Getting ready to move is a huge process and I need help.

I am starting to pack and hope to move about Aug. first.

1975 was the last time I made a long move like this, from Dallas to SLC. I had 2 little boys and was pregnant, and it did not seem as much work as it does this time. I suppose it is my age. (60)

Anyone who has done this, please give me any good ideas you have to offer to make this easier or more efficient. Thanks!

Labels, labels, labels..seriously it is annoying and time consuming to box everything and put a label on it but you unpack far faster knowing which room everything goes in. Unpack the bathroom and kitchen first so you can use them as you unpack other rooms.

As you are packing, pack things you rarely use first (pictures on the wall), and then get to things you use everyday (kitchenware). Try to keep like things together-all the photos together rather than random boxes with things from different rooms in it. If you have a half full box, fill it with things from the next room you'll unpack--ie: towels and dishes can go together because you'll unpack them roughly at the same time. Same with clothes, keep winter and summer clothes separate, winter clothes you may not unpack right away but you need your summer clothes now.

Moving is hard and I wish you the best of luck! I know you can do it! The more organization you put into it, the easier it is on the other end.

My sister got pods and packed them up in Tucson, then had them shipped by the same company to Omaha. She said it was way cheaper to do it that way than to rent a truck and drive it.

Thank you both Jessica and vanessahuxtable, great tips! Also for the encouragement.

This really feels overwhelming at times, but if I can leave the mo church at 56, I KNOW I can do this. It IS what I want most in this world right now, to get out of SLC.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2011 02:05PM by think4u.

Pack your dishes with your clean extra linen. You will not have to rewash the dishes like you do with newspaper and you can tuck a not of things in those sheets and towels.

This one is great but hard to explain but I will try.

Get some long long tie wraps, masking tape and leaf lawn bags.

Bunch some hanging clothes but make sure you don't get the bunch too heavy.

While the clothes are still on the rod, run a tie wrap through the top of the triangle (not the hook) and cinch them together.

Put the shoes for those clothes or just random shoes/bags/belts/other closet crap in the bag.

Pull the bag up over the bunch of clothes and tape it shut around the top of the hangers leaving the hooks out.

The clothes will stay clean, they are easy to move, you can put them flat on top of boxes. When you get to the new house you HANG THEM UP then just clip the tie wrap and take off the bag.

In the car with you make sure to take meds, light bulbs and TOILET PAPER! Does this place come with window coverings? If not JCPennys has very nice temp pleated shades that do provide privacy if not a lot of light control. They stick up right to your window casing. They are made of paper so you can cut them to any size or overlap an inch and use more than one for large windows. Have those in the car too.

Good luck!

It's a GREAT time for getting de-cluttered and more organized!

(If you are a focused home organization amateur like me, please disregard this entire message!)

DON'T MOVE JUNK.

You can clean up your life, reduce your moving costs, make unpacking easier, maybe make some money, and generate tax deductions. It doesn't take a ton of time away from your main task (moving) and you will feel 100 pounds lighter because you did it.

Go through closets and give away or sell on consignment anything you haven't worn in 2 years (with rare exceptions, of course). Get the consigment people to come to you and tell you what they want. Give away the rest to charity. Shoes, clothing, sweaters, coats (won't need many of those where you're going!).

If you still have some of your kids' things, have them come over (if they can) and go through them and decide what they want to keep. Get rid of the rest. If it's really important, take a picture of it and then get rid of it. We just did this at my dad's house (three years after my mom passed away--it took him that long to be ready) and my sister cleaned out a dozen boxes, my younger brother twice that, and I had just a few because I had gone through my stuff years ago when I got married.

Give away videos, DVDs, and books to your local library. They often re-sell and make money for the library. They will give you a tax receipt. This saves a lot of space and weight in a move. Keep the books that mean something to you, there will probably be few. DVDs can be rented or streamed.

Cleaning supplies, call your local waste disposal folks and find out how to safely get rid of hazardous cleaning, household, home improvement, automotive products. Then do it.

