6 Essential Moving Tips and Tricks + Funtastic Friday 113

Have you ever moved?  Chances are, you’ve moved at least once in your life.  My hubby and I are in the middle of our biggest move since we got married 5 years ago!  It’s also the biggest move of my life.  He’s moved several times, but I had lived in the same place pretty much my whole life.

When we got married, we moved about an hour away from where I grew up.  Two years later, we packed everything up and moved back to my hometown so my husband could help my brother with our family business during an especially busy season.  At the time, we’d planned on staying here for just a few months before moving on, so everything went into storage and we stayed in a camp trailer on my mom’s property for a few months.  

After six months, we realized that we were going to be around for a lot longer than we’d planned, so we found a house to rent and moved in.  A year later, we bought the house from our landlords and started doing some improvements on the property and the house.

This last fall work finally slowed down for my brother, so we decided it was time to start thinking of moving on.  We had lots to do on our house still and didn’t know exactly what we going to do.  After lots of prayer and a few trips, we finally decided on a location to move to.  We were tentatively planning to move this coming summer when things suddenly started to happen.

In the space of two weeks, we found renters ready to move into our house here, my husband found a job and a house in our new city, and he headed down there for his first week of work!

I was still working at my job at the Children’s Museum, though, so I put in my notice and started packing.

Moving is hard work.  Every time I pack up things and we move, I wonder why we have so much stuff.  I’m pretty sure that once we get everything moved down to our new home, I’m going to do some serious minimalization.

Moving Tips and Tricks:

Through our moves over the past five years, I’ve learned a couple of things.  Here are a few quick tips if you’re moving, or thinking about it soon:

• Find boxes right away.  If you wait until you’re ready to start packing them, you might waste a lot of time searching for enough!  My favorite place to get boxes is at the liquor store.  Liquor boxes are small enough to be easily handled and are extremely sturdy.  They are perfect for dishes and anything breakable!
• Don’t pack your blankets in boxes.  Use those blankets to wrap up or stuff between pieces of furniture to protect them.
• Pack the non-essentials first.  Take down decorations, pack up fancy dishes and extra cookware.  Pack up craft supplies and anything “extra” anything.  Box up your off-season clothes and shoes.
• Label, label, label!!  I can’t stress this enough.  ALWAYS write what’s in the box on the outside.  It’s ok to say something generic, like “bathroom,” but if you also put something in that box that doesn’t normally go in the bathroom, you’d better write that on the box too!
• Take notes.  Keep a note book handy to write down anything you will need to remember later – like not fogetting to go by the post office and file a change of address.  I think of these things at the most random times and my Bullet Journal has been a life-saver!
• Take lots of breaks.  Packing can be overwhelming!  It can also be physically exhausting.  Pack two or three boxes, then do a few stretches and read for a little while.  You’ll get a lot more done by pacing yourself, and you’ll be less mentally exhausted at the end!

Wish us luck!  We’re loading everything up this weekend and hauling almost all of our belongings to our new home.  I’ll be back here next week for my last few days of work and to clean up our house so it’s ready for our tenants to move in.

Do you have any great moving tips?  How about minimalizing tips?  Please share in the comments, and don’t forget to check out this week’s Funtastic Friday Link Party.

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