Moving Tips

Every week we have several clients that holler HELP!

• "We are moving and I don't know where to start. We have to put this house up for sale and it is awful. Please tell me what to do."
• "We are moving cross country and I don't know where to start to pack."
• "When we move, I don't know how I can unpack and keep the chaos of the move from overwhelming me."

Moving across country or even across a state or province can be stressful. The move can become even more challenging if it includes relocating a vehicle. Here are some tips we have found to be useful...

Packing Supplies

• Boxes: These can be purchased at a moving supply company (check your yellow pages). These folks also sell used boxes at a reduced rate. Keep in mind that you do not need to get huge boxes, because they will be too hard to lift when filled. So keep them manageable.
  
  
• Packing Tape: Be sure and get plenty of tape to seal the box top flaps. It is not that expensive and is worth having enough so you don't have to stop and run out an buy more. Also get the dispensers to hold the tape and have more than one if there will be more people helping pack.
  
  
• Scissors: If you don't get the dispensers, you will need scissors, just remember, scissors are hard to keep up with while you are packing.
  
  
• Garbage bags: Preferably, the kind that you can see through. That way you will not have to reopen the bags to see if it is trash or something you packed that would not fit in a box. Get very strong ones. Mark them with colored ribbons for code.
  
  
• Colored Magic Markers: Use colored ones so that you can give each room a different color and that way, when College Hunks Hauling Junk is unloading your truck, all you have to say is: "Yellow boxes go in the kitchen, green in the bedroom, purple in the living room, etc".

  As far as labeling the boxes, if you start packing up the things that you will not need, and start at 1 and label in ascending order, you will know that the boxes with the lowest numbers can be unpacked last. The higher numbered boxes are the ones with the stuff you use the most.
  
  

• Newspapers: This is for packing your dishes and other breakable items.

Getting the House Ready to Sell - Remove the Clutter

Now let's talk about getting the house ready to sell. This is usually a precursor to the big move. Right now you are so overwhelmed with the clutter, you don't know were to start.

Pick up an item and ask yourself:

• Are you worth moving?

  You are going to be so surprised, at how much stuff you can actually do without. This is the key to getting the house ready to put on the market. Once you get rid of the clutter that is making your home too small you may not even have to sell.

  Only keep the stuff you absolutely love and use just quite regularly.