Linens: We really use so few items. Get rid of towels, sheets, tea towels, bedding, pillows that aren't being used. You probably won't use them in your new place either.

Kitchen items. Again, we really don't use that much. Space-hogging gadgets: thrift store donations. Sets of dishes, pots and pans, same or consignment if they're nice.

Pantry: contact a local church food bank and give them items from your pantry that you're not going to eat or don't want to transport. Remember, canned foods past their "best by" date are NOT expired or dangerous. They are simply maybe past their optimum in taste and quality. Baking mixes expire, but many preserved foods just decline slowly and are still use-able and food pantries are grateful. People overpanic and dispose of too much food that is past is "best by" date thinking it is somehow rotten or dangerous.

Office: Keep tax records and documentation going back 7 years (although you'll only be audited going back 3, I think). Keep all other important receipts, warranty info, legal papers, mortgage documents, etc. that you need. Keep five pens and five pencils. Keep supplies that you will actually use, discard all of the arts and crafts crap you've accumulated through all the years that has been piling on the guilt-of-unfinished-projects. (Just inserting some personal experience in here...)

Attic and garage storage: If you haven't looked at it in 5, 10, 20 years, it's probably not really that important.

Reduce, reduce, reduce. America has been stuck in a cycle of over-consumption for too many decades. It's time to clean it all out!

Your kids will thank you because they won't have to clean it all out and sell it after you die.

Your bank account will thank you because you may make some bucks, you will pay less in taxes, and your move won't cost as much.

But most of all, you will be able to be in control of your new space because you won't have detritis from your past taking up your closets, cabinets, storage and attic. You will own your space and be able to use it how you want to and not be a slave to your junk.

Do as much as you can before the move. But you will probably have to do more after the move. Especially once the decluttering bug takes hold and your brain understands how to let go and take hold of what is actually important.

At my dad's house, mom had two large attics, five closets that no one else used, one huge walk-in linen closet, pantries, additional linen cabinets, bookshelves and huge built-in
entertainment centers, and bathroom storage space that was filled. Oh and a "garden shed" that was really a detached garage that was filled-to-the-gills with gardening equipment that she couldn't even get to, it was so packed. We contacted the people that rent out those huge dumpsters that fit on the back of a semi and filled two of them, plus several trailer loads to charity. This might be a bit excessive, but it gave my dad the freedom to do some much-needed remodeling and see the pathway to selling the house if he wants and buying a place for himself and his girlfriend if they get married. Until the junk was gone, he just felt overwhelmed by it all and stuck. I really like the girlfriend because she made him pay me $1,000 plus airfare and rental car to go back to Oklahoma and get it all taken care of for him. He still gets to organize the estate sale (three china cabinets full of china, crystal, Lladro and silver that no one wants--although I get the silver wine coolers!). The things he kept were highly sentimental: his first microscope from college, some rocks (he's a geologist), his first pair of cowboys boots (from his first well-sitting paycheck). He kept his wedding suit for a few days before giving it away. He needed to say "good-bye" to that a few other things. It was kind of moving to watch him process the few things out of a million that actually meant something to him.

That's my dad's story. Everyone has their own -- although few have of us five spare closets plus two huge attics! Thank goodness. But I recommend to everyone that they get rid of the physical trash that is clogging up their lives and say a fond "Good-bye" to unusable things that don't fit into their lives any longer. Moving, before and after, is a perfect opportunity to take care of this.

This is probably too long (maybe cluttered?). You may be organized down to the studs of your house. If you feel like you need help, there are professional home organizers that specialize in helping people prepare for moves, downsizing, lifestyle transitioning. Everything. Cost varies widely.

Finally: Enjoy sunny Southern California!

And I must concur with this post. You just don't realize how much unnecessary stuff you have until you move. Get rid of the things you don't need first, it will save you so much trouble later on. Trust me, those old boxes of junk that you take with you are never going to be opened anyway. Moving is a golden oppertunity to get rid of stuff you don't need.

