Local moving tips

[monstermama]

We are (knock on wood) closing on a house in a week.  We'll have around 6 weeks left on our rental lease, though some of that time will be eaten up with renovations at the new house (paint, electrical work, etc).  While this isn't our first move, it's our first local one (15 minutes away) and the first we're doing ourselves - all our other moves have been at least 3+ hours away and part of a relocation package that included packers.  I'm at a bit of a loss where to start.

 

We know we're going to have to hire a truck and movers to move the larger furniture and appliances, and I've already got some free moving boxes lined up.  We're thinking we'll have the big things moved after we've cleared out anything we can move ourselves.  Complications: DH has been working long hours lately and may be able to take only 1 or 2 days off of work, I'll still be watching my 2 year old, and I'm dealing with all the fun of the first trimester.  I've been trying to declutter, but between a sick DS, morning sickness, and exhaustion, it hasn't been going well!

 

Any tips for making this easier while keeping it cost effective?
 

[idnib]

Does either place have a garage? We stacked the stuff we moved ourselves into the garage. That stuff was thing we could live without for a while, such as extra sheets, turkey roaster, photos, sports equipment, etc. 

 

One possible plan:

 

1) Declutter and pack things you can live without for 8-10 weeks.

 

2) Move those boxes into a garage or out of the way location in the new house.

 

3) Pack a few boxes of necessities right before the move. Suitcases work well for this. Clothes, toiletries, first aid kit, sheets for each bed, stuff to clean dishes, paper plates, etc.

 

4) Move the necessities into the house early morning of the move. Have movers move the heavy things you need moved. That night, set up beds and start living in new house. 

 

5) Pack up and clean anything left at old house.

[Ottakee]

Get a mother's helper if you can to help with the lacking and watching the 2 year old. Donate or sell everything you don't love or use. The less you have to move the better.

 

Eat up the food in your freezer and pantry. Not a huge deal to move it but again less is best.

 

Allow friends to help with general areas of the house.

 

We hired 2 men and a truck for 3 hours for our local move and they did all of the big stuff so it was great. They even moved the dressers

[Ottakee]

With the clothes still in them.

 

Take care of yourself and get enough rest. Use TV as needed for the little one when you just must get something done.

[SparklyUnicorn]

declutter and toss stuff

 

start now and keep working..pack anything non essential...keep going....

 

Done this many many times.  It's a lot of freaking work and takes a lot longer than you can imagine if you do it yourself.  I've always done it myself. 

 

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Agree with upthread.

 

1.  Get a mother's helper to come at least a couple of times a week.

2.  If you have a lot of junk and want to declutter (highly recommend this) you might consider hiring a teenager to manage a garage sale for you.  They get a percentage but you provide the materials being sold and the space to sell it in.  They do the bulk of the labor.

3.  Set a timer, pick a room, and pack everything you don't need for the next several weeks that is in that room.  Pick a corner if the room seems too intimidating.  When the timer goes off, walk away, take a break, get a snack, rest, whatever.  Don't go back for a couple of hours.  Then do it again.  Keep sessions relatively short (maybe 30-45 minutes) so you don't get too worn out.

4.  When you finish filling a box, WRITE DOWN any and all items packed in that box that you might genuinely need in the next 3 months.  Maybe a quick note on the box itself, but also on a list.  Seriously, do this.  Make a master paper list that you keep track of.  Label the box with a number and a corresponding number on your list.

5.  Anything fragile that you genuinely care about pack with tons of bubble wrap and carry yourselves, if possible.

 

[Amira]

If you have a five-week overlap and only a fifteen minute drive to the new place, I think you can get this done without too much help (but if hiring lots of help is affordable for you, by all means, get lots of help). Start now with anything you don't use at least weekly and pack it while your little one is sleeping and work on moving a carload of stuff over every day or every few days. Put it somewhere in the new house where it won't be in the way of the work you need to do there, or unpack if that's possible in some parts of the house. As you get closer to the end, pack almost everything. I'd focus on getting as much stuff to the new place without a truck- that's doable with a toddler and pregnancy and it's nice to have less to do on the major moving day. Also, you don't have to pack as well for short moves- just get it to the new place.

 

Get the painting and electrical work done in essential areas like the kitchen first so you can start unpacking there earlier.

 

Seriously think about everything you're packing to decide if you want it on the other end. Everything has to be moved from your current place, but if you take some or a lot of your stuff to Goodwill instead, you don't have to deal with it later. But sometimes just making so many decisions can get exhausting, so if you need to just pack up some things without thinking about it, do that.

 

Personally, it's not the moving part that gets me in the end, but cleaning the old place. If I could only have one or the other, I'd rather hire someone to clean instead of someone to help move. We load the truck ourselves and ask a friend to help with the large items, but we have very few things that can't be moved by one person so that many not work for you.

 

I personally prefer to move food rather than having to go grocery shopping when I get to the new place. Less thinking and it's really not any harder than going to the grocery store.

 

Just keep chipping away at it a little at a time, every day, and it shouldn't be too terrible at the end.