Now Accepting Moving Advice: Show Me Your Tips!

While I was finishing up my master's program this spring, gerg and I thought out loud, "You know, if we could sell this house, it would be a great time to buy a new one."

Shortly after I graduated in May, we put our Longfellow house on the market. It sold in 3.5 weeks, which gladdened us. Thus commenced our search: good neighborhood, nearby park, rambler/California ranch, 3bed/2bath, big garage and/or basement. We found that house in NE Minneapolis, and hence, we must begin packing.

Now we're in moving mode.

I've moved a half dozen times in my life, so I know how to move, but I figure some of you have moved a lot... Like, enough to have some really good tips. Packing tips? Unpacking tips? Cleaning tips? Surviving the move tips?

Show me your tips!

[where: Minnesota, Food, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, 55406]

6 comments:

Minnesota Nice said...

My last move was awesome. I had movers do everything but my computer, my fridge contents, and my cats. Upon arrival at the new house I had 4 friends who unpacked the kitchen and bedding boxes first...so I could eat and sleep like a normal human being that night.

FWIW I think it's worth every penny to pay someone to clean the old place. You're so done with it once your stuff is out, you just can't be bothered, plus you want to work on the new place.

Bill Roehl said...

1. Congrats all around!

2. Moving supplies:

Beer
Pizza
Friends

3. Good luck!

Andy said...

Instead of renting a truck and moving all out and all in on one day, we filled a series of crates in our driveway. We used SmartBox. You could also use PODS.

Over the course of a couple weeks, we hauled things to the driveway and took our time clearing out. A forklift-and-truck guy came and moved them when we called, and then we took our time unloading them on the other end.

Turned out to be a really lucky choice, since our closing companies were the pits and forced us to be homeless for a week. Our crates with all of our belongings sat in the SmartBox warehouse during that time, instead of parked on the street.

Aliecat said...

Packing by room is the best way I've found for moving. As for cleaning, buy some borax, white vinegar, lemons, and baking soda and you're set. You can wash the walls with borax and water, clean windows w/ vinegar and water (as well as pretty much every surface in your house), freshen the carpets with the baking soda, and clean chrome fixtures with the lemons.

Unknown said...

Hi, I stumbled onto this page and wanted to add a few tips of my own. Here goes!

1) Start packing as early as possible. This will give you plenty of time to sort through what goes with you, and what goes towards the yard sale/charity/people you don't like and want to leave your less desirable items with.

2) When packing, color code the boxes by room. I taped colored construction paper to the boxes, then taped an identical piece to the door of the room the boxes were going to. That way, all the boxes went where they were supposed to, and I was organized right off the bat.

3) I didn't do this, but I should've: take pictures of the contents of the box and tape to the outside as well. That way, you can immediately identify what's in it, and it is so helpful when you are looking for something specific.

4) Problem: Boxes - you need them. I was never one to go looking through alleys for them, could never get them from stores before they were crushed, and didn't want to pay new.

Solution: Used boxes! I found this site called usedcardboardboxes.com that sold me a kit of various sized boxes plus accessories for less than I would've paid for new, and they delivered them to my door. They saved me a ton of time and hassle, and it was very convenient.

Hope those help you, good luck on your move!

T-Scott said...

One place you might want to check is http://www.movers-edge.com/tips, which is a collection of their "101 Best Moving Tips" from across the web, articles and books. Not all of them will apply to your move, but many of them might.

Good luck with your move! :-)