This is seriously a great post. You are an expert. I wonder if I could pay someone to come in here an help me do this, just a thought.

You could definitely find someone. I would google something like, "How to find a reputable professional home organizer" and then check up on them. Check the BBB, ask for references, do a little research on certification because there are national professional organizer organizations.

If you find someone, I would set up a small job, like A closet or A pantry and see how that goes before biting off a bigger chunk.

Also, what I found with working with me sister and her junk was that once I got her started and we worked through the process of cleaning out her pantry and reorganizing some of the college and childhood stuff she had displayed unwisely in her living room, she could move forward on her own. Her limitation is that she's disabled so she can't do physical lifting but she can certainly sit there and empty out box after box after box. I also had to build some garage shelving for her. But the point is that you may find that once a professional gives you the mental tips on getting started, you may be able to move forward on your own.

As for those childhood and college sentimental stuff/junk that she had out preventing her home from becoming an adult environment (she's 50), we displayed a lot of it in her laundry room so now that's kind of a fun room to go into. so think about how to use unconventional spaces for some of the sentimental-but-not-conducive-to-decor items.

out it went. To prevent damage, a door to door move is the best. Many horror stories when your furniture goes into a moving company warehouse (moved 7 times). If you can afford it have your furniture wrapped in paper and taped or bubble wrap or shrink wrapped. IMHO, United Van Lines is terrific if you can afford them. I have used most of the companies and some suck! The cheapest is not necessarily the best when you have collected fine furniture.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2011 04:04PM by mav.

I will call United. I am worried about expensive furniture and artwork. Is Allied any good, do you know, as I called them a while ago, just beginning to check things out. I am not interested in hiring the cheapest person, and it will be door to door. I want the best mover I can get, but I can pack most of the household myself, that is why I am starting so early.

Jenny's advice is RIGHT ON. As a military spouse, and finally a retiree who made my LAST MOVE in 2005, I can't even begin to acknowledge all the priceless wisdom in Jenny's post.

GET RID OF THE CRAP! And find out where the donation points and dump are located at the NEW place, because once you start unpacking, you're gonna find even MORE crap that you don't want and don't need. (I swear, the stuff breeds in those sealed boxes!)

OVER-label all boxes. NEVER use words like "stuff" or "junk" or "misc" on a box. Just. Don't. Trust me.

~VOW

voweaver Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...because once you start unpacking, you're
> gonna find even MORE crap that you don't want and
> don't need. (I swear, the stuff breeds in those
> sealed boxes!)

LOL. So true!

All good tips from experienced movers.

FIRST - Get the stuff together that goes in the car: like Susan I/S said, meds, light bulbs, toilet paper, bedding and sleeping bag. The sheets can also be used for uncovered windows. Your overnight bag (2 changes clothes minimum), makeup, jammies, feminine needs, braces. ALSO your laptop, address book, and your guest blowup bed.

This is because there can be delays between your arrival and your furniture's arrival. This enable you to stay in your house instead of going to a motel. If you go to a motel en route, there's your overnight stuff handy. It also helps if you are driving a uhaul and towing your car because there's no way you will be able to set up your bed--you will be tired when you get there and don't need the pressure.

I used the colored tape from Uhaul to mark the boxes. They have green for living room, pink for kitchen, etc. These were easy to spot in the semi darkness of a truck or storage room and saved lots of time. I could say to my helpers, "Just put stuff according to the labels" and all the leaf bags in the bedrooms.

We are thrilled you are leaving Utah and moving to the Free World!

Anagrammy

Remembered one other thing, look up local pizza places because the first night not only will you be sleeping on the floor but you won't be fixing any meals or grocery shopping either. Order pizza or go out to eat the first night.

You guys are AMAZING! It is so very much harder to move this far than 5 miles away like when I got divorced. I thought I had already really parred down when I made that move 2.5 years ago, but have found there are boxes I never even opened. Gave a bunch to some organization that helps disabled adults.

