Moving Tips for a Relocation

If you are anything like me, the thought of moving is enough to fill your head with all sorts of freaky thoughts and fears. What if I don’t manage everything in time for the move? But it doesn’t have to be so scary or overwhelming!

I was one of those people who thought I would never move in my life. That is, until after I got married. Since marriage we’ve moved multiple times. We’re relocating once again–and this time it’s out of state! It’s been an emotional roller coaster ride so far with all the packing and sorting but now that it’s done, I’m looking forward to our next adventure.

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Moving How To When Facing Relocation

Moving can actually be a really exciting prospect for many people as they get a chance at taking on something new – whether that means more space, a roomier kitchen (or even just less stairs!), or the ability to live somewhere else. To help make packing up easier and ensure that everything will go smoothly once we hit our destination let’s take a look at some moving tips that can help you manage everything.

Purge, Pitch, and Pack for Your Move

How to Purge for a Move

This is a great time to get rid of things that you don’t need. You can donate the items to charities. I like the ReStore for Habitat for Humanity, The Kidney Foundation will come and pick up your items at your house, and most communities have a Goodwill store.

Need a Bit of Extra Cash for Moving?

• Sell Old Computers & Electronics
  Did you know that you can sell old broken computer and electronic gear to recycling centers  and they will pay you for parts? Yes! You won’t make a fortune doing this, but you might make a little extra cash which during a move always comes in handy.
• Sell used books and video games!
  You can sell your books and video games at local resale shops. For me, it will be at Half Price Books or Game Stop but check your local listings to see where your resale shops might be. If you have more time than I do you might also want to consider selling to Amazon.
  Did you know that Amazon has a Trade In for Gift Card Program that allows you to trade in your goods in exchange for Amazon Gift Cards? You can earn a bit of cash for items you no longer need but can be useful to others. Acceptable goods are: Cell Phones, Laptops & Tablets, Books, Video Games & Consoles.
• Sell Gently Used Clothing
  Some consignment and resell shops will allow you to sell items directly to them for a lower amount than if you do the sell via consignment.  The local resell children’s shop here will give me a credit in exchange for childrens clothing, then I can get items that my son needs. It’s a great way to purge too small items and fill in gaps in my sons wardrobe at the same time.
• Facebook Resell Groups
  The Facebook Marketplace is a great way to get rid of usable items that you no longer want. Snap a photo, write a brief description and list it for sale. You can list it as pick up only. Or, you can set up a local meeting place that is public. A great way to price is to price $10-15 over what you think you’ll get and then add, OBO (or best offer). You might end up with more than you expect, but it shows that you’re willing to take less.
• Sell Metal
  From aluminum pop cans to all things metal a recycling center will pay you cash for your copper, steel, aluminum, and other metals. Gather it all up and make one trip. Old jewelry (gold & silver not costume) that is broken or you no longer want can be sold to many jewelry stores.

Remember, when you are in the middle of a move every little bit helps. Twenty dollars here and there can go a long way in paying for fast food meals, gas, or other unexpected expenses when you are relocating.

From the moment my husband told me that we were most likely going to move I started packing. Whenever I have a spare 30 minutes like waiting for dinner to cook I will grab a box or two and then go through a cabinet, a closet or other location, I purge, pitch and pack that location, tape and label the box and then it’s marked done on my list.

Pitch Clutter While Moving

When moving my motto is “pitch, pitch, pitch.” I’m not one to be wasteful, really I’m not. But the reality is I far too often keep things that are not worth keeping. These things become clutter. So now as I prepare to move I’m throwing out a lot of unnecessary things.

Plus, you want to be able to fit everything into your moving truck and perhaps some things in your personal vehicle. When relocating to a new city or state there isn’t going to be second trips to gather the things that don’t fit. So you’ll have to get rid of things or else you’ll be scrambling on moving day.

Moving Tip: When pitching I only use black trash bags. Sometimes I use white trash bags to pack oversize items like comforters and clothing. And, since I don’t want to accidentally throw out something that I need to keep I only use white trash bags for packing. Knowing that black bags are for trash and white bags are for things we’ll keep makes it easy to stay organized. 

How to Pack When Moving

• Keep a Packing/Unpacking Bin
  I use a small bin with lid to store all of my packing supplies.
• Rolls of packing tape
• scissors,
• box cutter,
• Sharpie markers,
• labels (if you use packing labels, I don’t),
• twine,
• bubble wrap
• newspapers or other packing paper
  
  I replenish consumables as I use them. I keep this bin near me and can take to from room to room. It will go with me to the new house and all of my packing/unpacking supplies are ready and on hand. No losing the Sharpie when I know it’s always in the bin. I also prefer to use a refillable Scotch Heavy Duty Tape Dispenser for quick and easy taping.

