Tips For a Long Distance Move?

[KristineinKS]

Does anyone have any good tips or recommended resources (like a good checklist) for handling a long-distance move? We'll be moving to Oregon early this summer and already I'm feeling a bit of panic. DH is already living there and we are not hiring movers, so most of this will fall upon me to manage.

 

We've got a seriously overcrowded 4-bedroom house and already know that we won't be bringing most of our furniture, but we need to purge a lot of other belongings as well (way too much *stuff* has accumulated in the 8 or so years we've been here!). I'm thinking I should try to tackle a little bit every day (my tendency is to procrastinate), but frankly I'm feeling so completely overwhelmed, I don't even know where to begin! Any suggestions?

[RahRah]

We did out long-haul move five years ago....with two months to get it all packed up and ready to go! You've got a good amount of time to get it all done - just take it one step at a time.

 

If it were me, I'd start by starting to pack things each day that you're going to keep, but aren't necessarily using right now (or are, but won't miss them if they're packed away). Think things like keepsakes, photo albums, knick-knacks and breakables that you'll be taking. Once you have that stuff packed, then start tackling things like clothing (seasonal stuff now that you won't use before the move) and linens, small appliances, and other things - room by room.

 

Be sure to label all your boxes! Number your boxes and keep a list of what box contains what (by room, type of item packed in box or inventory list of items - whatever works for you) by number. That way, when you do move, you'll know how many boxes you have and what each contains. When I did my packing, I did it by room and content type - I didn't list an inventory of each box. When we moved, boxes went to the room they were to be unpacked in....made unpacking easier!

 

If you do this now, you'll have de-cluttered a lot and can see what you're left with for a yard/tag/garage sale.

 

Then I'd schedule one-two-or-three sales....list on Craigslist (or other similar site) and get ready for that. We did two sales before we moved - both were "open house" style, where potential buyers could come in, see what was for sale and buy whatever they wanted. During that, I moved our boxes into a locked room (to keep them secure) and had colored tags on things that were NOT for sale, put child lock "U's" on kitchen cabinets that held things NOT for sale....everything else tagged with price. The first sale we did, we weren't as open to negotiation as we were the second one. We sold about 80% of the stuff I wanted to get rid of and the rest we boxed up and donated or gave away to friends/family interested in whatever it was.

 

After that I'd get into the hardcore packing for the rest of the stuff, whittling away at what needs to be packed until I'm left with nothing but bedding for the night before the move. Eat off paper plates, use plastic utensils, buy take out to eat....for a few days before the move, that way you're not having to pack dishes, pots, pans, etc. last minute.

 

About a month before the move - remember to schedule turn-off of your utilities, transfer phone account (if applicable) and such. If your DS is already living there, perhaps get your cell phone changed soon and give those who need your number the new number and then you have a phone number for use while closing accounts and opening new ones that you can be reached at. Also, don't forget to notify credit card companies and others you have loans with (if applicable) of address change, phone number change, etc.

 

The week before you move, submit your change of address to the post office to forward mail to your new address. Have your DS register your vehicles in your new state (if he's there), send you plates and then you notify your DMV of the move and return plates before you go. Make arrangements to return your cable/satallite box if necessary before you leave.

 

If your email account is tied to your cable/ISP that is local, change it now and let everyone know (get a portable email account like gmail if you don't have one already) the new email address.

[KristineinKS]

GREAT tips - thank you so much!

[elegantlion]

Start getting rid of stuff NOW. Start collecting boxes. Have a yard sale to recoup some costs. I've packed us up twice while dh was living away.

 

Decide how you want to do boxes. We've moved about every 5 years and have some Uhaul boxes that have moved several times. We bought some more inexpensive ones for this last move, knowing it will be our last move for a long while. They are pretty much junked. Some people like the uniform boxes so buying them will help. Others prefer free from the grocery and don't care about the size.

 

Know the maximum size truck you can get and how you will transport your vehicles. We've been in the position where the truck was full and there was still stuff in the house. Thankfully we had family close by to hold it for a while. With some companies you can book a date now and adjust when it is closer.

 

Are you taking appliances? Furniture? I try to weigh the cost of dragging large items and what it might cost to replace them. We ended up leaving behind a fridge and our mattresses when we moved in November.

 

Electronics? Is that huge TV worth moving?

 

Downsize what you can. I bought those CD envelopes and got rid of all the jewel cases for my CDs and DVDs (except those in a special box). It downsized our collection to one box.