And now I am finding more stuff. I have to face the fact that I am in the latter stage of my life, and I am NEVER going to quilt or scrapbook or read certain books I may have loved again. DE- cluttering is what I need to do more of. Thank you all so much.

I've done both types of move long and short distance. Trust me when I say they are both HARD work, because you are moving the same stuff either way. Short moves you can do over time and move stuff back and forth in your car. Long moves you've got to have it all organized, boxed and in a truck because you aren't coming back for a second trip. You can do this! I'm so excited for you!

Everything has its season. That's what I kept telling my dad. He'd find something and say, "This was IMPORTANT. We LOVED this." (See blue wallpaper with yellow tulips that to some people looked more like corn that was in their kitchen for nearly THIRTY YEARS.) And he just needed to hear a gentle "It had its season and was great." (It's time for neutral pallets, granite countertops, new hardware, and stainless appliances, Dad!)

To find a way to gracefully and consciously pass from one season to the next is a gift in life. You have the choice to take hold of what you want to become, how you want to live the next season of your life. To let go of the physical symbols from seasons past in a way that gives you peace will give you strength and create space to make exciting changes and decisions about your future. It's a great place to be!

You sound very ready to make the change. Once you get started, it becomes absolutely CATHARTIC. I was raised by a closet hoarder so I didn't have a clue on how to debreed. Once I got started, it took a few years, but in the end, it's a very clean feeling! Good luck!

I have a few tips I have used many times.

I have loads of dishes. I cut up cardboard broken boxes in squares to put between them - larger squares for large plates, down to saucer size.Then I pack them in a box. I stuff the extra spaces with plastic bags.

I wrap delicate glassware in white tissue paper.

I do not use newsprint as it tends to leave black smudges all ever anything it touches.

Before I start packing, change my attitude from keeping everything to: let it go, it's someone else's turn!

I choose furniture and larger pieces that I absolutely want to keep. The rest, I give away to thrift stores (they do pick ups) or sell at yard sales. Some of my relatives have good luck with craig's list.

so if there is any damage, you have evidence of how they looked before they were packed.
It's often cheaper and much easier to get rid of most of your household items and buy them again at the new location. Thrift stores, second hand stores, estate sales and yard sales have loads of treasures.

If I were to move right now, I would probably throw out my dishes and buy new at the other end. I had a nice matched 8 pace setting, now could only set a table for 4 and can't buy replacements for the pattern. Since I am ready to buy replacements anyway, I would toss what I have and buy the replacements when I get there.

I made $400 on my one-day yard sale.

People and towns are continually changing. Even you have changed. If you go back wih an open mind, and go with the flow, you be happier. I moved across country to my home town on the East coast in 1999, thinking I could pick up where I left off. I discovered that it doesn't work that way. But I did create a good life for myself during the eleven years I was there. I will treasure those memories.

During this most recent move, across country to the West, again, I decided that I would keep an open mind. It's been interesting to watch the reactions of people who knew me here 11 years ago. Their reactions are quite varied, from excitement, to moderate interest, to outright snubbing, and from ones I thought would react differently. I'm starting from the ground up, again, at age 64, but will go a day at a time, and create another new life.

Remember that it takes about 3 years to assimilate into a new area. Things seem so disjointed for the first six months that you start to wonder if you made the right choice. After the six months you start to feel that you are recovering, a day at a time.

You are making peace with your past, and that's good to do at our age. Take time to learn a lot about yourself. Write down your thoughts, if you'd like, or do whatever makes you feel fulfilled. I spent a lot of time walking on the beach, which you'll probably do. Enjoy your new adventure, and keep us posted.

Wow... I have moved four times in the last four years! I guess there's no hope that I will assimilate until my husband retires from the Army!

As for packing tips, I don't have any that haven't already been posted. I will reiterate that it makes sense to get rid of anything you don't use anymore. The less you have to pack, the easier and less expensive the move will be and the less cluttered your new house will be!

