Your move, whether it is across town or one that spans a continent, will involve similar levels of planning. Although a local move may be handled by you, the further you travel, the more likely you’ll hire a moving company to do the job. To this end, we’ll explore the top moving tips to keep in mind as you plan for your transition.
- Use sturdy boxes only: When preparing to move, you’ll need a broad selection of boxes to help you pack. You can buy boxes from your moving company as well as find free boxes by visiting your local grocery stores, hardware retailers, big box chains, and the like. Never use boxes that aren’t tough enough to withstand bouncing around or would collapse if other boxes were stacked upon them. Smaller boxes can handle individual items and be placed in larger boxes, however.
- Reduce your inventory: Likely, you have many things in your home that you no longer need. Use this time to purge your home of excess items. Holding a yard sale to dispose of what you no longer need is a wise choice as it not only rids you things of those you do not want, but provides cash you can use toward your move.
- Stay within weight limits: A big box can hold a lot, but may be too heavy to lift. On the other hand, a small box can be stuffed and still weigh no more than 20 pounds. Regardless of the box size, endeavor to keep its total weight to about 25 pounds. Whether you’re doing the lifting or leaving that responsibility with the movers, you can help everyone avoid back strain by being conservative with your packing weights.
- Pack as soon as possible: You don’t need to pack everything at once, but you should begin packing those items you want to keep, but currently aren’t using. Seasonal clothing should be packed first, with the boxes taped and labeled. The toys your children want, but aren’t using on a daily basis can also be packed ahead of time. The same goes for your books.
- Pack room by room: When you’re ready to step up your packing, attack each room one by one before moving on to the next room. Use color labels to identify the rooms where each box will be placed. Inventory sheets can be helpful too, especially if you have hundreds of boxes to pack and move explains the North American Moving Company.
- Ask friends for help: You’ve been there for your friends and your friends have been there for you. Now is the time to ask them to help out by pitching in on the packing. Or, you might ask your friends to watch your pets or children while you and your spouse finish packing. The more hands to help out and in various ways, the better for all.
- Make your move during the week: Weekends are the busiest days for moving company as that is when customer demand is at its highest. If you can move on any day from Monday to Thursday, you’ll benefit from greater moving van availability as well as from lower rates. If you have flexibility for the moving season, any month outside of the summer rush should save you money.
Making Your Move: Other points to consider when moving is to get in your mail forwarding address to the post office about two weeks before you leave. Also, when shutting off your utilities, make sure the disconnect doesn’t happen until the day after you leave. You want to allow for enough time to clean up the home and get out before the lights, heat and water are cut off.
