I wish I could help you, I’m on the same situation as you!

Maybe one trick I could give you: If you have to put furnitures into pieces or if you have any screws, hooks, things to fix stuff on the walls, I suggest you put them in separate ziploc bags with a label on them explaining what it is.

Invictus! You should definitely watch the end of that it’s so good . . . the whole Matt Damon with blond hair thing doesn’t hurt either.

Save newspapers, magazines, anything you can use for packing material. Also use your towels to wrap breakables. Don’t get hung up on detailed labeling of boxes. Keep it simple such as “Mom’s closet”, “master bath”, etc. It takes longer to list everything in the box than it does to just open it on the other end and peek in!

Look on craigslist for people giving away boxes- there is no reason to shell out cash for decent boxes!

Also pack a box with toothbrushes, two bowls, two forks, two spoons, etc and put your dogs beds, bowls and a few days dog food in there so if you can’t find those boxes, you at least have an “essentials” box.

And definitely purge, purge, purge! If you haven’t used it in a year- toss it!

Label your boxes really, really well. My mom made me list specific items inside the box as opposed to just saying “Garage stuff” or “Office stuff”. It really helped me find random items.

Also, label what room or closet you think want the box to go into at your new place. Thinking about this ahead of time cuts down on some of the craziness when you get there. If you can’t think of where it will live in your new place, think about whether or not you really want to take it.

I agree with Matt/Kath – this is a great opportunity to donate or do some spring cleaning! I bet you’d be surprised at a lot of the stuff you hoard… but maybe hit up a few furniture stores or something and ask them for spare boxes. I’m sure they’ll have lots! (By the way, take a tip from Kath and KEEP your boxes after you move!)

Wei-Wei

plan meals that can clear out your cabinets/fridge ahead of time! No use wasting food, and it’s not worth packing to bring with you unless its spices/expensive foods 🙂

I am a teacher packing up my classroom right now so I feel your pain! Organization is the key to any move! Not sure if you have any dollar stores by you but I found bundles of five boxes for a dollar at a few dollar stores and they have packing tape as well. Also I agree with a few of the comments about labeling being key to a successful move. Staples also has paper filing boxes for around a dollar too.

Before you pack something look at it and ask if you need it. If you don’t then don’t pack it…donate it. Take only the stuff you really can’t live without.

Space Bags are fabulous for clothes, linens, towels, etc. Fill them up and then vacuum all the all out of them. They become half the original size, only problem is they get really heavy when compressed.

Also, I love packing books in the reusable grocery bags. I have a bunch from race goody bags and I just fill them up with books. The handles make them easy to transport, but the down size is if they tip over the books spill out.

I use the liquor store boxes as well. They are great because they are so strong and some of them have dividers, so they work well for glassware, etc. Also, lots of people post their moving boxes on freecycle. You can actually get U-haul boxes for free on there lots of the time. I am a serious labeler as well. It makes it so much easier to find stuff when you get there.

I have moved 8 times in the last 6 years and 2 of those moves were cross-country. My biggest tip is when the move time actually comes, put your clothes in garbage bags. I sorted my clothes that are out of season first and put them into black bags, for instance. Then when it was moving day I packed a suitcase with essentials and put the rest of my clothes into white bags that were current. The clothes stay clean in the bags and they are great to pile up on top of things or smoosh between other things to stablize pieces of furniture in a moving truck.
Also, more boxes may seem daunting, but there is nothing NOTHING worse than packing boxes that are too huge and too heavy. Use smaller boxes and pack things by rooms and of course label. I always reserve at least 2 boxes for all of the junk that is in a drawer or under a desk that you forget about. I put all the junk together and sort it out later.
Good luck!

Whenever I move (which is often) I try to get rid of an much stuff as possible, then organize it depending on how I want everything set up in the new place. I am not the best organizer/packer and it is pretty much my least favorite task, so good luck!! Once you get there and are settled it will all be worth it, don’t stress!

Definitely, definitely write what’s inside the box and what room it goes in. That way if you have people helping you, they don’t have to ask you where to put the boxes, and you don’t have to move them twice. Knowing what’s inside them makes it so much easier to unpack. I also usually make 2 special boxes- one that has the stuff that I would absolutely need to unpack right away, and another that sits out & open on moving day- you never know what little extras you’ll find!

You’ve gotten me addicted to raw oat bowls! Pumpkin ones are the best!

Good luck with organizing. 🙂

I’m reading One Fifth Ave right now and it’s pretty boring. I am going to finish it but it’s taking so much longer than normal and the fact that its over 400 pages doesn’t help. What are you reading now?

purge and donate as much as you absolutely can. Thats what I did when I moved last weekend to Raleigh NC. you’ll be happier in the end. 🙂

There is no reason to pay for boxes at all! I definitely agree with the liquor store idea. Also, I have always gone to grocery stores (best time is late in the evening when they are re-stocking) and ask them for boxes.

Number all your boxes! We did that and then created a word document with an inventory of what was in every single box. It actually didn’t take that much extra time. Fortunately, every box made it safely to our new home, but if they hadn’t, we would have known exactly what was missing so we could claim it with the moving company.