Thank you so much for those words Carol. I will remember them, that going home will be VERY different than it was in the 60's. I do return every year, but living there is different than a vacation.

I am going to print out this entire post, everyone's great responses to help me along here, to read for encouragement when I start to feel overwhelmed.

I feel way less alone in this with all of you encouraging me along the way. I am soooooo excited to get back to the ocean. I love the home I am buying, and I do have many friends there, in fact when I visited in April they threw me a party, really nice. Old friends are some of my best freinds, plus none of them are or ever were mo's. I can hardly wait!!!

It is easy to overlook details with all the stress, a list helps keep you on track.

If you are using a moving company RESEARCH it and others, get competing bids from companies that your research shows are reputable.

Using "pods" can be a cheap, good way to go if you have the person power to move the furniture into the pod.

If cost is not such an option, movers offer a packing and an unpacking service. I know several people that have had the movers come in and pack everything and at the other end they unpack it themselves.

Talk to your moving company, many will let you leave clothing in dresser drawers.

Go to a moving supply company and get the right moving boxes for what you are packing. IMHO wardrobe boxes are great and worth the price.

Oh, yeah, now it a great time to throw out what you don't need. If you run across stuff you forgot you had, you don't need it, toss or sell it. The more you get rid of, the less you have to pack, the less you pay to have it moved, the less you have to unpack at the other end.

If you know the layout of your new home, make sure what you are moving will fit. If you have a couch that will be too big, sell it and buy one that fits when you get there.

In the last two moves we made use of a cool little trick. Me and my family had seen and measured the new place so we knew exactly where to put all the furniture. We had also measured all the furniture so we could map out on paper how much space it took and where we could put it. (Don't forget where the light switches and electric wires are going out).

It's really easy and very convinient. You draw the particular room in question on one paper and draw the furniture on other paper using the same scale. Then name the furniture and cut out with scissors. Now you are in a much better position to explore where you can put your furniture, and all you are moving around is tiny pieces of paper onto another piece of paper. For every room with did this, and we used the same scale so we could re-use "furniture". Then when we had established where the furniture would go we draw the furniture on the room paper.

Needless to say, it made a great difference, unpacking was unusually quick, and I don't think we could have done without this preparation as we were moving to a place three times smaller than before. I hope it's a trick you might find useful.

I have a policy of not owning anything heavier than what I can carry up one flight of stairs. I have a hand crafted couch frame that is a family heirloom and it has been carted across America twice, and up and down a big state four moves. the oldest married grand child is now waiting to own it.
otherwise I buy foam mattresses, use them up, and cut them up for tossing when through. this last move was made with family help, but everything was still packed in bags and bundles that I could carry up one flight of stairs. I decided that since I have been doing this since 1975 that I can stop and just buy new lightweight stuff from Ikea. I do have some personal items still waiting in storage, but those bags are small enough to put on the bus.
No matter if I looked like a bag lady sometimes!
moving a lot does keep the junk collecting under control.
librarian

How to Organize a Stress-free Move:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2506_organize-stress-free.html

and

How to Pack for a Move:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2143297_pack-move.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask

Save your receipts, any move over 50 miles where you are changing jobs, you can deduct the expenses from your taxes.

When I moved from Oregon to Iowa, I got rid of all the "soft" furniture-sofa, recliner, beds--but I was going to have to put everything in storage, so that may not apply to you.

I had a few yard sales and unloaded quite alot. I also held a "Freecycle Free For All" in which local freecyclers could come and take stuff like garage sale leftovers from the driveway. And seriously, you could, if you have it available, post certain items on Freecycle for folks to come get.

Foam plates between the dishes. That's how I packed all my Fiesta ware. Not one broken dish. And you can eat off the foam plates later, saving yourself the trouble of having to wash dishes for a bit while you are unpacking.

Make sure you get some rest each day and don't kill yourself doing this. It's hard work.
Good luck!
Susan