• Don’t pack your drawers. 
  • When it comes to furniture that has drawer space there is no reason to unpack a drawer, place those things in boxes or suitcases, then put the items back in after the move. Instead, just leave the clothing or other items in the drawers. Whoever is moving your furniture can pull out the drawer carry it, then move the dresser or whatever to the truck, place the drawers back inside the furniture for the move. When you arrive in your new home those drawers are already “unpacked” making your move that much easier. 
  • I do, however, quickly go through and purge items that are out of shape, size or no longer of use and get rid of them before the move. It makes my life easier after the move and since I am already in purge and pitch mode it just makes sense.
  • One extra tip, if you, like me, don’t want your movers looking inside your drawers as they carry them, use a towel spread over the drawer with edges tucked inside. This way everything stays hidden, packed neatly, and  you also have a simple, easy way to “pack” your towels and they’ll be easy to find after the move. For smaller drawers use hand or kitchen towels.

1. Packing Location
   Whenever I finish packing a box I place that box in one location. All packed boxes end up in that location. For us, right now it’s our classroom. It was the first room I completely packed. (Don’t worry I have one 31 Bag filled with our school books and lessons so we can continue schooling during the move.)  The reason that I put everything in one location is simple. Everything will have to fit on a box truck. If it doesn’t all fit into the space we’ve alloted as the packing location, then it won’t fit on the truck. This helps us keep a running visual of the approximate space we are going to be needing. It also helps me keep the rest of the house uncluttered as much as possible during the moving process.
2. Choose boxes wisely.
   I’m a packing box snob. I am very particular about the size and shape of boxes that I use. I love paper ream boxes, they are a great size for packing like items together without a box getting too heavy to carry. My husband works in a professional office so he can get paper boxes from the office supply closet with permission. We don’t buy boxes. We do gather boxes from friends, family, and local stores as needed. Egg boxes from grocery stores also make excellent packing boxes. If a box comes that is not to my liking, I simply pitch it. 
   Be cautious about using too many boxes that are very small. Think about the number of trips it will take to carry small boxes versus carrying a medium size to large box. Remember that a several small boxes (for delicate things) can fit nicely inside of a larger box.
3. Packing breakables.
   1. For plates and bowls I use very cheap paper plates as separators. For bowls cut slits on 4 sides of the plate allowing the plate to fold under a bowl. Then I use newspaper to wrap a stack of plates or bowls. Place the plates in the center of a box, Then place bowls angled in toward the plates on each of the four corners of the box. 
   2. For vases and decorative items fill the inside of a vase with newspaper, wrap the outside with bubble wrap if you have it, if not newspaper will work. I like to put soft items on the base of a box, like cloth napkins or kitchen towels. Use extra newspaper to fill gaps between items in the box. I also like to lay a layer or two of cloth napkins or towels on the top before closing the lid. I label the box FRAGILE, the room location, and for very important items, I label the box PLACE IN VAN, or whatever car I will be driving.
   3. Mailing Boxes are great for framed photos and wall items. They come in a variety of sizes are usually thin but provide enough room for 4-8 framed 8×10 or smaller photos. Once packed, I will stack 3 or 4 boxes on top of each other and tape them around the top and bottom to make one package for carrying.
4. Packing Clothing
   As I mentioned above, I don’t unpack drawers. Those are already typically neat and organized so with a bit of purging they are good to go as is. I do, pack closet items. I use suitcases for sweaters, sweatshirts and other folded items found on shelves. I like to wrap hanging items in WHITE trash bags (so I can somewhat see what’s in the bag) and leave on the hangers.I have 3 armoires with closet hanging rods in them, then, I place all hanging clothing in those armoires. On moving day, my husband wraps the doors with twine or bungee cords to keep closed. He moves these using a hand truck so the extra weight of the hanging clothes doesn’t make much difference. This makes the unpacking in the new home easy, everything is already on hangers, sorted by like item and owner, so then they just get moved to the appropriate room/closet.

I’m pretty excited about this move. 2015 has truly been both a difficult and interesting year. Sometimes I just have to laugh at how interesting it has been because otherwise I might just fall apart. We are trusting that God is leading us and we are following with faith believing that He “…works all thing together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes.”

So that’s my big end of 2015 news. Most of my blogs and social media posts will be set using automatic programming so if you don’t see me around for a while, you’ll know I’m busy moving my family half way across the country.