 

Books are the big thing. Know what you want to keep and what is flexible.

 

Toy purge time. This is a great time to go through all those bins. We took a full day and went through ds stuff.

 

Purge, purge, purge and do it now. I had been planning our move for two to three months. We ended up moving about two weeks sooner than we had hoped and it was chaotic at the end. I'm sure I left behind a few things I wanted and threw out some things that I might have taken. But that last week or so your brain kind of falls out and all you can think of is being done.

 

The other thing is that if you and dh will be apart for most of this time, take time to regroup as a family once you are moved. Dh and I were apart for 7 months, seeing each other about 2 days per month. It was hard. We had formed habits without each other. It really took about another 7 months before we felt like a family again.

 

Good luck, you can do it. :grouphug:

[Lara in Colo]

I have said this a million times for forgive me if you have heard it before. I have moved LOTS. The next move I swore I would do with a POD type system (especially if I was doing it mostly alone). They park the pod in your driveway, you load at your own pace, they pick it up and deliver it to your new house, you unload at your own pace. None of the, franctically loading and unloading to get the truck back by 6pm thing.

 

http://www.pods.com/storage-moving-videos.aspx

 

this is not a new idea, so there are other companies, call for pricing.

 

I would do this, I couldn't drive a truck across the country esp with children. My brother had his stolen outside of a motel and the theives burned the contents after they looted it, they lost everything (think baby pictures). In my opinion, this is the only way to go!!

 

Lara

[KristineinKS]

Paula ~ More great ideas, thank you so much! I've been trying to purge now, but it's SO hard. I guess I need to be firm with myself & just do it. I'm terrified that I'll be in the very position you mentioned - having a full truck and still lots of stuff to move. That's the reason we've opted to buy new furniture there, but still, yikes. I also loved the suggestion for taking time to regroup as a family once we're there. DH has been in OR since late last summer, so I'm sure it's going to be an adjustment for all of us!

 

Lara ~ LOVED the Pods idea, thanks, I'd completely forgotten about them! I just called & unfortunately it's going to be rather cost prohibitive, otherwise I'd be all over that suggestion!

[danybug]

We are getting ready to move in 4 to 6 weeks from PA to CO, so we are in the same boat. About a month ago, I started going through our house room by room and really purging stuff. We are kind of sort of minimalists (at least we like to think we are :glare:), so we do not have a TON of stuff. But I was able to purge quite a bit. Once we got the quote from the movers (luckily my dh's work is covering it) it helped us to better decide how much is this extra stuff worth to us. I donated quite a few bags of books to our local library because gosh do they fill up heavy boxes fast. But I would definitely start the process. I decided to give all of our extra stuff to a mission thrift shop. I do not want to add a yard sale to my to do list.

 

I have packed boxes already. They are all seasonal items or things I knew we could do with out for now. I started packing duplicate things like extra sheet sets, etc. And I have been numbering and coding boxes. I liked the tips on the flylady.net website under moving tips if you search around. She gave some great organizational tips.

 

Another thing that takes some time to process is if you need to transfer any medical records. I wanted all my kids immunization records and all my ob history.

 

This is all I could quickly thing of for now, that was not really already stated. Good luck!

[linders]

Everyone will advise you to purge like a demon and I sort of agree except...

 

Kid's toys/posessions. When we moved cross-country 2 years ago my inclination was to get rid of a lot, including toys/books/games that I believed the boys had outgrown. DH was already gone, so I was handling things and it just would have been easier. After a tearful call between DH and the DSs, I changed my mind. He didn't want them to resent the forced move or associate the move, which was already tearing them away from a beloved home and friends, with losing even more. Yes, it was just stuff, but it was their stuff and represented many memories. "Declutter after we've been here a year," he said. So, that's what we did.

 

In hindsight, I'm glad. After that conversation I recalled my own family's move when I was a teen. Dad was ruthless and pared the possessions of a family of 6 down to one smallish U-Haul trailer. I lost my book collection, lovingly built with my own money, my collection of glass animals, my very special horse statue given me by my best friend, my yearbooks. 35 years later I still have a twinge of anger over that (especially when I buy children's books to rebuild my collection.)

 

As for school stuff, for a couple months before and after the move, I switched most of the boys' work to workbooks. They still learned a lot, and I had time to pack and unpack.

 

Take it for what it's worth, and I wish you well!