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Moving tips and tricks?

bigdoublezero

bigdoublezero

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My wife and I are moving to a new place in a couple of weeks. Moving sucks. Anyone have any protips to make it suck less?
 
here's a good one: ask your friends to help you move, then arrange for a "job interview" phone call just as the truck loading starts. then just end the call shortly before everyone's done so you can carry out the garbage can. #fullcredit
 
Lots of help. And pay them with food and beer.

And organization.
 
I assume you don't want to just pay other people to do it for you.

Take a good, hard look at everything leaving the house and make sure you actually want to go through the effort of taking it with you/finding it a new home. This is a great opportunity to purge a lot of stuff. Have a massive box for donations, or have one of your helpers designate their car for trips to goodwill and just load them up with the give-aways as you decide what they are.
 
ImTheCaptain said:
here's a good one: ask your friends to help you move, then arrange for a "job interview" phone call just as the truck loading starts. then just end the call shortly before everyone's done so you can carry out the garbage can. #fullcredit
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Also, "oh, I just threw out my back/shoulder/hip." Requires a bit of acting though to be believable.
 
we had a moving sale, it was pretty lucrative.

i'd say organization and box-labeling are key. also, don't make the boxes too heavy. that's worse than having an extra box or two to move
 
lbE08 said:
I assume you don't want to just pay other people to do it for you.

Take a good, hard look at everything leaving the house and make sure you actually want to go through the effort of taking it with you/finding it a new home. This is a great opportunity to purge a lot of stuff. Have a massive box for donations, or have one of your helpers designate their car for trips to goodwill and just load them up with the give-aways as you decide what they are.
Click to expand...

We're having movers lift the furniture because our new place is on the third floor and we're grownups now. We'll be shuttling over most of the rest of our stuff ourselves to cut down on costs, since the movers charge by the quarter-hour.

Definitely going through the keep/donate/sell/trash process, which also sucks.
 
also, don't underestimate how much "little stuff" you have in drawers and what not. i've moved 4 times in 6 years and every time i'm blown away by how much shit I have left on the "oh, i'll just throw whatever is left in the house in the car when i go for the last time/lock up" run
 
Purge, purge, purge. You almost certainly have way more shit than you need.

When we moved recently we sold a lot of furniture that we didn't want or need to the buyers.

If possible arrange an overlap time or than a day or two that you will have access to the old place and the new place or more than a day or two. Its a lot easier to move when you do not have to move all at once and can move things over gradually and see whether you really have a place for it/need it.

Hire professionals to move the heaving/breakable stuff.
 
I have a lot of experience. I have moved eight times in ten years, and 11 in fifteen years. And during that time I helped a lot of other folks move.

After moving myself for a long time, I finally decided to start paying movers about four years ago. It's worth the money, even if you're on a budget. (I have never once had an employer pay my moving expenses.) Find a couple of reputable movers in the area, and call for some quotes. Spend some time figuring out their price structure so you don't overpay.

You really ought to pack all your small stuff in boxes and label them carefully yourself. Don't leave that to the movers or you'll never find anything. Plus it gives you an opportunity to get rid of stuff you don't need. Apply the one-year rule. If you haven't looked at it in a year, and it's not a wedding photo or something along those lines, you probably don't need it. A couple of hundred bucks' worth of sturdy packing boxes is a wise investment. Another reason to label is so the movers will know where to put stuff. Labeling will reduce the risk that they stack your encyclopedias on top of grandma's china.

Do NOT use one of those services that drops a dumpster in your driveway, loads your stuff in it, then drives it on the back of a truck to your destination. I will refrain here from naming names, but I made the mistake once of using one of these companies and it was a disaster. Fully one-third of my shit was broken into pieces on the other end of the trip. Reputable movers will not let this happen. Read the moving contract carefully so you will know what the movers are liable for. I think they require you to waive pretty much everything these days.

Having said that, some of your stuff is going to get damaged, so be philosophical about it. It will give you some stories to tell the kids. This is actually a bit harder when you're older and have acquired some stuff of value, but it's not worth stressing over.

Happy trails.

One more thing - get a hotel room the first night at your new destination or else make arrangements to get some bedding in the new place before you spend the first night there. Can't tell you how many nights I've slept on a bare hardwood floor with a ball of bungee cords for a pillow.
 
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inspectah said:
I have a lot of experience. I have moved eight times in ten years, and 11 in fifteen years. And during that time I helped a lot of other folks move.

After moving myself for a long time, I finally decided to start paying movers about four years ago. It's worth the money, even if you're on a budget. (I have never once had an employer pay my moving expenses.) Find a couple of reputable movers in the area, and call for some quotes. Spend some time figuring out their price structure so you don't overpay.

You really ought to pack all your small stuff in boxes and label them carefully yourself. Don't leave that to the movers or you'll never find anything. Plus it gives you an opportunity to get rid of stuff you don't need. Apply the one-year rule. If you haven't looked at it in a year, and it's not a wedding photo or something along those lines, you probably don't need it. A couple of hundred bucks' worth of sturdy packing boxes is a wise investment.

Do NOT use one of those services that drops a dumpster in your driveway, loads your stuff in it, then drives it on the back of a truck to your destination. I will refrain here from naming names, but I made the mistake once of using one of these companies and it was a disaster. Fully one-third of my shit was broken into pieces on the other end of the trip. Reputable movers will not let this happen. Read the moving contract carefully so you will know what the movers are liable for. I think they require you to waive pretty much everything these days.

Having said that, some of your stuff is going to get damaged, so be philosophical about it. It will give you some stories to tell the kids. This is actually a bit harder when you're older and have acquired some stuff of value, but it's not worth stressing over.

Happy trails.
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This. Movers make things SO much easier, particularly when you're moving into a new place. And that's the end where you should have a couple of people to help, if possible. My parents were here when the movers came to my apartment in Chicago and we were completely done in, like, two and a half hours.
 
bigdoublezero said:
We're having movers lift the furniture because our new place is on the third floor and we're grownups now. We'll be shuttling over most of the rest of our stuff ourselves to cut down on costs, since the movers charge by the quarter-hour.

Definitely going through the keep/donate/sell/trash process, which also sucks.
Click to expand...

I actually disagree with this approach. It sucks, and you will just end up damaging your car, probably more than once. Just plan ahead and pay the movers to move everything at one time.
 
Agree with those saying "pay movers." Plus, you get to be a "job creator," you know, a true American hero.
 
Roam around your local grocery parking lot asking grown male strangers for help. If they refuse, call them a fucking f@gg0t and put up Joe Dukes.
 
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