, and we don’t really know anyone in the area, so I don’t think we could get extra help while unpacking. We’ll definitely look into hiring professionals to do the job for us so we don’t have to worry about it. Thanks for the great post!
Last week, my husband came home from work and let me know that he was given a job promotion that would require us to move our family in a few weeks. The company is going to provide us with residential movers, I don’t think that we would have considered feeding them. I think that the reason that people do pizza a lot, if they even do this, would be because everything else to store food would be being packed. However, I really like this idea so much and so I think that I will see if some of my friends could help me provide them with a nice lunch.
These are great and very helpful tips! My sister is moving next month and I’m definitely recommending your advises to her. I’m sure she’ll appreciate the ideas and and will deal with all her moving issues. Thank you for gathering all this nice info in one place. Greets!
I think the best things to do to keep a move going smoothly is to have lots of help, and make sure you only pack what you want. This means purging the house and if you don’t have enough friends willing to help, hiring professionals to come and help. Yes getting professionals is more expensive, but there is not nearly as much stress involved and moving is so much easier. So, the best way to make moving bearable. Make someone else do it for you.
You are absolutely right, James! Thanks for stopping by!